Wologai Traditional Village — Attraction in East Nusa Tenggara

Wologai Traditional Village is one of the traditional villages of the Ende-Lio tribe located in the mountainous area of Detusoko District, Ende Regency, Flores Island.

Unlike most other villages in Ende, this traditional village, even though it has been standing for almost 1 millennium old, is still able to preserve its authentic buildings.

Wologai Traditional Village consists of 1 large house as a place to gather during traditional rituals, 5 tribal houses as a place to store heirlooms or relics that belongs to each tribe, and 18 traditional houses as place to live for its communities.

All of these houses are designed to surround Tubu Kanga, a courtyard for holding traditional rituals with an altar in its center as a table to give offerings to the communities ancestors, deities, as well as the Creator.

Wologai Traditional Village has long become the pioneer of tourism village that is often included in the bucket list of Ende tourism.

With good accessibility, a distance of which not too far from Ende City and close to Mount Kelimutu National Park, also with a lot of proper amenities provided in the surrounding area, this village is absolutely...

After reading the reviews of this place, I wasn’t excited at all to visit but decided to give it a go. Immediately we were greeted by mother and daughter, very polite and apologetic for the lack of English but somehow we understood everything. The mother showed us around the village, explained us everything, the traditions, the meaning of things and gave us very interesting facts. After, we sat down with her having coffee and just talking. Really enjoyed the time we spent with her at...

Un village à la scénographie soignée… mais qui sonne creux.

Wologai est présenté comme un village traditionnel Lio encore habité, et l’architecture mérite effectivement le détour : maisons au toit pointu en chaume, placées en cercle autour de pierres sacrées. Visuellement, c’est intéressant, et différent des villages Ngada comme Bena ou Luba.

Mais l’expérience sur place est décevante. Le droit d’entrée est le plus cher que j’aie payé à Flores (50 000 IDR), et en échange, on te prête un sarong et tu suis une très brève visite d’une dizaine de minutes, avec une explication minimale. On ne rentre dans aucune maison (sans qu’on sache vraiment pourquoi), et une fois le tour du village effectué, tu es invité à repartir.

Certes, une femme très gentille et sa petite fille nous ont accueillis avec le sourire, mais cela ne suffit pas à masquer le fait que ce site donne surtout l’impression d’être une mise en scène touristique, sans réelle profondeur ni immersion.

Les maisons semblent vides, l’activité inexistante, et on ressort avec la sensation d’avoir visité un décor sans vie, conçu avant tout pour collecter des droits d’entrée.

Si c’est votre premier village traditionnel à Flores, cela peut valoir un rapide passage. Mais si vous avez déjà visité Bena ou d’autres villages plus vivants, Wologai risque fort de vous laisser...