This is a ready-made package, planned day by day. Transport, accommodation, a local guide, village visits, entrance fees, the Maumere–Sumba flight, and all meals are already built in — just ask for current pricing based on your dates and group size.
Why join this as a package: We arrange every village visit ahead of time, so the weavers know to expect you — that's what gives you the best chance of actually meeting them. Travel independently without an arrangement, and there's a good chance you'll find the village quiet, with the weavers out working in the fields.
Arrival in Ende
Arrive in Ende in the afternoon and settle in to your modern city hotel, then round out the day with a short tour of Ende — the historic port city that serves as the gateway into Flores' weaving heartland and the trailhead for Kelimutu.
🍴 DinnerA Lio Weaving Village & Mountain Village
See ikat making in a nearby weaving hamlet that specialises in natural dyeing — cloth colored with dyes drawn from roots, bark, and indigo leaves, a process that can take weeks to months per piece. Continue into the highlands to a traditional Lio village of peaked-roof Sa'o clan houses, where the Mosalaki — the customary clan leader responsible for land, ceremony, and communal decisions — welcomes you with a tour of the village's history and customs. Drive on through spectacular mountain scenery to Moni via a local market, arriving for a two-night stay at an ecolodge set between rice paddies and rainforest.
🍴 Breakfast · Lunch · DinnerNggela Ikat Weaving Village
Spend the day in Nggela, one of Flores' finest ikat-weaving villages, where women still weave natural-dye textiles in the courtyards much as their grandmothers did. Around two dozen thatched clan houses form the cultural heart of the village — meet its weavers and the local Mosalaki, who will invite you inside the sacred interior of one of the houses, before returning to the ecolodge for a relaxed afternoon.
🍴 Breakfast · Lunch · DinnerKelimutu Crater Lakes & Wuring
An early morning walk through the forest leads up to Kelimutu's three color-changing crater lakes — Tiwu Ata Mbupu, Tiwu Nuwa Muri Koo Fai, and Tiwu Ata Polo — each a different hue, and believed by the Lio people to be the resting place of ancestral souls. After a late breakfast, continue to a modern seaside hotel in Maumere. Late afternoon, visit Wuring, a Bajau fishing village built out over the water on stilts and linked by wooden walkways.
🍴 Breakfast · Lunch · DinnerTraditional Market & a Sikkanese Weaving Community
Browse Maumere's incredibly busy traditional market, then drive up into the highlands to a small Sikkanese weaving community, known for its own natural-dye ikat tradition. After a late lunch back at the hotel, spend the afternoon relaxing by the pool.
🍴 Breakfast · Lunch · DinnerFly to Sumba via Kupang
Early flight from Maumere to Sumba via Kupang, with time for lunch en route and, schedule permitting, a stop at the local museum. Arrive in Waingapu and check in to your modern hotel overlooking Waingapu Bay.
🍴 Breakfast · Lunch · DinnerRoyal Villages of East Sumba
Visit two very different traditional royal villages with towering thatched clan houses and megalithic tombs. One specialises in supplementary warp weaving and the other in warp ikat.
🍴 Breakfast · Lunch · DinnerMaking Ikat & Prailiu Royal Village
Learn the techniques behind Sumba's dramatic ikat textiles, along with the complex processes of natural dyeing, before continuing to Prailiu — the royal capital of the Waingapu region, known for its megalithic tombs and hand-woven warp ikat, still made with natural dyes passed down through generations.
🍴 Breakfast · Lunch · DinnerA Small Weaving Community in East Sumba
Visit a small weaving community in East Sumba, where local weavers welcome guests into their homes to see the ikat process up close. Return to the hotel to rest before a farewell dinner.
🍴 Breakfast · Lunch · DinnerWaingapu to Bali
Transfer to the airport for your flight out of Waingapu to Bali. End of the trip.
🌅 Breakfast · FarewellA Closer Look
Photography: Sue & David Richardson, Asian Textile Studies.
Includes: Transportation, accommodation, meals, entrance fees, village visits, and the Maumere–Sumba flight.
Excludes: Domestic flight, alcoholic beverages, tipping, and personal expenses.
Need a hand with other domestic flights? I can arrange these by request.
The Maumere–Sumba flight is subject to schedule changes, and the program may be reordered at the guide's discretion. Reconfirm before booking.