When it comes to travelling, millennials sure have an adventurous soul. They tend to spend their money on experiences rather than anything else. They prioritise in immersing themselves with adventure and culture, and learning something new with every trip. Cultural places are famous among millennials, as they offer a lot of experiences that millennials crave for and want to share on social media. These cultural places vary from cities to villages around the world, and lots of them still offers rich cultural experiences for millennials to indulge in. These are some cultural cities and villages in Indonesia perfect for your next getaway.
Tana Toraja Village, South Sulawesi
This UNESCO world heritage site offers a full package of cultural experiences. From the culture, their unique belief system, traditional houses, to the villager’s daily life, Tana Toraja Village still maintains its heritage. The village has its unique culture relating to its conception of death. Travellers will have a chance to witness an unusual burial site from this culture that reflects Tana Toraja’s belief system. If lucky, they will have the opportunity to see the burial ritual that consists of a lot of cultural activities such as dance, a sacrificial ritual of buffalos and pigs, and a lot more.
A foreigner can even get a chance to stay in one of Tana Toraja’s traditional houses at Tongkonan to see how it feels to sleep like the locals in their home. A local guide is recommended to ultimately experience Tana Toraja’s culture. Tana Toraja also offers nature experiences too, with its beautiful hiking trails, rice paddy fields, and other natural features that will complete the trip.
Royal City of Yogyakarta
Millennials will be in for a treat in this royal land. Rich Javanese culture is the soul of this very place and paints every corner of the city. The moment you step into this city, you will immediately be greeted by the warmth of its culture. Javanese culture is famous for its politeness and warm attitude, definitely a traveller-friendly city. Yogyakarta still has a lot to offer than just that. This city has a lot of museums to visit, ancient buildings and temples to explore, some cultural attractions to experience, and delicious local traditional food to try. Millennials will enjoy this culture-filled city, with its endless experiences to complete your cultural journey.
This historical royal city will allow millennials to see a glimpse of Indonesia’s historical journey, and show its cultural development. You'll be able to see how diverse it is since there is a combination of multiple cultures reflected in this city, either with its architecture or other aspects. There are a lot of Airbnb's in this city to accommodate the millennial style of traveling. Yogyakarta is one of the cultural havens for Millennials.
Setu Babakan Village, South Jakarta
Millennials will find it weird to discover a cultural village amid Indonesia’s capital city. Little did they know, Jakarta which looks like a busy city packed with business centres, has its own original traditional culture and ethnicity known as Betawinese. Setu Babakan Village is where millennials can find living evidence of Betawi culture. The village offers a lot of cultural experiences. You can stroll around the village filled with authentic traditional houses, satisfy your hunger with local traditional cuisines like kerak telor, local beer pletok, soto mie, and other delicious choices, and even watch the mesmerising Lenong dance, Tari Topeng, and some of the musical performances from Keroncong and Gambang Kromong bands. You also get a chance to witness the local signature martial art called Pencak Silat.
Millennials will learn a lot about Betawi culture and can even try wearing traditional Betawi clothing in one of the photo spots. They will encounter a lot of trees and fruits that are natives to Betawi areas and their natural features. A village dedicated to preserving traditional culture amid the capital city’s hustle and bustle will make a great story and experience.
Sade and Ende Village, Lombok
Yes, these are two villages but can be considered as one place, seeing that it's only 5 minutes apart from each other and comes from one ethnic group called Sasak. The Sasak people are very adaptive and have developing communities, but these two villages managed to maintain its cultural authenticity. At Sade Village, millennials will immediately be offered a tour around the village, explaining how the people of this village retain its traditional behaviour and beliefs. Like living in traditional houses made with bamboo and straws, the villager’s way of storing their crops in the traditional rice barns, and its unique belief that only women are allowed to pick rice from there, and their daily activities. Millennials can immerse themselves in Sasak’s culture as the environment itself still has that authentic feeling. Meanwhile, at Ende Village, millennials can find a more secluded and exclusive version of the Sasak culture, as it is not as famous as its counterpart.
But at Ende Village, millennials can witness Sasak’s knightly ritual called presean, where two people will go into a match accompanied by a referee, equipped with a wooden shield called Ende, and a rattan rod called penjalin. They fight each other vigorously, but not out of hatred, but for the sake of sport and fun. Millennials will love this kind of ritual display. But they will be in for a big surprise when they find out how the villager mops the floors of their homes with buffalo’s excrement.
Ubud, Bali
Bali is already a haven for millennials culture trips, as it is rich with culture and offers a lot of enjoyable experiences. Ubud is one of them, being Bali’s cultural capital. Almost everything can be experienced here. From exploring a cultural site like the royal palace of Bali, a culinary journey by learning how to cook Balinese food in a local restaurant, unique local handicrafts and learning how to make one, undergoing a spiritual experience by going to a spiritual healer or cleansing one’s soul in Tirta Empul Temple, and many more. Many festivals and performances are held in Ubud, and anyone can enjoy it.