Setumbu Hill and Rumah Dharma Village, Java, Indonesia – 2026

Setumbu Hill was quite something, we had to get up at 3 a.m. and then take a 45 minute bus ride and a 40 minute all uphill walk, all so we could see the sunrise! The sun didn’t rise until 6 so we had time to stand around lol.

When we got back down the hill, we got back on the bus for a 20 minute drive to the village of Rumah Dharma.

We were given breakfast boxes upon arrival and we were surprisingly hungry, probably from getting up at 3 a.m. After breakfast we got on bicycles and did a tour of the village. One family made coconut sugar out of coconuts. They have 5 coconut trees in their yard and the owner climbs each one twice daily. They get 5 liters of sugar out of 1 kg by stirring it on a hot fire and then letting it sit for an hour. It was very hot in their little hut where they make it.

Another family makes tofu, which I cannot stand ! I don’t get the appeal at all to tofu. To make tofu, they soak soy beans then cook them and then separate the liquid which will make tofu or soy milk. The shells they keep for animal feed.

We also stopped at a pottery house where the lady makes all kinds of differnt products. Some of us got to make our own little bowls, which we were not allowed to keep even though they told us to put our names on them ! It was fun anyways. We finished up at the village by heading back to where we had breakfast for a beer and lunch and then headed out for a 3 hour drive to our next stop.

So next stop….. Solo ! We stayed at the most beautiful hotel, stay tuned…..