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.

  • Not quite !
  • There it is, sort of !
  • I had to walk out on this narrow board to stand on this platform for Clint to get a photo. I hate heights so this was a challenge for me
  • Other people taking pics
  • Part of the walk
  • On the walk back down the mountain, we passed some interesting things like this bar
  • An old bus
  • There were about 10 of these cars along this one part of the walk, all different colours
  • Convenience Store

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.

  • Our stop for breakfast and lunch
  • Biking !
  • Scene of the village
  • There is a man at the top of the tree, he does this twice a day and I believe he said he was in his late 50’s
  • Coconut Sugar
  • Tofu
  • Tofu making
  • A spot of tea
  • Village ladies
  • Pottery making
  • Our lunch

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

10 thoughts on “Setumbu Hill and Rumah Dharma Village, Java, Indonesia – 2026”

  1. Such a beautiful sunrise! ❤️ The landscape is very green and lush, wonderful and I will hard pass on the tofu. Eew! I couldn’t make that uphill trek, Susan, my back would just shut down with pain…

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  2. That’s funny you got up that early and still beat the sunrise! It was a nice panoramic view, but I would be uneasy standing there too – no supports and a long way down! They like bright colors here too, with the bus and vehicles. Your meals look good and that little rest area with the lounge chairs is nice for relaxing … probably having a little snooze after your early morning. I have never eaten tofu! I wonder why you didn’t get to keep what pottery you created since it had your names on them. That’s a lot of climbing in all those trees twice a day to retrieve the coconuts – he should rig some scaffolding to make it easier or those sideways ladders like painters use.

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    1. You aren’t missing anything by not eating tofu lol. I don’t think I ever climbed a tree as a kid so for sure couldn’t do it now. I guess after years he was used to it although as he gets older a ladder or something might be more useful. Yes there were 3 of us who made a little bowl and we were all surprised we couldn’t keep them. Our meals were all pretty good and they always had a good variety.

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      1. It looks tasteless, odorless and blah so it never appealed to me. 🙂 I’ve never climbed a tree and having had no brothers, there is absolutely no tomboy in me at all. The meals seemed healthy so there was that aspect.

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