Leang-Leang Prehistoric Cave

A Visit To Leang Petta Kere And Leang Pettae 

 South Sulawesi

Simple Note about Leang-Leang :

There're lots of confusing and misleading information about these caves on the internet, so when I had a chance to visit both of them, I promised myself to share the right things :) about what's inside it, how to get there, who can visit, and entrance fare. Enjoy reading!

What's Inside Leang-leang Prehistoric Site :

After  entrance gate and parking lot, you'll see a 'stone garden' :

 

Wonderful view of natural rock formation with giant karst on the background

Unique shape of big rocks on the river

The karst landscape of Maros is a Unesco World Heritage Site and is the 2nd largest in the world (after Guilin in China). The one we see along the way to Leang-leang and in Leang-leang site is only a small part of it.



Following through nicely paved road among big rocks, then you'll find Leang Petta Kere :

A Brief Explanation About Leang Petta Kere

A few stairs to climb before you get this scene of prehistoric cave paintings : 

Painting of Hands

Painting of A Babyrousa

You can crawl inside the cave and go 1-step deeper to a wide cave area used to be a function room:

Inside, there's a wide and dry cave

After visiting Leang Petta Kere, you'll be guided to the other cave, Leang Pettae:

A Brief Explanation About Leang Pettae

Entering this cave, you'll see some active stalagtites with water dropping from its ends.  Seashells on rocks is a proof that this area used to be sea-front (now it's 40 km away form sea) :

Seashell on Rock at The Entrance To Leang Pettae

A small picture  of a pig is painted in red color on the wall of a narrow part of the cave. See my thumb as a comparison to its real size :

A Small Painting of A Pig on Cave's Wall

Then, your journey to these 2 caves ended, and you can (if you wish to) explore this 5 hectares area of Leang-leang site, including going down the the river, or seeing a mock-up Buginese traditional house in the middle of this site :

Mock-up Buginese House with Amazing Background

Facility of Leang-leang prehistoric site :

Newly-built toilets are available near entrance (=exit) gate, plenty of water but poorly maintained.

Who can visit Leang-leang prehistoric site:

Anyone who can climb steep stairs (equal to 2storey-height building) can go to Leang Petta Kere, while Leang Pettae has no stairs to climb. To enjoy the stone garden is effortless, you can bring your babystroller there ;) ... it's paved!

Getting To Leang Leang Prehistoric Site:

From Makassar, you have to go to Maros (1.5 hours drive), then you can take public transport (pete-pete) from Maros heading to Leang-Leang. The road to Leang-leang is parallel to a shallow river, under quite dense trees on both side of the road. 

When you see on your left side 'Kantor Camat Bantimurung' (Jalan Bantimurung Km8), you have to turn left (there's no pete-pete route that way, so you better rent a car :)) and you'll see a wooden legend sounds like 'To Leang-leang'. Picture below is not  photographically beautiful, but you can see the shallow river, the dense trees, and the Kantor Camat..here's where you have to turn left.

To Leang-leang? Turn Left After This Kantor Camat

Then you just follow the road for another 10-15 minutes, with beautiful karst of Maros on your right (and sometimes left) ...

And you won't miss the gate of 'Taman Wisata Prasejarah Leang-leang' ..it's on the right side of the road. First you'll see the old gate (it's locked), and next to it is the new gate :

Old Gate of Leang-leang

 

New Gate of Leang-leang

You'll have to pay IDR 10,000/person for locals or IDR 20,000 for foreigners. Then, an officer will guide you to the cave, you can give him tips after the journey (IDR 10,000-20,000). 

Related posts :

Fort Rotterdam : built in 16th century and still sturdily stands today
Losari Beach : locals' favorite place to hang-out 
Exotic Soups of Makassar : coto, konro, pallu basa, sop saudara