Other spider web rice fields in Flores beyond Cancar

By Spider Web Rice Field Editorial Desk

Yes, other spider web rice fields in Flores exist beyond Cancar. Kompas reported hundreds of lodok fields in Manggarai in 2022 and called Cancar the best known. Named alternatives include Lodok Lingko Ratung at Carep near Ruteng, Wae Noa at Rawang in East Manggarai, and Lembor in West Manggarai. Public detail on viewpoints and access at these places is thin.

Are there other spider web rice fields in Flores?

Yes, and in quantity. Kompas put the number of lodok rice fields in Manggarai in the hundreds in 2022 and described Cancar as the best known of them. Cancar's fame does not mean it stands alone: Kompas in 2017 called the Meler fields among the largest in the regency, which is a comparison with others of the same kind. Keep to that wording, since no source supports calling them the largest in the world. Lodok rice fields besides Cancar are not rare, then. They are simply written about less.

A customary head gave journal researchers a count of 18 lodok for Meler, of which 12 form full circles and 6 half circles, more than the visible count usually quoted. The names and spellings around Cancar are untangled in Lingko Meler, Cancar or Cara, which is useful before you start comparing places on a map.

Where is Lodok Lingko Ratung?

At Carep, 3 km from central Ruteng, according to Kompas. That makes it the obvious candidate for someone with an hour in town who does not want the drive to Cancar. Kompas treats it as a place to see the same web form, and it uses this example to explain that lodok is the land-division system, with its outer part called cicing.

Before you plan around it, ask who manages access now, how high you can stand above the circle, and whether a path is maintained. A spider web only reads from above, so the vantage point decides whether a nearby field is a highlight or a flat green plot from the roadside. Ask a Ruteng driver or guide about this before you commit part of a day. Atlas Obscura describes chartering a bemo or car from Ruteng, and local drivers are the likeliest people to know the current state of things.

What is Wae Noa like?

The record here is short. The Jakarta Post, writing in 2013, named the Wae Noa fields in Rawang village, Lambaleda, in East Manggarai, as another example of the form. Mongabay separately lists Rawang in East Manggarai among the places where these fields occur. The two reports appear to point to the same area, though neither says so outright.

Published detail stops there, without a viewing point, path, entrance arrangement or road time. East Manggarai is also a different regency from Ruteng's, so expect to do a separate piece of planning and do not treat it as a short add-on to a Cancar morning until a local has confirmed the journey.

What about Lembor?

Mongabay lists Lembor in West Manggarai alongside Cancar and Rawang. Wikipedia records that West Manggarai split from Manggarai in 2003, with East Manggarai following in 2007. That history helps explain why these fields cross today's regency lines. Mongabay also says that while rice is grown across Flores, most comes from the three west Flores regencies that were once one. The boundaries on your map are recent, and the farming landscape is older.

Lembor's mention in the sources does not tell you whether a good overhead view exists there. Travelfish separately reports spider web fields along the Labuan Bajo to Ruteng road, which suggests some travellers may catch the form from a vehicle window. That source does not tie those views to Lembor, so do not assume they are the same fields.

Is it found only here?

That claim has been made, but it has not been shown. The then head of the provincial tourism agency told Mongabay that nowhere else in the world has lodok fields. The ISVS study calls the land system unique to Manggarai. A tourism official's statement and one study's description are attributable claims, and neither reports a worldwide survey. This guide reports them and does not adopt them.

Within Manggarai the sources do support something narrower and more useful: the form is common enough that you do not have to see it at one place only, and Cancar is the place with the most public information around it.

How should you choose between them?

Choose according to how much uncertainty you can absorb. These are editorial judgements drawn from the record above, not rankings from a source.

• Limited time, first visit: Cancar has the most published detail on steps, entrances and viewpoints, so there is less to find out on arrival.
• Already based in Ruteng: Ratung at Carep is the closest named alternative, provided a local confirms there is somewhere to view it from.
• Heading west or east anyway: Lembor or Rawang may be worth asking about on the way, but as a discovery and not a fixed point in a tight schedule.
• Wanting the land system explained: a local guide is what ASITA NTT, a trade body for travel agents, suggests at the Lingko fields, and a guide may also know which other circles are worth the detour.

Three questions are worth asking anyone who suggests a lesser-known field: where would I stand, who do I ask or pay, and what stage is the crop at this month?

What do people ask about fields beyond Cancar?

Does Lembor have lingko rice fields?

Mongabay lists Lembor in West Manggarai among the places with these fields, alongside Cancar and Rawang. The report does not name a viewpoint or a specific location, so ask locally before you build a stop around it.

Are Lembor rice fields similar to Cancar?

Mongabay groups them together, which suggests the same form. Size, the number of circles and viewing conditions go uncompared, so similarity beyond the basic pattern stays unconfirmed.

Are Ratung Carep fields similar to Cancar?

Kompas presents Lodok Lingko Ratung as a spider web field of the same type, and it calls Cancar the better known. It gives no direct comparison of scale, and Cancar's steps and viewpoints are simply better documented, by other sources.

Are there lingko fields at Ratung Carep?

Yes, according to Kompas in 2022, which places Lodok Lingko Ratung at Carep, 3 km from central Ruteng. Current access arrangements are undocumented, so check with someone in town.

Are spider web rice fields found outside Cancar?

Yes. Kompas reports hundreds of lodok fields in Manggarai, and Mongabay and the Jakarta Post name places in West and East Manggarai. Travelfish adds that such fields can be seen between Labuan Bajo and Ruteng.

Which sources support this page?

• Tourism journal article on Lingko Lodok in Meler (2025)
• Kompas Travel (2017): Lingko Lodok in Manggarai
• Kompas Travel (2022): Lodok Lingko Ratung
• Travelfish: spider web rice fields near Ruteng
• The Jakarta Post via Yahoo News (2013): spider rice fields
• Mongabay Indonesia (2017): spider web rice fields in Manggarai
• Wikipedia: Manggarai Regency
• ISVS e-journal study on lingko and mbaru gendang
• Atlas Obscura: Spider Web Rice Fields
• ASITA NTT: Lingko spider web rice fields

How do I reach the desk?

Curious about a lesser-known field on your route? Send the desk your route and timing on WhatsApp +62 811-3941-4563 or at bd@juaraholding.com, and read about our commercial interest as you weigh the answer.