After 26 years, I returned to one of Indonesia's most captivating islands - Sulawesi. This sprawling, octopus-shaped landmass has called me back five times now, and it's easy to understand why. While most tourists flock to Bali's beaches, Sulawesi offers something different: pristine coral reefs teeming with marine life in crystal-clear waters, vast untouched rainforests, and most intriguingly, ancient stone heads hidden in its remote interior.

Tentena in central Sulawesi. Shot from the viewpoint tower at dusk.

My journey began in Tentena, a quiet lakeside town in central Sulawesi. Having missed these mysterious megaliths on my previous visit, I was determined to see them this time. I arranged a trip with a local driver named Jefri for 1,000,000 Rupiah (about £50) - a small price to pay for what would become an unforgettable adventure into one of Indonesia's most enigmatic landscapes.

Leaving Tentena and heading up into the hills for the 60km of jungle roads.

As dawn broke, we left the paved roads behind and ventured into Sulawesi's wild heart. Our three-hour journey took us along muddy jungle tracks where the forest pressed in from both sides, creating a tunnel of green. Each time we stopped, the wilderness came alive around us - the air filled with an orchestra of insects, exotic birds calling out their morning songs, and the distant whooping of monkeys echoing through the canopy. These moments of stillness in the jungle made it easy to imagine we'd travelled back in time to when the mysterious stone carvers still inhabited these lands.

Typical view from the road en-route into the valley.

These dead trees mark a point around 3/4 of the way there, the Bada Valley is just visible over the distant ridge.

Our destination was the Bada Valley - a hidden paradise measuring roughly 11km by 6km, surrounded by the jungle-covered hills of the Lore Lindu National Park. This fertile basin, with its patchwork of rice fields and small villages, contains fourteen currently known megaliths, all aged between 1,000 to 5,000 years.

Covered bridge at the entrance of ‘Bomba’ village.

The megaliths revealed themselves one by one throughout the day, each more fascinating than the last. In the village of Bomba, we encountered our first stone sentinel - a head bearing an uncanny resemblance to Easter Island's famous Moai statues. Standing before it, I couldn't help but wonder about the mysterious connections between ancient civilizations separated by the world's largest ocean yet creating such similar artistic expressions.

Lanke Bulawa megalith in the village of Bomba.

A short drive brought us next to the ‘Loga’ megalith. Another humanoid representation that sits on a small hill and overlooks the rolling plains at the centre of the valley. Again the similarities between it and other stone effigies created by other cultures around the world was striking.

Logo megalith overlooking the central section of the valley

Loga megalith, shot side on with a view across to the southern hills of the Lore Lindu national park.

Local agricultural workers near to the Loga megalith, taking their lunch.

Once the second site of the day had been photographed, it was time for lunch and so my driver took me to a local homestay, ‘Ningsih’, where we eat a delicious meal of fresh fish and spicy beef with rice and beans. After lunch, a short walk to the north brought us to the valley’s largest river and the suspension bridge that crosses it.

Locals walking over the suspension bridge that crosses the valleys only major river.

The journey between sites was an adventure in itself. To reach the Baula megalith, we carefully balanced on narrow earthen paths between flooded rice paddies, more than once misjudging our steps and plunging into the warm, muddy water. The effort was worth it - this water buffalo-shaped stone seemed to watch us with ancient eyes as we circled it, while the 360-degree view of jungle-covered hills made it feel as though we were a million miles from anywhere.

The Baula Megalith, representative of a water buffalo submerged in water.

Local children in one of the larger villages.

Some megaliths required local guides to find, leading us through family orchards and down into hidden valleys. One particularly memorable stone figure lay reclining in a sandpit by a stream, with our enthusiastic guide insisting on being in every photograph - inadvertently providing a perfect sense of scale to these massive ancient works.

By this point the sun was getting low in the sky and we decided to race to the penultimate megalith, which was clearly one of the younger ones. The rock was in much better condition with little in the way of weathering. Another humanoid figure but clearly wearing some kind of hat or helmet. Possibly a representation of a warrior?

As the sun began its descent, we raced to reach the valley's crowning glory - the Palindo, the largest and most impressive megalith in the region. We arrived to find locals gathering for sunset photos, some dressed in traditional costume, creating a scene that could have been from any era in the past several centuries.

But I had a different vision in mind. Having researched extensively before my trip, I planned to capture these ancient guardians in a new light - literally. As darkness fell over the valley, I set up portable lighting equipment and began creating what I believed would be the first night photographs of these mysterious sentinels.

Traditional dress at the valley’s largest megalith, ‘The Palindo’

Working in the darkness, with only the stars and our lights for company, felt like a privilege - a private audience with these ancient watchers who have guarded the Bada Valley for millennia. Their origins and purpose remain largely unknown, adding to their mystique and drawing people like me back time and again to puzzle over their secrets.

Despite having visited Sulawesi five times, this hidden valley of ancient stone faces continues to captivate my imagination. Some of the worlds most incredible places remain relatively unknown, waiting for those willing to venture off the beaten path to discover them.