Blogs from Tana Toraja, Sulawesi, Indonesia, Asia

Tana Toraja-A Land Like no Other. I went in December 2019, my time there seems like a dream. Woke in my little room near the harbor in Bau Bau, SE Sulawesi in the early morning hours, 4AM. Bad sleep night, excitement on my mind, reflecting for hours on my great journey so far and what was to come. Walked outside, toward the end of the lane I found a guy I had talked with the night before about a lift to the airport. We hopped on his moto, streets almost empty, zipped up the hills of this lovely city and headed south in the cool (ish) morning air. Though I had only spent 2 whole days in this town, I had grown to love it. Something special, beautiful setting, pretty much no tourists around. I think ... read more

Ranajky fialova ryza a vajicko. Opat si clovek mohol dat kolko len chcel. Nuz napraskany smer pozicovna pri lapagan parku. Parkujem hned pri tej co je na rohu blizsie k rieke. Je mi sympatickejsia ako vedla (tam davaj 80k), tu 100k, zlavu dala na 90k ale po dlhom vahani nakonec 80k. Prilbu si pytam s celnym sklom, ono totiz uz nemam slnecne okuliare, tie ostaly v koreii. Kontrola paliva, polka nadrze, mam donist podobny obsah nazad. Nasadzujem kuklu a smer prva zastavka Ke'te' Kesu'. Premavka je husta ale vodici su ohladlpuny. Odpajam sa z hlavneho tahu, hned to je citit, ziadny kvalitny povrch, vymoly, chybajuci asfalt, prepadnuta cesta. Som pri atrakcii. Plati sa vstup. Na to serem, su to aj tak len domy, ktorych je po ceste kopa. Fotim si to vsetko z parkoviska. Domceky su ... read more

Today we are off to see some of the various burial sites used by the Toraja. Their belief system is complex. Most of them are Christian, and their Christianity seems to combine seamlessly with their ancient beliefs. They are not animists by and large; they are not into spirit worship. Christianity came to Toraja when the Dutch came to the area in 1906. Only about 15% of the population are Muslim, unlike the rest of south Sulawesi which is heavily Islamic. However, first we are going to see the twice weekly livestock market in Rantepao. This is where buffalo and pigs are traded. Buffalo are imported from elsewhere in Indonesia to satisfy the almost insatiable demand for buffalo for sacrifice, and the traders bring them here. There are hundreds of beasts in several rings, on the ... read more

We arrived by plane in Sulawesi and the next day we went in the mountains to see the Toraja, people who have different traditions. We were in a 5 star hotel with a pool and a buffet every morning IMAGES. We took a guide and decided to see a Toraja funeral. When we arrived you could hear the noise of pigs being sacrificed and you could smell lots of smoke from the fires that were cooking the meat. There was this traditional house IMAGES and apparently the dead man was at the top of the house with his closest family members staying underneath. But this isn't a normal funeral because it lasts five days and thousands of guests turn up. It takes years to prepare and they sacrifice water buffalos so that their spirit can pull ... read more

Eggs on toast for breakfast then off to Ke'te Kesu for some very impressive traditional homes,granaries, a white buffallo, a friendly dog and ofcourse more human bones. Next we visited a number of other similar sites at Sangalla, Tampangallo and Suaya villages before visiting the Kambirra baby graves. Now that was a macabre site they carve a hole into the side of a fast growing breadfruit tree and place still borns and infants in the hole then cover the hole with burlap, eventually the tree grows and the hole seals. We then returned to Rantepao for lunch I have to eat at westerner cafes to get a vegetarian meal which is more expensive. Tonight I may have seafood pizza before bed. Today is our last day in Tana Toraja so we visited the market which runs ... read more