Indonesia Part One

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We've been in Indonesia for the past 2 months, with little or no access to the internet, so haven't written a blog in quite a while! Indonesia is such a diverse country, spread out over 17,000 islands! We spent our first month in Sulawesi and Maluku, then our second month in Bali, Lombok and Java. Here's our first month.....

Sulawesi - Part I

From Kuala Lumpur, we flew to Manado in the North of Sulawesi. We got our first experience of 'island culture' as soon as we landed when at baggage claim, 20 middle-aged women stood in a large circle, holding hands and singing a gospel prayer of thanks for a safe return. It was beautiful, such a lovely sound.

Manado itself wins no prizes for architecture. Fortunately we only had to stay there one night, before getting a boat to Bunaken (a small island to the north of Manado). As we approached Bunaken we noticed how crystal clear the water was. We checked into our resort, where we were staying in a little beach bungalow, with balcony and hammock. We spent the afternoon snorkeling just off the beach. The coral and marine life was amazing. So many bright and beautiful corals and lots of tropical fish. It was the best snorkeling we've ever done. Magical.

After a couple of days of fantastic scuba diving (seeing Sharks, Eagle Rays, Barracuda and Giant Tuna) and snorkeling , we decided to head off 'the beaten track' and found a flight to Maluku (to the east, between Sulawesi and Papua).

Maluku - Lease Islands

As a bit of background it's worth remembering how important the Moloccus or Maluku was a few hundred years ago. In a world without refridgeration the Dutch, Spanish and Portuguese fought hard to control the trade of the spices(cloves, mace and nutmeg) that were able to preserve food and provide much sought after flavour. Eventually the Dutch won this trade war and established forts and garrisson towns all over the area to protect their investment. However all good things must come to an end and it was the British who were to blame. They just "stole" cuttings and seeds and planted them in their colonies where they grew just as well! Genius. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maluku_Islands#Background:_.22The_Spice_Islands.22

We flew from Manado (via Makassar) to Ambon, in South Central Maluku. The plan was to try and catch a connecting flight to the Banda Islands however, we missed the weekly flight by one day and we didn't fancy a 12 hour night boat trip. Time for a new plan...

After staying in Ambon for a night, we took the public boat the next day to Kota Saparua (the most inhabited of the Lease Islands - south of Ambon). We were the only tourists on the boat - come to think of it, we hadn't seen another tourist in 24 hours. The locals on the boat annoyed us by throwing their rubbish from the boat and into the beautiful turquoise sea......water bottles, sweet wrappers and even soiled nappies!!

As we arrived in Saparua, it looked beautiful - green lush forests in the middle of the island and pretty beaches around the edge. We managed to find a guesthouse - the rooms were basic and clean, and each room overlooked the beach. To get running water in our bathroom we had to ask the owner to turn the pump on for the well! We'd planned on staying a couple of nights, but the family who ran the guesthouse were so warm and welcoming, we ended up staying a week! It was 60,000 rupiah (4 GBP) a night, including dinner!

Each time we left the guesthouse, we found ourselves surrounded by local children shouting out 'Hello Mr'. As soon as we responded, they would collapse with laughter! Some days, we would be followed by dozens of children, all shouting out and laughing at us! As we were the only tourists on the island, we got plenty of attention. We were such a novelty that young children tried to touch and smell our skin, as most had never seen tourists before. The attention was funny at first, but soon became a bit of a hassle, and made us feel quite self-conscious!

On our first full day, we hired a moped and went exploring the coastline. We found a beautiful beach. As soon as we pulled up on our moped, all of the local villagers came out to see us. News of the "bule's" arrival (slang for tourists) went out throughout the village, and we were soon surrounded. Very few of the locals could speak any English, apart from the customary 'Hello Mr' and 'How are you?'. We finally managed to shake the locals off enough to go swimming and snorkeling. Unfortunately the coral and marine life aren't protected, so most have been damaged. We decided to go to another beach to snorkel - we saw lots of huge starfish, but nothing else. By the time we got out of the water, a group of about 10 young children had gathered to see and speak to us. We gave a lovely impromptu English lesson - counting, reciting the alphabet and teaching them basic questions and answers. Very funny!

The next day, after a visit to the local food market, we headed off to a town called 'Ouw'. The scenery was lovely, with the sea on one side, and lush forests on the other. We drove around, and managed to find a beautiful deserted white sandy cove - it was very picturesque. We had a lovely afternoon, however as we drove off at the end of the day, we realised that our camera was missing! It had been stolen from our bag when we'd been in the sea! We had an interesting couple of days, involving conversations with the village Raja (King) and meetings with the Military Police, who conducted several harsh but fair interviews to the key suspects! None of them signed a confession though!

We put the missing camera behind us, and had fun exploring the island. On one day we managed to find a great place to snorkel, but to get there, we had to walk through thick rainforest. We had no idea which way to go, so a young boy offered to show us. As we walked through the forest, more and more young boys came out from behind the trees and joined us on our walk. The boys wore no shoes, and were completely independant - understanding the noises and smells of the forest. It was a bit like "Lord of the Flies". As we walked, we saw locals carrying wood and fruit out of the forest, a recently hunted pig, and a dead Kusu (which looked similar to a Koala bear) slung over a man's shoulder! We finally got to the sea, and went for a lovely snorkel. The water was clear and the coral was pretty nice.

Maluku - Seram

After a very fun and interesting week, we missed our ferry and chartered a little outrigger boat to Seram. The boat left us close to a road, from which we waited for a bemo (shared taxi ) to go past, heading for the main town of Masohi. After a couple of hours we arrived. Masohi was / is a dump! A town dominated by a bus terminal. We stayed there one night - which was horrible as we had 2 rats running around our room, trying to get into our bags and urinating under the bed!! The joys of backpacking! :-) The next day we headed in a bemo, through acres of rain forest, to Sawai - a town on stilts over the sea in the north of Seram. As we arrived, our driver seemed to parade the bule's through the streets, showing off his tourist cargo! It wasn't a nice feeling and we were starting to really dislike all of the unwanted attention. We arrived at the only guesthouse in Sawai, a beautiful place, on stilts over the sea. Looking out to sea was gorgeous, but looking at the shore wasn't - it was full of rubbish, and we even saw a big turd float past us!! We decided then and there that the only way to go snorkeling was by boat.....so that afternoon we headed off on a snorkeling trip. The water was so clear and the coral was very pretty. It was like a tropical version of Norway with 12,000 ft peaks tumbling straight into the calm bay.

That evening we got chatting to the only other tourists we'd seen since arriving in Maluku - Philippe, Gilbert, Valerie and Bee. We spent the next couple of days together, chilling out and snorkelling.

We soon realised how remote we were when we had to try and arrange transport out of Sawai. There were only 3 cars in the town, and all were full! The only way out was by boat to another town, and then hope that we could catch a shared taxi from there. We had to leave at 6.30am for the best chance! We did, and luck was on our side, as we managed to get a shared taxi, which took us back to Masohi, and from there we caught a ferry back to Ambon.

Maluku - Pulau Ambon

After haggling away at the ferry port in Tulehu (Ambon), we managed to get a motorbike taxi to take us to Natsepa Beach - a long stretch of beach, overlooking Ambon Town. The beach was overlooked by dozens of food stalls all selling the same thing - Rujak Salad (tropical fruit mixed with a sweet and spicy peanut sauce). We found a great guesthouse overlooking the beach, it was very picturesque.

Unfortunately the shoreline was covered in rubbish....hundreds of plastic bags and bottles! We tried swimming one day, but there was too much plastic for it to be enjoyable. So, we spent most of our days reading our books! Kota Ambon is a lovely island, with some great beaches, dense forests and cute villages. Just a shame that the locals haven't been educated to clear up their rubbish! The government don't help, as there are no rubbish bins and no refuse collection. Each household needs to burn their rubbish individually.

Our guesthouse cooked us some great food - which we really welcomed. The food in Maluku was hard to find, and there was no choice! Restaurants cook food hours / days in advance and leave it in bowls sat in glass cabinets. The spices are supposed to preserve the food, but it's never completely fresh, and is often served cold. We didn't find a single menu in Maluku! Amazingly though we ate everything we were served and were never ill.

The highlight was the day we headed off on a rented moped to a place called Mamala. We'd arranged to meet a girl called Kartini (a travel agent that we'd met), whos uncle was the Raja (King) of Mamala. The town was hosting a big Muslim ceremony (Pukul Sapu), to celebrate the end of Ede (a 7 day festival at the end of Ramadhan). The celebrations began with some music, dancing and prayers. Once the Raja arrived, 16 men dressed only in shorts walked onto the field in front of the hundreds of spectators. 8 of the men wore white, and 8 wore red - representing 2 tribal rivals. They each held about 30 palm leaf spines from a Sago palm, in their hands. The men stood in a line, facing their opponents. The music began, and so did the whipping - with each team taking it in turn to whip the other. Each man was paired with another man, and one of the men walked backwards whilst being whipped. Once he reached the end of the field, he turned and whipped his opponent. The palm spines they used were strong, and cut through the skin, leaving the men bleeding. This lasted for about 5 minutes. Then a new set of teams got on the field and did the same. After 5 minutes, the original teams entered the field for more whipping. They were bleeding and clearly in a lot of pain - but they were focused and adrenaline was pumping. It was horribe but utterly compelling to see! Afterwards, they rubbed oil over their bodies (mixed with chili and cloves), poured from the King's crown - believing that this will heal their wounds, and leave no scares.

Sulawesi - Part II

We flew from Ambon to Makassar to complete our tour of Sulawesi, concentrating on Tana Toraja. After a night in Makassar, we were lucky enough to get on a flight (only 2 a week) to Tana Toraja. It was a tiny 18 seater plane, and there were only 5 passengers! As we walked up the steps the pilot welcomed us by saying "welcome, you're going to my village now". After 15 minutes in the air, the pilot and co-pilot shut their curtain and lit up a cigarette, and puffed all through the 1 hour flight!

We found a great guesthouse called Pias Poppies, which was set in the country, in amongst beautiful gardens. The owners were lovely, and the food was amazing...!!

Most Torajans are Christian or Catholic, but the traditions come from their ancestors, who's religion was different to that of today. Tana Toraja is steeped in history and custom, most of which is based on their elaborate funeral ceremonies. After someone dies, the Torajans believe that a huge ceremony is needed in order that the soul passes to heaven / paradise. If not, then the soul will remain on earth and bring bad luck to the family. God will not be as willing to let the soul pass to heaven if it is alone (as it might be lonely), therefore it needs to pass with the souls of animals. It is because of this that animals are slaughtered during the funeral service - sometimes hundreds. The funeral service is usually 3-7 days long, with lots of guests. Throughout the ceremony (and especially on the last day), buffaloes and pigs are slaughtered. Buffaloes are seen as a special animal, and are reared just for the funeral service. They are purchased in the farmers' market for $2,000 - $20,000 each! It's usual for between 5-30 to be killed at a funeral. The more important the person, the more buffalo that are killed. A very rich person might have 150-200 buffaloes killed at the funeral!! It's carnage, like a huge open butchers. The meat is given to guests (in order of importance, and depending on the gift that they bought), eaten at the funeral and sold to the village. Hundreds of pigs are killed as well. After the mass slaughter on the last day, the coffin is taken and laid to rest in a cave or boulder grave. Torajans don't believe in burying in the ground, as the snakes and insects might upset the dead. So instead, whole families buy a 3 metre by 3 metre boulder grave (hollowed out by hand which takes over 2 years), and generations are buried together inside it. There is a door at the entrance of the grave. One boulder might contain 10 family graves (each containing hundreds of dead). The boulders are the size of houses. A picture is sometimes on show of the dead person inside the grave. However, before cameras, a life-like statue (effigy) would be displayed. Each village has a huge boulder, which is used for each family in the village. The very rich use caves instead of boulders.

After a person dies, their body is embalmed in natural oils from the forest, and mummified by a family member. Their coffin stays in the house in their room, whilst money is saved for the funeral - this can take up to 10 years!!! During this time, the person is thought of as 'sick', and breakfast, lunch and dinner is served to the closed coffin every day. Family and friends speak to the dead person, and even offer them cigarettes! Only after the funeral, when the person is laid to rest, does the soul pass to heaven.

On our first afternoon, we went to a funeral. The family is happy for tourists to attend, as long as you take them a carton of cigarettes. We walked down the track leading to the ceremony, and had to tread over lots of animal blood! Family and friends were socialising in specially errected bamboo structures, and in the centre the slaughter had already taken place. 26 buffaloes were killed and 700 pigs!!! There was meat and blood all around, and men were hacking into the buffaloe's heads to remove their horns. It was horrible, really disturbing!! We were invited to meet the family. The man had previously died 9 years ago!

The next day, we visited a cave grave with life-like effigies (statues) on the balcony of the cave, looking out to the countryside. They looked like the cast of the Waltons! The last grave we visited was a baby grave, which was in a huge old tree. When a baby dies in Tana Toraja, it is dressed in white and buried inside a rectangle shaped hole, which has been cut out of the trunk. After the baby is put into the hole, a piece of palm weaving is laid over the top of the hole, on the outside of the tree. In time, the tree re-grows over the hole and re-joins itself, leaving scarring to the trunk, but no hole. Thus returning the baby to nature.

Tana Toraja was a fascinating place to visit, full of wonderful traditions. The people were friendly, and the countryside was beautiful - the landscape was made up of rice fields, boulders, caves and bamboo forests. This was certainly one of the most bizare places we have ever been to. We would thoroughly recommend it!

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