Blogs from Sulawesi, Indonesia, Asia - page 20

See text in English below 2 - 3 diciembre 2009 Después de visitar el mercado de Bolu tomamos un autobús y fuimos hasta un pueblo no muy lejano. Íbamos a dar un paseo durante dos días. De este pueblito, que no sé ni nunca supe cómo se llamaba, andaríamos hasta Batutumonga, arriba en la montaña, y de Batutumonga, el día siguiente, iriamos de vuelta a Rantepao. Tana Toraja es un jardín, nos decía Astro, y nos iba mostrando tan feliz todos los tipos de plantas que encontrábamos. Daba caralemos a los niños que salían a nuestro encuentro y saludaba a todos los paisanos que nos cruzábamos. Con todos algo hablaba, pues es de mala educación, según nos contó, no preguntar por el tiempo, la familia, el trabajo o la salud. Vimos arrozales, bosquecillos de bambú, café, ... read more

Anecdotes II Well, here is another round of stories and observations I have picked up along the way. I have also found some pictures that sort of matches the spirit of the stories below. The other kind of travel tips In the last installment of Anecdotes I was rambling about how useless phrasebooks are. The same goes for travel guides in general. They do try to warn you of strange customs in the country you are visiting, but there are still some akward experiences waiting for you no matter how closely you study them. So here are some very useful tips for you. Tip #1 I have already mentioned how much I am enjoying massages during my travels. It is the best possible way to relax and get those nasty hours of bus travel out of ... read more

See text in English below 1 de diciembre 2009 El señor P. Kattu y la señora M. Tengan ya llevaban muertos un año. Formaban un matrimonio y tuvieron la suerte de morir con una diferencia de sólo dos meses. Suerte, sobre todo para sus descendientes, sus hijos en concreto, que podían enterrar a su padre y a su madre de una sola vez en un solo funeral y así ahorrar gastos. La familia del señor Kattu y la señora Tengan es una familia pudiente, y como tal, ha de completar los ritos funerarios más complejos del mundo toraja, que duran una semana. Sí así lo hacen, los muertos les colmarán de bendiciones y les traerán buena fortuna. Nosotro llegamos al funeral el martes, después de visitar Lemo, pero ya las ceremonias habían empezado el día anterior. ... read more

Here I am in Manado, after a long journey from London that started on the 3rd of November 2010 at 6pm from my home and arrived finally at my destination on the 6th of November at 5pm local time. Due to the tube strikes in London, I decided to take a cab to Paddington station to make it faster, but then heard on the TV that traffic was a stand still on that road, so asked the taxi driver how much it’d cost instead to go all the way by cab and the difference would have been about 5pounds, so I went for it. All went well and got there by7,30pm, check in on Singapore airlines was fast and good, I was given a window seat and I felt exited to fly on one of the ... read more

Raf made sure I was set for my next stop at Tangkoko Nature Reserve. I was reluctant to leave the warmth of great conversation and laughter at Cha Cha Resort (), but there always arrives a time to leave when you suffer the incurable pull of wanderlust. Raf and Reiko joined me in some comedic camera poses (I've kept my promise not to post them online), and soon I was waving goodbye from the boat. When the very kind driver picked me up, we talked about how my parents could handle me traveling as an only child and solo female traveler. He had an only daughter of his own whom he was obviously proud of and couldn't imagine letting her do such things. I explained that this was one subject where my parents, though probably worried ... read more