Blogs from Sulawesi, Indonesia, Asia - page 6

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

The pouring rain has stopped and it’s a beautiful morning. We enjoy the luxury of a lie-in – to 6.40! The unexpected pleasures of Rumah Saweh continue, with a “Dutch” breakfast of homemade yogurt, smoked salmon, pastrami, cream cheese, fresh passion fruit and excellent coffee. We wish we could stay another night, but sadly we have to move on. Yusruf takes us on an easy walk through the countryside to a nearby village, with some 400 year old houses, and he points out different plants and their medicinal uses, which he learnt from his grandma. As we set off, the villagers shout at him, he tells us “Oi Yusruf, why are those foreigners walking with ski poles there is no snow here hahaha”. So rude. We see durian, cocoa and mangoes growing on trees which we ... 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

A couple of blogs back I mentioned that we had a nine night period where we would be staying in eight different hotels. This was down to three things; wanting to visit Borobudur overnight, having to do a visa run to KL and travelling to the Togean Islands. You really have to be keen to travel to the Togeans, especially when there are some many other beautiful islands in Indonesia with far better transport links. But, we like a challenge! Our journey started with a flight from KL to Makassar with an over night stay in Makassar. The next day we had another flight, this time from Makassar to Luwuk followed by a six hour car journey to Ampana. We then had one night in Ampana. The final leg of our journey was via two boats. ... read more

I had always been curious about Togean Islands, and somehow, it constantly lured me to come. The only reason stopping me going there was its its inconvenient access, despite its proximity from Gorontalo. A year ago when scuba diving in Gorontalo, I met Luka, dive instructor, who had spent a great deal of time in Togean. Convinced it was worth going, I then gathered three other diver friends to come along. During Vesak break, we took off and landed at Gorontalo airport in the afternoon, where our airport transfer was ready to take us to town. We had a few hours to kill before heading to the harbour by 6 pm the afternoon. Two hours after its scheduled departure time, Tuna Tomini ferry finally started to move at 8 pm as it had to wait for ... read more