TANA-TORAJA, SULAWESI

TANA-TORAJA, SULAWESI

When the bus pulled into Toraja, we were blown away by the majestic scenery.  Lakes of pillow like clouds hung low in the mountain valleys, while steam rose from the rice terraces and fields below.  We felt like we were in Guilin or Laos, but it was actually even more stunning.  We were on a package tour, so we got dropped off at our upper mid-range hotel, a short jaunt from the main road, through some rice terraces.  Our room was right in front of the pool.

We slept for four hours, grabbed breakfast, and then went on a tour with our first "friendly" Indonesian to guide.  He took us to a very large funeral ceremony, where we witnessed the slaughtering of a pig.  While he was still alive, they were gutting him, full on stomach and intestines all oozing out, while a startled and shocked water buffalo stood by wondering if he was next, which of course, he was.  This beast had it's neck cut, and he bled out for about 10 minutes before he was skinned and chopped up for the various villagers.  Essentially, any family that arrives either brings a pig or a buffalo for the deceased member's family.  There are no words to describe what we witnessed.  There were women using bamboo to drum/hit wooden logs, everyone wearing ceremonial dress dancing around like they were possessed or something.  The crying son of the deceased women offered my some smokes and thanked me for coming.  We shook hands, talked to me about Belgium with another old timer, and the went to talk to one of the other 4000 people there that day.  While waiting to use the bathroom a lady invited us into the 2nd floor VIP canopy area, where the police, military  and officers and politicians were sitting.  We had some drinks and food from their buffet . The funeral goes on for four days.  While on the way out, we saw a jeepeny full of pigs that were tied up show up, with all the pigs waling. Then we went to a very nice terrace restaurant where we had traditional Torajan food, more of which was cooked inside Bamboo.  Over the next few days, we visited hanging craves, graves inside caves, graves built into rocks, traditional homes that look like boats (Torajans build their homes to look like boats to not forget that they came to Indonesia via the sea from China), GOOD COFFEE, and lots of buffaloes.  The people here are very kind.  The gals all walk a lot, so they are not like the typical fat-bottomed gals from Jakarta.  Toraja has a real small-town feel to it, not like a bunch of houses piled onto the side of a highway, like in Java.

On the way back to Makassar, via private car, we stopped by the Erotic Mountains, which are shaped like a, well, you can use your imagination.  We also saw some large fish being dried and had a crappy lunch at a seaside restaurant. 

Toraja was the high-lite of our trip, and the funeral was the high-lite of Toraja.  There are flights now from Makassar and Balikpakpan on Borneo/Kalimantan, so it's not too hard to get to.  This is a very important thing for any person to see.