Travel

a buffalo in the middle of the crowd and started butchering it there and then. It went from a living, breathing creature to being entirely disassembled and placed in party bags in less than an hour. Then they started on the pigs, which were much more aware of what was going on, and it was time for us to leave. Our guide told us that 100 years ago it would have been human sacrifice- chilling! The Torajans bodies are placed in either cave graves, hanging graves, or graves carved in the rock. We had the opportunity to see all of these throughout the region. Outside of the graves there are Tau Tau, carved effigies of the deceased. The graves are not used for single people but entire families. Often when they are interred, they are already just bones or have become sort of mummified, so they are just wrapped in cloth and are quite small. Some of the more modern graves are larger to permit a more regular sized coffin. In addition to this cultural difference, the traditional Torajan houses are so strange looking. I took so many pictures as Id never seen anything like it elsewhere. They are striking but seemingly quite practical for keeping out the rain, heat and mice. They are decorated with the horns from all the buffaloes the family have sacrificed so the more horns, the wealthier they are. The two ends are used for sleeping and cooking is done in the central area with the smoke from the fire working to get rid of bugs like mosquitos. They have smaller versions in front for storing rice which only the women are allowed to enter (if the men go in, rats will follow Im told). We did some lovely hiking, its very hilly with a lot of rice terraces. They grow a lot of bamboo which is used in their construction, plus coffee, avocados, mangoes, durian, jackfruit, cocoa and bananas. There were no big plantations, these were all mixed in together and very natural looking.

Tana Toraja, Sulawesi

O
ur trip to the Toraja was probably the least planned of all our holidays as I couldnt really get much information about the region and what to do there so, for once, I decided to wing it.
encouraged to take a gift (clove cigarettes) and these were taken with thanks. The funeral we attended was for an old woman and her adult son. We met the family and were welcomed to stay. Funerals there do not happen as they do in our culture, within a week or so of death. They can be years after, depending on when they can get all the family together. Until that point the family member is kept in the home and treated as though they are just very ill, family still visits them. The funeral celebration lasts a week but we just attended the first day. When we got there, the deceased were being paraded around the village in their coffins which are styled like the Torajan rice barns. There was much shouting and cheering, they were large structures and required many hands. At one point, some of the guys fell down a ditch at the side of the road and everyone thought this was hysterical, not at all like the sombre funerals we have. After this, the coffins are placed in another Torajan style structure where they stay until they are placed into their cave grave. While this was happening, we were served tea and coffee and a selection of snacks. Next, the priest gave his eulogy and we were given lunch of rice, tofu, pork and vegetables which had been slow cooked in bamboo on an open fire with a local black spice or with coconut, lemon grass and chilli. This was followed by tuak (fresh palm wine), more tea and cake. The tuak comes fresh from the palm and one tree can produce 20 litres a day, ready to drink, no fermentation required. After lunch, the various attending families were presented to the grieving family and, the gifts they had brought, like pigs and buffalo, were handed over and recorded in a ledger. Then they slaughtered We landed in Makassar with just over 24 hours to spend there. We found this to be ample to visit all the listed attractions in our guidebook at a leisurely pace. We were lucky to happen upon Makassar Art Moment occurring at Fort Rotterdam. The fort was built by the Dutch in the 1670s and was used as a Japanese Prisoner of War camp in World War 2. But today, it was housing a collection of local artists work. Also, there was a show featuring performance art, drumming and local style dancing. The bus to the Toraja was incredibly comfortable with reclining seats and foot rests although sadly, we were right under the aircon which was unbearably cold. The traffic coming out of Makassar was very stop start with the classic Asian driving technique of continuous horn beeping in place of driving skills! The rest stops we paused at were all very bleak. When we hit the Toraja it was all rudimentary roads up a very steep hill. We arrived pretty rattled, but were pleased to find that our hotel was an oasis of calm despite being budget priced. Our room was large and clean with a high spec bathroom and all rooms were set around a beautiful courtyard, open air restaurant and pool. The main reasons for visiting the Toraja are the unique funeral and burial rituals maintained by the Torajan people. Sounds macabre, but its got wonderful countryside too. To gain access to one of the funerals you need to employ a guide, really. He told us not to feel bad about turning up to the funeral as, out of the 1500 guests, probably only 10% actually knew the deceased. We were

We found the food a bit hit and miss and not a great deal of variety but I think thats par for the course. The availability of avocados and scotch bonnet chillies made up for it. The bus back to the city was even more of an adventure. We tried the day bus and found that the downhill section while you could see was nauseating. Then it started to rain, heavily, in on us. Then his clutch went...

by Rachel Joseph