Sulawesi (yes!) September 7, 2008

 

SULAWESI, Indonesia 16-08-08

Hi again at last!

We,ve spent the last 2 weeks in Sulawesi, the spider shaped island to the east of Borneo. Flew through Bali for a night and on to Makassar, the Capital.

Due to no decent accomodation available b/c of conferences associated with National Day., we stayed in this awful hotel run by the navy with a certain pre-glasnost soviet feel to it, and a squillion mozzies. So we came straight up to the central highlands, Tana Toraja, the next day and we’ve gone upmarket (to $40) here & have a TV with Australia network, on which we saw Collingwood beat Port power last night! And caught up on news & snippets of Olympics.

Torajaland area is famous for it’s beautiful scenery, and unique ethnic group/culture. Part of this is the funeral rites that go on during July & August. People that die other times are kept at home ( embalmed ) and regarded as still alive & offered food & drink. Then when the season comes around or the family have saved enough (sometimes up to 5 years!) for the big 3 – 5 day ceremony, they slaughter buffalos & pigs & give them a good send off, and bury them in cliff caves. They are afraid that if they don’t do a good enough job the spirit will be restless & cause trouble. (Seems a lot to be said for the simple Irish-style wake where everyone gets tiddly, and has a good party by way of send off!)

They make wooden effigies outside the grave & keep offering things to make sure they get to heaven. The ceremony we went to was fairly gruesome, but having dealt with many beef & sheep carcasses as a kid I wasn’t too bothered, but the kids weren’t that keen. However, Winton’s impression of a dead buffalo is something to behold!

At least we missed the killing bit. They had 7 buffalo and more pigs arrived alive carried by 4 men, strapped to a bamboo frame. They were gifts from the rellos. High status people can have as many as 100 buffalos sacrificed, (so they always go to heaven)

It was interesting seeing the guests coming greeted by beautifully dressed women in traditional beaded costume, and men in red stripes & hats. We were with a guide so traded cups of tea & biscuits for a carton of cigarettes. Like everywhere in Indonesia, they’re incredibly friendly & welcoming, even at a funeral or wedding, (which we also saw).

Walking around the villages , rice paddies, through coffee & cacao groves, massive bamboo groves & patches of forest on the really steep bits was really pleasant . Quite mild & breezy, being 1200 m.

Winton sent an email to his class & that night at dinner said “my class won’t believe my email…(methinks: perhaps the bit about the bones falling out of the coffins was a bit graphic…but no)…they’ll never believe there’s 6 flavours of Fanta here!

We went white water rafting on the last day, which involved the steepest 4wd I’ve ever done, at least as “challenging” for Mama as the rafting itself. Great walk down to the river to start, what scenery!

The first couple of rapids were a bit scary ( as far as making sure the kids were still in the raft) but after that it was fun and beautiful, with patches of quiet to see the wildlife. At the end we tumbled out & bobbed along to the end. There were 2 other boat loads of Spanish who seem to have a monopoly on Sulawesi tourism, and smoke nearly as much as the locals. (There’s always someone around to breathe smoke at you just when you’re in danger of getting some fresh air. The saturation cigarette advertising reminds me of Australia 35 years ago b/f BUGA-UP & public health weighed in)

So Toraja was a lovely place to spend a week strolling around with our guide (we think his name was Pirana, but never did know for sure. After 2 days it seems a bit odd to ask someone their name again, so that’s what he got). He led us on some beautiful trails, anyway.

People were generally well fed & healthy looking with beautiful teeth.which they hadn’t yet stained red with Betel nut chewing, or brown from tobacco

Strangely they don’t use many of the spices they produce…no cinnamon, cardamon, vanilla, coconut in the food, and the chocolate is worse than nothing. I wonder how the Europeans knew about the spices they traded in for a start. The coffee’s good though, in a sweet black sort of way.

I’m reading the “Malay Archipelago by Alfred Wallace, the English Naturalist who travelled these parts in 1850-60’s. It makes an interesting comparison. He shot & skinned most species which are now extinct, or close to, but was humanistically quite enlightened. He came up with the theory of evolution as Darwin was pondering whether to take the big step and risk social suicide for scientific glory. Wallace’s letters gave him a push.

After a couple of days in the big smoke, (usually enough!) we left Makassar for a gruelling drive of 5 hours to a lovely beach on the tip of South Sulawesi.

Spent a few days enjoying that…breezy & salty…only slightly marred by people popping up to get a foto with us on the w/e when the Makassar tourists come by. Otherwise very quiet. Freya’s looking forward to going somewhere where there are a few more western tourists, like in Flores, a bit more social.

Now we’re in Sumatra, after sleeping the night at KL airport cos no hotels available. New visa & 3 ½ weeks here, but the battery’s low & the transformer often doesn’t work so I’ll send this & tell you more later.

Love from Shauna, Grant, Freya, & Winton