Travel Around Tana Toraja
And we come to Makassar, the capital of Sulawesi Island
Happy because for once we had been sighted and hotel booked, so we drink and we avoided the depletion of starting the search. And glad of hotel, despite its sinister characters and be the chestnut that was when we saw the city. Chaos, dirt and nothing. Although it is true that not everything was bad. The smell of the sea that flooded the city heralded the feast that we were going to take before bedtime. Three succulent fish, fish that were only an hour before, a serving of fresh shrimp facts such as fish, grilled, plenty of rice and various sauces. The most amazing thing is that once again we were without a camera, but the ridiculous price we paid.
The next day around town looking for his only point of interest, a Dutch fort not found, and a walk in the hot sun along the boardwalk. Everything to make time to catch the bus on the way to Rantepao.
8 hours a night bus with wide seats, air conditioning, three people sleeping on the floor and one in the trunk. A long night. At 7 o’clock we reached our destination. Rantepao is the ideal city to travel around Tana Toraja, a mountainous region with a magical landscapes and huge and beautiful buffalo.
In this part of Indonesia, as in the rest of the country, the land is very fertile and gives it all you may need a man. Thus, the rice, the staple food in the kitchen Indonesia, floods everything. Each village, each house has its fields full of this essential grain in their diet. Not unexpectedly, both men and women and even children, will soon cease to be, planting it, picking it up or drying the roadside. As a family, community. But something stands in the landscape and distinguishes between the rice fields. On the one hand, the architecture, with which the Toraja challenge to gravity as they build their homes several feet high with curved roofs ground up, it is not known if emulating the horns of the buffalo or the hulls of boats which their ancestors supposedly came to the island. And second, the tributes and memories that pays people to their dead. The Tau-Tau, wood carvings representing the dead, and the hanging tombs can be found throughout the area. The result is a breathtaking and unique environment, only surpassed by the funeral rituals that take place every summer. And of course there were.
Arriving at a ceremony on their own is not easy when the towns lives on tourism and take care to give more information than necessary. But with a motorcycle, cunning and luck to meet the right person, anything is possible. So we Rantealo the first day of a funeral rite (as the status of the deceased may last 1, 4, or 7 days). We were walking around the town gate until Andys, a nephew of the deceased, invited us to enter. To enter and witness the ceremony featured because inadvertently end up eating with the hand and 12 in the morning, rice and pork with the head of the village and only 3 meters from the sleeper. For them a person does not die until their buffalo sacrifices, until then only at home sleeping, sick.
As mandated by the ritual, they prayed, ate and honored the deceased with songs in a circle around him, and then led it to the last lap on the outskirts of town. In the latter part of the walk a small herd of buffalo 5 joined the procession accompanied the body to the edge of town. Once there, and with unusual skill, put the drawer on the highest pedestal Rantealo. Then sacrificed a small buffalo, which 6 men armed with knives and axes, fully disarmed while receiving the gifts from neighbors and relatives from nearby villages. That is, in less than 20 minutes.
We went before long a storm impossible and they threw the freshly cut meat into the fire. Next day’s menu, buffalo and rice.