Toraja Heritage Hotel Tana Toraja

... van de handel gebruikt. Aan de haven ligt een groot Nederlands fort, fort Rotterdam. Dit is een van de best bewaarde Nederlandse gebouwen die in Indonesië zijn overgebleven. Binnen de muren van het fort staan dan ook gebouwen in typisch Nederlandse stijl . Volgens de Lonely Planet is het een klein stukje Amsterdam in Indonesië maar dat gaat een beetje ver. We blijven een paar dagen in de stad om wat te relaxen en rond te kijken en het ...

... s Popies. Great coffee. Delicious Monalisa juice. Buffalo steak. Learned: People have been buried in cliffs for 400 years. Torajan houses are based on ships, not buffalo horns. That its bad to be a buffalo during funeral season, but it's much worse to be a pig. Go back: Seen all I need. Wouldn't mind some more Nikki cigarettes though - I don't smoke usually but they were lovely.

The main reason for us for coming to Tana Toraja, apart from it being on our way south, was the famous Torajan funerals. This might sound macabre, but after reading this post you might understand why these funerals are so famous.

As tradition has it, the people of Tana Toraja honor the passing of a family member by a huge gathering of all family members and villagers. Hundreds of people gather in remembrance of the dead.

But let's start ...

... e. T'es tellement crevé que t'as pas la force de regarder les paysages. A 14h30, tu te dis que tu vas dormir sur le bord du chemin. Et le pire, c'est que, malgré la route défoncée, il y a des gens en scooter qui passent, ce sont les taxis locaux. 14h45, Ca sent le sapin cette histoire, tu dois être a 300m du sommet et après c'est encore 12 km de descente. Et tu te dis que ca va pas le faire et que les conneries ont une limite. Un mec en scooter arrive mais en sens inverse et pour ...

... jour, ils ont en sacrifié deux mais au total il y en aura une trentaine. Pour une personne de haut rang, le minimum est 24. C'est impressionnant, le buffle est attaché par une patte à un tronc, quelqu'un lui soulève la tête et d'un geste super rapide, il lui tranche la gorge (désolé pour les détails). Du coup, le buffle se débat et courre les quelques instants qui lui reste à vivre avant de s'écrouler. Et à ce moment là, mieux vaut ne pas être ...

... in other parts of Indonesia, and abroad, come back for vacation. It involves hundreds of guests, and, since Torajans believe that the souls of animals should follow their master's to the next life, carnage in the form of buffalo and pig sacrifices... it's a blood bath! Agus, our local guide, took us to the ceremony at a remote village, to get there we had to go thru a muddy and slippery trail where we met many of the guests also on their way, some of them brought pigs ...

... it is believed that the soul of the deceased is still with them - the body is injected with preservative, remains in the house and is treated no differently to the living family members (is served meals, takes baths, etc). Then, when a date can be set and enough cash has been raised the festivities begin, which can last for up to five days. Temporary pavilions are constructed in the village, and the celebrations begin with some traditional kickboxing and buffalo fighting. When we ...

... little fruit called 'salak'/snakefruit, covered in a brown scaly shell. It was supposed to have a 'nutty flavour', but all the ones I've ever tasted give you serious salak breath. Marcus is next to me swearing blind it is nutty... It's not. I wonder whether I will resent paying so much for fruit when I get home, but then I can't really take that view. We pay to have the choice available. It may not be entirely natural to be able to get mangoes in the dead of winter ...

Tana Toraja adalah salah satu kabupaten di Provinsi Sulawesi Selatan terkenal dengan ragam budaya dan adat istiadat masyarakatnya yang masih menjungjung tinggi nilai-nilai budaya warisan leluhur. salah satu upacara yang terkenal di Tana Toraja adalah Upacara Kematian atau ...

We are now in Sengkang, noted for its lake and silk-weaving. It is very hot after the mountains. Most of yesterday was spent on the bus - a very scenic ride, partly retracing our steps. We had a last breakfast of nasi ketam (the sticky rice dish wrapped in pandan leaves, which we have sought out every morning since our first try), and took two more for the journey, with some marquisas and avocadoes to eat on the way. We are staying in ...