Sulawesi – A Report
First, the key dates:
- 25.07.2024: Toraja
- 30.07.2024: Rammang-Rammang & Leang-Leang
- 31.07.2024: Bangka
- 07.08.2024: Return journey
Arrival ¶
Traveling to Indonesia or Southeast Asia always has two key moments for me:
Moment 1: When you suddenly become the “foreigner” yourself. In our case, that means being the only white people on the entire plane.
Moment 2: The humid, heavy air that always smells like smoldering fire and mixes with strange, floral scents. Then you know – you’re in Indonesia.
How much I’m looking forward to eating fried rice for breakfast tomorrow!
Toraja ¶
We spent a total of 3 full days in Toraja. The following text contains my fresh impressions after the first day, during which we were guided by our guide/host/homestay mother, Meyske .
Our focus was on understanding the local culture, and for that we traveled by scooter.
The first program item was a hanging coffin, then a stone grave. We were explained the different types of graves that the Toraja use historically and currently, and we also had very profound discussions about life, death, and social values with Meyske.
I already knew that the Toraja keep their dead in the house for quite a long time and call them “sick.” What wasn’t clear to me from the reports: They do mourn during this time. They don’t ignore death. Being “sick” is simply a status on earth in their belief system before they can return to heaven.
But of course the relatives mourn that the person has gone – they just integrate it differently into their lives and continue to bring them food and look after them while they lie in the house.
You could also notice in conversation with Meyske that she got a bit teary-eyed when she talked about her grandmother who had recently passed away.
The Toraja belief states that they came from heaven and will return to heaven. The time on earth is rather to be interpreted as “hell.” Something you have to master with the appropriate values to gain higher wisdom/emotions (when you’re back in heaven). And whoever is a bad person on earth doesn’t get a funeral with the corresponding number of buffaloes from the survivors and has no community to help with the rituals (e.g., carrying the coffin), so they can’t return to heaven. That’s the motivation to integrate well into the community here on earth. Great.
The belief and value system also places a strong focus on the local family community during one’s lifetime.
For example, only those who have taken care of something inherit it.
So the rice field can be kept by whoever wrested it from the wetlands of the family property. But if someone builds a house on stony land, the house belongs to them (they worked for it and can pass it on) – but not the plot of land. They haven’t taken care of the land itself.
And whoever takes care of the elderly gets the inheritance. Because those who stay here have fewer earning opportunities than if they go to the big city.
There are also no beggars here in Toraja. Everything is handled and shared within the family.
Afterwards, we went to the buffalo market – there was a lot of bullshit here 💩. Largest livestock market in all of Asia – or so. This is where the buffalo are traded that are then slaughtered at funerals.
Further explanations about culture and tradition were given while we sat in the living room of such a traditional Toraja house. All well and good, but when the explanations were finished, Meyske then knocked on the wall to the next room and greeted three dead people lying there, mummified through cloths – who had been there the whole time! (Or partially for 14 years..).
As the last program item, a cave grave was then on the agenda.
Before that, we stopped by a local family (distant relatives of hers). They were celebrating harvest festival and had prepared sticky rice in bamboo over an open fire – Papiong. We were also allowed to have one – and even shared between the three of us, we really had to stretch to finish it all. This gives you a good idea of the approximate quantity in the pictures.
If someone came to our barbecue party, I wouldn’t be so chilled. But on the other hand: They also have significantly larger quantities. Still, you can perhaps take something from this unflappable hospitality into everyday life.
Julia was then offered coffee and we had a very nice conversation with the family (speaking broken versions of each other’s languages). That was definitely my highlight alongside all the profound discussions and beautiful scooter rides through rice fields. The rice wasn’t just mega delicious and as solo travelers without a guide we wouldn’t have had such an experience – I also just really envied them afterwards for what they have here.
Life here is so wonderfully simple. When the house and land belong to you and the weather is nice all year round, you don’t need much more – and you can lead a permanently good life with lots of freedom.
It’s a simple life (simple in the sense of “simple”), but it’s not simple to get (simple in the sense of “easy”). Because without the family embedding and their values, it wouldn’t work.
The cave grave afterwards was also really intense.
The next day we were also allowed to participate in a funeral - it was one of two days when guests were received. Out of a total of 10 days altogether..
Toraja - otherwise ¶
The Toraja are made of sugar. When it rains, the Toraja stop all work. No one is outside anymore, nothing is transported anymore - no people and no food. And it rains here often. But, well, it’s still Indonesia ;)
It’s also interesting that children here are already allowed to ride scooters. As a rule of thumb: as far as they can walk, they can also ride a scooter. (Even in the most difficult terrain..)
They don’t have mail there. Because they don’t have addresses.
They also don’t have postcards. But it’s probably mainly because it’s not so touristy yet.
I think all the tourists who were in Toraja could be seen at the funeral. So not even a full dozen. We also met the Spaniards from Meyske’s homestay again today in Rammang-Rammang.
Oh – and Julia seems to be a highly coveted target for local tourists.
Rammang Rammang ¶
I’m glad I hadn’t cleaned my shoes yet that day – because today mud was on the agenda again.
We started with Rammang-Rammang. That’s a small landscape with a lot of karst mountains. Nowadays you can walk through it, but you have to keep in mind that all of this was still the seabed several million years ago, so to speak. And you can still see wonderfully on the formations how the current once flowed through. And even if only a small stone seems to be lying on the ground, it could be that this one goes very, very many meters further down and it’s just the tip of a cliff.
With a boat we went to the local village and treated ourselves to a coconut.
The people there take care of their livelihood (mainly growing rice and protecting rice from monkeys) and occasionally get a few rupiah from tourists who need to use the toilet or because they sell them coconuts (like us).
And again to my romantic notion: You also have to say that it’s hard work. They don’t do anything else than take care of the farm from morning to evening and occasionally cash in from a few tourists. For me, the intellectual challenge would fall by the wayside. Not for nothing did agriculture and animal husbandry lead to people being able to specialize – later also on other things. I’d rather do the other things.
In between, we also went to the “Firefly Cave.” It’s called that because due to mineral deposits in stalagmites and stalactites, everything sparkles as if there were fireflies.
The end of the tour was then Leang-Leang.
After we had dealt very much with the end (i.e., dying) in the last few days in Toraja, we dealt there with the beginning (i.e., with life) and what people did 40,000 years ago. They left cave paintings. According to scientists, probably the oldest traces of humans currently known.
A nice end to the tour, with the beginning, so to speak.
Bangka ¶
We were there mainly for one thing: diving.
Unfortunately, we didn’t see all that much. Many snails, but also seahorses, smaller fish schools, and corals of different species. Highlight for Julia was a cuttlefish couple (cuddling, so to speak).
On one of the days we had an excursion to Bunaken.
The main attraction in Bunaken there are definitely the turtles. Really very many. Another diver said she counted 53. Doesn’t sound unrealistic.
The other larger excursion destination that can be reached from here is at the Ruang volcano, which has only recently erupted. Unfortunately, it asphalted all underwater life and it will probably take about 100 years again before new aquatic life settles there.
On the last day in Bangka we were in Lihunu - the local village.
Really very picturesque. And we even had a very good guide who also told us quite a bit.
The highlight was really the children again, who greeted us all once more. The bravest even dared to touch us or give us high-fives. Wow!
But it feels good. We’ve experienced everything here that we set out to do. Now we’re ready for the return journey.
In our case, it’s always not just a farewell from here but also simultaneously a joy for what’s at home – namely our wonderful children!
