First of all, I am extremely sorry for the late post. Been very busy for the past month because of the holiday season - which means that I have been traveling extensively. Fret not, I will be posting every travel. :)
In the first week of December, I traveled to Sulawesi Island to visit the city of Toraja. This trip has been one of the most unique trips. I was very excited to be going to Toraja because of the many interesting facts about the city.
In the first week of December, I traveled to Sulawesi Island to visit the city of Toraja. This trip has been one of the most unique trips. I was very excited to be going to Toraja because of the many interesting facts about the city.
What/Where is Toraja?
Tana Toraja is a city located in the mountainous regions of south Sulawesi, Indonesia. There are about 1 million Torajans, of which about half live in Tana Toraja. Toraja have very strong culture that they follow up till now. These people are known for their extravagant funeral rites.
Day 1: Makassar - Toraja
Took us a lot of effort to finally arrive in Toraja:
Jakarta - Makassar: 3 hour flight
Makassar - Toraja: 8 hours bus ride. To make things worse, the road was really bad and winding. X.X.
*You can charter a small plane (8 seater) from Makassar Airport to Toraja and it will take about an hour.*
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| Overlooking the city of Pare Pare when we stopped over for lunch while en route to Toraja. |
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| Another stop over in a cafe that has this magnificent view of the mountains |
Day 2 & 3- Toraja
Our itinerary in Toraja was very interesting:
#1. Visited the market where they sell Water Buffalo & Pigs for insanely high prices
Torajans devoted much of their time and energy into raising Water Buffalos, Pigs, Chickens, etc, primarily for ceremonial sacrifices and consumption. In fact, both water buffalos & pigs are the 2 livestocks that are highly in demand in the city. The people slaughter these animals during their funeral celebrations. In addition to that, water buffalo is also use as a symbol of wealth. The more white patches the buffalo has, the higher the price of the animal. For instance, this buffalo below costs IDR 650 MILLION (USD$60,000) !!! Why the insane price? -> that's because the buffalo has the 'Caucasian' skin which is white patches. Selling this buffalo should be enough to cover one's funeral celebration. A normal buffalo price starts from IDR 30 million (USD$2,500). Pigs price starts from anywhere between IDR 1 million to IDR 15 million. Once these animals are bought, they will be slaughtered and eaten during the funeral celebrations. I cant imagine having to eat a USD$60,000 buffalo meat. THAT IS INSANE!
#2. Went to a stranger's funeral
As I mentioned earlier, Torajans are known for their elaborate funeral rites. It is also one's most expensive event. They believed that dead people should be celebrated because they will entering a long journey in the afterlife. Funeral ceremony is often held for few days, weeks or even years, so that the deceased's family members can raise enough money to cover the funeral expense.
So we visited someone's funeral that has been ongoing for 2 weeks. I felt really weird attending someone's funeral but they treated us really well and gave us plenty of food and drinks. Everyday during the funeral, they have to slaughter pigs and buffalo to feed those who came for the funeral. So you can imagine how much a 2 week funeral costs. Our tour guide mentioned that basically Torajans lived to prepare for their death. These people started saving up for their funeral from a very young age.
#3. Visited 4 burial sites
Toraja is also known for their burial sites. Torajans believed that one should not be buried in the soil because soil is a source of life. Instead, one should be buried in the rocks that are non living things. They would carved out the rocks and put the tombs inside. The wooden statues outside symbolized the faces of the dead people. It is amazing how far they would go to bury the dead people up in the rocks. You can get see their burial sites & real skeletons right in front of you. Some of us even took pictures with them! I wouldnt dare to do that, so I just took picture of the skeletons.. and NOT with it. :X Just wayyy too creepy for me.
Toraja is also known for their burial sites. Torajans believed that one should not be buried in the soil because soil is a source of life. Instead, one should be buried in the rocks that are non living things. They would carved out the rocks and put the tombs inside. The wooden statues outside symbolized the faces of the dead people. It is amazing how far they would go to bury the dead people up in the rocks. You can get see their burial sites & real skeletons right in front of you. Some of us even took pictures with them! I wouldnt dare to do that, so I just took picture of the skeletons.. and NOT with it. :X Just wayyy too creepy for me.
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| Lemo #1 |
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| Baby Grave #1 |
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| Baby Graves #2 - this used to be where infants were buried - up in this tree. |
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| Kete Kesu #1 - this is 'Tongkonan', a traditional Toraja house. |
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| Kete Kesu #2 - Real skeletons lying in Kete Kesu. It is said that one should not touch the skeletons unless they want to be visited by the spirits. |
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| Kete Kesu #3 - real skulls. Don't you feel like you're in halloween city?! |
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| Londa #1 - Another famous burial site where dead people are buried in the rocks. |
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| Londa #2 - The entrance to the burial site inside the rocks |
Day 4
Makassar - Jakarta
We stayed for one night in Makassar so as to have a taste of their culinary. Makassar's food is good, but not as good as Aceh's.
We stayed for one night in Makassar so as to have a taste of their culinary. Makassar's food is good, but not as good as Aceh's.
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| Tasted like a hot and sour soup with shrimp paste and thick sago. It tasted very weird to me because you have to swallow that chunky sago. If you were to chew on it, it would just feel even weirder to be chewing on a sago.. ! |
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| definitely my favorite food for the whole trip - this is banana wrapped in mochi skin & shaved ice! (aka Pisang Ijo) Such a good delicacy for a hot day. |
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| Fried with thick sauce on the top. This is kind of like the Thai Rad Na, except that the noodle is like instant noodle before being cooked. (Jakarta people would recognize this as IFUMIE) |
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| Managed to visit a mini waterfall inside a supposedly butterfly garden (but no butterflies at all). |
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| And the final destination is to take picture here in Pantai Losari (Losari Beach) so as to let people know that we've been to Makassar! ~ |
Was it worth the trip?
Hmm, personally it was worth it. However, this trip might be suitable for those who has traveled everywhere and is looking for something extremely different. The usual things that we see as a tourist would be scenery and good food. Toraja does not offer that. What it offers is something more unique than just scenery and food - the strong culture the people live in. This city makes you feel that you left the 21st century and entered into somewhat primitive place where people value their livestock as a symbol of wealth and bury their dead ones on the rocks because soil is a source of live. Phone signal can be really bad, so be prepared to be disconnected from the world for at least half the day. Overall, this trip has been very interesting. But I wouldn't be back for the second time. Once is enough since I am more of a 21st century kind of girl ;).
With Lots of Love,
Claraaaa <3
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