Trekking in Tana Toraja, Sulawesi

(4/23-25/11) The highlight of April's Indonesia trip was a fabulous trek with interesting home-stays in the Tana Toraja region of Sulawesi. Led by attentive Agus Lamba, founder of IndoSella Tours, we were lucky to visit really remote villages that have seen very few tourists. The people were incredibly friendly and the scenery was stunning, with sculpted rice terracing, virgin forest and incredible waterfalls. 

Agus leads the way through newly-planted rice fields. 

There was no path; we just threaded our way on the narrow rims of dikes. 

In addition to stunning scenery, the trek afforded time for close conversations.  I never learned what Margaret and Leah were discussing, but they were chattering away.

It's a bit hard to see, but the rice rims were often quite exposed; a fall to the left could drop you 15-20'! I was constantly balancing the risk of a broken leg against the color of the muddy water...

The sculpted fields made wonderful patterns. 

The distant waterfall provides a sense of scale - we are soon to cross the hidden river gorge...

This rickety bamboo bridge (Agus called it a "Tarzan Bridge") is the only way to cross the river for 20km. Three days after we crossed the span, we white-water rafted down this section of the gorge, only to find that the bridge had been swept away in the previous night's torrential rain!

Leah & Adam rest under a traditionally-carved Torajan rice barn. These and the similarly-shaped houses were stunningly beautiful!

Water buffalo are prized possessions and are sacrificed during the elaborate Torajan funeral ceremonies. Albino animals are especially valuable. 

During our nights' homestays, it was especially fun to watch dinner being prepared. 

Pa'piong is a Torajan specialty; chopped meat and vegetables are mixed with special spices and cooked over a wood fire inside bamboo.  Speaking of wood fires, Agus boiled water each evening so the purified liquid cool cool over night and serve as drinking water the next day.  I came to really love the smoky flavor of our drinking water.

Unlike most of Sulawesi (and Indonesia itself), which is Muslim, the Toraja area practices Christianity - as this church attests. But their beliefs have a strong animist flavor and many old traditions remain.

After elaborate funeral ceremonies, bodies are placed in cliff-side graves.  These crypts have been hewn out of solid granite and are accompanied by miniature Torajan houses for offerings. 

Centuries of hillside sculpture have created these incredible fields.  The fertile land and climate support three rice crops a year. 

This picture gives a sense of relief - the fields just spill downwards into the chasm eroded by the fierce river. 

High up on the hillside the grade relaxes and larger fields are possible. 

This family is planting a new field with recently germinated rice seedlings... 

...while nearby a dog sleeps beside newly harvested rice. 

Near the end of our trek, we rested in a village and I had fun watching the kids playing. 

Without exception, the people were incredibly friendly.  It was a wonderful trip - a beautiful experience and a great chance to learn about a very different culture.

Uluru

(5/28/11) It seems as if Uluru, formerly known as "Ayers Rock" occupies an almost mythical spot in the Australian consciousness, and from what we had heard, a pilgrimage was mandatory. It did not disappoint. Rising over 1000' from featureless plains, the rock glows a deep burnished red even under the noontime sun. But at dawn and dusk, when low angles through the earth's atmosphere concentrate amber rays, the sandstone monolith emits a magical luminous radiance.

I'd seen photos like this before, but always assumed that someone had used photoshop to increase the saturation... Not necessary. 

As we walked part-way around the base (full circumference is 8km) the textures were amazing

I wanted to explore every nook and cranny, but we were short on time.

The climb to the top appears daunting from below - you can barely see the people at the picture's top, but they are far from the summit.

Climbing Uluru is not a solitary experience. 

The imagery becomes surreal as you reach the huge summit plateau; there's still a ways to go...

Our family on top: Galen, Adam, Dan, Margaret, Leah, Kathy & Sheldon

You don't want to get dizzy on the descent!

On the last steps back to the ground I got my favorite view - it feels more intimate - and just as the magic hour is hitting.

End to a great day!

Ubud's Monkey Forest

(4/16/11 Ubud, Bali). Although twenty years had passed, both Margaret and I had fond memories of Ubud's Monkey Forest; so naturally, we wanted to take the kids to this magical realm and introduce them to its mischievous denizens. The photos tell the tale...

Cloaked in luxuriant rainforest, the ornate temple is inhabited by a troupe of  Balinese long-tailed macaque.

The photo opportunities were fantastic, since the monkeys were used to humans. 

So Adam wasted no time....

Nor did the monkey

Both Adam and the monkey seem content, but in fact the monkey was restless, and so...

It jumped!

Leah's not quite sure what to do...

because its claws tickled...

and it was very curious about her earrings. 

This little guy was very cute.

And we saw several happy and well-adjusted families.

Tana Toraja Funeral Customs

(4/23/11) After a grueling 10 hour bus ride to Rantepao, arriving in torrential rain, we hoped our trip to the Tana Toraja region of Sulawesi would be live up to expectations.  It did.  The people were incredibly friendly, the scenery beautiful, the houses stunningly carved, and the culture fascinating. Surprisingly, we saw no tourists outside the capital town, but this is likely due to great guiding by Agus Lamba. 

Although most of Sulawesi is muslim, the Toraja practice christianity. But the religion, mixed with animist traditions, is quite unusually colorful, especially regarding funeral practices. 

In many ways, Torajan life revolves around death.  In the village of Leon, we saw amazing cliff graves. 

Nearby, the graves were offerings to the deceased, including a bottle of soda for the afterworld.

The higher sites on the cliff are reserved for Torajans with high status. Many graves are guarded by "Tau Tau", wooden effigies of the deceased, who stand guard. Sadly, many of the carvings have been stolen and unless the grave site is inaccessible, the families now keep the Tau Tau in their homes.

Tau Tau in Leon.

Tau Tau from a grave in Leora

A young village girl poses next to some recently carved Tau Tau.

The limestone mountains of Torajaland contain many caves, which are also used to house the dead.

Inside the caves near Leora, offerings of cigarettes have been placed near ancient corpses.

Our guide, Agus, knew a family whose grandmother had died two months previously and took us to visit. The Toraja may wait months or years before an auspicious time for a funeral. During this period, they keep the preserved body in their home and act as if she were still present. We were lucky to be invited to "meet" the deceased, and in keeping with custom, we asked her permission when it was time to leave.

In preparation for the funeral, scheduled for June, the family was building extensively. Here, a new rice barn was under construction.  The elaborate carvings, traditionally painted, are rife with symbolism.

Also being constructed, were lodgings for up to a thousand guests!  Pictures can't capture the scale of development; it was going to be an outstanding celebration, with relatives returning from as far away as Papua.

On our drive we met a man washing his water buffalo. Although Torajan men typically won't use shampoo on themselves, they take more care of a buffalo (which spends its day wallowing in mud) than a rich American would lavish on his Ferrari.

Buffalo are the principle form of wealth and are sacrificed in number at funerals.  They sell for between $4000-$35000, with albinos bringing top dollar.

Agus also took us to a "small" funeral ceremony; there were many hundreds of guests. As is customary, we brought gifts for the family of the deceased - a carton of premium cigarettes. (Ugh). Other gifts included well over a dozen pigs, each lashed upside down on a bamboo pole, and carried to the celebration by several men. 

Guests wore black and feasted in beautifully decorated buildings, which had been built just for this  day.

A small girl seemed bored by the proceedings, but we found it an amazing glimpse of a different culture, one which I had dreamed of visiting for twenty years.