Hi there,
As I promissed Sulawesi adventures second part are late but they are finally here. On the last post I left you guys in Gorontalo, on our way to catch the ferry for Togean Islands. The ferry was a night one, and as we are “true cheap backpackers” we decided to go for the cheapest ticket possible on the 12 hours journey. However as soon as we got on the boat and realized that for 2 or 3 euros more we could have a mattress and a lying down place instead of a not very comfortable sitting place our true backpacker soul got shacked and we changed our tickets … hehe The trip was very pleasant and we even discover a outside bar watching the starts that was a great way to spend some time and drink a cold Beer.
We arrive in the morning in Wakai over a beautiful sunrise and without plans we left the boat… Steph our camp manager from South Camp lives in Togean Islands and she gave us some recommendations, but both of us where feeling that Malenge was the way and we decided to follow our instinct…and we were right. After negotiations for transportation, a beautiful boat ride and a lot of stops on the way for searching the cheapest and perfect place, we landed on Lestari guesthouse in Malenge island, just in front of a beautiful local village, with an amazing beach and luck of the lucks, an International world Musical festival that just looked like FMM in Portugal. We were so happy 🙂
For the first night everything was full as it was the last day of the festival but we manage to have a tiny tent on the beach like a proper musical festival.
The festival was amazing and really local. The main start was an American singer from Hawai called Chris Barry that apparently everybody knew except us… Well I am Portuguese but Cayley? shame on you…lol We end up invited to go with the journalists of the event to see the sunset concert. The music was really cool and relaxed and the atmosphere magic… It was an amazing welcome for our days in Togean Island.
The next three days were spent very peacefully, as after the festival everybody left and we were about 10 people total on the beach area. We change for a nice bungalow in front of the beach and had a lovely time, met really nice people and did some tours together. We visit the village in front of the island were locals live, we did a trekking in the jungle and visit some bat cave and finally (for me) I had a close look on the cute tarsiers. We did some amazing snorkeling and end up our stay with a fire on the beach, with music, good company, beer and arack, lots of starts and a night swim with the bright plankton… A beautiful way to say goodbye to paradise…
Extremely happy we left the islands in the direction of Tentena. We catch another ferry to Ampana and from there a car to Tentena, a cute village near Poso lake. The trip took us all day but it was pleasant journey. We decided to stay in Victory Hotel and we had an amazing surprise as the owner was so nice and friendly that made our time there perfect. We spent 3 nights in Tentena, and we took some time to make plans and decisions for the trip, relax, visit the amazing waterfalls, tried the typical food like eel and bat, celebrated Indonesian Independence Day with locals, dancing and taking a million of selfies ( we beat our record, 85 selfies only in the morning) and our time in Tentena was really nice.
When we left Tentena our group was bigger… We travel to Tana Toraja by night bus with Chris and Isi, our Germany new partners for the next days 🙂 In Tana Toraja we got another Couch Surfer family that open their house and life for us. The four of us stayed on a small village near Rantepao called Sibata where Ringel and his family hosted us. We spent the first day exploring the area, and because it was thanksgiving day we had a family pic nic and spent the rest of the day enjoying the small village and surroundings.
The next days were spent going to the so expected Tana Toraja funeral ceremony’s and exploring the area…August is the month for this type of ritual and the costumes are so different and impressive. According with our host Ringel, a funeral in Tana Toraja is the most important event for Tana Toraja people and after a person death, it can take years until the ceremony happens. They believe that only when the ceremony is hold the person really is gone from our world. We went to a funeral of a gentlemen that we didn’t know the name but we were extremely welcomed. When you arrive you need to go and greet some family member and give your gift, that in our case was cigarettes. Tana Toraja people believe that everything that you give in the ceremony is the things the death person will take to the other world, so that is one of the reasons the ceremony is massive, and it can take up to a week. It is very difficult to explain in words everything we saw and felt… It was intense, brutal, different, incredible, unique…so mixed feelings after the cerimonies… I am going to be restrict in the pictures I am sharing as some can be very aggressive so I will keep them to myself and I can show it if anyone wants to have extra information. The main thing of the ceremony is the sacrifice of buffalos, that are a prestige thing and very important for the ceremony. We saw nine buffalos been sacrificed in a ritual that I felt the animals were really respected and the cut was clean…but still very brutal. We spent two days in the ceremonies and tried to get as much information as we could. It was for sure a experience that I will never forget. I didn’t feel that it was a sad moment or heavy like our funerals, it was more a ritual and a celebration of the death and I think that is what made it so special, to treat death as part of life and embrace it and celebrate the end of life…
We spent the rest of the time exploring by motorbike the beautiful landscape, villages, historical sites, and I must admit that everything is connected with death and life in Tana Toraja…
We were lucky enough to see as well the walking death ceremony that happens in some cases just every five years. Basically in this special day, Tana Toraja people believe that you can be reunited with the loved ones that left our world, so they open the graves, clean the bodies, talk with them, take pictures, change cloths and for them is an extremely happy day. We manage to see two cerimonies, but we could not see the true walking death ritual, that is like the name says, a ceremony that they walk in the village with the loved ones that left this world and according with some guide explanation these people need to be very special for the walking death happens… It was impressive to see the love and dedication of the people, and more then that the happiness for that day and ritual. Very different and interesting costumes.
After all that amazing experiences we left Tana Toraja full of new stories to tell in direction of Makassar, our starting and ending point on this Sulawesi adventure, where we, one last time said goodbye to the sun and cheer to life and happiness…
What Can I say? I really loved Sulawesi and Indonesia, it was such an amazing adventure in a beautiful country to travel, where people are so happy and genuinely kind and good… I have only good things to tell about, and I must admit that it was lesson of life for me… We spend so much time caring about things that really don’t matter at all and we forget what really matters in life…our principles sometimes are shuffled around, and these humble and kind people showed me their special place,where you can be happy with the simple things, where the kids play with trees and home made toys, where the old people are loved and respected, where different religious live in peace and where simple life is what matters and makes you happy… I will take all those stories and memories with me in my heart, I will share them with my loved ones and hopefully I will make some adjustments in my own life with everything I learn in Sulawesi to become a better person, even more happy and in harmony with life and nature.
Sulawesi I hope your heart and kindness will never change…
Sampai jumpa lagi
Glu
See You Around
