Big eyes watching me...

Watching the moon at the ferry.

Last days in Sulawesi :´( From Togean we took a night ferry to Gorontalo, the only way to get towards north. Over 12 hours in a huge boat full of mostly local people, who also mostly took a cabin. We bought the cheapest tickets and slept outside on the deck. Which was really nice, the weather was good, not many people outside in the night and even visiting the business class made me shiver. What's the idea of A/C if you need to put on all your clothes and use 2 sleeping bags and still be freezing???

In the morning in Gorontalo we booked into Malati hotel for a few nights. Nice place, really helpful (sometimes even too helpful) staff and free WIFI!!! :) Yea finally online!!!

On the 2nd day we tried to hike to a waterfall but once again, it started to rain and we had to turn back. So we were sliding in the muddy jungle trying not to fall down to spiky plants which were everywhere. All well, after about an hour we got back to the village, wet and had only slightly bloody feet. But I saw a black macaque on the way!!! And I also had a photo session, once again...

I still wanted to see a tarsier before leaving Sulawesi so no other choice than to jump into a kijang again and sit in the car for 13 hours to get to Tangkoko National Park in the northern tip of Sulawesi. And yeah, I finally saw the funniest little monkey with huge eyes and little tiny fingers. So cute!!! Worth all the traveling hours!

Pia is not happy to leave Sulawesi.

And then it was time to leave Sulawesi, snif... We spent the last night in a horrific hotel in Manado and in the morning I left to the airport, Elly back to Togeans. Take a guess into which car I would have rather stepped into... Now I've spent 2 days in Singapore and tomorrow it's time to move on towards Nepal. I try to get excited. And I will for sure the moment I land!!!

Pemalas at Togean Islands...

Pia kiipes palmuun!

Lazy days. After a horrific ride with a local boat in a storm (yes, I was near thinking we'll die...) we got to a small island Poya Lisa near Bomba in Togean. Looked like a paradise and to be honest, if you are a beach&ocean -person, it for sure is! Just a few bungalows, a family owned business and some extremely nice locals bringing you out for snorkeling for free.

I had an own bungalow and 3 fish based fantastic meals a day and they only cost me 11 e a day. Basically nothing, I think I have to move there! The days included only laying in a hammock, listen to waves (or a finnish dude playing ukulele or Elly singing on the pier) and maybe some snorkeling in the clean turquoise sea. And some party in the evenings of course. I thought I'd stay only a few days, then go to Manado and make it still to Kalimantan or Java but why, I can always go there the next time I come to Asia. Which will be in September... So I stayed at Poya Lisa bungalow number 4 (MY bungalow) for a week. Not long enough. Next time it'll be a month. Or months.

I had met only a few finns before I came Bomba but we ended up taking over the place. We were 4! Meaning half of the guests. And all traveling alone, ending up in the same island in the middle of Sulawesi sea. Thank you Juuso, Markus and Taneli for the fantastic time! And of course the rest of the group, especially Oli and Viara.

Only shitty thing happening was that I lost my phone in the first evening. After the 3-hour boat ride in big waves & rain I just needed a beer. And another one. A bit of arak (palm wine) and of course the finnish company also influenced the fact that the evening turned into a night. I probably used the phone as a torch when coming back to my bungalow and haven't seen it since. Shit. I don't care about the phone, but the sim-card & all the numbers. And I can't get a new sim for quite a while. :( But what ever, I loved it there!

After the fantastic week in Poya Lisa I left the island with Elly to visit some more islands at Togean. We stayed one night in Wakai at his mom's house. No one else of the family speaked english and my bahasa indonesia is...well...really, really basic so no big conversations. But nice to stay in with a local family, which was also a brilliant one, especially the kids Ipa and Epan. Funny dudes!

From Wakai we went on to Una Una, a volcano islands about 3 hours away. Elly's cousins also joined us on their way back home and we stayed 3 nights at his uncles, Bakikis, house on the beach. Again, the family spoke hardly any english but hands and few words here and there worked just fine. And of course arak and tuak (jungle beer) makes speaking in languages easier...

I CATHED A FISH!!!

My plan was to climb the volcano but the weather didn't allow it and we had to turn back half way. But what ever, we went fishing instead. Great night, first a few hours fishing, and I actually also GOT fish, then grilling and eating them accompanied by some more arak and the best company, Amat, Obi and of course Elly. I miss the place and the people already sooo much. Only thing I don't miss was the fact that the toilet was the jungle. And being the only foreigner on the island of course everyone was staring all the time where ever I went to and also asked me every time mana, mana, di mana, dari mana??? Yea, what do you think where I'm going to???

Boys got fish too!

After Una Una it was time to get an own bungalow again at Sunset Beach near Wakai. Owned by indonesian-english couple. And take a guess, of course there were again finnish people, this time 2 couples. So we were 5 finns, one french lady and Elly. I still have to wonder how all the finns end up in that place, I met no swedes, no norwegians, no danes, only finns. On the first night Elly and I picked up a “few” liters of tuak from the local village and ended up finishing it all. Which made me quite sick on the 2nd day. But well, where's a hammock, there's a happy Pia.

On the 3rd day we went for a swim in a lake which is isolated from the sea and full of jellyfish. Which don't sting! So you can swim among them, touch them and just be mesmerized. I took loads of pics and of course my “waterproof” camera broke up at some point. Got the pics but the camera is dead. So now I've lost my phone, broke my 2nd camera and also lost my good sunglasses in Toraja. Oh well... As long as I have my passport & credit card I'm just fine. After the swim it was time to leave Togeans (snif :´((( ) and take a ferry to Gorontalo. More about that later...

Bloody funeral

Been busy, been lazy, been without internet for quite a while. So here's the first update of Sulawesi, more coming up later this week... The internet connection sucks at the moment so I'll upload more pics later

I left Makassar behind me as quickly as I could and took a night bus to Rantepao, a small town in Tana Toraja, South Sulawesi. I had high expectations, as the start in Sulawesi wasn't really promising and I already was considering of taking quite quickly a plane back to Borneo or somewhere else in Indonesia. But as always, things turned and Sulawesi started to grow on me and now I love the place, a lot!!!

Tana Toraja is famous for its really, I mean REALLY bloody funerals and bizarre graves on rock formations. There are loads of rice terraces around the beautiful hill landscape and behind every curve&corner pops up funny houses with skillful wood carvings and boat lookalike roofs.

I took a guide for one day as I wanted to visit a funeral in a nearby village. The funerals can last from few days to few weeks, depending how wealthy the family is. But they always include a lot of slaughtering: usually at least pigs and buffalos. I came on the buffalo day. And it was bloody. Originally the belief was that the deceased person needs the buffalos for traveling to the local Valhalla. Now the people of Toraja are christians so the ride isn't necessary anymore, but they still respect the traditional habits and mix old beliefs with christianity.

So, after the priest finished praying and singing they picked up the buffalos which would be slaughtered. Eight were chosen and over half of them were also slaughtered. They give villages also buffalos and they can decide, if they want them to be slaughtered & eaten or auction it and use the money for something else.

The funerals aren't as sad as in Finland, nobody was crying on that day. Instead they sold balloons for kids, beer for grown ups and local guys were playing cards. Well... why not?

On the next day I rented a scooter and was driving by myself around the burial sites and nearby villages. That's they way I like to move on anyways, make my own timetables, go where I want to and hopefully get lost a few times. It was a good day! I also met a few dutch ppl and a finnish girl and had a traditional dinner with them. Good food, but nope, I'm for sure not in Thailand. I miss Tom Yam. But to be honest the food would be the only reason for me to go back to Thailand especially as there are places like Borneo and Indonesia just behind the corner. And to here I'm for sure coming back.

Anyways, from Rantepao I took a bus again towards central Sulawesi. The plan was to go to the remote Togean islands and spend a few days there snorkeling & relaxing. In the bus I met finnish & austrian guys who were heading to the same direction. We made a 2 nights stop at Tentena, a bit over half way to the islands. It was a sleepy small town, very nice people and they had a cool waterfall about 30 minutes scooter drive away from town. I rented a scooter together with Juuso and went there in the afternoon. We had a nice lunch with a bunch of students from Poso, I cant remember any of the names anymore but I've got loads of pics of their faces. A good day! And then it was time to move on towards Togean... More about that paradise later... I didn't stay only a few days...