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...