Bali Echo Visitor's Guide

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February/March, 1998
No. 033/VI/98

cover story

Galleries Galore
The boom in
contemporary Balinese
art

A Matter of Taste
Why bourgeois Balinese
are collecting art

beyond
bali

From Toraja to the
Togians
Sulawesi's most seductive
parts

Treading Lightly in
Lombok
Tips to being a green
tourist

regular
features

Weekender
The Saltmakers of Amed

Home Grown
Legian's Legend,
Made Kasim

Health and Beauty
The Ubud-based
Bali Utama Spice

Books
The search for the Great
Bali Novel continues

Cuisine
Bumbu Bali cooking
school

Fiction
Marni's Ride by
K. Landras Syaelendra

Jungle Drums

advertising index for
Bali Echo web site

On her way to Manado in North Sulawesi from Toraja in the island's south, Janet Prentice stumbled on the Togian Islands, and found it very difficult to leave.

In the middle of a tiny mountain village in Tana Toraja, South Sulawesi, a barefooted man steadied himself in the mud, holding a magnificent water buffalo on a short tether. He drew his machete arm back in a long arc, then with a sudden and powerful swing and a sickening thud he sank the big blade deep into to the animal's throat.

Hundreds of black-clad mourners watched as the powerful beast bellowed and thrashed for five minutes before collapsing and finally dying in a pool of blood and mud. One of my companions turned aside and I felt sick to the stomach but could not look away. A scraggly white hen and her chickens strutted over, and after finding nothing of gustatory interest, left the scene in disgust. A few minutes later another buffalo was led forward, and the sacrificial slaughter continued.

This was Toraja, the cool and lush mountain region of South Sulawesi, and the most popular tourist destination on this surprisingly large island. Every year, more and more tourists are being drawn to witness the bizarre funeral rites of the Christians of Torajaland.

Even while a celebration commemorating fifty years of Christianity in the region was taking place in Rantepao, the town most tourists use as a base, I and my three fellow-backpackers struggled back down from the remote village our guide had taken us to. Our feet slipped in the sticky mud while rain clouds draped soft mist over the surrounding hills, and beside us the paddies were green with healthy young rice plants.

Altogether eleven buffalo were slaughtered in the village that day, indicating the deceased belonged to the middle class. The spirits of the buffalo would carry the dead man's soul to God and the afterlife. The following day his coffin would be transferred to a hole painstakingly carved out of rock, or maybe to a cave. Centuries ago an enlightened leader in this district decided that to conserve precious farming land, bodies should not be buried underground, hence the unusual practice of burial in rock. It is only recently that concrete tombs have started replacing natural rock.

But Tana Toraja also offers a variety of sights and handicrafts, world-renowned coffee and spices, and wonderful walking. On the way down from Batutumonga there are breathtaking views of mountains and valleys, and grubby, barefooted children will sing French songs to you, requesting 'bon bons' in a language that is telling of the predominance of French tourists to this area.

Above:
1. The funeral rites of the people of Tana Toraja attract many tourist.
2. Effigies of the deceased look down from the cliff faces of Toraja.

continued