I'm finally in Tana Toraja – one of those places I've wanted to see but thought I might never get around to. Business bought me to Makassar, so I thought I might as well see Toraja.

I arrived last night after a seven hour car trip from Makassar. There's a small airport here, but only two flights a week, so it was impossible to arrange the schedule for flying. It's a scenic trip, but still a long time to spend in a car. There was a lunch stop in Pare Pare which was quite scenic from the hilltop restaurant, but apparently it's not so nice close-up.

So today my guide and driver are taking me up into the hills to see some traditional villages and other sights. One of the many unique things about Tana Toraja is that people still build the traditional, uniquely shaped tongkonan houses. You've probably seen pictures of these, even if you didn't know where they were. The houses are raised high off the ground and have these odd saddle shaped roofs where the gable ends shoot way up into the air.

One of the other things Tana Toraja is well known for is the funerals, which can take a year or more of planning and saving, and can go on for days. The 'season' for funerals is August and September. One of the reasons I've scheduled my trip for early October is in the hopes of avoiding a funeral, since visiting a funeral as a tourist seems rather gauche. Unfortunately, as we travel up into the mountains, my Torajan guide talks to some people at the side of the road and finds out there is a funeral in progress along our route. He assures me that I'll be welcome, but does ask me how I feel about the sight of blood, since the main activity for most days of a funeral is the slaughter of pigs and buffaloes in honor of the deceased. I have to admit I'm rather squeamish.

Fortunately for me, if not for the four buffaloes, they've already been killed and the butchery is well under way – with an ax of all things - before I get there. For this funeral, the spaces under and between the stilted houses have been filled in with covered platforms to form an enclosed courtyard for the funeral. The animals are slaughtered in the center of the yard while the gathered crowd watches. This goes on for up to five days, and people will stay there the whole time. At one end of the courtyard is a high platform on which the coffin of the dead person is placed to 'watch' the proceedings.

My guide and I stand at the entrance to the courtyard for a while, then a young man comes up to us and tells my guide that the head of the family would like us to join them up on their platform. We go up to the platform where the old man and his son are presiding. Thick, sweet black coffee is served. Not many tourists are in Toraja right now, so I'm the only white westerner that's in the area, and they're curious. The Torajans are very friendly and wonder why more Americans don't come to see their land. After all, most of the are Christian! In fact, I've found that the people I've met on Sulawesi are among the friendliest you'll find in Indonesia.

Posted by michael under Just back from...