From February 2 - 23, 2014 we had visited the Indonesian island Sulaewsi. After an 11 hours flight with Singapore Airlines from Frankfurt to Singapore, followed by a 4 1/2 hours flight with Silk-Air to Makassar and further 8 hours transfer by bus we had reached our first destination, the hotel Toraja Misiliana in Rantepao/Tana Toraja. The hotel was recommendable and has offered well operated services. Yohan Tangkesal, director of the Toraja Misiliana, was a nice guy, very supportive and had arranged an individual tour package for us. From this location we started our trips to explore the region and to meet cultural and historic highlights of Tana Toraja. Thanks to great support from tour guide Octo and driver Mandelo the whole trip was a fantastic experience which we’ll never forget. Our first trip took us to the highland of Toraja with its spectacular rice paddies. The locals still harvest their rice the traditional way by hand. They were friendly and open minded at any time. The landscape was impressive and exhilarated us with its lush vegetation on vulcanic soil surrounded by up to 2000 m high mountains.

Our 2nd day started with a surprise. Tour guide Octo had organised our attendance at a real traditional funeral ceremony in a local village of Toraja. We had read a lot about it and were very excited to join such an event. A short briefing about some rules and recommended clothes we were ready to start. At Octos recommendation we had bought a little gift as a sign of respect. After a 1 hr drive into the mountains we had to walk the last 500 m to reach the village. On the way to the funeral we met many mourning guests with offerings to respect the deceased. The tradition bids - depending on the social status of the deceased person - the offering and slaughter of up to hundreds of pigs and buffalos to pay their last respects. The meat had been cooked and distributed to the guests for take-away. A very high value is the offering of a white buffalo with blue eyes which can easily reaches 20 x of the average price of a standard buffalo. A funeral in Toraja takes several days. Mourning guests from all over Indonesia and from abroad took part in this event to pay their respects to the deceased. After our arrival we were asked to position ourselves at a temporary shelter beside the ceremony as not to disturb the celebration. Here we met the family of the deceased and were invited for tea and cookies. The traditional atmosphere was very impressive. A mix of bloodcurdling screams from the pigs, the smell of freshly slaughtered meat and the smoke from the open fireplace in combination with 28°C and ca. 80% humidity was difficult to get used to but we felt it as an exceptional opportunity to participate at such traditional event.

The day after we were guided to one of plenty daily markets in the region. In addition to vegetable and fruits they had many local specialties on offer. About that they sold live pigs. Appearance and race were similar to the Spanish Pata Negra or Iberico pig. After visiting the market it was time to say goodbye to Toraja.

Our next destination was Makassar from where we were flown to Luwuk the day after. From there a van took us in a 3 hrs ride to the harbour of Pagiman and a speed boat within 1 1/2 hrs. to Walea Dive Resort. The internet description had not promised too much. The resort was simply a dream. Every bungalow was directly located at the beach. At high tide the ocean came to 1 m from the bungalow. Inside they were pretty comfortable and well equipped. We have enjoyed the use of local materials and economic system to protect the environment. A very special benefit was the cuisine of the resort. A wonderful mix of Italian and Asian cuisine on a very high level was daily fresh prepared. This avoided us from just thinking about loosing weight during our stay. There was no single meal to complain about. Special request from guests were always respected.

Diving! In fact you should plan several dives at the house reef. The underwater paradise just starts just a step from the end of the jetty. In just about 5 m depth you’ll find a coral block with Mandarin Fish appearing every evening. Around this block you can find a lot of marine life in macro size embedded in a huge landscape of pristine corals. Diverse species of Pygmae Seahorses, crabs and shrimps rounds off the picture. Big fish can be find nearby outer reefs. The visibility was around 40 m and the water temperature was between 27 and 31°Celsius.

On the way back to Europe we broke up the journey with an overnight stay in Singapore. Our chosen hotel was the Ritz Carlton after having received good online reviews. The hotel certainly did not disappoint and especially the Bay View rooms can be highly recommended and provided a spectacular view to the Marina Bay.

Tourguide Octo

Erotic Mountain

Rice Paddies Toraja

Rice Paddies Toraja

Traditional rice harvest in Toraja

Toraja Misiliana Hotel

Toraja Misiliana Hotel

White buffalo in Toraja

White buffalo in Toraja

Mourning guests on the way to the funeral

Live animals as sacrificial offering in Toraja

Traditional dance during funeral in Toraja

Mourning guests in traditional dresses

Dance and song with sacrificial offerings

Slaughter of sacrificial offerings

Graves in Toraja

Graves in Toraja

Graves in Toraja

Walea Dive Resort

Walea Dive Resort

Walea Dive Resort

Walea Dive Resort

Walea Dive Resort

Walea Dive Resort

Walea Dive Resort

Walea Dive Resort

Walea Dive Resort

Hairy Squat Lobster

Orang Utan Crab

School of jack fish

Mushroom Coral Shrimp

Eagle Ray

Eagle Ray

Electric Shell

Coleman’s Pgymae Seahorse

Coleman’s Pgymae Seahorse

Whitetip Reef Shark

Translucent Gorgonian Shrimp

Coral Garden

Denise’s Pygmy Seahorse

Denise’s Pygmy Seahorse

Whip Coral Goby

Sceletton Shrimp

Sceletton Shrimp

Sceletton Shrimp

Sceletton Shrimp

Sceletton Shrimp

Sceletton Shrimp

Mandarinfish

Mandarinfish

Mandarinfish

Singapore - view to Marina Bay

Singapore - Veeramakaliamman Temple

Singapore - Marina Bay

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