bamboo bridge

hiking along rice fields

whats in a name?

hiking in the fog

cave graves in tana toraja

Tana Toraja traditional houses

rough road through nice country

dinner time

Tana Toraja is the main attraction for Sulawesi tourism. It is a valley in central Sulawesi with some strange traditions and unique houses. I was keen to see what all the fuss was about.
The road to Tana Toraja is a narrow winding road that snakes its way through palm trees, rice fields and evergreens. It was the most exhilarating ride Ive had so far. I was told it was a 7 hour journey, I made it in 5. I was never passed. In fact I can count on one hand the number of times Ive been passed in Indonesia. I spent 4 days in total in Tana Toraja, the highlight of the trip was the "ceremony". Its an elaborate funeral that lasts for several days, depending on the social status of that person. The one I was at was moderately large, 30 Buffalo and 80 pigs were slaughtered over 4 days! The more death and carnage the happier the guy will be in his afterlife. It was an interesting slant on the Catholic religion.
After that I headed up the next valley over, the Mamasa Valley. Similar to Tana Toraja in geography, it was a great place to do some treking and see the local villages. I was the only foreign tourist to visit for several months in some of the towns. But I had to shorten my stay there because my Indonesian visa expired in a few days so I have to leave the country for a bit, maybe Singapore.

written by  Greg on August 22, 2007 from Rantepao, Indonesia
from the travel blog: Adventures in Curry
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you are so lucky to visit these nice places...
thank you for posting this, I'm going to go there myself in the nearest future

written by  wow-traveler on October 7, 2009

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