From the sea to the highlands.  So much to see along the way.  That’s why I have 400 photos.  It was hard to pick and choose.

  Lunch stop Parepare 

Our guide Rusli could join us for lunch here because it is a Muslim area so he knew there would be no pork in the dishes.  First, though he went off to pray and them came back and shared the vegetable and potato salads, squid and fish Randal and I had ordered.  Rusli requested rice because to him it is essential to a meal.  He explained that Asians don’t feel full unless they have had rice.

Rice field work of art.  The gleaners.

  Puncak Lawakan (Bambapuang)  Seen behind the red chair, Erotic Mountain  is called that because of its likeness to a certain unmentionable part of female anatomy.    It seems that the Sulawesi people are a bit less Puritanical than New Englanders in lots of ways.  And to quote Gump, “That’s all I’m going to say about that.” 

  The scenery at our hotel!  I loved the red flowers.

Terraced rice fields further up the mountain from Tana Toraja.  This area made us regret that we didn’t have a week to spen here hiking the mountains and relaxing in the clear clean mountain air.

  Rice fields near the “bones” cave burial site.  Too bad about the cell tower in the mid section.

I wish pictures didn’t take so long to send.  I will copy all of the photos from our Tana Toraja trip and send them to Audrey for the photo album.

Just one last note.  Any delays in the construction of our website are all caused by my role in getting it up and running.  Communications at sea and in remote parts of the world takes time.  Audrey has been patiently waiting for me to comment on the site’s construction and it takes me a week or more to respond.  So any parts that are “underconstruction” are still underconstruction due to my slowness, not Audrey’s.  www.mydoramac.com  Check it out and share it with friends!!

Early in our travel from Makassar we stopped at the home of the “widow” to see a typical lowland home.  Well, as Rusli interpreted our questions to Nur, we learned that her mother had died and Nur was now alone.  But she was in no hurry to marry and earned her living cutting hair and sewing.  Also we paid a small 2,000 rp donation.  10,000 rp make $1.  We liked Nur and she and her friends liked us.  The lady getting her hair cut admired my Kota Kinabalu public market blouse that I had bought for the sleeves.  We were offered a candy of sticky rice and had a second tiny helping.  It was good!  Nur is part of the newer generation that won’t rush to marry rather than be alone.  She has a home and can earn a living.  Most women might not be able to do that.  It was originally her parent’s home first.  Nur might not ever have been able to get one on her own. 

Oddly I only took photos of the inside and underneath of the house and not from the front. 

    The side of Nur’s house along the river.    

You can see it is up on stilts so that the “underneath part” can be used.    It isn’t because of possible flooding.

Underneath.  You can see a house in the left corner that is similar though bigger. 

Chickens and roosters live here and plants too.

  Tiny porch over looks the street.

  The front room and sleeping room.  All was swept clean and neat.

Lots of “stuff” that we would call “stuff.” Or collectibles.  I really wanted to look more closely but didn’t want to be rude.

  Nur cutting hair.  You can see the cut off hair on the floor.  The weather is never cold so the home doesn’t need insulation.  It does have electricity, but not running water.

   Sewing corner.  Beams held up the roof.  Those who sew can recognize the age of the machine.

I wish it were Rusli writing these emails so he could explain the beliefs behind the design of the homes here.  There are design structures  for the rich and powerful and designs for the locals.  Now money is what determines design, not just title though they go often hand in hand.

The most unusual homes shown on post cards look like “boats.”  Originally when the sea people moved to land they lived under their boats.  Boat design is still kept more as ornament than as useful space.  I don’t know if there is another “functional” purpose for this design as well as historic.  Lowland homes do not have them so they are linked only with Torajans, now mountain people.  If you want to know more about Tana Toraja architecture or beliefs, you will have to ask at your local library.

  Our “motel”  The setting was lovely.  Our area was not on poles but had a bottom floor.  I think these were the suites.  But this is the architecture they are famous for in Tan Toraja.

This is the gate into the geographic area that is Tana Toraja.    Many areas have ornamental gates marking their main entrance.  We arrived about 6:30 on an overcast evening.  Rusli and I walked across the bridge so I could take photos.             U mild is a brand of cigarrettes.     Lots of smokers. Ironincally, offerrings left for the dead include cigarettes!

  Real people and real homes.  The structures on the left are homes. The ones on the right are “rice barns.”  This is a rice culture and no meal is a meal without rice.  The number of poles holding up the rice barns was determined by your status.  This whole area is now a UN World Heritage site.  It was also where the bones and skulls are found behind the houses up the mountain further.  It was an amazing area.  And August is the end of the tourist season.  Not crowded with tourists as you can see. 

The underside of the ornamental roof.  There is lots of bamboo here and is used in lots of ways.  The ground below the living area was for animals, vegetables, or meat…live food sources.  The central second part was for humans to live.  The top part and roof was for the gods of the rice.  The structure represents all of life, plants and animals, then man, then the gods on top. 

  The buffalo horn adorned home across from its rice barn.  Beyond that you see the rice fields.  Water buffalo are sacred and raised solely for funeral celebrations.  People do the work of the water buffalo in the fields.  “Rental women” go to the fields to work and get 10 % of the yield as pay.

  Up the narrow stairs and entering one of the homes. 

The area below the home is for chickens and animals.  The body of the home is for humans and the roof is for the gods. Lots of lovely wood carving.

The home owner had been resting in the separate sleeping room.  Notice his sorong.  The front room was practically bare except for a few pots for cooking.  There is no plumbing and water comes from wells. Rusli says the people live with the sun.  They close up the windows of the homes at dark to keep out mosquitos.  They do have electricity provided by the government.   Many places that we stopped while driving to Tana Toraja are built on the 3 level design.  Private spaces are made outside for a toilet. One place was just some crossed boards to stand on and a big urn for water to wash with. 

Next email will be the beautiful scenery of Tana Toraja.  And after that, a home visit with the now orphaned daughter of a widow. (The stop had been billed as the home of a widow.  Donations were probably a source of income for her.)  The daughter named Nur which means sun,  seemed to be doing quite well for herself, cutting hair and doing sewing.  She had an old Singer machine, less modern looking than even the one my mother used to make our clothes in the 50s.  But with it she was filling an order for local school uniforms and seemed to have lots of rice stored up.  She enjoyed her independence and was not following the tradition of early marriage.  Her nephews would sleep below to keep guard during the night. 

We are hoping to leave for Labuanbajo early Monday morning.  Too soon to say good-bye to Makassar, but we are on our way to meet up with the Indonesia rally, Sail Indonesia.

  Skulls, bones, house roofs shaped to look like ancient boats, livestock markets where wizened men with skinny legs covered by colorful sarong skirts  and younger men in jeans bargained for dozens and dozens of pampered water buffalo and even more dozens of fat, squealing, sad, soon to be slaughtered pigs.  Colors, noises, calls to prayer from the many mosques, scenery, food; your senses are overwhelmed taking it all in. And each has its own Indonesian, Makassan, Buginese or Tarajan word to describe it.  Learn one phrase and forget one phrase…that’s how it went.  But it was all very “biak!” which means good in at least on of those places. 

   It is 350 kilometers or about 210 miles from Makassar by the sea to Tana Toraja in the high mountains.  The drive takes 8 hours but there are many stops along the way to see bamboo processing, a simple native home, local snack stops, to try sticky rice candy and not purchase dried fish preserved with formaline;  lunch stops and scenic mountain view stops.  All along the way, our extremely knowledgeable, warm, interested guide Rusli Amin taught us about the 3 distinct cultures of the area; Makassar, Parepare and Tana Toraja.  I wish I could explain all that Rusli told us, but alas, it is a jumble in my head and will stay that way until I sort it out at a later date. But now I will be able to see what I read and that makes all the difference.

   I took about 400 photos!  I could have taken more and it would be an artist’s dream to have time for painting.  But with just a day to go, one to stay, and one back we had to pick and choose.  Randal and I are already daydreaming a month here during our next circumnavigation.  It is a tourist destination but it hasn’t been Disneyfied yet.  The people allow you to browse the small shops and bargain for that special one thing you just have to have.  But no pressure, no begging.  We stayed in a “resort hotel” with a 2 star room, a 4 star setting and depending on the meal, 2 to 5 star food!  Combine all of that with cool, great sleeping weather and it is the perfect place to explore and just stay a while.  I must admit I was starting to look for totem poles; you’ll see why.  Randal and I give it 2 thumbs up!

The photos I am sending now are ones Randal too.  He focused on the highlights of the area.  I’ll start with those.

We were lucky enough to be in Rantepao for Pasa Bolu; market day.  Each week men walk miles to town with their water buffalo.  Pigs are trucked in too.  Tana Toraja culture is based on the importance of the funeral ritual.  Families save for years to buy water buffalo and pigs to slaughter for the funeral celebration.  The more buffalo and pigs, the more honor to the dead person and his/her family.  Until they die, water buffalo are treated as sacred animals and are pampered, fed, bathed.  They are killed in the quickest and least painful way.  Pigs are not so lucky and watching they caught, bound, tied to a carrier and hauled out for a funeral celebration, I found disturbing and sad.  I know now where the phrases squealing like a stuck pig comes from. It is not my culture and I am not a vegetarian; but I felt sad watching the treatment of the pigs.  If a water buffalo price is not met or one negotiated, the animal is led home for more pampering until the next market day.

This little piggy went to market and it was not a pretty sight to see.  Notice the blue plaid cloth wrapped around the man on the left and  the purple/brown plaid on the right.  Also the man with the gold cloth hanging from his shoulder.  These are sarongs that are almost the size of twin bed sheets.  Men wear them for warmth over their shorts.  Rusli said the sarong indicates the man has not yet had time to bathe for the day. After someone buys a pig it is caught and bound onto a bamboo holder. 

  Families saved for years to be able to have a huge feast for their honored family member.  This may take place a year after the death.  But bodies are mummified and preserved until they are taken to the caves for burial.

  This family was hosting a funeral.  July and August are the traditional funeral holding months.  No rice harvesting I think so there is time.  These women are drumming the news that people are welcomed to the funeral celebration to be held in the next day or so when the family had all arrived.    The home is draped with the red bunting.  It was the most amazing drumming sound, hollow and rhythmic.  Wooden carved boat like structure is used to carry the body to the cave.  The roof of houses and rice barns are also constructed with this boat shape.  The mountains were once part of an ocean and the ancestors had taken their boats from the water and used them to build homes thousands of years ago.

This is the home of the dead person’s family.  Many buffalo horns indicate great wealth.  The family could afford to buy and slaughter them for the funeral feast.  Other families would donate buffalo or pig to the feast but then they must be paid back when there was a death in the donor’s family. Pig jaws were along one home at another site we visited.   Family honor is completely tied to these funeral ceremonies and generations save and contribute.  The really elaborate funeral celebrations are mostly for people who have lived into their 70s.  They may have saved their money but also educated their children who could then earn more money to help provide a bigger funeral.  It is the main celebration of family existence.

A cave burial site.  The people of Tana Toraja or Tarajaland are Christian, maybe from the Dutch colonizers.  But they still follow the old burial traditions.  The open umbrella shade those carrying the body also shades the body.  It is assumed, I think, that the dead person is with them in spirit.  Carvers come to the stone and carve caves ordered by a family.  Apparently anyone can use stone anywhere, one doesn’t have to own the property.  Lots of things are abundant like these stone places, bamboo, bananas, and other fruits so anyone may take for free.  One might ask the land owner, but permission is almost always granted.  Rusli says here a man gets bamboo for free while in Makassar each man must buy his bamboo where it is not abundant. 

  We visited a small village famous for its unique native architecture and for the burial caves and hanging graves sites.  This structure is a pig shape.  It holds the bones and skulls of women.

  This one is for men and is shaped like a water buffalo.

  These are tau tau, images of the dead who are placed in the cave.  The wealthier you are the larger tau tau you have.  This one family of the woman in purple were in one cave large behind a metal fence.

  Caskets placed in caves.  Our guide Rusli, sounds like Bruce Lee.

Another burial site.   Each square is a carved burial cave. 

The wooden structure in the lower right carried the bodies to the cave. 

  Tau Tau representing those buried in the caves.

  Tau Tau carver.  He learned from his father.  Families pass the skill to the next generation.  He wants his son to get a good education so he can get a better job.  The small carvings were amazing.  He has been carving them for 20 years.  That’s me in the photo.  I am wearing a shirt bought in K K that has sleeves.  I did see many European women tourists sleeveless and no one was pointing or making a big deal.  I guess because this area is Christian and not Muslim.  Our guide Rusli couldn’t eat with us at the recommended local “tourist” restaurant because they included pork in their cooking.  Rusli is Muslim.  We had some great discussions about the world and its issues.

This is just a tiny tiny bit of what we saw.  The mountain and rice field scenery was beautiful.  The stilt homes totally unique.  I will try to do another email before we leave here.  It is 1 am Saturday, August 30.  Our wifi is far too slow with many disconnections so that odd hours work better.  I will try to send this now.

August 11  6 pm Monday Kota Kinabalu

Back again to Romblon……..

After we left Tony’s house Avon drove us further along the coast.   During our lunch stop, I went snorkeling though the warning to watch out for the jelly fish, “but they won’t bother you,” made it a tad bit unenjoyable so I got out sooner rather than later.  We had a nice lunch and it was there that we met Toffy Padua.  He had kayaked over from his home.  Toffy and Avon were long-time friends from their school days in Manila.  Toffy invited us to his family’s compound to see his environmentally friendly sustainable tree home. 

We drove and he kayaked and we all got there at about the same time.

First the outside.  Toffy’s dad has his own house.  Toffy’s sister has her own house.  Toffy has his own house.  We didn’t see his dad’s but we did see both his and his sister’s.

The views

Ready to move in yet!  I was.

Toffy’s environmentally friendly/sustainable tree house with sleeping loft.  It isn’t very large.  But it is big enough for comfort with a sitting area open to those wonderful views and a sleeping loft up above.  There were bamboo shades to keep out sun and rain.

Toffy pulling down the ladder to the sleeping loft overhead                                                  Looking down from the loft                                                   The loft all open to those views!

A detail of the corner of the tree house.                                                         Toffy’s sister’s house up the path from his.                          Toffy serves tea and coffee.

I loved Toffy’s treehouse and his sister’s Zen like home.  Both Toffy and Avon would like to see Romblon develop in an environmentally friendly way.

http://touristsinmymind.blogspot.com/  is Toffy’s web site.  He seems a real creative guy.  He was a wonderful host who was willing to take his time to share ideas with us. 

After the visit with Toffy we went back to Romblon Town and Avon drove us around to find cases of Gatorade and then dropped us off at our dinghy.  We had taken much more of his time than we had contracted for, but he also enjoyed visiting friends.  With all of the visiting we didn’t make it to the local fort up behind the town.  Next time.  Romblon is a place we hope to revisit.

I also want to share the photos of our visit to the marble works.  But that will have to wait for another email.