Indonesia

Balinese rock carvings

Balinese monk praying

Temple and holy spring in Bali

Temple in Bali

Temple spring, Bali

Temple worshippers praying in holy water, Bali

Snake with frog in mouth (no shit, hard to see its a frog but it is!), having early afternoon dinner

Cutting some pefectly straight planks, Indonesian style- freehand with chainsaw

Stone sculpture, Bali

Bali grand-Dad farmer, waiting for rice to grow

Rice terraces, Bali

Temple offerings, Bali

Gili Islands, off Lombok

Gili Islands

Sunset, Lombok

Sunset, Bali

Unloading onions, Makkassar, Sulawesi

Ice cutter, Makkassar

Sunset from moving bus over rice fields, Sulawesi

Statue somewhere in the middle of Sulawesi

Wooden effigies in rock face, near Rantepao, Sulawesi

Cave skulls, Sulawesi

Rice drying, near Rantepao

Mountain rice terraces, near Rantepao

Valuable spotted water buffalo, Rantepao

Sulawesi kids, middle of know-where

Leona intriguing kids with pencils, Sulawesi

Drying Chocolate

Drying buffalo hides

Carpenter and his effigies

Traditional houses, funeral ceremony Toraja

Man bringing home the bacon ( or in this case a buffalo spine), Toraja

Womens community group serving drinks, funeral ceremony

Pigs awaiting afterlife

Funeral ceremony sacrificies

Landslide on way to Toraja

Final morning, Katupat island

Bungalow in sunrise gold

Goat leg! nice!

Bollelanga island, day trip from base at Katupat island

some bros

Stilt island, Katupat village

With a coconut crab

With Jaffa, after clearing the coral reef of the pictured 'crown-of-thorns' starfish, a coral eating, and destroying starfish (big and poisonous too!)

A not so pretty, but soon to be dead stonefish- also pretty deadly

Sunset Katupat island- on the left, our restaurant/kitchen

The 'beast', our bus ,looking optomistic before bus ride from Ampana to Poso

The 'beast', our boat, and some local children frollicking in the waves

Local children at Wakai island on way to Ampana

Ferry comrades

Jetty goods

Island pier and girl, Katupat, Togean Islands, Sulawesi

New friends, Katupat

Preparing the goat for our last evening in Katupat

Friendly local cat, Bollelanga island- he didnt mind one bit- honestly!

Learning to read

Kid showing off, day trip to Karina beach, near Katupat, Togean islands

Village boy, Katupat village

Helping ship-wrecked kids, Kadidiri island, Togeans

Kids ship-wrecking themsleves for fun, whilst asking for bottles

Asking for plastic bottles

Praying mantis

Deserted cottages, Taipi island, near kadidiri island, Togeans

Dawn downpour, Kadidiri island

Kadidiri island, Taipi island behind

Blue Marlin cottages, Kadidiri island, Togeans

Beach section, Blue Marlin cottages

Ferry companion

Ferry boyz

Sulawesi village, near gorantalo

Hello Everyone

Proof reading to come!


Time for Indonesia.
The flight was a little odd, a little back and forth, as we were now flying to Manado, a large-ish city on the northern most tip of the Celebes Islands, or as its known here, Sulawesi. Odd as we had to fly again directly over Borneo, where we had just been, albeit a slightly different route.
Flying over the southern part of Borneo, Indonesia's part of Kalimantan, we could see the awesome size of the island, and also it's two faces, so to say.
The first section was acres and acres of what looked like virgin forest, untouched,wild and masses of it. This continued a good half hour (at flying speed, so no small area), and then the flip side; acres and acres of cleared, developed land, all rows upon rows of palm-oil, but it seemed about double the size of the uncleared section.
As some may know Indonesia doesn't have the best track record when concerning the environment, but unlike Malaysia, the population in parts is devastingly poor, and do what they have to do. One hopes only for a little more education of the people in terms of rubbish disposal,recycling and in general, more eco-friendly practices, to give nature a little bit of a helping hand.
We landed in Manado, at almost the most northern part of Sulawesi. Sulawesi is located to the east of Borneo, and slightly below the Phillipines, and shaped a little like a distorted orchid. After landing we made it into the centre of Manado, a grubby, quite expansive town of around a million people I think, but the centre was dark, and it had recently rained, leaving large muddy puddles for us to dance around.
Manado was once called by Alfred Russel Wallace, 'the jewel of asia, one of the prettiest towns in the east', or words to that affect. Obviously that was a while ago, and although pretty from the air, with its hilly, undulating mounds and coconut palms, times had obviously changed. After arriving, we enquired about the next available dates to be able to travel to the Togean Islands, a sheltered island group situated in a large harbour like crescent approximately on the equator.
Luckily, we were able to get a mini-van ride the next day, which included a little waiting around for the other passengers, and also picking various people/friends and dropping bits and pieces of in Manado, before we were finally out of town, and on our way southwards, to the port town of Gorantalo, where our ferry was due to leave that evening.
The 8 hour drive was rather gruelling, made worse by the beast of a man that was our driver, and pudgy, rubbish flicking, chain smoking, barking delight of a man, who we were glad to part ways with. Thankfuly, he negotiated the hilly, winding road with one hand on the wheel the other out the window, with much aplomb.
The road was beautiful, well not the road itself, a thin old track, in some parts needing a little care and attention, but its course winded along the coastline, past large inland coconut planations, as well as alot of rice fields, and a constant stream of townships and villages. The life here, as we were to discover was excededingly more relaxed, peaceful and almost deserted of foreigners, and therefore, Internet.
Sulawesi has had a little bit of a rough time in the past, with major sectarian violence on and off in the years between 1998 and even as late as 2006. Although we never saw any problems, and the whole fear and anger has now died down a little, churches and mosques still co-exist beside eachother, in what I guess is an un-easy ceasefire, given today's continuing religious problems. As we were heading through the parts where the problems have occured, we had to be a little careful, but on asking many locals, who assured us the problems were a thing of the past, we felt more than comfortable to carry on.
Sulawesi and its surrounding regions are also divided up by what is still known (I think), the Wallace line, an imaginary line devised by the naturalist and explorer Alfred Russel Wallace in the mid 19th century, who ventured into the still largely untamed regions of South east Asia. These travels and his subsequent findings, lead him to form an independent theory of evoution through selection, based on the wildlife and plantlife he saw here, and at the time greatly influenced Darwin and his own publication of evolutional theory.
The Wallace line, anyway, is something of an imaginary line dividing the islands of Sulawesi and Borneo, and also I believe Bali and Lombok, which means these islands have both Asian and Australasian wildlife and plant species. This became more apparant to us, as we could physically recognise the differences in vegetation the further south down the island we travelled. It was interesting to see tropical plants slowly mingling with Pine-trees, and other trees which would seem more at home in Australia or New Zealand. Anyone who wants more details, and more reliable facts, dont ask me, google it!
So we eventually made the ferry, a suprisingly robust looking car-ferry, seemingly manufactured this century none-the-less. We were expecting worse, and we wouldve got it, had we travelled another day, as there a several ferry 'lines' operating here, one boat more suspicious looking than the next, mostly old wooden relics, something I wouldn't like to out in in rough weather. And being rainy- season (still), thats when to expect the rough weather! However, the night was calm, we set sail, and without any problems sleeping, we ended our 4 day long Odyssey to the Togean Islands, for some well earned rest and relaxation. 4 days meaning we had basically travelled non-stop, from KK in Borneo, to KL, the next day to Manado, the next basically a non-stop combo of car and ferry to the Islands. Thankfully, on arrival, it didn't dissapoint, the weather behaved, with only one real heavy downpour during the early morning.
So the next 8 or 9 days were spent lazing, snorkelling, diving, and mainly eating in this Robinson Crueso-esque hideaway.
We arrived at Kadidiri Island, to stay the first 3 nights at some cottages, called the Black Marlin cottages, who had a good reputation, as well as a dive school so we could go diving as well. Situated on a smallish white sand beach, with the obligatory crystal clear, aquamarine blue and green water, we were almost the only toursits there, apart from 2 other rather dull Germans and a Swiss-French guy.
As soon as we arrived, we hired some snorkeling gear, and headed off behind the cottages, guided by the local dog, who was supposed to lead us (who im not sure really knew what he was doing) to another, deserted beach where the snorkelling was amazing. The path over was a little tricky in parts and longer than we thought, and hot and humid as hell, so we were thankful to plunge finally into the water- even though it was about 30 degrees (the water). The beach, with soft white pillowy sand, was covered in flotsam and jetsom (for those who dont know, wood and other floating debris), but it didn't matter, as we found/cleared off a spot, and went searching for fish.
The next few days were spent pretty much in this way, waking up, breakfast, snorkelling, lunch, snorkelling, dinner, bed, and same again the next day. When one wasnt snorkelling or eating, reading was another of the strenuous activities on offer.
It was, it goes without saying, pretty relaxing. The only break in the schedule was the occasional early morning torrential downpour, one dive, and a one day picnic trip to another, deserted island, Taipi Island.
We were intrigued by the island, as we could see it from the shore of ours, and it had a abandoned, decaying resort there. So we asked if someone could ferry us over to the island, and with a packed lunch headed off. Well, it had another amazing beach, no-one else there, apart from the gently blowing wind whistling through the old wooden frames of the abandoned huts. Full of fanciful and far-fetched ideas, we were basically 'forced' to dream about buying the island, returning the huts to their previous glory, and living a secluded, blissful life in paradise, running a small (but lucrative of course) small island retreat.
Yeh...Well dreams are free, and in this part of the world, there are a million such islands, so you tend to get lost in those Robinson Crusoe fantasies, which is exactly the point of holidays for me- losing touch with reality!
This continued for about three days, before we wanted to head on to some other cottages, the Fadihla cottages on another island, Katupat Island, about an hour away by boat from where we were staying. The wind had got up a little, and our boat wasnt the biggest (but thankfully sturdy), we arrived safe and sound, and after a bumpy little ride, which another passenger (one of the local cooks), became in several stages little pensive looking, and a little greener, paler by the minute. But we arrived, not even wet, to our home for the next 5 glorious days, at Katupat. The owner, Jaffa, was hilarious, a lovely guy, who welcomed us as if we were family, and with only two other guests staying, we all ate together in one big happy family.
The others were also very nice, an interesting (in the strange way) Swedish guy, and his Indonesian girlfriend, and a interesting (in the interesting way) Danish guy. So we shared beers, food and conversation with these guys every lunch and dinner, and had a great time, bascially doing much of what Ive already mentioned above- lazing, eating, snorkelling, swimming.
The food (3 meals included in the price), as of course there are no towns our restaurants about, was plain, simple, but tasty. It consisted mostly of fish, tonnes of rice, chicken and vegetables, always in varying forms and combinations, and was very edible, and suprisingly good.
The only few variations on the theme again were a couple of day trips to nearby (again deserted) islands/beaches, and to the nearby village of Katupat. The villages, although a little used to seeing foreigners, were shy but inquisitve, and the children, beaming from ear to ear, followed us as we ambled around the community, the usual mish-mash of goats, chickens, cows and people living in harmony of sorts with eachother.
Other evening excitements included hunting for the great coconut crab (unfortunately not youre allowed to eat it, but Ive heard it's delicious), a huge heavy beast of a thing, which is now protected, and only is found in this area and in Fiji or something.
So we went with the local crab-guy, into the forest at night (they're nocturnal), to find these things and we weren't dissapointed. A strange sight, and weighing about 3kg (I think they can get to 10kg), it was an impressive, wriggling pinkish-blue lobster like crab, scuttling (slowly) around the bottom of coconut trees. Evidently endowed with incredibly strong pincers, which they use to climb the coconut trees, then cut down the coconuts, and then crabble back down for lunch, the waiting, split apart coconuts. Rather ingenious. Their back pouch, is, im told, juicy sweet, with a slight flavour of coconuts, but unfortunately was not on our menu.
So after 5 or so relaxing days, it was time to leave the island, and head south down the islands, towards our next destination, Tana Toraja. But to get there, involved just a small matter of about 3 days journey, through wild and wonderful scenery.
The first section involved a rusty old barge-like ship ride southwards of about 9 hours, from our island, to Ampana, a coastal town of little ripute. Luckily a 'bus' was waiting at the port, already loading up passengers, their parenphenalia, and all sorts of other farming bits and bobs and other assorted twine-bound boxes. The bus trip was to another town, supposedly 5 hours drive further south away, and after packing, repacking and reassembling the goods and passengers, and a hot and bothery wait of a couple of hours, we were off, well, to the next stop, 5 minutes around the corner.
This then invloved the buying of tickets, followed by another half hour of cigarette smoking and dawdling on the sidewalk. Our bus, a amphibious looking vehicle of sorts, was designed to be narrow, and tightly built, and had seemed to have been squashed from both sides inwards, to excentuate it's thinness, which resulted in a strange inverted 'v' shape, pushing the metal floor into a point running through the bus lengthways. Odd to imagine, even odder to sit in, especially for the people with slightly longer legs than others- me for instance.
Although the trip was supposed to be only 200kms, it involved travelling through some of the narrowest, bumpiest and dangerous roads of our trip so far, at night, and one could only hope to get through to the other side of the mountain, in some sort of normal state.
After 9 hours, 2 small breakdowns, (chain falling off or something- easily fixed by the driver), and incident involving a petrol station without petrol which our driver surrepticiously went off to 'find', lungs full of diesel, cigarette smoke from our chain-smoking neighbours, and a couple of postal stops, we arrived in the middleof the night in the middle of Posa. Not really the sort of town we were wanting to stay in, but we managed to sign-language convey to our driver, we wanted to get out and sleep. He let us out in some sort of salubrious establishment, and we fell bone-tired and strangley exhilirated to sleep.
We woke, at six, 4 hours later, for our next journey. We first had to make our way to the bus 'station', a short motorbike ride away, involving waving down some guys willing to take us there. Before long, we were on a (normal!) bus, heading towards Palopo, another 10 hour bus ride away. As this bus was during the day, and in considerable, almost luxurious comfort compared to the last ride, we were able to see and enjoy some more of the vast Sulawesan landscape, a monumental, hilly, jungle infested and green, wild place.
Splattered, and inundated with many small townships and the odd larger one, the place is a paradise of palms, jungle, coffee, chocolate and other as yet unknown to me plantations and vegetation. The winding roads, thin and trecherous in parts (not seeming to bother the driver), led us through several valleys and mountainous regions, giving us perfect views of the envolving and changing landscapes and inclement weather (we passed through several heavy rain showers, followed by blinding sunlight), through changing vegetation and micro-climates, similar to what Mr. Wallace (as mentioned previously!) may have noticed all those years ago.
So then another overnight stop in another salubrious hotel, we headed off to our actual, intended destination, the town of Rantepao. Luckily, this was only a 2 hour drive, unluckily, there had been a few landslides a few months previously, and the roads and surrounding landscapes were said to be a little worse for wear, meaning we could only travel through in smaller, more manouverable mini-vans.
Although the road was certainly not looking so good, and involved a couple of interesting passes through washed out sections, with houses hanging periously onto dear life on the edge of these roads, we managed to get to Rantepao in not such bad time.
Rantepao, the capital of the Torajan people, is another paradisical valley of bamboo, rice fields, water buffallos and amazing cultural customs. The first we were able to witness was a funeral ceremony, a gory, drawn out affair which can (depending on the class of the deceased) last up to 2 weeks, invloving basically the celebration of the dead persons passage into the afterlife. As the cost of these funerals are sometimes so amazingly high (the slaughtering of many pigs, buffallos, building the areas to support and feed the hundreds of people who attend, is, after all very expensive), the deceased are embalmed and left as 'sick' until the money is raised, and the preparation done. The funeral we attended, the dead grand-ma had been waiting seven years, wrapped up, and happily embalmed in her wooden coffin. Weird, but fascinating.
What then unfolds is a colorful, if gory, bloody and slightly unappetising ceremony, invloving tributes, anouncements and almost continual eating, drinking (the Torajans arent Muslims), cigarette sharing and general communal togetherness. It was amazing, people coming and going, bringing (and taking alike) gifts of food, money, drink and cigarettes, and leaving with slung-over-the-shoulder choice cuts of meat (cooked or not), rice, or other bits and pieces for those at home who were unable to make it.
As a guide to these ceremonies is neccessary, ours explained to us the various ins and outs, and we were made to feel more than welcome, and it didnt have any of the 'fake' feel to it, that one sometimes experiences when visiting 'cultural' experiences. The scooter ride home took us past other recently completed, much larger ceremonies, where we were told, where up to 100 water buffalos can, would be or were sacrificed. It is the poor buffallos only use in these parts, I was suprised to hear, not being considered for helping on the rice fields, like in China, but only for the funerals, that is, bluntly put, as a status symbol. I would'nt recommend vegetarians visit here!
We also quickly stopped by a carpenter, whose job was to carve amongst other things, wooden buffalo heads (decoration for the traditional houses), and also to carve effigies of the recently deceased, a custom which stretches way back. These effigies are then placed in burial grounds/areas, fully clothed and suprisingly and oddly life-like, a way of remembering the dead I guess..
The next day involved a slightly less brutal trek through the spellbinding countryside- the rice terraces, massive natural bamboo forests, rocky outcrops, villages, and, by motorbike, the next day several burial grounds, and the other surrounding areas. The burial grounds, rather unique here, are carved out of the rock face where the effigies are placed, rather errily standing in the carved rock face, peering out, gazing into the distance with wooden blankness. If not in the rock face, then the others are welcomed into the afterlife in caves, where the bones and remains of those gone, sit beside flowers offerings and more effigies, and the remains, the skulls and bones of those departed.
The area of Rantepao and the Torajan people left an impression, the culture, the lanscape and overall diversity of experiences here were truely memorable.
From there, we made one last long bus ride down Sulawesi to the biggest city, Makassar, to then fly out to Denpassar.
We had then about a 10 days, split almost in half, with 5 days in Lombok, mainly on the Gili islands (another paradise) and 5 in Bali, taking in the various sights, activities, cultural and otherwise (like the western spaghetti and red wine in Bali!). Both islands were amazing, and especially Bali, when you look behind the tourist curtain, had so much variety to offer. The people, their openness, although a major tourist attraction for many years, but still suffering under the aftermath of the Bali bombings, was amazing.
Enough said, fun was had, beaches and temples were visited blah blag blah...
Well, to close things off, we left our final Asia destination with heavy hearts, and wanting more red wine!