That’s right I’ve done it! Got a problem with that? They sure didn’t. Sulawesi is a beautiful place full of nature and culture. Along side Sumatra it is one of the lesser traveled areas of Indonesia, and that’s just the way I like it. The people you meet here are not “vacationers” but “travelers”. Famous for it’s rituals, coffee, and beautiful islands, Sulawesi is an excellent place to see.

Traveling up toward central Sulawesi, Tana Toraja was the first major stop. This area is very interesting. Buildings are fantastic, all with roofs in the shape of boats/buffalo horns, Country side is full of forests and rice paddy’s, and the traditions are full of crazy. The thing to see is a funeral. People Live to Die here. The funeral ceremony is such a grand event that most family’s still have to save well past the death to pay for it. During this time they keep the body in a room in the house and bring it food every time they eat until they can have the “service”. This could be as long as 4-5 years!

When the time comes for the funeral, a set of buildings are constructed to house the guests of the event, the size depending on the status class of the deceased. There are a whole bunch of rituals performed, though the most mentionable one is the slaughters. A huge part of the funeral is slaughtering/sacrificing animals such as buffalo, pigs, sometimes horses. The number again depend on the status class of the deceased but for the funeral I crashed, she was a “noble class”. 36 buffalo and over 500 pigs were killed. How you ask? A buffalo would be tied so it was standing and they would just slit its neck and have it bleed out there. Pigs were stabbed in the heart. Both would be gutted and cut up on the spot right after. Sometimes the animal didn’t even look dead when they started to cut it up. Really something else. Oh and yes this is in the “center court” of the buildings. In this area Buffalos only exist to be killed.

Fun yeah?

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