Articles from this Category
27 July 2010
The Tsunami of 26 December 2004 This morning I took the ferry from Pulau Weh to the mainland and checked into a hotel for the night. I chose to take in some of the reminders of the tsunami which killed 170000 people in Aceh but, not the mass graves which are available for visits. The tsunami […]
26 July 2010
My Two Dives I did two dives today with Lumba Lumba Dive Resort, as planned … but not quite. The manager suggested that I do a refresher dive as I wasn’t highly experienced (15 dives) and it had been about 9 months since my last dive. Of course I suspected this was at an extra cost […]
26 July 2010
My Two Dives I did two dives today with Lumba Lumba Dive Resort, as planned … but not quite. The manager suggested that I do a refresher dive as I wasn’t highly experienced (15 dives) and it had been about 9 months since my last dive. Of course I suspected this was at an extra cost […]
25 July 2010
Fashion Crisis Takes a New Meaning I checked out from the airport Tune Hotel and walked to the nearby terminal for my 1155 departure from Kuala Lumpur to Banda Aceh, I had time for a leisurely curry breakfast (rendang, tempeh, cucumber and pineapples) after dropping off my bag at the baggage drop, then taking the […]
23 October 2009
The sun rises very early in Makassar, not quite as bad as in Manado but it is still very bright at five something. We had decided on an early start to beat the heat. Out the door at 0800, it wasn’t too hot yet. But within minutes we were drenched from the humidity. We went […]
22 October 2009
We took the bus back down to Makassar today. It was meant to be 8 hours but it took 9h40 … allowing for one flat tyre, comfort stops and picking up passengers. This is the end of my Tana Toraja adventure. It is one of the most interesting trips I’ve ever done. Normally everything of […]
21 October 2009
Pasar Bolu The market in Bolu (near Rantepao) isn’t a weekly affair … but occurs every six days. We were lucky to catch it despite our short stay of only three full days. In summary, people bring their buffaloes and pigs here so other people can come make their purchases: The buffalo section is essentially […]
20 October 2009
Above: The newly prepared grave took over 2 years to carve out manually. Cliff graves at Suaya We started the day visiting Suaya which had a cliff-face filled with effigies similar to yesterday’s at Lemo. We learnt that the ones here are original whereas those at Lemo had been replaced after being pillaged. Text continues […]
20 October 2009
Above: Cryptic signs showing the availability of dog meat. Driving through the towns and countryside our guide and pointed out shops which sold dog meat. These are indicated rather discreetly by way of cryptic signs and codes, eg. “Ada” (meaning “Have” or “Available”) or red plastic bag hanging on a stick. I found the level […]
19 October 2009
Background Tana Toraja (or Toraja Land) is famous for the traditional burial ceremonies amongst its Christian population. When people die, they’re preserved (formerly using balsam but now with formalin) then kept at home for up to a few years while funds are accumulated for an elaborate ceremony or while relatives are brought together for the […]