Where is Rune?

Christmas 2009 was spent in Tana Toraja, Sulawesi, together with Caecil, Astrid, Saras, Eka, and Rani. Tana Toraja is known for their unique burial rites. I and Caecil also spent a few days in Makassar afterwards.

23 December

I and Caecil flew from Jakarta to Makassar on Batavia Airlines (Rp 750k each), and checked into New Legend Hostel in downtown Makassar after an Rp 87k taxi ride from the airport. Later in the evening, the other four of the group members arrived from Balikpapan. The Gang of Four (+2) was again united!

24 December

Some of the girls had already arranged with a rental car, a driver, two hotel rooms in Tana Toraja, and even a guide. For all this, we paid a total of Rp 4.4 million (~460 USD), or Rp 733k per person. The driver picked us up around 10:00, and we made quick visits to Fort Rotterdam and Losari Beach in Makassar, before venturing on the long journey to Tana Toraja, where we arrived around 23:00 at our hotel in Rantepao (Rantepao Lodge). We made a few stops in between, though.

25 December

We were introduced to our guide, a small, smelly man with lots of dirt under his long finger nails. I don’t remember his name, so he is deemed to be called The Smelly Guide. Luckily, he sat in the front seat (together with the driver). The smelly guide first brought us to a village where they kept their deceased in small, purpose-built caves in a mountain wall, and then to another village where they kept dead bodies of babies in dug-out holes in trees. He also took us to a relatively big cave where skeleton remains were scattered around. Quite interesting.

26 December

In the morning, the smelly guide and the driver brought us first to the buffalo and pig livestock market in Rantepao, and then to a festival in the same town, the so-called “Lovely December” festival, including a parade of live pigs inside decorated bamboo constructions, which were each carried by several men. It was quite hot during the day, so after spending enough time at the festival, our smelly guide brought us to a mountain top (1500 meter altitude), where we had a meal at a restaurant. We then descended down to the town again, and not much more happened this day.

27 December

We started 05:30 in the morning on the journey back to Makassar, since four of the girls had to catch a flight back to Balikpapan at 16:00. I and Caecil, however, had decided to stay in Makassar until 30 December, so we checked into New Legend Hostel again. This time we opted for the “Deluxe” room (Rp 135k), which was much nicer, since it had a window. Both this and the previous room also came with AC and TV.

28-30 December

We spent the days roaming around Makassar, including a short trip to Pulau Kayangan. During those two evenings, we had a couple of beers at Kafe Kareba while chatting with a talkative, old Canadian expat who had been in the seaweed business since the 1960s. On 30 December we flew to Balikpapan on Sriwijaya Airlines (~Rp 550k), and were picked up at the airport by Astrid. We stayed at her house, which happens to be the same house that I stayed at during my earlier two years in Balikpapan.