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.

Fort Rotterdam.

Can you see the driver?

Pantai…

…Losari. And the Gang of Four Minus One (the photographer) Plus Two!

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.

Wooden figures resembling the dead, in front of cave graves.

Tree used as grave for babies.

Skeleton remains in cave.

Tana Toraja village.

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.

Pigs for sale.

Tana Toraja coffee.

A happy pig?

Here is our pig #9 again.

Girls at festival.

Lovely December Festival.

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.

Makassar becaks.

Pier for boat to Pulau Kayangan.

I decided to burn some frequent flyer points on a short trip to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

So therefore, last Wednesday 16 December, we (I and Caecil) flew to HCMC, was picked up at the airport, and stayed at this pre-booked place in the Pham Ngu Lao area of the city. We returned to Jakarta on Sunday 20 December.

I had not my best of luck: Diarrhea on Thursday and fever on Friday. But apart from that, we did our best to explore downtown HCMC, by foot and by taxi.

I couldn’t avoid noticing that the local people were generally not the most friendly bunch I have encountered.

Thursday: Went to the Ben Than Market (after my diarrhea had stopped). As usual, I didn’t buy a thing (except food and drink), while Caecil bought many things.

Friday: Went to the War Remnants Museum (after my fever had disappeared).

Saturday: Went to the Jade Emperor Pagoda, Notre Dame Cathedral (which was closed), the main post office (which is the nicest post office building I have ever seen), and the Reunification Palace (which was closed too). During sunset (well, it was cloudy) we had a couple of strong drinks at the rooftop bar of the Sheraton Saigon.

Some pictures:

Just outside our hotel, Pham Ngu Lao.

Quote seen at the War Remnants Museum.

Cyclos and their drivers.

One of the main streets in HCMC.

HCMC skyline, seen from top of Sheraton Saigon.

And a video clip:

I observed this colorful VW Beetle in the parking lot of Plaza Senayan last Friday. Cool.

A freaky Beetle.

Last week I went to the local immigration office here in East Jakarta to complete the paperwork of my visa extension. The office is located in a dirty and depressing area of the city, next to a huge high-security prison surrounded by high walls, double fences and razor wire. Drug convicts are held here (Jakarta is flooding with drugs, some of the biggest ecstasy factories in the world are hidden in warehouses around Jakarta).

Time was spent filling out several forms (with a lot of redundant information), photographs taken, fingerprints taken (all 10 fingers, strangely enough not my toes), “What am I doing here?”, “No, you can’t use blue pen, use black”, “No, the signature must be written across duty stamp”, etc.

I then proceeded to pay the visa extension fee at the cashier (Rp 250k), and while waiting in line I was a bit puzzled when I noticed a poster (check out the picture below) proclaiming as follows (translated):

BEWARE OF:
– Terrorists
– Dark immigrants
– Trafficking in children and women
– Passport forgery

I am glad I am a white immigrant!

Well, the truth is, it was later explained to me that “gelap” can also mean “illegal”, not only “dark”. Just another reminder that the same Indonesian word can have several different meanings, depending on the context…

Beware of dark immigrants.

I’m rather bored sitting countless hours inside a car in the Jakarta traffic jams, and here is a rather pointless picture I took right now, on the way from the city to Cibubur. At least I can play with my internet connected computer to make time pass by, including posting this!

Jakarta traffic.