19::Tana Toraja
2.8.97 Saturday
Sightseeing included:
Marante market: rice, buffalo, pigs
Scenery gawking: Deri, Lempo view of valley, Butu Tumonga view of Rantepao. The endless sculpted rice paddies have the same power over me here as they did in Java, except the view here is from above. I would love to have a house overlooking such a scene. I'm sure it would be as endlessly fascinating as the sea.
Lunch at a restaurant specializing in "typical Toraja"
Lemo: tau-tau cliffs (Yunus’ mother's family is from here)
Sangalla: they used to bury infants in tree trunks. We get the sense they consider this a brief and barbaric custom and yet I like the notion of returning these premature deaths into nourishment. The trees are massive and beautiful. Also visited a spice garden (we are in the "spice islands" after all).
Suaya: megaliths; royal graves, with tau-tau
Ke’te Kesu: a carving village, suspended graves, with tau-tau caves
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