Tana Toraja

From MaxTravelz

Tana Toraja (literally "Torajaland"; ) is a highland region of South Sulawesi, Indonesia.

Contents 1 Cities 2 Other destinations 3 Understand 3.1 When to go 4 Talk 5 Get in 5.1 By plane 5.2 By bus 6 Get around 7 See 7.1 Itineraries 8 Do 9 Eat 10 Drink 11 Stay safe 12 Get out

Cities

• Rantepao — tourism central
• Rantetayo — the site of the airport

Other destinations

Understand

The land of the Toraja people, many notionally Christian but most in practice animist, is above all famed for their spectacular (and rather gruesome) burial rites. After a person's death, the body is kept — often for several years — while money is saved to pay for the actual funeral ceremony, known as tomate. During the festival, which may last up to a week, ritual dances and buffalo fights are held, and buffaloes and pigs are slaughtered to ferry the soul of the deceased to the afterlife (puya). The deceased is then finally buried either in a small cave, often with a tau-tau effigy placed in front, inside a hollow tree or even left exposed to the elements in a bamboo frame hanging from a cliff.

When to go

Prime funeral season is after the harvest in July to September.

Talk

Get in

By plane

The only airport in Tana Toraja is in Rantetayo, which was closed for several years for upgrading. The airport reopened in late 2005 and Dirgantara Air Service (DAS) now operates flights twice weekly, on Mondays and Fridays, departing from Makassar at 10 AM (30 min, Rp. 250,000 one way). Note that the tiny airport can only handle turboprops and has no navigation gear, so flights are often delayed or cancelled in bad weather.

By bus

Tana Toraja is a solid 300-km, 8-hour drive up fairly bad roads from Makassar.

Get around

See

Itineraries

Do

Eat

Drink

Stay safe

Get out

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