| Page Views: 4,993 Last Visit to Rantepao: - | TANAH TORAJA - Sulawesi by RoyJava - last update: Nov 2, 2009 |
RANTEPAO, the centre for tourists who visit Tanah Toraja (to ri aja in Buginese), is a market place in the rocky area of Sungai Sa'dan, where the Toraja people are living, and get overrun by swarms of tourists for 6 months a year at least.
Visit Rantepao's market, North-east of the bus Terminal Bolu centre and watch the bargaining of buffalos, buy some palm wine, get Tanah Toraja souvenirs and listen to the many chats ... it's funny, amazing, however my best memories were the visits to the "cave-tombs" villages around, which left very deep impressions about peoples "living for the dead"...
thanks for visiting |
|  | Long Kept Secret I remember when we entered the Tanah Toraja land. The typical saddle-roofed houses (tongkonan) showed a fabulous tradition kept for so long time. And I got overwhelmed by their myths which claim that their ancestors arrived in a storm from the Northern Sea, pulled their splinter boats ashore, and used them as roofs; the principal attraction of Tanah Toraja and its houses, shaped like ships and, all face North, the direction of their origin ... isn't that a magnificent kept secret ? |
Water & Mountains The Toraja saddle-roofed and Bugi stilt-houses are known from art-paintings on Dongson-drums (500 BC), which show similar houses. South Sulawesi is a special link between Asia and Australia. There are some areas with Pleistocene fossils, dating back until 400.000 - 500.000 years ago! There are lakes everywhere, once part of the sea in prehistoric times. Temperature can be very hot, so maybe this remind you to bring a lot of water with you traveling to the Toraja mountain-land, where its people have never seen the ocean ... | | | buginese-stilthouse-sulawesi |
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| Pros: | "Impressive - Historical - Ecological - Cultural - Traditional - Ceremonial - Ritual -" | | Cons: | "Touristy - Cross-Country-Wide - Touristy-Priced" | | In A Nutshell: | "Tanah Toraja Magnificent Region Fascinating People" |
RoyJava's Rantepao Travel Tips
 Comments for RoyJava about Rantepao | | | | |
JessH Wed Nov 14, 2007 08:58 UTC
Hello Roy and thank you for sharing your great detailed info & stories on this unusual destination! I really enjoyed reading your pages, and my ratings are definitely with you. Greetings from the desert :-) Jess in Dubai | mircaskirca Sun Sep 16, 2007 15:52 UTC
Fascinating page Roy! It called to memory some wonderful stories and images of Toraja. Loved tongkonan and tau-tau and was even lucky enough to attend the funeral ceremony. Toraja kopi tubruk is delicious and durian, mmmmm :)) | black_mimi99 Sat Dec 23, 2006 08:44 UTC
thx for the great info and also great pics u have mas Roy...thx banget yah... it help me much...:) Happy Holiday!!! and wish u the best coming year...:) | go2indo Thu Sep 7, 2006 10:46 UTC
Emerald Indonesia tours & travel, visit www.GO2INDO.com is the best gateway to Indonesia, why this travel agency? Because they are social and suport serveral projects in Indonesia! |
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