For Vietnamese tourists, Sulawesi seems quite unfamiliar, as we often think of Indonesia as only having Bali, Lombok, Bromo, or Yogya. In reality, this archipelago nation possesses many unique and captivating destinations. Even Indonesians dream of visiting these exotic lands within their vast country. Sulawesi, the fourth largest island in Indonesia and eleventh in the world, is home to the Tana Toraja people, who have preserved their macabre customs for hundreds of years amidst the mysterious forests and mountains of southern Sulawesi.
Located on the western side of the Broneo Islands, Sulawesi has a very distinctive shape. I noticed they stylized the letter "K" in Makassar to resemble the shape of the island. Makassar, the largest city, is the gateway for tourists to explore the island. When learning about the island, beyond its pristine beaches and clusters of small islands nestled in the beautiful bays of Sulawesi, the island holds fascinating stories about its culture.
My trip was also quite unusual. I spontaneously embarked on this journey, introduced to the Hendri family in Sulawesi by a friend in Vietnam. I initially only intended to spend a few hours in Makassar with them, but I was unexpectedly captivated by their warmth and hospitality. I ended up spending nearly two weeks exploring the island with them, discovering Sulawesi like a true Indonesian.
Unique bamboo architecture
The road to Rantapao, the gateway to the Tana Toraja region, is very beautiful thanks to the government's significant investment in infrastructure in recent years. After about 100 km of flat coastal road, the remaining 200 km are winding mountain passes, but because we started at night, the traffic was lighter. We arrived in Rantapao at 3 am after several stops at roadside eateries. The early morning temperature in this highland town was quite cool and pleasant in the summer. We immediately found a room in the town center to rest up for the exploration ahead.
When dawn broke, Hendri called a Taraja man and asked him to take me to the unique villages in Tana Torajan. Hendri said that he had been a business partner for over a decade. Back then, Hendri used to go to Rantepao twice a week, so he was quite familiar with the area, but of course, purely as a businessman. Therefore, he introduced me to his local friend to provide me with more information.
Sulawesi has six provinces, with South Sulawesi being the most densely populated, home to the modern city of Makassar and the highlands inhabited by the Toraja people. The Toraja are an indigenous minority group with an estimated population of 1.1 million, of which 450,000 live in the Tana Toraja region. Most are Protestant, some are Muslim, and the remainder follow animism known locally as Aluk – meaning "path."
Tana Toraja boasts many traditional villages with roofs resembling boats gliding on the sea, known locally as Tongkonan. Tongkonan are intricately designed as stilt houses, supported by four large pillars, often made from giant bamboo. A small wooden staircase leads up to the platform. The house is quite cozy and divided into three sections: the front section for children, the central section with the fireplace serving as a common living area for the whole family, and the back section for parents or grandparents. The size of the Tongkonan varies depending on the size of the family.
The most distinctive feature of the stilt houses is their soaring, curved roofs, intricately decorated with elaborate carvings and patterns. A black buffalo head is often hung in front, while a few others display an albino buffalo head with sharp horns. In the center of the front of the house, a pole is erected, displaying buffalo horns; houses with many horns indicate wealth or high social standing in the village. These houses are typically built in two rows facing a central courtyard where all the Aluktodolo rituals are performed – a religion practiced by the indigenous people before the spread of other religions. A Toraja man told us that the Toraja people originated from Vietnam, when their ancestors migrated to the island by boat long ago. I don't know how much I believe or accept this explanation, but I was deeply moved to learn such interesting information about the Vietnamese people's past.
I was led to a still-under-construction house belonging to a Toraja man who served as the parish priest for the small mosque next door. Most Toraja people are Protestant, so their villages all have mosques for worship. Like the other people in the region, the priest cultivated some cash crops like coffee, cocoa, and cloves, and raised some livestock and poultry for self-sufficiency. We were treated to charcoal-grilled mountain chicken and stir-fried chayote with offal, served with a spicy chili sauce that burned our tongues. Only I used a spoon; most people ate with their right hand. This shows the diversity and intermingling of cultures, as it's not just Muslims who use their hands when eating.
Today, Rantepao is dotted with brick-built Tongkonan houses, interspersed with modern residential and religious buildings amidst the green mountains and forests. Daily prayers are broadcast through powerful loudspeakers, yet the Tana Taraja people remain serene and peaceful in their way of life. They continue to cultivate crops, raise livestock, perform rituals for peace, and live in harmony with their deceased loved ones… just as they have for hundreds of years in this mysterious land on the island of Sulawesi.
The land where spirits reside
According to Hendri's friend, the religious culture of the Toraja people is heavily influenced by animism, meaning they believe that everything in the world—from animals, plants, and minerals to natural phenomena like lightning, storms, and earthquakes—is inhabited by spirits. Therefore, whenever someone dies, they hold a funeral with many elaborate rituals.
When a Toraja dies, relatives must perform a series of funeral rituals over several days. However, most Toraja families do not have enough money to perform the entire funeral ceremony immediately, so they wait for weeks, months, or even years. Some families wait until the end of the harvest season. Torajas rarely bury the dead in the ground, but instead place the deceased in caves, crevices, or hollows in the mountains, or place the body in a wooden coffin and hang it on a high cliff. They spend considerable time and money completing the final resting place for the deceased. They may embalm the body and place it in a room within their own home.
Before the funeral rites conclude, the deceased is considered to be ill, not yet dead. As soon as the family has enough money, the funeral ceremonies begin. They slaughter buffalo, horses, and pigs, then dance, while young boys use long bamboo tubes to collect blood from the animals killed by the adults. The higher the status of the deceased, the greater the number of buffaloes offered at the funeral. In some funerals of wealthy or powerful people in the village, the family may slaughter dozens of buffaloes or hundreds of pigs. Many wealthy families even donate rare albino buffaloes, worth up to 500 million Rupiah. After the sacrifice, the family distributes the animal's meat to the guests attending the funeral.
A sad piece of news a friend of Hendri shared with me was that exactly one month ago, his family held a funeral for his mother-in-law. As the crowd was placing the coffin on a bamboo ladder, which stretched from the ground up to a platform over 10 meters high, they shouted to gather strength to pull the coffin up to the final rung. The ladder then collapsed, and the coffin, along with the crowd, fell and instantly killed his grandson. Hendri showed me a video clip on his phone, revealing the horror of the accident.
I was led to a cave area where many wooden coffins of the Taraja people were placed on bamboo frames hanging against the walls halfway up the mountain. Hendri hired a local man with a large kerosene lamp to guide us inside the cave. When strangers entered the cave, flocks of dog bats squealed loudly. From the entrance of the cave, there were many rock niches which were the graves of the Taraja people. One niche was very new, with wreaths indicating the date of death, about three weeks ago. Inside the cave, countless human skulls were placed on top of the rocks. The rotting coffins had their lids broken open, allowing me to clearly see the mummies inside. They were embalmed with fragrant tobacco to preserve their bodies. My local friend pointed out two skulls placed side by side and said that these were a couple who committed suicide more than a decade ago. They loved each other but could not be together because of the girl's family's opposition. So they hanged themselves, and the locals placed their bodies in this cave.
The most sacred place in the Tana Toraja region, which Hendri said I had to visit, is the giant Lemo stone, also the largest mass grave of many wealthy locals. Hendri explained that not everyone could afford to reserve a small space, about 1 meter high, 2 meters deep, and 80 centimeters wide, to bury their loved ones in the afterlife. The families of the deceased decorated the coffins quite elaborately, but due to the effects of time, the wood gradually rotted, causing the bones of the deceased to no longer be in their original positions.
For infants who die before their teeth erupt, the Toraja people hollow out a tree trunk and place the corpse inside. They use palm leaves to create a shield around the hollow. Over time, the tree continues to grow, and the hollows gradually disappear. Each tree can become the resting place of dozens of children. When entering the caves or the forest, I always murmur prayers to ask permission from the spirits, considering this a special ritual showing respect to the "owners" before visiting them.
It can be said that nowhere else, in the Tana Toraja region, has there ever been such a vast gap between the dead and the living.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Visa:Vietnamese tourists traveling to Indonesia are exempt from visa requirements.
TripTo reach Makassar, travelers must fly three times: from Ho Chi Minh City (or Hanoi) to Kuala Lumpur, and then transit in Surabaya. There are also transit airports to the island from other cities such as Jakarta and Bali. Makassar is gaining increasing attention from domestic tourists, so the number of flights is expected to increase in the future.
TimeToraja is located in the UTC + 8 time zone, so it is one hour ahead of Vietnam. April is a good time to visit Sulawesi because of the pleasant temperatures and little rain. July is quite hot but very attractive to tourists because it is the time when a series of traditional local festivals take place (especially the funeral season). From October to December, the Sulawesi sea area is often affected by tropical storms.
Accommodation:The cost for backpackers ranges from 180,000 to 200,000 VND per night, or they can stay with local families.
CuisineYou should visit Warung Pong Buri restaurant, famous for the past 20 years in the center of Rantepao town, where they prepare many local Tarajo dishes, including braised eel in black bean sauce and wild boar meat grilled with perilla leaves in bamboo tubes, which are very unique.
Means of transportation
- Air travel: Tana Toraja has a small airport with only one weekly flight on Mondays, but even that is often cancelled due to low passenger numbers or unfavorable weather conditions. The government has now invested in a new airport, Buntukunik, to allow daily tourist arrivals to Tana Toraja via ATR 72 aircraft.
- Buses are a popular mode of transportation for both tourists and locals. Tana Toraja is located 300 km from Makassar, so the journey takes approximately 8 hours. It's recommended to use an overnight bus to save time and money. There are two high-quality bus companies operating daily from Makassar to Rantepao: Bingtang Prima and Litha & Co, with fares around 200,000 Rp per trip. You can also use smaller buses in the Rantepao area for short trips of a few kilometers, costing around 2,000 Rp.
- Taxi or car rental: You can hire a taxi or rent a car for your Tana Toraja sightseeing trip. The cost ranges from 850,000 to 1,200,000 Rp per trip from Makassar to Rantepao. You can also negotiate with the driver to go towards Rantepao to save money, or rent a car for around 550,000 Rp per day.
You can also rent a motorbike for around 80,000 – 100,000 Rp/day.
Sightseeing:Tana Toraja boasts traditional villages, caves, and stunning terraced rice fields. However, there aren't many guides available to remote villages or festivals, so hiring a local guide is recommended.
Must-see places on a trip to Tana Toraja include: Gunung Sesean hill overlooking the highland town of Rantepao, the giant Lemo stone tombs where Toraja people are buried, Londa burial caves, Bori Parinding ceremonial area, Ke'te Kesu' traditional village, Bolu Market (livestock market), Kambira with its tree-top children's graves, and participating in a funeral ceremony in a traditional village in Tana Toraja.
Expense:Approximately 17 million VND for a 12-day trip, including round-trip airfare, meals, transportation, entrance fees, and souvenirs.
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