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- Sulawesi
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The oddly
shaped island of Sulawesi offers a startling
array of landscapes, steep mountains, deep
gorges, fast flowing rivers, highland lakes, lush
rain forest, lontar palm savnnahs and white sand
beaches. The island also tenders fasinating range
of flora and fauna. It has a population of nine
million people, whom are equally diverse,
speaking more than 40 languages.
South
Sulawesi , a province that is rapidly becoming
one of Indonesia tourist destination. The is a
region of steep volcanoes, fat-flowing rivers,
fertile plains, broad savannahs, uneven coast and
white sand beaches. It is one of the most heavily
populated regions of Indonesia. The staple food
is rice, grown in lowland and irrigated paddies;
maize and sago are the preferred highland crops.
The coastal and lowland regions of South Sulawesi
are today inhabited by many Mongoloid-type
peoples generally known as the Bugis.
It’s generally assumed they settled along
these shores well over 1,000 years ago, and since
that time, they have had one of the more
colourful histories of any Indonesian ethnic or
social group.
The Bugis
have always been great
seafarers and shipbulders. Ujung Pandang, is a modern city with a population of 700,000, the business and administrative centre of Sulawesi. Like all major cities of Indonesia, the town as undergone its shared of growing pains in recent years. The town flourished as the port and trading center for the medieval kingdom of Goa.
The old
fort (benteng) of Ujung Pandang, was
one of the eleven Goanese stongholds when it was
first erected in 1545. The Dutch conquered it and
reconstructed it and renaming it Amsterdam
Castle. With its interior church and trading
offices, it today stands as one of the
outstanding examples of 17th century Dutch
fortress architecture. The fort now houses the
Ujung Pandang Provincial Museum, with many fine
displays of old ceramics, manuscripts, coins,
musical instruments and ethnic costumes.
Leang - Leang Caves located at the northeast of Ujung Pandang, contains 5,000 year old blood red henna hand stencils. Tucked away amid the rugged peaks and fertiles plateaus of southcentral Sulawesi live many isolated tripes, who share a common ancestry with the seafaring Bugis, Mandar and Makassar. Coastal dwellers refer to them as the Toraja or highland people .
Their
homeland is called Tanah Toraja or
Torajaland. The Toraja traditional
lived in a small settlements perched on hilltops
and surrounded by stone walls. Each village is
composed of several extended familes who inhabits
a series of houses called tongkonan, arranged in
circular row around an open field. In the middle
stands a sacred stone or banyan tree used for
ritual offerings, and granaries face of
dwellings. The roof of the tongkonan rise at both
ends like the bow and stern of a boat; ritual
chants compare these dwellings to the vessels
that carried their ancestors here. House panels
are exquisitely carved with geometric and animal
motif executed in the sacred colors of white, red
, yellow and black. The roof represents the
heavens, and it is always oriented northeast to
southeast, the directions of the two ancestral
realms, according to Torajan cosmology.
North Sulawesi, is a
fertile, snake-like volcanic peninsula
out-stretched in the middle of the vast Maluku
Sea, more than 1,000 km from the nearest major
center. It is one of the most Christainized
places in Indonesia. About 2.3 million peple make
their home here, more than 200,000 of them in
Manado, the pleasant provincial capital. This
city lies at the top of the lovely mountainous
Minahasa region, with its active volcanoes, clear
highland lakes, hot water spring and sandy
beaches. Manado doesn’t offer much in the
way of urban attraction except for Ranotana
market and the quaint horsedrawn carriages,
bendi.
Pulau Bunaken is an excellent famous for its sun-drenched and peerless diving and snorkerling. With deep trenches, sheer walls and strong nutrient-rich currents, Bunaken is one of the worlds most beautiful coral environments. With an almost unbelievable variety of teeming sea life, superb visibility and spectacular scenery, Bunaken is the chief attraction of North Sulawesi for divers and non-divers.
Southeast
and Central Sulawesi, are
rarely visited ahnd have not developed tourist
facilities or any significance. Because of their
distance from the beaten track, they retain a
charm and a traditional lifestyle not found in
more developed area. The capital of Southeast
Sulawesi is Kendari, whose craftmen are famed for
their silver siligree work. Kendari, often
appears, when viewed from sea of lying on a lake.
The capital of Central Sulawesi is Palu, a
trading city located on the west coast at the tip
of a deep narrow bay. Palu is also a gateway to
the beautiful Lore Lindu Nature Reserve. Most of
central Sulawesi takes the form of isolated
peaks, rain forest and remote tribal settlements.
Palu is a good base from which to explore the
nearby ancient seaport of Donggala and the
tranquil and crystal lake, Lake Poso or to
undertake a trek through Bada Valley with its
extraordinary megaliths left by
a lost civilisation.
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