Market day

Pasar Bolu

The market in Bolu (near Rantepao) isn’t a weekly affair … but occurs every six days.  We were lucky to catch it despite our short stay of only three full days.

In summary, people bring their buffaloes and pigs here so other people can come make their purchases:

• The buffalo section is essentially a big gift shop … people buy buffaloes not for food but as ceremonial gifts for special occasions.
• Adult pigs are sold for short-term consumption and not for rearing.  Pigs planned for sale on the day are bound up ready for transport (a bit sad for animal lovers) but any leftovers are left in relatively generous pens until sold in the next few days.
• Piglets are sold in sacks for rearing.

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Sesean Mountains

From there we proceeded to the Sesean Mountains for a walk through villages, ricefields and the bush. I think Kim had found the treatment of pigs, tied up, a little upsetting. He said he felt a little unwell and chose to return back to the hotel for a rest. The outing including a lunch stop for the panorama at Batu Tumonga.

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We returned to the hotel for our last night in Toraja.  I felt very satisfied with the amazing experiences that we have had.  Experiences which were hard to organise and hard to reach, but absolutely worthwhile.