TRAVEL

Your Travels: Indonesia's Ring of Fire

Jo and Howard Fine
Special for The Republic
Reader photo - Crater lake, Lake Toba, at sunset, Sumatra.

In September, my husband and I visited rugged areas of Indonesia in the heart of the Ring of Fire, a mountainous area known for earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Our itinerary took us to three islands in three weeks — just a glimpse of this archipelago of 17,000 islands.

Our journey began in Sumatra, where beauty and disaster collide. In 2004, a tsunami devastated the Banda Aceh region, and Feb. 1 the Sinabung volcano erupted, killing 16 villagers. During a quieter time, we sat outside our cabin and watched Sinabung's gray gases peacefully swirl around its peak.

We started our exploration at the site of one of the world's largest volcanic eruptions, which occurred more than 70,000 years ago. Today, majestic Lake Toba dominates its huge extinct caldera. The area surrounding the lake is inhabited by the Batak people. Having once practiced cannibalism, they are now a welcoming society. Their traditional houses, built on stilts with swooping sod-covered roofs, are weathered and full of character.

Driving through Sumatra's lush core is like passing through a rainbow of greens. Chartreuse-colored rice fields are straddled by avenues of green mountains and volcanoes.

Next we flew to Kalimantan for a private three-day cruise into the backwaters of the Borneo jungles. We rented a klotok, a large houseboat, with a crew of four — captain, cook, wildlife spotter and guide.

We spent our days tracking wildlife and our nights tracking constellations. Playful proboscis monkeys and macaques entertained us in the evening, while birds sang throughout the night.

Reader photo - Orangutan in tree with bowl of rice taken from our table, Borneo.

One day a big orangutan jumped from a tree into our boat. It grabbed a bowl of rice from a table, leaped back out and climbed a tree, bowl and spoon in hand. It happened so quickly that we were more startled than frightened.

Next, we traveled to the beautiful highlands of Sulawesi, home of the Toraja people.

They practice animism, believing the souls of animals accompany the dead to the hereafter. A Torajan's wealth is measured by the number of water buffalo owned. Serving as currency for a richer afterlife, the animals are sacrificed during their owner's lavish funeral ceremony.

Attending an animist funeral is a jolt to the senses: a huge feast, lots of people, lots of noise, plenty of palm wine and betel nuts. The enormity of the animal sacrifices is not for the faint of heart.

Reader photo - Realistic wooden effigies of deceased couple, Sulawesi.

Coffins are placed in caves or hung high on the sides of cliffs. Hand-carved, lifelike replicas of the deceased stand guard near the burial sites. Babies are entombed in carved-out niches of tree trunks. The bark is then closed over the niche, allowing the body to rise with the growing tree.

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