Festivals in Indonesia

The boxing competition is the highlight of the Summer Festival and runs every day for a week. The competitors (mostly boys in their teens) come from as far afield as the Indonesian islands of Papua and Kalimentan and the whole event is taken very seriously by those involved

The Equator lies to the south, about a half day's bumpy ride by bus, but the island's elevation negates the tropical latitude. We were dozing, tucked in sleeping bags, when a rousing chorus of Gloria Hallelujah and O Come All Ye Faithful woke us.

Whatever the sights, there's no doubt that the highlight of a trip to Tana Toraja, the area of central Sulawesi whose capital is Rantepao, is to visit a funeral. This is easier than it sounds: because the funeral celebrations take a lot of preparation, not to mention expense, the Torajans have two funerals for each death, much like the Balinese; the first one is a private affair straight away after the death, and the body is preserved in the house where it died until the necessary cash has been saved up for the second one, a much bigger, more public affair. Because the second funeral is effectively a huge party and can be held at any time, it tends to be organised for between July and October when the relatives can come to visit more easily, during the school holidays. This leads to the strange concept of the Funeral Season, which Rose and I were lucky enough to catch the end of.

It was more the intricacy than the size of Borobudur that first caught my attention. Although undoubtedly immense, the grand scale of Borobudur cannot truly be appreciated from a distance. Not unlike a pyramid or mountain in its overall appearance it challenges the traditional model of a temple in that it lacks an enclosed structure that is home to a depiction of a deity.