Sea day on the way to Indonesia

 

We went to several talks to learn more about Indonesia. The cultural talk today focused on Bali. Over 40% of tourists’ visits are to Bali. In contrast to the rest of Indonesia, Hinduism is the primary (87%) religion here. Islam came to Indonesia in the 15^th century, many Hindus fled to Bali. Bali’s style of Hinduism includes elements of Animism, making it more attractive to the people. Bali is known as the Island of the Gods with over 20,000 temples. There are some cultural taboos: the left hand is considered unclean, and one never touches someone on the head. The head is considered the seat of your soul. Nyepi the day of silence, is the day to convince the evil spirits that the island is deserted. Every business, school, and even the airport is closed. Throughout Bali, you will see Bantan, offerings to the gods. Caning Saui is a daily small offering. Banten Tegala is a stacked offering of fruit. The most interesting cultural fact is the Metatah ceremony where the canine teeth of the teenager are filed when they reach puberty, the ceremony to become an adult. Filing the canine teeth makes them human, different than other animals.

At Sea on the Noordam

 

We arrived in Singapore at 7:15 on Sunday morning after leaving Denver at 5:30 PM on Friday. We boarded the ship, Holland America’s Noordam, at about 1 PM. We’re learning about our ports of call and the culture of Indonesia during our two days at sea. Indonesia consists of 17,508 islands and 277 million people. It also has over 700 languages and more than 600 ethnic groups with unique cultures and ethics.

Torajan Houses

Our speaker explored the Torajan people who live in the mountains of Sulawesi island. The houses are unique in the shape of a saddle back, believed to have originated from turning their boats upside down. This culture is known for their death rituals, which last several days and involves the whole village and possibly nearby villages. It may cost up to $100,000. This requires the family to save up over years for the rite. Meanwhile, the body us mummified, dressed in clothes, and stays with the family. It is fed, clothes are changed and even given cigarettes if they smoked. The funeral itself can last as long as 12 days with meals of Buffalo and pig. The body is buried in the caves of the mountains with a wooden statue of the deceased in a balcony in front. Once a year, the body is brought out, dried and clothed with new garments, and paraded around the village.

Wooden statues in front of grave site