Sulawesi is one of largest islands in the Indonesian archipelago. The Torajan people of Southern Sulawesi are known for their elaborate death and funeral rituals. Many Torajan people today identify as Christian or Muslim. Fused into these faiths is animism—a belief that all things—animals, plants, wind, water, and air—possess a conscious life force or spiritual essence. Many hold the belief that their earliest ancestors were heavenly beings who came to Earth using a celestial stairway.

Death, for Torajans, is the most important event in life. When family members die, they are thought of, not as dead, but sick, and cared for out of love and respect for their deceased family members. The care may extend for months, sometimes years, and continues until and after the funeral service. In the time between an individual’s death and their internment, verses from the Bible or Koran are read daily, while the body is preserved — and ultimately mummified — with a mixture of formaldehyde and water.

Families maintain their deceased in separate rooms in their homes until they can save enough for the funeral. The services may last for a week with the sacrifice of many buffaloes and pigs. The higher the family status, the more animals sacrificed. After the service, the dead will be continually visited and cleaned and sometimes redressed in a ritual known as Ma’nene.

Torajans live in small, quiet villages off rustic dirt roads in the Sulawesi highlands. Their distinctive homes are known as Tongkonan. The buildings are erected on stilts of wood and bamboo and have long, narrow sweeping roofs resembling a saddle. Ornately carved window coverings and doors make the homes very beautiful.On posts in front of the homes are water buffalo horns. The more horns on display, the more prominent the family. These unique homes are an important part of Torajan life and culture. Weddings and religious ceremonies are conducted there.

After the funeral the dead are placed in spaces carved into cliffsides. Some in mass ancestral funeral towers Babies are put into hollowed out trees with the belief that as the tree regrows the spirit of the baby will inhabit the tree.

Another key element of Torajan funerals are wooden or bamboo carvings of loved ones called “tau tau.” These figures may be placed on a balcony in front of the tomb. Detailed tau tau are very expensive and may be kept in the home out of fear of it being stolen.

It is not unusual for tourists to be invited to the sacrifice of the animals at the funeral. It is believed to improve the family’s status. Our guide asked us to bring a gift of sugar and a pack of cigarettes as gifts.  We arrived after the slaughter of the buffalo, but saw pigs being carried off and sadly heard their squeals.

It is important to note that all of the meat is shared with family members and those that attend the ritual and the Torajans believe that the spirits of animals sacrificed accompany their loved ones into the afterlife.

We visited Myanmar the last days of the military junta, when conspicuous, uniformed generals ruled, and military forces patrolled in trucks mounted with machine guns. Our guide warned us against photographing any military personnel or activities. We also heard—but cannot verify—that the local people wanted tourists near them as they tempered the harshness of the military regime. Certainly everyone we met in Myanmar was exceptionally friendly.

I will not comment on current conditions in Myanmar, but at the time of our visit there were no ATMS, no banks or offices for currency exchange, and very few businesses that accepted credit cards. Currency exchange was officially illegal, but widely practiced in small dark rooms in back alleys for varying fees. A big part of the guide’s job is getting you a fair exchange rate at a reasonable fee.

We paid for our hotels before our trip (online, by credit card), and our only use of credit cards while in Myanmar was for the Balloons over Bagan tour (see below). The tour was through a British company that held a unique concession for the tours. That day we booked the tour was also our only use of the internet in Myanmar.

We heard tales of first-time visitors who arrived at the airport and had to leave the country and come back with cash in order to continue their travels. Yes—even the airport lacked foreign exchange offices, and the locals are not interested in US dollars or any other currency but their own (the Kyat).

Our one use of US dollars occurred on leaving, at the airport. We had to pay an  exit fee of US$20 per person. The cashier was very particular about the physical condition of the bills. So, bring plenty of crisp new dollars (or British pounds or Euros or any currency respected on world exchanges).

Again, I cannot comment on how conditions have changed on commercial transactions since the regime change. But, cultures change more slowly than governments and what we experienced in Myanmar is probably quite relevant today. Once accustomed to the rules, the inconveniences were minor, and our trip was simply extraordinary, as shown in the photographs below and in the gallery link.

Our plans for travel started in Yangon (formerly, Rangoon). We had arranged for a private tour of the country with a local guide with a car.  From there we drove through the center of the countryside, a scenic rural landscape on our way to Mandalay and from there we took a private boat to Bagan. During our two week trip we never met another American tourist

In Yangon   we visited one of nation’s most holy shrines, Shwedagon— a towering golden temple that Buddhists in Myanmar on their spiritual path will try to visit at least once in a lifetime. Shwedagon rises as Somerset Maugham wrote “glistening in gold like a sudden hope in the dark night of the soul.”

Myanmar is a land of millions of images of The Buddha. Virtually, everywhere you look is a figure of stone, clay, metal or wood, and paintings or engravings. One temple has an alleged million representations of The Buddha on its walls. We saw many broken remains of Buddha statues laying around on ledges and floors in damaged temples in the central part of the country. I hope that now there is some security to protect such shrines as it would be easy for visitors to walk away with these thousand year old treasures . Maybe now that UNESCO is involved, there is hope for the right kind of preservation.

Nat Taung Monastery on the edge of the Ayeyarwady River pictured with young novice monks.

Ubein’s Bridge near Mandalay, The longest teak span bridge in the world (three quarters of a mile, or about 1.2 kilometers).

Tranquil Taungthaman Lake near Ubein’s Bridge Men fishing

What would a Lunar New Year be without a dragon? We were there during this celebration and there were festivities all over the country.

Some of our most memorable conversations were with the monks who were trying to improve their English Skills.

Monks gathering to eat their one meal that they share per day around noon.

Women who become monks are required to shave their heads and they wear pink robes.

The Ayeyarwady River descends swiftly from the eastern Himalayas and flows fairly straight from north to south through the country. We arrived by boat at its banks near Bagan.

Myanmar is a landscape of spectacular Pagodas and temples, as Maugham wrote “Pagodas loom huge, remote and mysterious- like the vague recollections of a fantastic dream.”

The essence of Myanmar is really in its hardworking, varied community of people. Here are some the many unique faces of this spiritual country, involved in their daily endeavors.

The children of Myanmar were especially open, friendly and trusting. Their delightful smiling faces and demeanor were remarkable considering the recent history in the region.

A hot air balloon flight at dawn
over the architectural wonderland of the Bagan plain, where more than 3,500 temples and religious structures built between 800 and 1,000 years ago stand. They occupy a small stretch of land which includes Old Bagan. The temples are at their visual finest at dawn or as the sun is setting. The morning sun raises mist from the river, which shrouds the temples in a mystical haze.
Of all of my world travels this is the most impressive vision I have ever seen. By the time the balloon landed I was dazed and oddly silent, and I had tears in my eyes.
If I could only choose  just one place in Asia to visit it  would be Bagan. It is a true wonder of Southeast Asia.