I created this video / slide-show for our Honolulu photo club (Eyes of Hawaii), to show them what we experienced when visiting Toraja this past Summer. This was a culture that is beyond anything we have ever experienced before, or even expected to still be active in the 21st century. I am not sure I […]
Thailand 2 – Templed Out
There are more than 41,000 Buddhist temples in Thailand, of which more than 33,000 are actively in use. The term “wat” is a Thai word for enclosure, and now refers to any Buddhist or Brahminical temple. 95% of the 70 million people in Thailand are Buddhists. In 2019, we were “templed out” on our last […]
Singapore
After completing our travels to Indonesia and Malaysia, we spent a few days in Singapore. We’ve been intrigued by Singapore’s opportunities for night photography of their modern skyline. We were fortunate that we met John Fong in Malacca when photographing the sunset at the Floating Mosque. He offered to share his secret photo spots in […]
Malaysia 1 – Kuala Lumpur
When we first thought of going to Kuala Lumpur, we expected to get some nice skyline photographs. After searching for suitable sites though, we concluded that there is no good location to shoot the skyline from. When studying alternatives, we kept coming up with the Twin Towers as being the true iconic view in the […]
Indonesia 28 – Toraja 7 – Grandpa’s Last Party
This is the last big party before the spirit of the deceased ascends to heaven in the village of Kandeapi, in Toraja, South Sulawesi. Once the burial is complete, the sprit is finally released. It was a festive occasion, with the friends and family carrying the deceased in the procession from the festival site to […]
Indonesia 27 – Toraja 6 – Daily Life of Torajans
Note: At the end is a description of the legal system for resolving disputes. Though it is (thankfully!) not accompanied by photos, I think you will find it interesting to read… Indonesia is the third largest producer of rice in the world. As we drove through the countryside, we often saw rice terraces sprawl out […]
Indonesia 26 – Toraja 5 – Cave Burials
The funeral practices of the Toraja people are unique, as we have seen in the last few blog posts. They have been unique for centuries, though the specific practices have changed over the generations. We visited the Londa Burial Caves, to see an example of how the Torajan people managed their dead some 800 years […]
Indonesia 25 – Toraja 4 – Pig Heaven
Toraja society is organized along a strict caste system. The person’s caste, or class, is inherited through the mother, and it is strictly forbidden for a woman to marry a man of lower class. The noble, or upper class, is considered to be descended from a person who descended from heaven. When someone of the […]
Indonesia 24 – Toraja 3 – Bamboo Orchestra
We spent several early mornings getting into position to photograph the sunrises over various volcanos. When doing that, you are at the mercy of the weather, and sometimes you get a beautiful photograph, and other times a bust. Here is a sunrise overlooking terraced rice fields at Batumonga, Toraja in South Sulawesi. After the sun […]
Indonesia 23 – Toraja 2 – Raising the Dead
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First off, we apologize for the amount of text in this blog post. Please read it all though. Torajan funerals are very complicated affairs that are likely completely foreign to anything you have ever seen or even considered. Without understanding some of this background, none of the photos or video will make sense. Funerals in […]