Central Sulawesi,”The Land that Time Forgotten”
It‘s like a scene from one of the Indiana Jones movies. Trekking through the dense jungle, the guide ahead wielding his machete left an right, hacks a narrow path trough the undergrowth. Ascending the last few metres up a steep rise we arrive at a small clearing. There, in the dappled sunlight filtering through the forest canopy, stands a carved megalithic statue - a human figure,perhaps thousands of years old, its impenetrable gaze staring out across the valley and across the centuries. It’s not a movie though, we’re in the Besoa Valley of Central Sulawesi inside the Lore Lindu National Park. And this kind of adventure travel is typical of the myriad of exciting destinations just waiting to be discovered in Indonesia - the world’s largest archipelago.
Central Sulawesi isn’t a province that you hear a lot about. I have to admit that I didn’t even know where Palu wasbefore consulting a map. With major developed tourism areas in the south (Tana Toraja) and in the north (Manado and Bunaken) Central Sulawesi is quite often overlooked by travel writers and tourism operators. Situated on the west coast at the end of a picturesque horseshoe bay, the capital city of Palu is the main gatewayto the treasures of Central Sulawesi. It’s a fairly busy little place with just about everything that you couldneed. A handful of decent hotels, restaurants and banks, plus a museum and a helpful tourist information centre (Jl. Dewi Sartika). For the traveller however the real interest lies to the south east in the magnificent Lore LinduNational Park.
Travelling here isn’t easy. It’s not your typical airconditioned-bus-to-dinner-followed-by-a-cultural-show kind of deal. It’s more like long-bumpy-rides-in-a-4WD Landcruiser=on-roads-that-aren’t-always-there. There aren’t anyhotels either. In fact in some cases there isn’t any kind of formal accommodation at all. But if you’ve got a good pair of walking boots and a sense of adventure you’ll discover some stunning scenery, a unique mix of fading cultures and prehistoric relics that can compare to the megaliths of Easter island or the Valley of Jars in Laos.
For visitors, the Besoa and Bada Valleys are the most common destinations. To get to Bada take a minibus down the western border of the park until you get to Gimpu, where the paved road ends. From there it’s a two-day hike along a good trail, mostly through the forest with some spectacular panoramic views and suspension bridges crossing the Lariang river. Bada Valley has several sites with megaliths, the largest being `Palindo’ a menhir standing ataround four metres.
To get to the Besoa Valley take a minibus from Palu to the village of Wuasa. There’s a losmen there if you need tospend the night. From Wuasa, 4WD vehicles do the bonejolting three-hour drive over the mountains and into the valley. The road turns into a mudslide when it rains, which it does a lot. When you finally arrive in Besoa though,it’s like finding a hidden valley lost in time. Nestled into a perfect bowl of mountains the valley contains fourtraditional villages; Doda, Beriri, Lempe and Hangirah. There’s a kind of guesthouse in Doda, or you can findaccommodation with local families in the other villages. Ask for the KD (pronounced “Kah-Day” meaning kepala desa,or village chief), he should be able to help you find a place to stay and also arrange a guide for your excursions into the surrounding areas.
In the Besoa Valley there are several sites where you can find megaliths. One place near Hangirah has a collection of about 20 huge urns, each carved from a single piece of stone. Despite studies by anthropologists, the exact age and purpose of the megaliths is still clouded in mystery. Some say they were vessels for the deceased, others say they were used in sacrificial ceremonies. It’s still uncertain, but one thing is for sure they are magnificent and their unknown origins add to their mysterious and awe-inspiring appeal. Scattered around the grassy plain they almost look like discarded cups from the table of some enormous giant.
Near Doda is another small group of urns and figures in a field of long grass. There’s a traditional hut here where we are told people can stay overnight. It’s a beautifully peaceful spot with the spectacular backdrop of the cloud-capped mountains and only metres away from the centuries-old megalithic relics. Our guide mentioned thathuman remains had been found inside one of the urns here lending support to the theory that they were a kind of tomb. One of them still has its lid firmly sealed in place and we’re told that it has never been opened despite several attempts by the locals.For me the most exciting find was near the village of Lempe. After eating a hearty lunch of duck’s eggs and fresh corn on the cob, we headed off through the swampy rice-fields past thatch-roofed huts, tethered pigs and waterbuffalo. Eventually hitting the side of the valley the path turned vertical. Half walking, half climbing, we struggled our way over moss-covered rocks and fallen logs, our guide hacking a path through the jungle,until we came to a small clearing. There, in line were two humanoid megaliths, one about 10 metres further up the slope from the other. Both were facing north across the valley. It almost felt as though we were discovering them for the first time, and our guide told us that they had actually only been found around two years ago. In any other country, these thousand-year-old relics would be a developedtourist attraction complete with visitor’s centre and souvenir shop selling mini-megalith key chains. Here we literally had to hack our way through the forest to find them.But then that’s the allure of Indonesia. It’s mysterious, wild and adventurous …eat your heart out Dr Jones.
Encroachment
Lore Lindu was declared a National Park in 1982 as it was deemed to be representative of the intermediate to upper montane forest of Central Sulawesi. On paper, National Park status gives the area full protection from tampering, destruction or the introduction of new species. In reality however, I can say that I saw signs of encroachment in every place that I visited, and in some cases blatant commercial-scale exploitation and destruction of the forest. The most common practices are slashing and burning of forest to make room to plant crops such as coffee, cacao, corn, and vanilla. Also the wholesale extraction of timber and rattan tofeed the furniture industry in Java is widespread. These illegal actions are steadily eating away at the park’sborders and causing the areas of primary forest to shrink drastically. Having seen first-hand the chainsawing of trees and truckloads of rattan being taken from the park it is safe to say that encroachment practices are rampant.
Also rampant are corruption, ignorance and poverty, all of which contribute to the Park’s demise.Mr Agung Wibowo of Yayasan Alam Nusantara (YPAN) a non-governmental organization working in cooperation with The Nature Conservancy (TNC) explained that the problem is a complex one. “We have seen an increase in the numbers of people living along the park’s borders. Some of them are refugees from Poso. They need to eat, so they go to work cutting timber and rattan or planting new crops.. Police and authorities are scared to act, fearing violence. In some cases the police and army are even involved. We need to educate people about the importance of the park, which is a habitat for endemic species such as the hornbill, babirusa and maleo. But we also need to provide some kind of viable economic alternatives for the people who rely on the forest. In this area we are developing initiatives for butterfly breeding, wild honey processing, and ecotourism. We also need to raise general awareness and put pressure on governments and authorities to take action.”




