My guide today was Ritha. We hired a driver - oddly named Minggu (Sunday) - for the day. My sore butt thanked her for doing this. The roads in the area north of Rantepao were in even worse shape than those I encountered yesterday.
Our itinerary today was to do a circuit north of Rantepao. Our first stop was Bolu, a town just north of Rantepao famous for its twice weekly buffalo market. Ritha led me into a market with hundreds of the beasts. She explained to me what factors contributed to the asking price of a buffalo - size, coloration, length and shape of horns, etc. The more prized ones can fetch tens of thousands. Albinos are the most prized. They should have white patches, whitish-bluish eyes, and blondish hair on top. Long horns are also highly prized because they look impressive when displayed after sacrifice. Ritha said that many of the buffalo come from other islands, notably Sumba. She said that Torajans could tell the difference between those raised in Toraja and those that are imported from elsewhere.
Apart from the buffalo market, we also walked through the pig section, the rooster section, and then we walked around the labyrinthine market looking at produce. One interesting thing she pointed out me was that palm leaves placed in front of a warung (food stall) is code for dog meat. I recall in other parts of Indonesia that the code is “RW” or “rintuk wuk” on the menu.
During our walk around the market, and during our after lunch hike through rice terraces and villages, Ritha regaled me with information about how buffalo are treated. Here are some key snippets:
1. Male buffalo are treated very well as they are the ones that are sacrificed and bring prestige. They are taken from the fields at the end of each day, washed, and then housed in special barns for the night. Ritha called them one star hotels. The owners don’t want their precious male buffalo to get dirty.
2. Many farmers don’t plant rice on part of their fields, choosing instead to dedicate that area to growing special elephant grass to feed their male buffalo. Many people hand feed this special treat to their buffalo.
3. Oil is massaged into the hides of the most valuable ones. Their teeth may also be brushed.
4. Female buffalo, by contrast, are only as good as the (male) calves they produce. Little value is placed on them and they’re just left in the fields to graze and get as dirty as they like.
5. So, basically, male buffalo are pampered and they live a good life, until it is time to sacrifice them.
IndonesiaSouth SulawesiRantepao2°57’54” S 119°54’10” E
IndonesiaSouth SulawesiRantepao2°57’54” S 119°54’10” E