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BAWOMATALUO |
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| BAWOMATALUO (Sun Hill) is the most impressive of the hilltop
villages in south Nias. It's an hour's walk uphill from the turn-off on
the Teluk Dalam-Lagundri road; taxis from Lagundri to the turn-off
charge Rp1000, and ojek cost Rp2000 (or Rp3000 all the way to
Bawomataluo). Bawomataluo has been exposed to tourism for too many years
now, and touts are persistent. The old village consists of an east-west
road and a wide cul-de-sac that branches off due south from opposite the
Chief's House. The stonework, particularly on the tables and chairs
outside the Chief's House, is exceptional. These chairs once held the
corpses of the recently deceased, who were simply left to decay in the
street before being buried. In the centre of the village you'll find the
two-metre tall jumping stone ( fahombe), which once would have been
topped by sharp sticks and thorns. The custom was for teenage boys to
jump over this stone to show their bravery and agility; you can see a
picture of a fahombe ceremony on the back of a Rp1000 note. This quality
of craftsmanship is continued inside the nineteenth-century Chief's
House (9am-5pm; donation), where the walls are decorated with carvings
of lizards, monkeys, and a depiction of an early European ship. A pair
of carved royal seats for the chief and his wife share the same wall.
Other notable features of the house are the plethora of pig's jaws
hanging from the rafters, and the huge hearth at the back of the room. |
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