Nias island on the western side of Sumatra is not an easy to reach destination. To come there, the difficulty level is high enough. However, there many ways to Nias. From Medan, there are two airlines – Merpati Airlines and Riau Airlines – which fly over this route every day. From Padang, Riau Airlines also are scheduled to fly to Gunungsitoli. The attractions to see in Nias are on the subject of cultural heritage like Lompat Batu, the traditional houses and one worthy place, the Museum.

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Under the BPPI (Indonesian Heritage Preservation Board), the Museum Pusaka Nias (MPN) has completely accurate collection to study the life of previous civilization in the area. Incredible! MPN is special not only because of the complete collection, a lot, and valuable, but also its setting in a good way. This museum is not like a warehouse  storing old items that are not managed well with damp room.

Museum Pusaka Nias has a collection of valuable heritage that is very complete. Everything is displayed in a systematic and considered beautiful. The most valuable collections in the MPN was higher buildings models of traditional houses from various regions of the island.

Nias Heritage Museum pioneered by Johannes Hammerle, a priest of the Capuchin Order from Germany, who had served 35 years and residing in Nias. Father Johannes had already written several books about theethnological of  Tano Niha  (Land Nias) and Ono Niha (the Nias).

The picture on above is a tiger figure that is used in the ancient believe of  Maenamölö people in Southern Nias. “n ancient time, according to Nias belief in Maenamölö region Southern Nias, sort of this statue was marched by many people and constituted a sacred rite once every seven or fourteen years. It’s thrown away in the river. They believed that all sins and violence they committed during the previous years would wash away together with tiger figure.”
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Bantimurung National Park, Maros, South Sulawesi, became one of the most popular touristm place in Indonesia, for both local, national and foreign tourists.

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The National Park is a natural park that people of South Sulawesi proud of. Its location which is in the valley with a steep limestone hill and tropical vegetation create good environment to enjoy. Not surprisingly, this area also became a limestone mining area as a cement raw material. Unfortunately, this kind of activity, if continued would be very damaging the nature and the tourism itself.

Bantimurung Nature Park is also famous for its waterfalls, caves, and the butterfly. Some unique species found only in Sulawesi, which is Troides helena Linne, Troides hypolitus Cramer, Troides haliphron Boisduval, Papilo adamantius, and Cethosia myrana.

In 1856-1857 Alfred Russel Wallace spent most of his life here to examine different types of butterflies. Wallace said Bantimurung is ‘The Kingdom of Butterfly’ (the kingdom of butterflies).
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When I travel to North Sulawesi, I visit not only Bunaken at Manado but also archaeological remains at Sawangan village, Airmadidi, Minahasa Regency. The people call the relic ‘Waruga’. The word waruga consists of two words: waru (means a house), and ruga (means body). Therefore, it means ‘the house for the body that backs to the heaven’. From its meaning, may be you guess it as a cemetery. Yes, you are right, but it is a unique burial place for the ancestors of Minahasa.

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Waruga looks like a small stone monument with roof on it. It consists of two parts, the first is cubical stone with hole in it. The hole is the place where the dead body is placed. The stone is about 1 meter in width and 1 to 2 meters high. The second part is the roof, it is made from stone as well. The roof is on the cubical stone, just like a house for the living people. The oldest Waruga was built on about 900 BC.
Characters are carved on each roof but not on the oldest. The carved object represents the work of the dead during their life like midwife, carpenter, hunter, etc. 104 clans are buried there. Together with the body, jewelry like ring, necklace, earring and bracelet that belong to the dead are also buried there. However, it cannot be found in the Waruga now, the government has saved them in the museum to keep it away from thieved.

How to Get there?

The location is about 24 kilometers from Manado. The government has provided easy access to the location. It is avalable car and minibus to the Sawangan village or taxi to be more private.

Photo: Temporarily taken from ullensentalu.com

My curiosity on the history of Jogjakarta/Yogyakarta, specifically with the relation of Mataram Kingdom (the origin of Jogjakarta) has leads me to visit Ullen Sentalu. Ullen Sentalu is basically a museum, but with the unique architectural design, this place is more like a villa, actually a ‘blend’ between museum, gallery, boutique and restaurant at one place. The place is located at Kaliurang, Jogjakarta.

Fresh and peaceful

When first stepped out the car at the Ullen Sentalu’s parking yard, fresh and peaceful was what I feel. Being located on the slope of Mount Merapi, it has very fresh and chilly air. Peaceful! In the middle of loneliness (not too lonely, actually), surrounded by trees and grass was like in a place away from the community. The building has places with its own name, they are: nDalem Kaswargan, Goa Selogiri, Beukenhof Restaurant, Putri Malu, Tinneke, Djagad Gallery, and Bale Nitik Rengganis.

nDalem Kaswargan

Means Heavenly Home, this place is dedicated for nature. Prevention of the nature from damage is very important as human can not live without it.

Goa Selogiri
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Goa (cave) Selogiri, a place with Java and Europe gothic architectural fusion, was a place where I found portraits of Javanese Kings and his consort. An old manuscript like the family tree of Mataram Islam Kingdom at Kota Gede (1584) was artistically displayed. I found as well a collection of ancient batik. Batiks has its own motif’s name such as sido luhur, sido mulyo, sido drajat, sido asih (symbolizing the faithful wife), and truntum (as believed it was forbidden to cover the dead).

Beukenhof Restaurant

Enjoy the ancient Javanese and European culinary here in Beukenhof Restaurant. The mount Merapi scenery conjured a peace.

Putri Malu

A chamber dedicated for Princess GRAy Siti Nurul Kusumawardhani, the only child of the King Mangkunegara VIII and the Queen GKR Timur. Photographs of the princess were displayed. This room was inaugurated by herself on her 81st birthday.

GRAy Siti Nurul Kusumawardhani was a beautiful princess. She had ability to perform Java classical dance. Once, she danced at the marriage of Dutch Princess, Juliana (Queen Wilhelmina’s daughter), in which the music was from long distance phone call.

Tinneke

The memorabilia of a beautiful girl, Tinneke, were stored in this chamber. The girl’s dramatic love story could be found from her love letter. She loved a man, but the love was forbidden by her parents.

Djagad Gallery

A gallery called Djagad Akademik Modern Art Gallery displayed past and contemporary arts. Artistic crafted statues portrayed the advanced art in the past as well display how unique of the present works.

Bale Nitik Rengganis

Here, I could find artistic souvenirs like batik painted on several media like cloth, wood and ceramics.

Ullen Sentalu address: Jl Boyong Kaliurang, Sleman, Yogyakarta. Phone: +62 274 895161. This museum opens daily on Tuesday trough Sunday, 09.00 am – 3.30 pm. Closed on Monday. Admission fee: International US$ 5.00 (Rp.45.000), International student Rp.25.000, Adult Rp.25.000, Local Student Rp.15.000.