slip back in time in sumba

While Bali is indubitably great, if you ever feel like stepping back  in time, then head east to sumba

 Written by katy roberts

recently overheard a conversation at a café in which visitors were extolling the advantages of a Bali vacation. “Great coffee,” one said, another concurred and mentioned the “cool” boutiques on Jalan Oberoi (also called Jalan Laksamana). This shouldn’t have surprised me, what with Bali being what it is today, however this incident did remind me that a long time ago people visited the island for reasons that had little to do with either coffee or shopping. It was the culture and the contrast with heir own lives and not a cheaper serviced version of the West that interested them. While culture still proliferates in Bali, if you ever feel like stepping back in time, then head east to Sumba.

The Nusa Tenggara island of Sumba is home to a living, ancient culture. Lying south of Flores across the Sawu Sea, the island lies only a short distance from Bali yet the journey represents a leap back into the past that can be both exhilarating and relaxing. Indeed, eco-tourism takes on a whole new meaning in this ancient culture.

The first thing that strikes the visitor to Sumba isn’t that it is beautiful – although it undoubtedly is – it’s the fact that it is still beautiful. Sumba, in terms of tourism, is basically undiscovered and its pleasures are those of a revealing natural beauty, the awe-inspiring, raw nature in which Sumba’s inhabitants live, close to the in?uences of sun, rain, wind, sea, mountain and forest.

Sumba, all 11,000 square kilometres of it, was colonised late by the Dutch in 1866, although they didn’t really take control of the island until the turn of the twentieth century. The pre-colonised Sumbanese lived in tribal groups that were related to the Majapahit Empire. With the arrival of the Dutch came the religious in?uences that shaped the island’s demographics to this day. The island is now a mix of Christians (including a small number of Roman Catholics), a strong (30 per cent) group of traditional animists, and a small group of Sunni Muslims, who live along the coast. This harmonious multiculturalism is indicative of traditional Sumbanese culture, in which to be welcoming and friendly is extremely important. 

Megalithic burials are still practised here, in fact, and the stone tombs employed were used in prehistoric times throughout Europe. Their existence and continued construction in Sumba is an express ticket back to ancient history. Sparsely populated and minimally developed, Sumba offers an escape for those who are seeking respite from the rapacious nature of modern life and who are desirous of nothing more than to be at peace with whatever nature has planned.

Sumba’s vibrant Pasola Festivals take place in February and March of each year in four different locations across the island. The exact time of the Pasola are determined by the arrival of a particular type of sea worm and are cited on the list made by Lonely Planet on the top one hundred festivals of the world. These festivals are not just for show or indeed for the faint-hearted, as the full-on displays of rivalry and competition on display are often deadly serious in intent.

Our journey began with a ?ight into Tambulaka and the hiring of one of the private vehicles that serve as taxis in the area, although bemos (public mini-vans) are as easy to use in fact and fan out across the island. Our young driver, who spoke reasonable English, took us out to the north-west coast at Waikelo. Here, the coastline is dotted with small villages, which are inhabited by the descendants of Bugis seafarers who brought the Muslim religion with them from Java. There is only one commercial “hotel” here, but homestay accommodation is available. 

Next came Waitabula, a sort of civic centre for the north-west, which features a lively market. Here we stayed in a kos (boarding house) and met with civil servants and truck drivers from all over the archipelago. From Waitabula we headed south to Waikabubak, a small town in which you can visit traditional kampungs with thatched roof houses and the huge burial tombs for which the island is justly famous.

From here, it’s a two-hour drive to the surfing coast and the private beach of Nihiwatu. Nihiwatu is a resort project that has won numerous awards for its eco-tourism endeavours and community support. Started by a man who left Bali when he saw his local beach become “crowded” by over twenty people (gosh, just imagine!) way back in the late seventies, Nihiwatu caters to cashed-up adventurers who like to have their activities well organised. Nihiwatu adventures aside though, Sumba remains a rustic affair in which remoteness and ruggedness are most definitely the nouns of choice.

The people of Sumba are friendly, curious and take an interest in those around them, especially foreign visitors. At markets, it is not uncommon to be pointed at and discussed as you stand there hoping not to provoke offence. This is a culture of generosity towards strangers and while you may well prove to be a curiosity to be pointed at, you may just as easily find yourself being invited to share a coffee or a cold drink and to join in an animated conversation.

In the island’s warungs (roadside stalls) you can meet people who have studied in other areas of the archipelago and who have subsequently returned to their island of origin. Others will be working hard to pay the fees for their children’s tuition in boarding schools in Yogyakarta or Bali in the hope that the opportunities offered away from Sumba will bring them better lives in the future.

While it is easy to glorify the people of Sumba, to praise them for not moving with the times to embrace the advance of encroaching tourism is to miss the point. People from Sumba are not unaware of the rising tides of economic pressure and are facing the challenges of development and are working towards bringing the benefits of the twenty-first century to their island, without its drawbacks. The area of healthcare is a particular focus, however the island’s communities are also looking to preserve their strong traditions and their connection to their spiritual home.

Sumba shows visitors the beauty and the brutality of tribal society and the power of living close to belief and nature. It throws up displays of breathless beauty and provokes deeper questions than where to get a great coffee.

 Source : hellobalimagazine.com