Garuda Indonesia Colours Magazine December 2017 | Page 119

Travel | Rinding Allo
117
In this agrarian village, locals rely on
their horses to transport everything from
rice to cotton.
2
1 The road leading
to Salurante village.
2 Every morning the people of
1
the mountain, surrounded by yellow rice
fields and pine trees blowing in the wind.
It was as if I had laid eyes on Mont Sainte-
Victoire, a series of nature paintings by Paul
Cézanne. At 1,600m above sea level, Rinding
Allo is surrounded by mountains: Tabuan-
Poreo-Tambolang, Paramean, like a mighty wall
that encloses the area from every direction.
“The people of Rinding Allo cannot see
the sunrise and sunset,” Adnan said.
Wooden houses line the pathway that divides
the Kawalean dusun, the entry point to Rinding
Allo. The temperature dipped. It seemed locals
had a reason to keep the doors to their homes
shut and to stay inside. “If someone new comes
into town, the rain will definitely welcome
them,” Ita, a local resident, told me as I sat on
a rattan chair on his porch. True to his word,
it rained that afternoon.
In this agrarian village, locals rely on their
horses to transport everything from rice to
cotton. These days, the horses also carry goods
such as clothing and shower equipment.
Wallace, too, had loaded his belongings on
the back of horses during his first visit. I walked
alongside some villagers on the path to
Salurante mingle and chat while
enjoying the view of the rice fields.
Manganan hamlet, which takes less than
an hour to reach. Women gathered on the
porches of their houses, seeking refuge from
the heat of the afternoon sun, while one or two
middle-aged men and children walked past.
The hamlet felt empty. Where was everyone?
Soon, Erwin, a local farmer, appeared with five
workhorses. A few men came out of their houses
to help unload sacks of rice from the horses. It
dawned on me that I had arrived in Rinding Allo
during harvest season, and much like during the
planting season, most of the action was taking
place down in the fields, leaving the village
somewhat deserted.
That evening, I visited Sitantu Panapi, a local
official in Manganan, who told me stories of the
peaceful hamlets of Rinding Allo. I recalled
something Adnan had said earlier: “The police
here have no jobs. The headquarters closed
because in my village no one commits crime.”
From Sitantu Panapi I learnt that the people of
Rinding Allo are bound by Sumpah Rongkong
(the Rongkong Oath), a local law. “‘Tana
Rongkong tang dingei sila’tak sitaburarakki’, which
means ‘the land of Rongkong shall not be home
to fights and acts of violence’,” Matua said,
5 Senses – Sound
MALOMBU
The malombu is a traditional wind
instrument made from pandan leaves.
It is typically played out in the rice
fields by farmers to mark the
beginning of the harvest season.
Farmers express their joy through
cheerful malombu tunes from March
until May, much like a symphony
orchestra playing across Rinding Allo.
Malombu adalah alat musik tiup
tradisional yang terbuat dari daun
pandan. Malombu dimainkan di
sawah-sawah oleh para petani sebagai
penanda musim panen telah tiba.
Rasa sukacita para petani melalui
bunyi malombu ini dapat didengar
pada akhir Maret hingga awal Mei.
Pada bulan-bulan itu, sebuah
simfoni orkestra akan muncul di
sawah-sawah Rinding Allo.