Being dead is a serious business in Vietnam

  The dead may be gone, at least from this earthly plane, but they certainly aren’t forgotten. Death is a transformation rather than an end in traditional Vietnamese culture. Ancestors continue to play an important role in everyday life and if you don’t treat them well they are liable to make your life extremely difficult. The most sure way of upsetting the dead, so that their displeasure manifests itself in the world of the living by dishing out liberal portions…

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Fragility, life and the traveller

Friends and the fragility of life for the long term traveller   The life of the long term traveller isn’t all cocktails by the pool, surrounded by beautiful people. In fact, on my budget it’s never about that and besides, the last thing the beautiful people want is some shabbily dressed, ugly old git like me hanging around cramping their style. Not that I’m trying to say it’s a shit life but after six years mostly on the road, the prospect…

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To live and die in Toraja

Warning: animal lovers may find some of the images distressing    In the lush hills of Tana Toraja in central Sulawesi the most important part of life is, without doubt, death. It is an event which calls for a great deal of time and expense and is firmly rooted in ancient traditions, despite the majority of the population being Christian. The piety of the Torajans disguises the fact that Christianity is largely a very recent arrival: attacks from Muslim lowlanders (which…

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