Cultura, asezarile & oamenii NGADHA, in satul BATU NARU – drumul din RIUNG in BAJAWA

ROADTRIP BY SCOOTER through INDONESIA – DAY 16 – The NGADHA Culture, Settlements & People, in the village of BATU NARU – the road from RIUNG to BAJAWA, on FLORES Island, Indonesia This is one of the films in a series that presents a scooter road trip through Indonesia, more precisely through several islands east of Bali. I packed a small bag with a few clothes, and each day I explored places I had never been to before. I had a goal, but I didn’t set a specific route or itinerary. I adapted as I went, making adjustments depending on mood, fatigue, or what I found along the way. Leaving Riung, I stopped at a few viewpoints from where almost the entire 17 Islands National Park could be seen. I had to cover about 70 km from Riung to Bajawa on the 16th day of my scooter trip through the islands east of Bali. Soon, I entered Ngadha territory. Ngadha is one of the distinct cultures of Flores, along with Manggarai. Like a belt, the Ngada regency cuts across Flores Island, linking the north coast to the south coast. Bajawa is the administrative center of this region. The Ngadha people have their own language, though it borrows elements from Indonesian. Architecturally, Ngadha villages can be easily recognized. Houses are arranged in a line around a central open space, like a plaza, often on terraced levels. Originally, houses were built of wood with thatched roofs, but nowadays more modern construction methods are used, such as concrete blocks and tin roofs. At the two ridges of the roof, symbolic ornaments can be seen (either feminine or masculine), but I will return to these in a later film. In the open space, two types of altars are built: Nghadu (feminine) – small wooden huts with thatched roofs, often where children can be seen playing – and Bhaga (masculine) – smaller stone monoliths, arranged in a row. On the way to Bajawa, I stopped in a Ngadha village I spotted along the road and started talking with the locals. This was Batu Naru, a few kilometers before Bajawa. A family invited me into their home and offered me coffee. I really needed a coffee, and I enjoyed the moment, asking them questions about Ngadha culture, though I cannot say their answers helped me fully clarify my ideas. Not only on this day, but more often than in previous days, I noticed reddish-orange stains on the ground. These are the spits of betel nut (areca nut) chewers. Similar to coca leaf chewing in South America, in some parts of Asia people chew betel (called sirih in Indonesian). The betel nut is the fruit of the areca palm. People chew leaves, dried areca nut, and slaked lime for their stimulating and psychoactive effects. However, chewing betel nut damages gums and teeth, often leading to tooth loss. A betel nut chewer is easily recognized by the red gums, blackened teeth, or even missing teeth. I spent a long time talking with the family in Batu Naru, and we exchanged photos before I continued my journey to Bajawa. The wind had picked up strongly, and later a heavy rain fell. For the rest of the afternoon, I only wandered around the area near my accommodation.