Makassar: the gateway to Sulawesi and the Toraja people

Main port of Sulawesi island, Makassar remains the obligatory departure point for reaching the Toraja people's funeral traditions in the interior.

Taxis and buses remain the most common way to get around town.

The Fort Rotterdam, a seventeenth-century Dutch fortress built on a previous structure from the Sultanate of Gowa, remains the city's best-preserved colonial monument.

Just nearby, the La Galigo Museum, housed inside the same fort, displays manuscripts and artifacts from the Bugis and Makassarese traditions of the island.

Continuing toward the port, you visit Paotere, an ancient quay where traditional wooden Bugis schooners still dock today, among the world's last of their type.

As evening falls, the Losari waterfront, celebrated for sunsets over the Makassar Strait, animates food stalls until nighttime.

The Bugis people of Makassar are considered among Southeast Asia's most skilled shipbuilders: their wooden 'pinisi' schooners, still built today using traditional techniques, are recognized as UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage.

Makassar remains the most common departure point for reaching Tana Toraja, a highland inland region famous for its funerary rituals and traditional houses with boat-shaped roofs.