I met Herman on a recent trip to the mountains kendang in Banten province 167 km from Jakarta. Herman is a member of the tribe Baduy Dalam, which adheres to a traditional way of life and should follow the customs and village laws that embrace all practices of modern life.
The Baduy Dalam do not use electricity, they have no schools, and it is forbidden for them to use public transportation with a motor or wheel. They are not even included in the Indonesian census.
There are two villages in the Baduy land; the interior village ( Baduy Dalam ) and the outer village ( Baduy Luar ). As a foreigner, you are only allowed to visit the outer village. The village is within a closed and private world, if you are Indonesian, you can get permission to enter.
To learn more about how Baduy "domestic", it is possible to make a trekking trip and stay in the village Baduy 'external'. Using carriers such as Herman, I was able to learn about the local culture and ways. Its people have pursued an agricultural lifestyle of subsistence, largely unchanged for thousands of years.
This is one of the most interesting places I have visited in all my travels throughout Indonesia. The inner Baduy adhere to their beliefs and the secular religion and follow their mystical leaders of Pu'un , which are not allowed to leave the interior village. They follow a religious belief known Sunda Wiwitan and honoring a supreme deity. Old Sundanese is used in prayer and rituals.
It is easy to recognize a Baduy Dalam (also known as white Baduy) because they are bald and rags they wear a large white cloth bag called gendongan .
In Jakarta, it is possible to see a group of Baduy walk along the railway tracks or on one of the main routes into the CBD of Jakarta. In fact, a group of Baduy made the front page of The Jakarta Post a few months.
Herman told me, "I need three days to reach Jakarta from my village. It is 167kms. I have to go on foot. I'm not allowed to wear shoes. "He continued:" I took the trip to Jakarta over fifty times now I know the way by heart I cross two mountain ranges, then follow the tracks all the way to Lebak Bulus I stay with... my friends in Jakarta and I sell my crafts along the way. "
I'm fascinated by the feet of Herman. His feet supported tough-looking wide, webbed toes almost. This "political barefoot" for the inner Baduy people includes other challenges, as their hard physical labor of life in the fields. They are not allowed to use any modern farm equipment.
Staying in the mountains with the Baduy people gave me the opportunity to bow out of contemporary life as we know it, with all its modern amenities, and blend in, although for a weekend -end, to a peaceful, simple, sweet life.
Being guided through the outer Baduy Baduy village by a domestic team was for me a real honor. We walked along the many trails that connect small villages weaving and farming hamlets. With my guide, Kelik, I heard stories of weddings, baby rituals, hunting practices, the rice harvest festivities and taboos of the village.
My overnight stop was in a small kampung called Gajeboh, and after a good meal, cooked on an open fire, I slept peacefully in the mountains, listening to the river running slow and gentle sounds of nature.
ME was awakened early in the morning with the rhythmic clack-clack-clack of a wooden loom, as the grandmother of the house was weaving his son and sings an old air.
Trekking through the Baduy villages, you seem to drag on a serene wake. There is almost no sound from trees and kampungs, which are devoid of television and radio, and peace follows you along the pathways to another world.