Tana Toraja is a highland region of South Sulawesi inhabited by the Torajan people, one of Indonesia's most culturally distinctive groups, known worldwide for their extraordinary funeral ceremonies — elaborate multi-day celebrations involving the slaughter of water buffalo and pigs, attended by hundreds of guests, that can last for weeks. The Torajan landscape of dramatic green valleys, distinctive boat-shaped tongkonan houses with soaring curved roofs, and cliff-face burial grounds with tau-tau effigies watching over the living is unlike anything else in Asia. The funerals are not morbid events but joyful celebrations of life that travellers are genuinely welcomed to attend.