CIVIL RITESA Sumbanese man

and pony decked out for the Pasola festival.

Opposite: Nihioka Point beach.

PHOTOGRAPHY JULIAN KINGMA

Is Sumba the new Bali? Not if the locals can help it; for now, its offbeat ancient culture, sole resort and perfect wave are

the preserve of a privileged few, writes Richard Cooke.

swellIN

172 GOURMETTRAVELLER.COM.AU 173

SSumba felt different from Bali before the plane even landed, though we’d only travelled an hour to the south-east. It had almost touched down when the flight attendants finally clocked the three freshly elected provincial mayors on board. They somehow hadn’t noticed the white dress uniforms with gold epaulettes. But once the black regimental hats came out, the delegation got an abbreviated version of VIP treatment – a minute of fussing, then sitting stiffly in full regalia in the first-class cabin for landing. Sumba felt more distinctive still on the tarmac: the heat drier, the landscape less lush, a loose greeting party holding some kind of gift that was impossible to make out.

But through the luggage halls, hung with incongruous chandeliers and tangy with kretek smoke, was the real reception. The road was lined ZLWK�IDGLQJ�ÀDJV�IURP�WKH�,QGRQHVLDQ�,QGHSHQGHQFH�Day celebrations weeks before, tiers of coloured pennants. There were also a couple of hundred mayoral supporters lining the road and in the car park, OHDQLQJ�RQ�LGOLQJ�PRWRUELNHV��SDFNHG�LQWR�ÀDW�EHG�trucks and minibuses. The men were hopped up on

EHWHO�QXW��UHVSOHQGHQW�LQ�FRORXUHG�ZRYHQ�LNDW�KHDG�wraps and sashes, their belts slung with parang machetes in wooden scabbards.

Elsewhere, a greeting party in national dress is something laid on for tourists, but on Sumba there are not many tourists – rarely more than a few dozen at RQFH�RQ�WKH�LVODQG��,W�WDNHV�VRPH�WLPH�WR�UHFDOLEUDWH�expectations, to plumb the full depth of the contrast. $�YLVLWRU�FDQ¶W�UHDOLVH�DW�¿UVW�WKDW�WKH�ZKRRSV�JUHHWLQJ�the politicians – “Wu! Wu!” – are used in a horseback jousting festival to attract sea worms; or that the parangs are sharp, not ceremonial, and not for a special occasion, but worn every day. Visitors’ eyes, XVHG�WR�¿QGLQJ�WKH�ɸ�(OHYHQ�DQG�9RGDIRQH�VWRUH�HYHQ�in the middle of nowhere, take some time to adjust to IUHVK�VWRQH�PRQXPHQWV�DQG�VWHHSOHG��WKDWFKHG�URRI�houses, a place where the only signs of outside LQÀXHQFH�DUH�WKH�)&�%DUFHORQD�GHFDOV�RQ�PLQLEXVHV��and the appearance of a new hotel – Nihiwatu.

7KDW¶V�ZKHUH�,�ZDV�KHDGLQJ��%XW�¿UVW��WKH�WUXFNV�rolled, parangs were unsheathed and an ungainly procession started down the highway. There had been WKH�XVXDO�DOOHJDWLRQV�RI�YRWH�ULJJLQJ��DQG�RSSRVLWLRQ�hirelings were waiting en route. The election was contested. On Sumba, everything is contested.

There are reasons it has remained so untouched: ferocity, scarce resources, neglect. One of the largest islands of the Lesser Sunda chain, Sumba’s population

ISLAND TIMEFrom opposite left:

one of the plunge pools at Nihiwatu resort;

a Nihiwatu staffer wears a vine-leaf headdress

for the jungle party; the table is set for breakfast at Nihioka Beach; green

papaya salad at Nihiwatu.

is only around 650,000, and it has more in common with its eastern neighbour across the Savu Sea, East Timor, than with Bali. The hour drive from the airport to the coast reveals no sign of heavy industry RWKHU�WKDQ�D�IHZ�ZDUHKRXVHV�EHORQJLQJ�WR�&KLQHVH�WUDGHUV��7KH�FHQWUH�RI�WKH�VHFRQG�ODUJHVW�WRZQ�RI�:DLNDEXEDN�LV�D�PDUNHW�¿OOHG�ZLWK�¿VK��IUXLW�DQG�ZDWHU�EXɣDOR�

Once the land turns rural on the outskirts of the city, there are teak forests that leave the ground rusty with curled red leaves, but are now too sparse to log. Arab traders stripped them of sandalwood centuries ago, leaving horses in their place. The Sumba ponies are still central enough to life here to draw all kinds of comparisons, from cowboys to Game of Thrones.

The warriors who rode these horses were feared HQRXJK�WR�NHHS�D�'XWFK�FRQTXHVW�KDOI�KHDUWHG�DQG��VLQFH�LQGHSHQGHQFH��WKH�,QGRQHVLDQ�JRYHUQPHQW�KDV�been almost as distant, part of the reason this is one of the poorest places in South East Asia. The rule of the men in white uniforms doesn’t extend far, and the real administration is dictated by tradition. Here, fate is more likely decided by animist priests studying the entrails of a chicken than a bureaucrat in Jakarta.

Two things draw outsiders to Sumba: its surf and its culture. Nihiwatu (the name means “mortar stone” LQ�D�%DKDVD�GLDOHFW��LV�DQ�HɣRUW�WR�XVH�RQH�WR�SUHVHUYH� WKH�RWKHU��7KLV�VWULQJ�RI�EHDFKVLGH�YLOODV�ZDV�D�ɳɱ�\HDU�

SDVVLRQ�SURMHFW�IRU�RQH�FRXSOH��&ODXGH�DQG�3HWUD�*UDYHV��ZKR�VROG�LW�RQO\�UHFHQWO\��&ODXGH�LV�DQ�American surfer and former Kenyan nightclub manager who dragged his German wife around so PDQ\�ÀHD�ELWWHQ�VXUI�UHVRUWV�WKH\�GHFLGHG�WKH\�FRXOG�VWDUW�D�EHWWHU�RQH�WKHPVHOYHV��,W�WRRN�D�ORQJ�WLPH�

“Here in Sumba we spent two and a half weeks walking 80 miles along the coast, along every beach from Wanukaka to the airport area. Only Nihiwatu was exactly what we were looking for.”

:KHQ�WKH\�¿UVW�FDPH�KHUH�LQ�ɲɺɹɹ��WKHUH�ZHUH�HYHQ�IHZHU�VLJQV�RI�RXWVLGH�LQÀXHQFH��7KH�LVODQG�ZDV�riven by a territorial dispute bordering on war; it ended ³E\�UHTXHVW´�RI�WKH�,QGRQHVLDQ�PLOLWDU\��&ODXGH�VWRSSHG�counting after he got malaria for the 36th time. They FDXJKW�¿VK�LQ�WKH�PRUQLQJ�RU�GLGQ¶W�HDW��:KDW�NHSW�WKH�couple on the coast was the wave.

Some people call the break Nihiwatu, or “Occy’s left”, after the champion surfer Mark Occhilupo, but mostly it’s referred to just as “the wave”. Double overhead on an average day, it rolls into a channel WKHQ�RQWR�WKH�KLJK�SRLQW�RI�D�ELJ��DUFKLQJ�UHHI��,W¶V�changeable, heavy and has a reputation as one of the EHVW�VWUHWFKHV�RI�OHIW�KDQG�VXUI�LQ�WKH�ZRUOG��*UDYHV�DQG�others had watched what happened to Bali when it was ³GLVFRYHUHG´��WKH�ZDWHUERUQH�PHVV�DW�.XWD��WKH�KRWHO�RQ�KRWHO�PHJD�GHYHORSPHQW�WKDW�KDV�UHSODFHG�ELUGVRQJ�ZLWK�DQJOH�JULQGHUV��7KH\�VDZ�ZKDW�KDSSHQHG�WR�WKH>

174 GOURMETTRAVELLER.COM.AU

LIFE’S A WAVEClockwise from above: a villa at Nihiwatu; beachside lunching at the resort; a resident from Nihiwatu’s turtle hatchery is ready for release.

Mentawais, where surfboats left behind bobbing beer cans but nothing of worth for the locals. There was a GHWHUPLQDWLRQ�1LKLZDWX�ZRXOG�EH�GLɣHUHQW�IURP�ERWK�

The villas are neither scrappy beach shacks nor luxury concrete tombs. They have all been built by local craftsmen, and have the same thatched, steepled roofs as houses in the villages. Some are close enough to the coast that you can part the mosquito nets in the morning, and check the break from bed. There are plunge pools and patios, outdoor showers set in bamboo enclaves.

$�VDQG�ZDONZD\�ÀDQNHG�E\�D�VHD�WXUWOH�KDWFKHU\�OHDGV�WR�D�WLNL�VW\OH�EDU�VHW�LQ�D�JURYH�RI�SDQGDQXV�WUHHV��Beyond the horizon are buoys circled by mahi mahi, PDFNHUHO�DQG�ZDKRR��$�JDPH�¿VKLQJ�ERDW�NHHSV�1LKLZDWX¶V�UHVWDXUDQW�LQ�¿VK�RI�WKH�GD\��DQG�DQ�RUJDQLF�garden provides the chilli for the sambal. The food is VLPSOH��D�VHW�PHQX�¿OOHG�ZLWK�¿VK�DQG�,QGRQHVLDQ�VWDQGDUGV��,W�PLJKW�IHHO�FXUVRU\�RU�UHSHWLWLYH�WR�VRPH��but in this locale it’s unpretentious, light and clean fuel for spending time in the water.

7KLV�DIWHUQRRQ��ZLWK�D�FXUWDLQ�RI�PLVW�FRPLQJ�Rɣ�the wave and catching the sunset, there are only two surfers on the wave. Even with room for 30 guests,

and villas being built for more, the number of surfers in WKH�ZDWHU�DW�RQH�WLPH�LV�FDSSHG�DW�ɲɱ��JXHVWV�RQO\��7KH�land was traded with local chiefs, deals sealed with pig VDFUL¿FHV��DQG�RQO\�D�IUDFWLRQ�RI�LW�GHYHORSHG��*UDYHV�copped a lot of grief for making the wave his own, especially in the early days. There were rumours of ¿VW�¿JKWV�DQG�OHJ�URSHV�EHLQJ�FXW��EXW�WKH�EHDFK�LV�always open to the real locals.

The combination of scarcity and quality means Nihiwatu is not a cheap place to stay or to surf, and the pegging out of the beach by the Graves as their own would look like hoarding if they hadn’t been so tenacious in spreading the dividends to the island. 7KH�HDUO\�\HDUV�ZHUH�YHU\�GLɤFXOW��HYHU\WKLQJ�IURP� WKH�$VLDQ�¿QDQFLDO�FULVLV�WR�DQ�HDUWKTXDNH�JHWWLQJ� in the way. “There were a lot of roadblocks, but we persevered through them – it was really hard,” says>

CLEAN BREAKThe famous left-hand

surf break at Nihiwatu is reserved for just 10 surfers per day,

guests only.

176 GOURMETTRAVELLER.COM.AU 177

While people are down there, they also pick up a whole lot of rocks. Those will come in handy later.

7KH�3DVROD�IROORZV�D�SURJUDP��ZKLFK�JRHV�something like this: worms, taunting, boxing, jousting, and riots. The taunting section can last a couple of days. Tribes from the mountains sledge their traditional rivals, the tribes from the coast, and expect the same in return. Then they box, with stones strapped to their hands with cloth. Then the jousting begins, horse riders at a full gallop hurling bamboo spears at each other. Those spears – the “sola” that give the festival its name ±�ZHUH�PHWDO�WLSSHG�EHIRUH�WKH�VSRLOVSRUWV�LQ�WKH�,QGRQHVLDQ�JRYHUQPHQW�VWHSSHG�LQ�D�IHZ�\HDUV�DJR��7KHUH�VHHPV�WR�EH�D�ELW�RI�EULQJ�EDFN�WKH�ELɣ�QRVWDOJLD�IRU�WKH�GD\V�ZKHQ�WKH�FODUHW�UHDOO\�ÀRZHG��7KH�VODFN�LV�picked up by everyone throwing stones at each other �WKH�ELJ�VNLPPLQJ�VW\OH�RQHV�IURP�WKH�EHDFK���WKHQ�WKH�PLOLWDU\�SROLFH�PLJKW�SRS�Rɣ�D�IHZ�URXQGV�LQ�WKH�DLU�WR�

JHW�HYHU\RQH�WR�FDOP�GRZQ��DQG�¿QDOO\�HYHU\RQH�JRHV�home to party, ideally with a new partner in tow.

Marthen Kaka and John Gallow, who are driving XV�WR�:DQXNDND��DUH�ERWK�3DVROD�HQWKXVLDVWV��DOWKRXJK�Gallow likes it more than Kaka. Gallow picked up seven VWLWFKHV�DW�WKLV�\HDU¶V�3DVROD�ZKHQ�D�URFN�VFRQHG�KLP�LQ�the back of the head, an outcome universally regarded as outstanding. This might seem chaotic, but there’s QRWKLQJ�VHQVHOHVV�DERXW�3DVROD¶V�YLROHQFH��,W¶V�DOO�systematised, and outsiders don’t fall into its jurisdiction. A tourist or visitor being attacked is unheard of, the LGHD�RI�D�UREEHU\�QRQVHQVLFDO��,�VWDUW�WR�JHW�D�VHQVH� of how things work in Wanukaka, amid a throng of steepled houses with thatched roofs. Elsewhere, some of the newer models of this type of house use corrugated iron, weighted with a tyre in case of lightning strike, but in Wanukaka the only sign of modernity is some solar panels peeking out of the bristle.>

metres, the biggest anyone could remember seeing at Sumba. These sets had already developed their own IRONORUH��ZRUG�RI�PRXWK�JURZLQJ�WKHP�WR�QLQH�PHWUHV�before photographic evidence reined in the exaggeration. A couple of guests ventured out – “They were specks in D�ZDOO�RI�ZDWHU�´�VD\V�UHVRUW�VXUI�JXLGH�&KDG�%DJZHOO�

At the fringe of dusk the wave isn’t as monstrous, but still sizeable enough that one of the few surfers, a teenager, needs a Zodiac to tow him out to the back. His family is from Aspen, where they run a ski shop; ERWK�SDUHQWV�DUH�IRUPHU�:RUOG�&XS�VNLHUV��(YHU\RQH�DW�the bamboo beachside bar watches him brim over the SHDNV��DQG�,�DVN�KLV�PRWKHU�LI�VSHFWDWLQJ�PDNHV�KHU�nervous. “He’s smart enough to respect the ocean,” she says calmly, and not long afterwards he drops in to a murmur of cheers. On the foreshore, villagers are catching squid and octopus at low tide, some guests walk down to help them. There are kids with sticks DQG�EXFNHWV��SULVLQJ�Rɣ�ZKHONV�ZLWK�FURZEDUV��

The beach is also where the most famous event in 6XPEDQHVH�FXOWXUH�±�WKH�IHUWLOLW\�IHVWLYDO�FDOOHG�3DVROD�– begins. We get a taste of it on the way out to nearby village Wanukaka, where on the road some kids are throwing stalks of bamboo at each other. This isn’t just horseplay, but a kind of junior edition of the local sport, the way kids elsewhere ape the moves of their favourite footballers. They’re playing not far from the “stadium” ZKHUH�WKH�3DVROD�LV�FRQGXFWHG�±�D�VWUHWFK�RI�JURXQG�WKDW�ORRNV�D�ELW�OLNH�D�VFUXEE\�SROR�¿HOG��7KH�GULHG�JUDVV�ÀRRU�is a burnt red, a visual echo of the blood shed there.

7KH�6XPEDQHVH�ODQG�QHHGV�EORRG��FRQVWDQWO\��,W�QHHGV�LW�LQ�WKH�IRUP�RI�EXɣDOR�DQG�SLJ�VDFUL¿FHV�WKDW�

To ensure a plentiful rice harvest, the land needs human blood. So the Pasola begins on a date determined by auguries and the mating habits of the sea worms.

HOT SEATS From left: a local

rests against an old Sumbanese headstone

in Waigalli village, south of the market

town of Waikabubak; the breakfast deck

at Nihiwatu.

accompany everything from marriage to building D�KRXVH���%XɣDOR�DUH�H[SHQVLYH�KHUH��2QH�ZLWK�ELJ�horns is worth $2,000, a huge sum in a place where PDQ\�SHRSOH�HDUQ�OHVV�WKDQ��ɲɱɱ�D�\HDU��$W�IXQHUDOV�just a few decades ago, noble families would slaughter VR�PDQ\�DV�RɣHULQJV�WKH\�ZRXOG�JR�EDQNUXSW���%XW�WR�ensure a plentiful rice harvest, the land needs human EORRG��6R�WKH�3DVROD�EHJLQV�DW�WKH�HQG�RI�WKH�ZHW�season, a date determined by auguries and the mating habits of the sea worms. That’s where the beach comes in. When the worms wash up to do their romance in a writhing mass on the sand, the jousting can begin.

&ODXGH��³,Q�WKH�GDUNHVW�\HDUV�,�VWDUWHG�7KH�6XPED )RXQGDWLRQ�WR�PDNH�JRRG�RQ�SURPLVHV�,�PDGH�WR�WKH�FRPPXQLW\�WKDW�ZH�ZRXOG�¿QG�D�ZD\�WR�KHOS�WKHP�RXW�of poverty. That alone gave me a reason to be here.”

7KH�UHVRUW�KDV�EHHQ�UXQ�DOPRVW�DV�D�QRQ�SUR¿W�since, with guests encouraged to donate to The Sumba )RXQGDWLRQ��DLPHG�DW�DOOHYLDWLQJ�SRYHUW\�DQG�eradicating malaria on the island by operating free health clinics and sinking wells in the nearby villages. ³,W�VWULNHV�D�FKRUG�WKDW�QR�RWKHU�SODFH�GRHV�>WKLV@�´�VD\V�hotelier James McBride, who bought the resort with LQYHVWRU�&KULV�%XUFK�LQ�ɳɱɲɴ��³3HRSOH�FDQ�FRPH�KHUH� to surf, but also to learn and have their children learn.”

&ODXGH�VROG�WKH�UHVRUW�UHOXFWDQWO\��EXW�IRXQG�sympático new owners in McBride and Burch; the latter KDG�¿UVW�KHDUG�DERXW�1LKLZDWX�RQ�KLV�KRQH\PRRQ�LQ�%DOL��³&ODXGH�VHOHFWHG�&KULV�DQG�,�EHFDXVH�KH�JRW�ZKDW�we were about. We have an aligned vision. There was no attempt to change the terms. The most important WKLQJ�ZDV�WR�JURZ�WKH�)RXQGDWLRQ�´

Most visitors come here more than once, often GHYHORSLQJ�D�UHODWLRQVKLS�ZLWK�WKH�VWDɣ��7KH\¶UH�DQ�unusual mixture of entrepreneurial and respectful, mainly surfers and their families, with a growing number of wandering yogis and hikers. Weeks before we arrived a swell pushed the waves to a heavy six

LOCAL OFFERINGSClockwise from above: local buffalo cheese and tomato wood-fired pizza at Nihiwatu; the Sumbanese believe the blood from buffalo sacrifice is essential to the fertility of their land; Aspen resident Lee Keating heads out with her longboard.

178 GOURMETTRAVELLER.COM.AU

GETTING THEREGaruda Indonesia flies daily from Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth to Denpasar Bali. Daily one-hour flights to Sumba depart Denpasar each morning. Garuda

Like a fort town, the village is set on a steepish hill, and at its apex is a huge stone altar. A local woman named Bari Wiku says it was dragged here from far DZD\�XVLQJ�RQO\�YLQH�URSHV��³,W�WRRN�¿YH�PRQWKV�WR�JHW�here,” she says. Outside the longhouses are stacks of EXɣDOR�KRUQ�DQG�SLJ�WXVNV��VDFUL¿FLDO�WHVWLPRQLHV�WR�WKH�RZQHU¶V�ZHDOWK��,¶P�RɣHUHG�VRPH�EHWHO�DQG�WDNH�LW��Everyone here eats it as a sign of maturity: the red spit LV�D�UHPLQGHU�RI�DOZD\V�ZHOFRPH�EORRG�RQ�WKH�JURXQG��“Usually we chew it when we’re walking,” says Kaka. “Or before food, or after food. Or with water. Or when ZH¶UH�WDONLQJ�´�,W�VHHPV�WKHUH�DUHQ¶W�PDQ\�VLWXDWLRQV�WKDW�GRQ¶W�FDOO�IRU�EHWHO��:H�VLW�DQG�KDYH�D�PRXWK�QXPELQJ�FKDW�DERXW�:LNX¶V�GRZU\��ɳɸ�EXɣDORHV�EDFN�LQ�WKH�GD\��

“Ah, you were very beautiful,” says Gallow.The discussion moves to tourism. Kaka says the

feeling on the island is split. “Around half the people are in favour of more, half want the same number or less. ,�ZDV�UHDGLQJ�DQ�DUWLFOH�LQ�DQ�,QGRQHVLDQ�PDJD]LQH�

“I read an article in an Indonesian magazine about how Bali was 60, 70 years ago. It has changed so much. Too noisy, too busy. We couldn’t take that here.”

ACROSS THE BOARDAbove from left: Nihiwatu guest, Marshall Bouton from South Africa, post-surf; the pergola is set up for pure relaxation. Opposite: lanterns light the gardens at Nihiwatu.

T H E F I N EP R I N T

DERXW�KRZ�%DOL�ZDV�ɷɱ��ɸɱ�\HDUV�DJR��,W�KDV�FKDQJHG�VR�much. Too noisy, too busy. We couldn’t take that here.”

Sitting chewing betel on the stoop of a longhouse with a burning hearth in the middle, looking out over an ancient stone graveyard littered with pigs tusks, Bali and business feel very far away.

That night back at the resort there’s a “jungle party”, a barbecue with Spanish mackerel that Bagwell speared at a place called Magic Mountain, which, FRQIXVLQJO\��LV�Rɣ�WKH�FRDVW�DQG�XQGHUZDWHU��*XHVWV�have dressed in Tarzan and Jane mode, with woven frond hats provided by the hotel. As the night turns to SDUW\LQJ�DQG�VRPH�EDG�GDQFLQJ��WKH�6XPEDQHVH�VWDɣ�look on with a smile, bewildered by these bizarre

Indonesia flies to a number of remote eastern Indonesian islands, including Sumba, and has an extra luggage allowance for surfboards, bicycles, diving gear and other sporting equipment. garuda-indonesia.com

STAYING THEREFrom March 2015, a one-bedroom luxury villa at Nihiwatu Resort costs $1,360 per night; the resort will be closed from 1 January to 1 March

2015 for maintenance. Rate includes all meals, non-alcoholic drinks, airport transfers and WiFi. Surfing slots are limited to 10 surfers per day; room rates include one optional surfing reservation, costing an extra $100 per day. Special rates for families apply and packages including activities are available. +62 361 757 149, nihiwatu.com

customs. There’s something touching about the mutual weirdness – one culture takes its jousting cues from sea worms and advocates rioting for fun, the other IDFH�SDLQWV�DQG�ERRW\�GURSV�DIWHU�KXQWLQJ�RQ�D�mountain under the sea.

,�ZLQG�XS�WDONLQJ�WR�'U�&ODXV�%RJK��D�PDODULD�H[SHUW�ZRUNLQJ�IRU�7KH�6XPED�)RXQGDWLRQ��+H¶V�EHHQ�RQ�6XPED�D�ORQJ�WLPH�DQG�VSHDNV�ZLWK�D�ODVWLQJ�DɣHFWLRQ�for it. “Here people argue about the same things people do anywhere: land, women, honour. But here they are KRQHVW�DERXW�LW��,W¶V�QRW�OLNH�-DYD�ZKHUH�µ\HV¶�FDQ�PHDQ�µQR¶��GHSHQGLQJ�RQ�ZKDW�NLQG�RI�µ\HV¶�LW�LV��,I�WKH\�OLNH�\RX��WKH\¶OO�UHDOO\�OLNH�\RX��,I�WKH\�GRQ¶W��\RX¶OO�NQRZ�´�

Bogh plans to stay. Though he accidentally married two women here when buying some land, his connection goes beyond his work with the foundation. “This might sound strange,” he says, looking out into the dark towards the wave, “but Sumba is a place where everything makes sense.” #