The Pendolo market was nothing special with the exception of our slicing/dicing demo man. But a walk through the Tentana market was something else. Bats for sale. Bats roasted with a blow torch. Bats being scrubbed clean. Bats with wings, and bats without wings. Something for everybody.

These are fruit bats from the jungle. The locals catch them in nets when the bats come to the fields looking for fruit to eat. Duh…. The farmers wait until they’ve collected about 20 bats to a cage before bringing them to market. The cost is 25,000 Rupiah per bat (less than $3.00 U.S.) and couldn’t get a definitive answer whether one bat is enough for a festive dinner…”I’m serving 8 for dinner…how many bats should I buy?”

scrubbing the ickies off bats in Tentana, Sulawesi, Indonesia

The locals thought I was pretty hysterical “eewing” over them and then we passed by dead pig laid out on a board with pieces being hacked off and sold. Walked a distance and there was another freshly slaughtered pig being toted in a little wooden cart.

Get the digital chapters you want, ditch the ones you don’t! Only $4.95 per chapter!pig for sale in Tentana, Sulawesi, Indonesia
It so happens that barbequed baby back pork ribs would be my “last meal on earth” choice, but the Sulawesi slaughtering experience temporarily caused a drop in hunger. The operative word is…temporarily…

And then, more eels. Live eels. Squirming and slithering in buckets of water, looking exactly like my nemeses, snakes. The Tentana market was bombed in 2003 at the exact same time we were walking through it. Thanks, Jo-Jo, for the information…not reassuring and caused by Muslim/Christian conflicts. Enough…

Tentana, Sulawesi 

old Dutch bridge in Tentana, Sulawesi, Indonesia
Everything in Tentana shuts down tight on Sundays when all go to church dressed in their very best. No worries. It was about time for a day with nothing to do but read and laze around. The Hotel Intim Danau had rooms with hot water and electricity overlooking Lake Poso for 80,000 Rupees including taxes and breakfast. Dinner was fairly decent (chicken again unless we felt like spicy bat), and this was the best hotel in town. Imagine…$10 U.S. a person/night for the best in town. Hopefully, the rest of Central Sulawesi will become a little more interesting than it has been to now.