Baduy
A Community In The Banten Hills That Has Held To Customary Law For Centuries And Deliberately Limits Contact Reached On Foot, With No Vehicles, No Electricity And No Photography In The Inner Villages · Lebak, Banten
THE BADUY DECIDED, AND KEEP DECIDING, NOT TO JOIN. In the hills of Banten a few hours from Jakarta, a community of several thousand lives under customary law that RULES OUT MOTOR VEHICLES, ELECTRICITY, FOOTWEAR ON THE PATHS AND, IN THE INNER VILLAGES, SOAP, CHEMICALS AND PHOTOGRAPHY OF ANY KIND. It is divided: BADUY LUAR, the outer group, trades and takes visitors and is more flexible; BADUY DALAM, the inner three villages, IS FAR MORE RESTRICTED AND ADMITS OUTSIDERS ONLY ON FOOT, WITH PERMISSION, AND NOT AT ALL AT CERTAIN TIMES. THIS IS NOT A PRESERVED VILLAGE OR A LIVING MUSEUM. It is a functioning society that has said no to a great deal, repeatedly, under real pressure - and visiting it is a privilege extended on their terms, which are strict and are not a performance for you. Every path is walked because vehicles are not permitted, the inner villages close entirely for months during Kawalu, and the photography rule is the one outsiders break most and should break least.
Kanekes, Leuwidamar, Lebak Regency, Banten, Lebak, Banten, Indonesia
REACHED FROM CIBOLEGER, roughly THREE TO FOUR HOURS FROM JAKARTA by road, and EVERYTHING BEYOND THAT POINT IS ON FOOT - there are no vehicles in Baduy territory of any kind. BADUY LUAR IS A WALK OF AN HOUR OR TWO and receives visitors; simple homestays exist. BADUY DALAM IS SEVERAL MORE HOURS OF HARD WALKING and REQUIRES PERMISSION AND A LOCAL GUIDE, and IS CLOSED TO OUTSIDERS ENTIRELY DURING KAWALU, a fasting period of roughly three months - going then is not possible and should not be attempted. NO PHOTOGRAPHY AT ALL IN BADUY DALAM. NO SOAP, TOOTHPASTE OR DETERGENT in the rivers there. Bring nothing you cannot carry. A LOCAL GUIDE IS ESSENTIAL and is how permission works in practice.