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Though the journey is long and arduous, and involves passing through the unlovely town of Sibolga , most visitors agree that any effort expended to get to Nias is worth it. An island the size of Bali, with a rich tribal culture, wonderful beaches and some of the best surfing in the country, PULAU NIAS is a microcosm of almost everything that's exciting about Indonesia. The north of Nias is largely swampland and unappealing save for the capital, Gunung Sitoli . The south, however, plays host to a number of fascinating hilltop villages, such as Orahili, Bawomataluo and the spiritual heartland of Gomo, where the last few remnants of Nias's famed megalithic culture survive. The south also has the best and most popular beaches, such as the surfer's paradise at Lagundri Bay . The island is malarial , and chloroquine-resistant strains have been reported. Take the correct prophylactics and bring repellent and a mosquito net. Lying 125km southwest of Sibolga, the island's reputation as a land of malarial swamps and bloodthirsty natives succeeded in keeping visitors at bay for centuries, leading to the development of a culture free from the influences of India, Arabia, Europe and, indeed, the rest of Indonesia. The 600,000 Niasans speak a distinct language, one that has more in common with Polynesian than any Indonesian tongue, and their sculptures resemble closely those of the Nagas in the eastern Himalayas. Their traditional class system depended on slaves - usually people captured from nearby villages in raids - which eventually attracted slave-traders from as far afield as Europe, including the Dutch, who arrived in 1665 and remained on the island for most of the next 250 years. During this time, nearly all of the Nihas' animistic totems and megaliths were either destroyed or shipped to Europe. Today, over 95 percent of Nias is, nominally at least, Christian, and the last recorded instance of headhunting, an essential component of Niha animism, occurred way back in 1935.
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