Papua - Baliem Valley Trek

Papua is an Indonesian province located on the western half of New Guinea Island. New Guinea is the second largest island in the world after greenland, and is split into 2 parts. The eastern part is Papua New Guinea (PNG), an independent country, and the western part of the island is Papua, a province belonging to Indonesia. Formally known as Dutch New Guinea, this island was discovered and explored only very recently, and is famous for both its unique native inhabitants, as well as its exceptional biological diversity, jungles, forests, rivers and mountains. The capital and largest town of Papua is Jayapura, located only 2 hours away from the border with Papua New Guinea, in the north of the island. Papua has a population of 3 million people, of which some are recently-migrated Indonesians and more than 250 different Papuan tribes, all with their own culture & language. Papua's controverted main industry is timber with the exploitation of millions of hectares of forest, and mining, with the exploitation of the world's largest gold mine by Freeport (Grasberg Mine).

The Baliem Valley, sometimes referred to as the Hidden Valley, or Shangri La, was only discovered in 1938, and got known by the western world only in 1944 when a US Air Force transport plane crashed in the treacherous valley, and a recovery expedition was launched igniting the interest of US journalists (Reading recommendation: "Lost In Shangrila"). Before these first encounters, the natives of the Baliem Valley (mostly Dani, Lani and Yali tribes) had never seen clothes, wheels or shoes, and they lived in complete autonomy, oblivious to the world. All the tribes spoke different languages, had different cultures, and inter-tribe conflicts were very frequent, as well as the practice of cannibalism.   

Various airlines fly to Jayapura, and a good solution is to fly with Lion Air in their very recent fleet of B737-900ER. From Singapore, it is 1:30h flight to Jakarta, followed by a 7h flight to Jayapura. From Jayapura, local airlines which need to be booked in advance, operate several daily flights to Wamena in ATR72-200.
From Wamena, it is possible to do many treks in various places of the valley. There are hundreds of villages and tribes, and each trek will be different. Staying longer will allow for longer treks, and hence, access to the most remote villages, and different tribes.

Altough Papua is an exceptional place to visit, it is currently reserved to people who are willing to put in quite a bit more rupiahs than most Indonesian destinations. Having little time and not finding useful tips on the net, we resolved to use the service of Demianus Mac Wasage, manager of the local "Trek-Papua" agency, to help booking flights and organising the trek.

About the Dani people:

Spending some time in the Baliem Valley was a real eye opener on the way of life of the Dani, and the little time we spent with them still allowed us to have a good understanding of their admirable culture. By visiting people, talking with the guide, playing with the kids, we have been able to learn passionating facts about the way of life of the Dani tribe in the Baliem Valley.

The Dani people live in small villages which are very well kept and organised. All the villages are surrounded by stone walls and each family delimits its land with wooden or rock fences. To enter a village, one has to step over the 1-1.5m wall at specific points where small wooden ladders are installed.
The Dani people live in huts constructed from wood and straw which can last up to 30 years. Between the huts are small paths, boarded with flowers, vegetables, fruit trees and lots of sweet potato patches. The men and women do not sleep under the same hut. The men all sleep in a hut, and the women in another. The men can have more than one wife, but the wives of a same man live in separate huts. The kitchen hut however is only for one family and is not shared.

The women huts are complex architectures as they have 2 floors and different compartments. On the lower floor, small pens are installed for the pigs, and in the centre, a fire place is set-up. The upper floor is one circular room with straw as mattress where the women sleep with the children. Fire is lit inside the hut for light, warmth, and to fend off insects. The Dani women used to only wear a straw-made skirt with ornaments in the hair and on the hat, necklaces and bones or woods in their noses. Today, in all the villages crossed, the women are dressed but still live the same way. It is a tradition for women to cut parts of their fingers when one of their loved ones passes away to express grief. Although this practice has been strongly discouraged, there still is a large number of women with maimed fingers.

The Dani men are naked and only wear a koteka on their penis. Most of them have pierced nostrils to place impressive boar husks. In older days, men would hunt wild animals with wooden bows and arrows, and protect their families from other tribes with long spears. When a Dani man killed an enemy, he would tattoo his body to sign his victory. Today, more and more Papuans have adopted the Indonesian culture and wear clothes and participate in the local economy, and in the villages, only the elders still live as per their traditions.

The most fascinating thing about these tribes is the fact that they were discovered completly randomly, when a DC-3 of the USAF stationed in what was known as "Hollandia" (Now Jayapura) during the 2nd World War, crashed in the valley killing most occupants except a few. The rescue mission was one of the most complex one ever launched during the war against the japonese, and led to the first encounter of the Papuan Tribes with US soldiers! Before this event which took place in 1945, the Papuan Tribes had never used shoes nor wheels, and lived in very primitive conditions. Today, these Tribes rely on Tourist awareness to promote and save their culture from their Indonesian governors.

Here are some basic indications on prices for the trip. There is no road leading to Wamena, and the only way to reach this remote place is to fly. For this reason, you should know that some items are just not available or more expensive that they would be in Java. On top of this, any of the few things sold in the village had to be carried on foot, implying another price increase.
- 1 kilo of rice costs 20 000 IDR in Wamena, and is worth 25 000 IDR in the villages
- Instant noodle cost 2 000 IDR in Wamena, and is worth 5 000 IDR in the villages
- A medium-sized live pig is worth 1 500 000 IDR, and a piglet is worth 900 000 IDR
- A day spent in a village in Jiwika with a warrior dance organised costs 1 200 000 IDR for 4 people
- The service of  porters costs 100 000 IDR per day, per porter
- The service of a guide is essential to meet locals and translate, and costs 300 000 - 500 000 IDR per day

Warnings

Papua is certainly not as unsecure as its independant neibghour, Papua New Guinea. Although resentment on the indonesian government does create tensions and violence, these are mainly focused on the Indonesian officials. Tourists are seen as potential vectors to preserve the tribe's unique culture, and an essential way for them to be known and their culture protected.

The Baliem Valley in particular is very safe, and does not really contain dangerous animals or insects, but travellers have to be aware that mosquitoes do tend to flock by dozens near water points, and that bee stings hurt quite a bit!

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We strongly DISCOURAGE anybody to use the services of TREK-PAPUA and DEMANIANUS "MAC" WASAGE

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Altough his crendentials did him justice in the past, his english is good and his website fairly attractive, his sense of business has far outlived any service focus he might have had. This very charismatic guide mislead us on things agreed in advance, and a careful calculation of the costs of things in Wamena clearly led us to conclude that the price of his service is clearly not justified, and worse of all, NOT GOING TO THE PEOPLE LIVING IN THE VILLAGES.

Here are some tips and contacts for anyone who would wish to do the trip and have more justified costs:
1. Booking the Jayapura - Wamena flights is MANDATORY as these are full quite fast. This can be done via Indonesian companies or by contacting dhiny.rahmawati@yahoo.com
2. In Sentani, we recommend the services of Marius Revideso (revidesomarius@yahoo.co.id http://PaTGom2007.blogspot.com) a very friendly guide who speaks fluent english, and who can help to organize trips all over Papua, including to the remote tribe of the Korowai.
3. Finally, here is the contact of our local guide, a resourceful Lani Papuan with an acceptable level of english and who can organize everything from Wamena: Wendius Koboya "Broken" HP: 082399844259