Papua
Papua Highlights
West Papua
Sorong
Raja Ampat Islands
Manokwari
Around Manokwari
Northern Papua
Jayapura
Sentani
Around Sentani
Pulau Biak
Nabire
Baliem Valley
Wamena
Northeastern Baliem Valley
Northwestern Baliem Valley
Danau Habbema
Yali Country
The South
Merauke
Wasur National Park
Asmat Region
Korowai Region
Papua
Why Go?
Even a country as full of adventure as Indonesia has its final frontier. And here it is; Papua, half of the world’s second-biggest island, New Guinea. It may be the youngest part of Indonesia, but Papua's rich tribal traditions span centuries. This is a place where some people still hunt their food with bows and arrows. A place where roads are so scarce, that to travel between towns you often have no choice but to take to the air or the water. So unlike any other part of Indonesia, the province formerly known as Irian Jaya can feel like a different country – which is what many Papuans, who are Melanesian and ethnically distinct from other Indonesians, would like it to be.
Travel here is undoubtedly a challenge, and not one that comes cheap. But those who take it on rarely fail to be awed by the charm of Papua’s peoples, the resilience of its cultures and the grandeur of both its dramatic landscapes and idyllic seascapes.
When to Go
AApr–Dec Generally benign weather in the Baliem Valley; perfect for trekking.
AAug Join in with the feasting and the fun at the Baliem Valley Festival.
ANov–Mar Ideal conditions for marvelling at the aquatic wonders of the Raja Ampat Islands.
Best Places to Eat
Best Places to Stay
Papua Highlights
1 Hiking among the thatched-hut villages, unique tribal culture and mountain grandeur of the Baliem Valley
2 Diving and snorkelling in the real-life tropical aquarium of the Raja Ampat Islands
3 Swimming with whale sharks off Nabire
4 Witnessing spectacular tribal festivities at the Baliem Valley Festival or Festival Danau Sentani
5 Hiking into the mountains around Manokwari in search of birds of paradise and other exotic wildlife
6 Enjoying the island life among the friendly folk of Pulau Biak
7 Searching out the indigenous lowland culture and Australia-like flora and fauna of Wasur National Park
History
It’s estimated that Papua has been inhabited for 30,000 or 40,000 years, but contact with the outside world was minimal until the mid-20th century. Three colonial powers agreed to divide the island of New Guinea between them in the late 19th century: Holland got the western half, and Britain and Germany got the southeastern and northeastern quarters respectively (together these two parts now comprise the country of Papua New Guinea). Dutch involvement with Papua was minimal up until WWII when Japan seized most of New Guinea in 1942. Japan was then driven out in 1944 by Allied forces under US general Douglas MacArthur.
Indonesia Takes Over
When the Netherlands withdrew from the rest of the Dutch East Indies (which became Indonesia) in 1949, it hung on to its half of New Guinea, and then began to prepare it for independence with a target date of 1970. Indonesia’s President Sukarno had other ideas and in 1962 Indonesian troops began infiltrating the territory in preparation for an invasion. Under pressure from the US, which didn’t want to risk a damaging defeat for its Dutch ally by the Soviet-backed Sukarno regime, the Netherlands signed the New York Agreement of 15 August 1962. Under this agreement, Papua became an Indonesian province in 1963. The Papuan people were to confirm or reject Indonesian sovereignty in a UN-supervised vote within six years. In 1969, against a background of Papuan revolt and military counter-operations that killed thousands, Indonesia decided that the sovereignty vote would involve just over 1000 selected ‘representatives’ of the Papuan people. Subjected to threats, the chosen few voted for integration with Indonesia in what was officially named the Act of Free Choice.
The following decades saw a steady influx of Indonesian settlers into Papua – not just officially sponsored transmigrants but also ‘spontaneous’ migrants in search of economic opportunity. Intermittent revolts and sporadic actions by the small, primitively armed Organisasi Papua Merdeka (Free Papua Organisation; OPM) guerrilla movement were usually followed by drastic Indonesian retaliation, which at times included bombing and strafing of Papuan villages. Indonesia invested little in Papuans’ economic or educational development, while the administration, security forces and business interests extracted resources such as oil, minerals and timber.
Papua in the 21st Century
Following the fall of the Suharto regime in 1998, the reformasi (reform) period in Indonesian politics led many Papuans to hope that Papuan independence might be on the cards. In June 2000 the Papua People’s Congress (more than 2500 Papuan delegates meeting in Jayapura) declared that Papua no longer recognised Indonesian rule and delegated a smaller body, the Papua Council Presidium, to seek a UN-sponsored referendum on Papuan independence. But the ‘Papuan Spring’ was short-lived. The second half of 2000 saw a big security force build-up in Papua, and attacks on pro-independence demonstrators. In 2001, the Papua Council Presidium’s leader Theys Eluay was murdered by Indonesian soldiers.
The year 2001 also saw the passing of a Special Autonomy charter for Papua – Jakarta’s response to Papuan grievances. The major provision was to give Papua a bigger share (70% to 80%) of the tax take from its own resources, plus more money to develop education and health. But many Papuans consider that Special Autonomy has not benefited them significantly, complaining that too much of the money disappears into the hands of the bureaucracy. They also complain that non-Papuans control Papua’s economy and government in their own interests, and are exploiting Papua’s natural resources with minimal benefit for the native people. The US-owned Freeport mine, digging the world’s biggest recoverable lodes of gold and copper out of the mountains north of Timika, and using the Indonesian police and army as part of its security force, is often considered a classic symbol. Its troubled relationship with local communities has seen violence on numerous occasions, and its installations and workers have been targets of attacks usually attributed to the OPM.
Pro-independence activism and OPM activity have increased in Papua in recent years, and killings, torture, rape and disappearances carried out by the Indonesian security forces have continued to be reported by human-rights bodies. Papuans regularly receive jail sentences of 10 years or more for simply raising the Morning Star flag, the symbol of Papuan independence. A new meeting of the Papua People’s Congress in 2011 reaffirmed its independence declaration but was broken up by troops, with six people reported killed.
Despite this, living standards in Papua’s cities have risen, but the villages and countryside, where most native Papuans live, remain among Indonesia’s poorest. The AIDS rate in Papua is the highest in Indonesia. Most Papuans want to be free of Indonesian rule, but their chances of that seem as slim as ever now that, by some estimates, half of Papua’s four million people are non-Papuans.
Culture
Papua is a land of hundreds of cultures – those of the 200-plus indigenous peoples and those of all the immigrants from other parts of Indonesia, who dominate in the cities and now make up more than half of Papua’s population. Relations between native Papuans and immigrants can be good on a person-to-person level but poor when it comes to group dynamics. The immigrants are predominantly Muslim, while Papuans are mostly Christian with an undercoat of traditional animism.
Indigenous Papuan culture is much more apparent in the villages than the towns. It has altered a lot under the influence of Christian missionaries and Indonesian government. Tribal warfare, headhunting and cannibalism, practised by some tribes well into the second half of the 20th century, have all but disappeared. But reverence for ancestors and pride in cultural traditions such as dances, dress and woodcarving persist. Papuan woodcarving is prized throughout Indonesia and beyond: the Asmat and Kamoro peoples produce the most striking work.
Tribal culture varies from area to area starting with languages, of which Papua has approximately 280. Traditional housing varies with the environment – people who live close to the water often live in stilt houses, the Dani of the Baliem Valley inhabit snug, round, wood-and-thatch huts known as honai, and the Korowai of the southern jungles build their homes high in trees. Gender roles remain traditional. Polygamy is still practised by some men, and women do most of the carrying as well as domestic tasks.
Wildlife
Thanks to Papua’s former existence as part of the Australian continent (it was still joined to Australia 10,000 years ago), its wildlife has big differences from the rest of Indonesia. Here dwell marsupials such as tree kangaroos, wallabies, bandicoots and cuscuses, as well as echidnas, a primitive mammal which, along with Australia’s duck-billed platypuses, are the world’s only egg-laying mammals.
Papua is still three-quarters covered in forest. Its diverse ecosystems range from savannahs and mangroves to rainforest, montane forest and the glaciers around 4884m Carstensz Pyramid (Puncak Jaya), the highest peak in Oceania. It’s home to more than half the animal and plant species in Indonesia, including more than 190 mammals, 550 breeding birds, 2650 fishes and more than 2000 types of orchid.
The megastars of the feathered tribe are the birds of paradise, whose fantastically coloured males perform weird and wonderful mating dances. Also here are large, ground-dwelling cassowaries, colourful parrots and lorikeets, unique types of kookaburra, crowned pigeons, cockatoos, hornbills, and the curious bowerbirds, whose males decorate large ground-level dens in their efforts to find mates.
Marine life is even more fantastic and varied, especially around the Vogelkop peninsula, where the still-being-explored seas of the Raja Ampat Islands are quickly earning a reputation for some of the world’s best diving.
New species continue to be found in the sea and on land. Two previously unknown types of epaulette shark (also called walking sharks because they use their fins to ‘walk’ along the seabed) were discovered in Teluk Cenderawasih and Triton Bay in 2006. A year earlier, a Conservation International expedition in the almost-untouched Foja Mountains found types of bird of paradise and bowerbird that had been thought extinct, four new species of butterfly, 20 new frogs, and the golden-mantled tree kangaroo, previously known only on one mountain in neighbouring Papua New Guinea (PNG). In 2013 a major expedition to PNG unearthed dozens of new species and it’s likely that many more creatures await discovery throughout New Guinea.
Economic developments threaten Papua’s wildlife. Forests are under assault from logging (much of it illegal, with the timber smuggled out to Asia), road construction, mining, transmigration settlements and new oil-palm plantations. Bird-of-paradise feathers have long been used in Papuan traditional dress, and they became so popular as European fashion accessories before WWI that the birds came close to extinction. Trade in the feathers has been illegal in Indonesia since 1990, but birds of paradise continue to be smuggled out of Papua.
Most good Papuan tour companies, including birdwatching specialist Papua Expeditions (www.papuaexpeditions.com), can arrange birdwatching trips with expert local guides.
TTours & Guides
While travel in Papua is, in many cases, no more challenging than anywhere else in Indonesia, there are certain areas where the logistical difficulties of travel mean that it makes sense to take a guided tour. This is particularly true of the Asmat or Korowai regions or the little-explored Mamberamo basin in the north. Guided tours are essential (given the bureaucracy involved) for mountaineers wanting to climb Papua’s high peaks such as Carstensz Pyramid (Puncak Jaya) or Gunung Trikora.
As well as guides and agencies with local ambits, there are several that offer trips to a range of Papua destinations.
Adventure Indonesia (www.adventureindonesia.com) Top Indonesian adventure-tourism firm that does Asmat, Carstensz Pyramid (Puncak Jaya) and Baliem Valley trips.
Andreas Ndruru (%0813 4496 9100; andreasndruru@hotmail.com) Andreas is a Sumatran-born, Papuan-passionate freelance guide who speaks fluent English and has huge experience of Papua and a great team (including an outstanding camp cook). He’s based in Sentani but specialises in hiking trips and tours to tribal regions.
Bob Palege (%0812 4721 0365; bobfredpalege@gmail.com) Based in Sentani, Bob Palege is something of a legend in Papuan travel circles and is arguably one of the region’s most experienced and knowledgeable guides, with unsurpassed connections and contacts throughout Papua.
Discover Papua Adventure (www.discoverpapua.com) An efficient, well-established Biak-based agency that can set up just about any trip you want throughout Papua.
Papua Expeditions (www.papuaexpeditions.com) This ecotourism-minded, Sorong-based company specialises in birding in all the best Papuan destinations. Its website is a great resource.
PAPUA TRAVEL PERMIT
In the fairly recent past, visiting Papua meant filling out reams of forms and obtaining a special travel permit known as a surat keterangan jalan (commonly called a surat jalan). In the past couple of years, though, permit restrictions have been eased for many areas (though this could just as easily be reversed). At the time of research in mid-2015, exactly where a surat jalan was required seemed to depend on whom you asked. The police in Jayapura insisted one was required for almost every town and area in Papua, but the reality was that in all but the remotest areas you now very rarely get asked to produce a surat jalan. To be on the safe side, however, if you’re heading to the Baliem Valley, Yali country, Agats and the Korowai region it’s better to get one.
A surat jalan is usually easily obtained from the police in the capitals of Papua’s 30-odd kabupaten (regencies). The relevant police departments are typically open from about 8am to 2pm Monday to Saturday; times and days vary, and some departments can attend to you outside their official hours. Take your passport, two passport photos, and photocopies of your passport’s personal details page and your Indonesian visa. The procedure normally takes about an hour and no payment should be requested. The duration of the permit depends on how long you request and the expiry date of your visa.
Some police stations will only issue a surat jalan for their own regencies or limited other destinations. The best place to obtain a wide-ranging surat jalan is Polresta in Jayapura, where you can present a list of every place that you intend to visit (don’t omit any obscure, small, off-the-beaten-track places), and get them all listed on one surat jalan. You might have similar luck in other relatively large cities such as Manokwari and Sorong.
Once you have your surat jalan, make several photocopies of it. In remoter areas your hotel should report your arrival to the police and they will likely need photocopies of your passport and/or surat jalan to do so. In a few places you may need to report to the police yourself. Carry your surat jalan on out-of-town trips.
Some parts of Papua are sometimes off limits to tourists, usually because of Organisasi Papua Merdeka (Free Papua Organisation; OPM) activity. When you apply for a surat jalan, the police will tell you if anywhere on your itinerary is off limits.
Note: some Indonesian embassies may tell you that in order to visit Papua you must obtain a special permit from the Indonesian immigration authorities and/or the police department in Jakarta – some have even reportedly refused visas to applicants who said they planned to visit Papua. This is not true. In practice, as long as you have an Indonesian visa then you’re free to travel to and around Papua (and don’t worry, airlines never ask to see a surat jalan).
8Getting There & Around
Intercity roads are still a thing of the future for Papua. Boats are an option for travelling to Papua and between its coastal towns if you have enough time, or along its rivers if you have enough money. Flying is the common way to reach Papua and to travel between its cities and towns.
Air
To fly to Papua you must first get to Jakarta, Makassar, Denpasar, Manado or Ambon, then take a domestic flight. For the Baliem Valley, fly first to Jayapura and take an onward flight from there. Jayapura is served by four airlines from Jakarta and Makassar, and by Garuda from Denpasar (via Timika). Jakarta–Jayapura fares are not cheap and start at around 1,500,000Rp one way. For the Raja Ampat Islands, fly to nearby Sorong from Jakarta, Makassar or Manado.
Most commercial flights within Papua cost around 700,000Rp to 1,200,000Rp, plus or minus a hundred thousand or two.
Missionary airlines such as the Roman Catholic Associated Mission Aviation (AMA) and Protestant Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) do a lot of flying between small, remote airstrips. They will sometimes carry tourists if they have spare seats. Chartering a small plane for seven to 12 people is another option for routes not served by scheduled flights. Airlines servicing Papua include Batik Air (www.batikair.com), Garuda Indonesia (www.garuda-indonesia.com), Lion Air (www.lionair.co.id), Sriwijaya Air (www.sriwijayaair.co.id), Susi Air (www.susiair.com; flies small planes on local routes within Papua), Trigana Air (www.trigana-air.com), Wings Air (www.lionair.co.id) and Xpress Air (www.xpressair.co.id).
Boat
Every two weeks, five Pelni liners sail into Sorong from Maluku, Sulawesi, Kalimantan or Java, continue to Jayapura via various intermediate ports along Papua’s north coast, then head back out again. There are also a few sailings connecting Agats and Merauke on Papua’s south coast with Sorong and ports in Maluku.
Various smaller, less comfortable passenger boats serve minor ports, offshore islands and routes on a few rivers such as the Mamberamo and Digul; some have more or less fixed schedules, others don’t. On routes without any public service, you can charter a boat, which might be a fast, powerful speedboat, or a longbot (large motorised canoe) or a ketinting (smaller motorised canoe; long-tail boat). Charter costs are highly negotiable and depend on the boat, its fuel consumption, the distance and the petrol price.
PAPUA TRAVEL WARNING
Outbreaks of civil unrest and violence do occur in Papua, but they shouldn’t deter you from visiting unless the current situation changes. Political demonstrations sometimes turn violent, and acts of violence between Papuans and non-Papuans, often involving the Organisasi Papua Merdeka (Free Papua Organisation; OPM) or the Indonesian army or the police, happen most months. Many of these incidents occur in remote parts of the highlands (where the OPM is strongest), or around the Freeport mine near Timika, although the Baliem Valley and the Jayapura area also see some violence.
Localised fighting between different tribal groups sometimes occurs; these are normally disputes over land, livestock or women.
Whatever the type of violence, foreigners are rarely the targets or victims; tourists are welcomed by the great majority of people in Papua. Stay abreast of current events and ask the police if you have concerns about particular places.
West Papua
The province of West Papua chiefly comprises two large peninsulas – the Vogelkop (also known as Bird’s Head, Kepala Burung and Semdoberai) and the more southerly Bomberai Peninsula – and several hundred offshore islands. The attractions here are primarily natural – above all, the world-class diving and gorgeous island scenery of the Raja Ampat Islands. Sorong and Manokwari are well-provided urban bases from which to launch your explorations.
Sorong
%0951 / Pop 190,000
Papua’s second-biggest city, Sorong sits at the northwestern tip of the Vogelkop. It’s a busy port and base for oil and logging operations in the region. Few travellers stay longer than it takes to get on a boat to the Raja Ampat Islands, but Sorong can be quite fun for a day or two, and there are some interesting destinations in the surrounding region.
4Sleeping
JE Meridien HotelHOTEL$$
(%0951-327999; www.hoteljemeridiensorong.blogspot.com; Jl Basuki Rahmat Km7.5; r 534,000-836,500Rp, ste from 1,009,000Rp, all incl breakfast; aW)
Handily located opposite the airport, the Meridien offers nicely aged, slightly old-fashioned rooms of generous proportions. Rooms come with TVs and tea and coffee makers, plus you can get a free ride to the airport or the Raja Ampat ferry. The buzzing lobby has a good coffee shop and the Raja Ampat Tourism Management Office (though at the time of research this was scheduled to move).
Hotel WaigoHOTEL$$
(%0951-333500; Jl Yos Sudarso; r 489,000-705,600Rp, ste from 1,029,000Rp, all incl breakfast; aW)
This hotel, facing the Tembok Berlin waterfront, offers fair value, large and bright (sometimes a bit too bright and pink!) rooms, which have a few nice touches like art and masks on the walls. The ocean-view ‘suites’ are massive. The in-house restaurant (mains 25,000Rp to 65,000Rp) is good value.
Swiss-Belhotel SorongBUSINESS HOTEL$$$
(%0951-321199; www.swiss-belhotel.com; Jl Jendral Sudirman; r incl breakfast from 743,800Rp; aWs)
Opened in 2014 and setting new standards for Sorong hotels, the Swiss-Belhotel is easily the swankiest option in town – though if it were in Jakarta it wouldn’t earn its four-star status. The staff are exceptionally helpful and there’s a good in-house restaurant (mains 65,000Rp to 100,000Rp).
5Eating
Sorong restaurants are generally better stocked with alcohol (beer, at least) than those elsewhere in Papua. For cheaper eats, dozens of seafood warungs (food stalls) set up in the evenings along waterfront Tembok Berlin (Jl Yos Sudarso).
Sunshine BeachINDONESIAN, CHINESE$$
(Jl Yos Sudarso, beside Hotel Tanjung; mains 50,000-120,000Rp; h9am-10pm Mon-Sat, 4-10pm Sun)
This spacious, semi-open-air place with sparkling lights is built over the edge of the sea. It offers everything from fried rice or noodles to prawns, crab, fish, squid and beef, prepared in assorted ways. For something different dig into a plate of sea cucumber (380,000Rp). There’s an air-conditioned bar too.
Rumah Makan Ratu SayangSEAFOOD, CHINESE$$
(Jl Yos Sudarso; grilled fish from 60,000Rp; h9am-2.30pm & 5.30-10pm)
Pick up the scent of fish on the grill and head inside this two-level eatery for delicious ikan bakar (grilled fish). With rice, spinach, three sauces and a drink, this will set you back around 120,000Rp to 140,000Rp. It’s just north of the well-signed turning to Sunshine Beach restaurant.
8Information
ATMs outside Saga supermarket, at about the midpoint of Jl Yani, service Visa, Visa Electron, MasterCard, Maestro, Cirrus and Plus cards. There’s also a Bank Mandiri ATM just north of Sunshine Beach and next to the huge pink church (you can’t miss this!).
Polresta SorongPOLICE
(%0951-321929; Jl Yani I)
Head to this police station, 1km west of the airport, for a surat jalan (travel permit).
Raja Ampat Tourism Management OfficeTOURIST INFORMATION
(%0811 485 2033; www.gorajaampat.com; JE Meridien Hotel, Jl Basuki Rahmat Km7.5; h9am-4pm Mon-Fri, to 1pm Sat)
This incredibly helpful office can tell you almost anything you need to know about the Raja Ampat Islands, and it’s the best place to buy the tag permitting you to visit the islands. It’s scheduled to move to a new office next to the airport towards the end of 2015.
8Getting There & Away
Air
All airlines have ticket counters at the airport. Garuda and Sriwijaya Air connect Jakarta and Sorong via Makassar.
FLIGHTS FROM SORONG
| Destination | Airline | Frequency |
| Ambon | Wings Air | daily |
| Fak-Fak | Xpress Air | 3 weekly |
| Jakarta | Xpress Air | daily |
| Jayapura | Garuda | daily |
| Makassar | Garuda, Sriwijaya Air | daily |
| Manado | Garuda, Wings Air, Xpress Air, Merpati | daily |
| Manokwari | Garuda, Sriwijaya Air, Xpress Air, Susi Air | daily |
| Timika | Garuda, Sriwijaya Air | daily |
Boat
Pelni (Jl Yani 13), near the western end of Jl Yani, has five ships sailing every two weeks east to Jayapura (via assorted intermediate ports, including Manokwari, Biak and Nabire) and west to ports in Maluku, Sulawesi and Java. Sample fares (economy class) are 263,000Rp to Biak; 299,000Rp to Jayapura; and 171,000Rp to Ambon. The Tatamailau heads down to Agats and Merauke (economy 395,000Rp) on Papua’s south coast, every two weeks.
8Getting Around
Official airport taxis charge 100,000Rp to hotels at the western end of town; on the street outside you can charter a public taksi for half that or less. Using the yellow public taksi (minibuses; 5000Rp), first get one going west outside the airport to Terminal Remu (600m), then change there to another for Jl Yos Sudarso. Short ojek (motorcycle) rides of 2km to 3km are 5000Rp; between the western end of town and the airport is 20,000Rp.
Raja Ampat Islands
Pop 43,000
The sparsely populated Raja Ampat Islands comprise around 1000 islands just off Sorong. With their sublime scenery of steep, jungle-covered islands, scorching white-sand beaches, hidden lagoons, spooky caves, weird mushroom-shaped islets and pellucid luminous turquoise waters, Raja Ampat has to be one of the most beautiful island chains in Southeast Asia.
Pure, unadulterated beauty isn’t just what draws people here, though. Raja Ampat has good birdwatching, with a couple of species of birds of paradise present, and what many call the best diving in the world. Little known until the last few years, Raja Ampat’s diversity of marine life and its huge, largely pristine coral reef systems are a diver’s dream come true – and fantastic for snorkellers too. It’s like swimming in a tropical aquarium. In fact, the waters are so clear and fish so numerous that you hardly even need don a mask. We saw six sharks swimming around below us merely by peering out the window of an overwater hut! So great is the quantity and variety of marine life here that scientists have described Raja Ampat as a biological hot spot and believe that the reef systems here act to restock reefs throughout the South Pacific and Indian Oceans.
The four biggest islands are Waigeo (with the small but fast-growing regional capital, Waisai), Batanta, Salawati and Misool. The Dampier Strait between Waigeo and Batanta has many outstanding dive sites, so most accommodation options are on Waigeo, Batanta or three smaller islands between them: Kri, Gam and Mansuar.
2Activities
Diving
You can get up close with huge manta rays and giant clams, gape at schools of barracuda, fusiliers or parrotfish, peer at tiny pygmy seahorses or multicoloured nudibranchs, and, with luck, encounter wobbegong and epaulette (walking) sharks. The reefs have hundreds of brilliantly coloured soft and hard corals, and the marine topography varies from vertical walls and pinnacles to reef flats and underwater ridges. To generalise, Raja Ampat is better suited to advanced divers; it's not exactly a learn-to-dive hot spot. There are, however, some dive spots suitable for relative novices.
Most dives are drift dives. Beware: the currents that whip you along the edge of the reefs can be very strong. You can dive year-round, although the usually smooth seas can get rough from July to September (the Raja Ampat/Sorong area gets its heavier rain from May to October). The dive resorts generally offer packages of a week or more and focus on spots within about 10km of their resort. Some will take nonguests diving if they have places available, for around €50 per dive, plus €40 to rent a complete set of equipment. Valid insurance and dive cards will be required at reputable dive operators.
Many of the ever-growing number of homestays on Pulau Kri and Pulau Gam also offer diving services, but only highly experienced divers should consider this option – the guides can be short on professional training and experience and on safety protocols and safety equipment. We’ve heard numerous stories of people who’ve signed up to dive with a homestay and run into problems, including having to be rescued by boats from the top-end dive resorts. If you do dive with a homestay ask to see its certification. There’s a decompression chamber in Waisai, but the quality of the facilities here can be unreliable; the nearest quality chamber is far away in Manado, Sulawesi.
Wayag IslandsDIVING
These small, uninhabited and incredibly picturesque islands, 30km beyond Waigeo, feature heavily in Raja Ampat promotional material. It’s mainly liveaboards that dive here, but Wayag also attracts nondivers for its scenery, snorkelling and the challenge of scaling its highest peak, Pindito. An all-day speedboat round trip from Waisai for six to 10 people costs around 12,000,000Rp.
Teluk KabuiDIVING
The bay between Waigeo and Gam is packed with picturesque jungle-topped limestone islets. The Batu Lima dive spot in the bay’s entrance has a great variety of fish and beautiful soft corals.
The PassageDIVING
This 20m-wide channel between Waigeo and Gam is effectively a saltwater river. It’s heaven for advanced macrodivers with its nudibranchs, sponges and tunicates (‘sea squirts’). Sharks, archerfish, turtles, rays and schools of bumphead parrotfish are seen here too.
Fam IslandsDIVING
Calm waters, stunning coral and masses of fish, notably at the Melissa’s Garden spot.
Manta SandyDIVING
At this famous site between Mansuar and Arborek islands, numbers of huge manta rays, some with wingspans over 5m, wait above large coral heads to be cleaned by small wrasses. Best from about October to April.
Cape KriDIVING
The fish numbers and variety at the eastern point of Pulau Kri have to be seen to be believed. A world record of 374 fish species in one dive was counted here in 2012. Schools of barracuda, jacks, batfish and snapper coexist with small reef fish, rays, sharks, turtles and groupers. Beautiful coral too. There can be strong currents and so diving here requires a minimum of 50 logged dives.
Sardine ReefDIVING
Sardine, 4km northeast of Kri, slopes down to 33m, and has so many fish that it can get quite dark! The fish-and-coral combination is great for photographers. Currents can be strong.
Pulau MisoolDIVING
This remote southern island – especially the small islands off its southeastern corner – has stunning coral. The pristine reefs attract pygmy seahorses, epaulette sharks, manta rays and a vast range of other fish.
Snorkelling
There are strong currents in some areas of the Raja Ampat Islands, but snorkellers can enjoy top dive locations including Cape Kri, Manta Sandy (although the manta rays are often a bit deep to see properly), the Fam Islands, Pulau Wai and Mioskon (10km northeast of Kri). You can also see wonderful coral and marine life just by stepping off the beach in many, many places. Most accommodation, including homestays, can rent or loan snorkelling gear.
Birdwatching
The many exotic birds on the islands include two fantastically coloured endemic birds of paradise, the red and the Wilson’s. The red male has a spectacular courtship dance in which he spreads his wings and shakes like a big butterfly. Village guides in Sawinggrai, Yenwaupnor and Yenbeser on Pulau Gam provide a relatively easy way to see this, charging 150,000Rp per person for early-morning walks to nearby display spots. Maybe the most enjoyable of these is the tour offered by Simon Dimara (%0852 4301 2894), which, as well as seeing birds of paradise, also includes a boat ride up a long, narrow green-water gorge and a visit to the spot where naturalist Alfred Wallace set up camp while exploring these islands. Sorong-based Papua Expeditions (www.papuaexpeditions.com) offers specialised Raja Ampat birding trips.
Kayaking
oKayak4ConservationKAYAKING
(www.kayak4conservation.com; kayak per day from €35, guesthouse per person with/without 3 meals 400,000/300,000Rp, guide per day 300,000Rp)S
Originally established by the forward-thinking folk at Sorido Bay Resort on Pulau Kri, Kayak4Conservation provides exciting multiday tours of Raja Ampat by kayak, with or without a guide, staying at homestays or camping. Your money goes directly to the local people providing the services.
PROTECTING THE MARINE EPICENTRE
Marine biologists consider eastern Indonesia to be the world’s epicentre of marine life, and Raja Ampat – dubbed a ‘species factory’ by conservationists – harbours the greatest diversity of all. This includes, at last count, 1459 fish species and more than 550 hard corals (more than 75% of the world total). Ocean currents carry coral larvae from here to the Indian and Pacific Oceans to replenish other reefs.
Seven marine protected areas, covering 9000 sq km, were established in 2007 to protect Raja Ampat’s reefs from threats such as cyanide and dynamite fishing, large-scale commercial fishing and the effects of mining. In 2010, the entire 50,000-sq-km Raja Ampat area was declared a shark sanctuary. This was a significant move against the practice of shark finning, which threatens numerous shark species with extinction, mainly to satisfy demand (primarily in China) for shark-fin soup. In 2014 the Indonesian government went one step further with the establishment of a nationwide ray and shark sanctuary, which mean it’s now illegal to hunt for rays or sharks anywhere in Indonesian waters. The problem, of course, is that Indonesia is a very watery country, hence difficult to patrol.
Tourism plays a big part in the conservation effort, providing sustainable income sources for local people and funds for conservation initiatives. Foreign visitors must pay 1,000,000Rp for a tourist tag (pin/badge) to visit the islands (Indonesians pay 500,000Rp): you can get one at the Raja Ampat Tourism Management Office in Sorong, or at Waisai’s Tourism Information Centre (%0852 4202 0251, 0852 5455 0411; Acropora Cottage, Jl Badar Dimara, Waisai; h10am-2pm Mon-Fri). Most dive camps include the tourist tag in their package rates. It’s hoped that in the near future tags will be available at the ferry port in Waisai. The money goes to conservation, community development and the Raja Ampat Tourism Department, in roughly equal shares.
4Sleeping
Accommodation options in Raja Ampat are growing fast (some people worry that it’s too fast and lacking regulation) and can be divided into three options: high-quality dedicated dive lodges, homestays and liveaboard dive boats. The typical packages with the dive resorts or liveboards include ‘unlimited’ diving (up to four boat dives per day within about 10km, plus house-reef dives), accommodation, meals and Sorong transfers on fixed days of the week. Transfers from Waisai are also possible. More distant dives, equipment rental and transfers on nonstandard days cost extra. Most dive resorts offer cheaper rates for nondivers.
A growing number of much-less-expensive ‘homestays’ are opening up on several islands – the majority on Kri and Gam. Few of them are actual homestays but groups of purposely built palm-thatch huts close to or even over the water. A few now have private bathrooms but most just have separate, shared Indonesian-style bathrooms. They all offer snorkelling, birdwatching and other outings. Three (mainly fish-based) meals a day are usually part of the deal. Homestays will normally pick you up in Waisai if you contact them a day or two ahead (best by phone or SMS), typically for 1,000,000Rp to 1,200,000Rp per boat return trip to Kri or Gam, and increasingly more distant places. Boat outings can cost anything from 400,000Rp to 1,500,000Rp, or even more, depending how far you go.
The Raja Ampat Tourism Management Office in Sorong can help you contact homestays, or visit www.stayrajaampat.com, which lists all homestays and includes contact details, rates and reviews. A warning: we’ve heard several tales from disappointed travellers who found promised services or meals lacking, or even nonexistent.
Pulau Kri
oLumba LumbaGUESTHOUSE$$
(%0812 8100 9244, 0821 9829 4400; www.lulumba.com; r incl full board 500,000Rp)
On the blissfully quiet southern shore of Pulau Kri, Lumba Lumba is one of the most professionally run guesthouses on Kri and in all of Raja Ampat. The five comfortable overwater huts are well maintained and have attractive seashell decorations. Looking over the eye-searing white sands and sheer jungle-tinged cliffs, you’ll probably decide this is the perfect spot to drop out of life for a while.
Mangkur Kodon HomestayHOMESTAY$$
(%0852 4335 9154; enzomo@libero.it; s/d incl full board 400,000/600,000Rp)
This guesthouse is set where two perfect beaches meet in one tight triangle – a sight known to induce tears of joy. Combine that with friendly staff, top-class snorkelling out front, and inviting palm-thatch huts hung over the water and you’ve all the ingredients for happiness.
It’s on the far southwestern edge of the island, and a short walk (or wade at high tide) from the other accommodation options.
Koranu Fyak BungalowsHOMESTAY$$
(%0813 4417 4787, 0822 3801 9420; stephy_eeuu@hotmail.com; s/d incl full board 400,000/600,000Rp)
This foreign-managed homestay understands the needs of backpackers and serves them up simple thatch huts with separate shared bathrooms lined up along a sparkly white beach. If you don’t like dogs you probably won’t like this place because there are loads of them hanging around. English and Spanish spoken.
Kri Eco ResortRESORT$$$
(%0811 483 4614; www.papua-diving.com; Pulau Kri; 7-night unlimited diving package s/d from €1729/3038; W)S
Operating since 1994, Kri Eco is the original Raja Ampat dive lodge. It’s a professional operation with a gorgeous setting. Baby black-tip reef sharks are frequently seen swimming in the shallows below the restaurant. All 13 rooms are on stilts at the edge of the crystal-clear water but most have on-land, shared bathrooms (with mandis).
Sorido Bay ResortRESORT$$$
(%0811 483 4614; www.papua-diving.com; Pulau Kri; 7-night unlimited diving package €2705-2890; aW)S
Sorido offers top diving standards along with Western-style comforts, such as air-con, camera workstations and hot showers in spacious, well-equipped beachfront bungalows. The tucked-away location fronting a divine beach is superb.
Owner Max Ammer pioneered diving in Raja Ampat after he stumbled upon the potential while searching the area for crashed WWII aircraft. From that you will probably quite rightly deduce that he’s a real character who’ll add much to your stay.
Pulau Gam
oKordiris HomestayGUESTHOUSE$$
(%0812 4856 9412, 0853 9904 0888; www.kordiris.com; Pulau Gam; per person incl full board 300,000-350,000Rp)
This well-organised homestay, which sits in a secluded, dreamy bay dotted with tiny coral islands, is one of the best around. The rooms are made of palm thatch, and while some are in the cool shade of trees, others are exposed to the breezes on the salty white sand.
Mambefor HomestayHOMESTAY$$
(%0852 5454 4254; Sawinggrai Village, Pulau Gam; s/d incl full board 400,000/500,000Rp)
A very basic little overwater homestay that’s right on the jetty in Sawinggrai village. There are three rooms with mattresses on the floor and shared bathrooms 50m away in the village. As such, a stay here is more about cultural interaction than beach lounging. Don’t expect much privacy – or much beach.
oRaja Ampat BiodiversityLODGE$$$
(%0821 8922 2577; www.rajaampatbiodiversity.com; Pantai Yenanas, Pulau Gam; 7 nights full board incl 14 dives s/d from €1630/2770)S
Two kilometres east of Yenbeser village on Gam, Spanish-run Biodiversity is probably the overall best-value place to stay on the islands. Accommodation is in spacious, comfortable cabins filled with seashore knick-knacks. The ‘budget’ rooms have shared bathrooms. Good Indonesian and Western food is served, the dive operation is of a high standard, and PADI and SSI diving courses are offered too.
Unusually for a resort it offers packages shorter than a week. Free scheduled transfers from Waisai are available.
Papua Explorers ResortRESORT$$$
(%0811 800 0511; www.papuaexplorers.com; 7-night dive package incl full board s/d €2310/3930, incl 3 boat dives daily & unlimited house-reef dives; aW)
One of the flashiest, newest and biggest of the dive resorts, this Turkish-run place set in a large, pretty bay has 15 palatial over-water bungalows. All have elegant furnishings and tribal decoration, hot-water bathrooms, terraces with easy sea access and in-room wi-fi. It’s all very polished – maybe too much for some. We have to deduct points, however, for allowing soapy, coral-killing shower water to drain straight into the ocean.
Other Islands
Harapan Jaya HomestayHOMESTAY$$
(%0813 4435 3030; Harapan Jaya Village; full board per person 400,000Rp)
This superior-standard homestay is currently the only one on large, remote Pulau Misool (actually it’s on a small offshore island). It's a great base for exploring Misool’s breathtaking islands, beaches, caves and waterfalls. However, getting there is problematic. You can either charter an expensive speedboat (around US$3500) or take the weekly ferry from Sorong (departs Friday, returns Saturday).
Misool Eco ResortRESORT$$$
(www.misoolecoresort.com; Pulau Batbitim; 7-night unlimited diving package r from €2320-4390; hclosed Jul & Aug; aW)S
On a beautiful small island off southeastern Misool (a four- to five-hour trip from Sorong), this comfortable, well-run dive resort has a strong conservation and community ethos and many superb dive sites within a few minutes’ boat ride. Most cottages have a verandah over the water; all have open-air bathrooms.
It maintains an 862-sq-km no-take zone in the surrounding waters. Speedboat transfers from Sorong are €300 per person.
Papua ParadiseRESORT$$$
(www.papuaparadise.com; Pulau Birie; 7-night unlimited diving package s/d €2335/3994; W)
With large, elegant over-water bungalows on a gorgeous, pristine, small island off northern Batanta, and masses of good diving nearby, this resort is one of the best in Raja Ampat. It’s also a good base for birdwatching (including the red and Wilson’s birds of paradise) and offers PADI courses.
Raja4DiversRESORT$$$
(%0811 485 7711; www.raja4divers.com; Pulau Pef; 7-night unlimited diving package s/d €3100/5200; iW)
A classy small resort on an idyllic island beach with a reef out front, Raja4Divers sits off western Gam, giving access to some superb dives that are beyond the normal reach of Dampier Strait resorts. The large, airy water’s-edge bungalows are decked with intriguing artefacts and are as refined as they come.
There’s no extra charge for distant dives here, but you do have to pay (€250 per person each way) for the scheduled Sorong transfers.
Liveaboards
The ultimate Raja Ampat experience could be cruising around on a Bugis-style schooner specially kitted out for divers. Some 40-plus Indonesian- and foreign-owned liveaboards do regular one- to two-week dive cruises, usually starting and ending in Sorong. Some itineraries combine Raja Ampat with Maluku, Teluk Cenderawasih, or Triton Bay (Teluk Triton) south of Kaimana. Most boats carry 12 to 16 passengers and some are luxurious, with air-conditioned cabins and en-suite bathrooms. Most cruises run between November and April, when Raja Ampat seas are calmest. Costs typically range between US$300 and US$500 per person per day. See www.diverajaampat.org for a full list of operators.
Grand KomodoDIVING
A long-running Indonesian operation, which has three liveaboards operating year-round and is among the least expensive.
Seven SeasDIVING
The Seven Seas is probably the last word in Raja Ampat liveaboard luxury.
8Getting There & Around
Waisai has a new and impressive airport. Sadly its runway is also very short – too short, it turned out, for the full-sized passenger planes that were planned to come here. Instead there are Susi Air flights on Sunday and Friday between Sorong and Waisai, but it’s just as quick (after all the messing around at the airport) to get the ferry.
Fast Marina Express passenger boats (economy/VIP 130,000/220,000Rp, two hours) and a larger, slower boat (100,000Rp, three hours) depart for Waisai from Sorong’s Pelabuhan Feri (Pelabuhan Rakyat; Jl Feri, off Jl Sudirman) at 2pm daily. The slower boats have greater open-air deck space. The boats head back from Waisai at 2pm Sunday to Friday and at noon Saturday.
Ojek to Pelabuhan Feri cost around 15,000Rp from the western end of Sorong or outside the airport; a taxi is around 50,000Rp. Ojek between port and town in Waisai (2km) are 20,000Rp.
An overnight boat to Waigama and Lilinta on Misool leaves Pelabuhan Feri at 10pm every Friday (economy/VIP 310,000Rp/375,000Rp), but other passenger boats to and around the islands are irregular. To arrange transport around the islands once there, your best bet is to ask at your accommodation or Waisai’s Tourism Information Centre. Prices depend on boat, distance and petrol price and are usually negotiable.
Manokwari
%0986 / Pop 60,000
Capital of Papua Barat (West Papua) province, Manokwari sits on Teluk Cenderawasih near the northeastern corner of the Vogelkop. It merits a visit mainly for the natural attractions in the surrounding area, notably the Pegunungan Arfak. Most travellers’ facilities are in the area called Kota, on the eastern side of the Teluk Sawaisu inlet. Local transport terminals and the airport (7km from town) are to the west and southwest.
Manokwari
5Eating
1Sights & Activities
Pulau MansinamISLAND
Two German missionaries settled on Mansinam Island off Manokwari in 1855 and became the first to spread Christianity in Papua. The picturesque, rainforest-covered island is home to a small village, a none-too-subtle church, and a wannabe Rio statue of Christ. There’s also a pleasant beach along its western and southern shores. The coral reef off the southern end offers good snorkelling.
Outrigger boats (5000Rp one way) sail to Mansinam from Kwawi, 2.5km southeast of central Manokwari, when they have enough passengers.
Pantai Pasir PutihBEACH
About 5km east of town, this 600m curve of clean white sand and clear water is good for swimming, and snorkelling if you have gear. It’s generally quiet – except on Sunday when half of Manokwari invades the beach.
Taman Gunung MejaWALKING
(Table Mountain Park)
This protected forest makes an enjoyable walk if you start early enough to catch the birdlife and morning cool. A 1km walk up from Jl Brawijaya brings you to the white entrance gate, from where a fairly level 3km track, mostly paved, runs north through the forest.
After 800m the Tugu Jepang, a Japanese WWII monument, stands 100m to the left along a branch track. From the far end of the forest track, follow the paved road 600m past houses, then go left at a T-junction. This brings you in 400m to the Manokwari–Amban road, where you can catch a taksi or ojek back to town.
4Sleeping
Billy Jaya HotelHOTEL$$
( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; %0986-215432; fax 0986-215827; hotelbillyjaya@yahoo.com.sg; Jl Merdeka 57; r incl breakfast 200,000-400,000Rp; aW)
The older, cheaper rooms (up to 290,000Rp) range from small and dark to large, windowed and acceptable. The new section is much better, with shiny tiled floors and nice white bedding. The old Vespa with side-car in the hotel lobby is an unusual talking point. The hotel offers free airport drop-offs (though, sadly, not in the Vespa).
Metro HotelHOTEL$$
( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; %0986-215975; Jl Biak; r incl breakfast 300,000-500,000Rp; a)
A fair deal with small but clean rooms, with thick mattresses on the beds and pleasant staff at reception.
Swiss-BelhotelBUSINESS HOTEL$$
( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; fax 0986-212999; www.swiss-belhotel.com; Jl Yos Sudarso 8; r incl breakfast from 686,000Rp; aWs)
The best hotel in town has comfy but surprisingly tired rooms, and the restaurant (mains 72,000Rp to 300,000Rp) provides a wide range of Asian dishes, plus steaks. It’s not deserving of its four stars.
5Eating
oRumah Makan Salam ManisINDONESIAN$
( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; Jl Merdeka; mains 20,000-40,000Rp; h8.30am-10pm)
Renowned far and wide for its nasi ayam panggang lalapan (grilled chicken with green vegetables and rice), this two-storey place is an excellent choice for a communal meal while sat cross-legged at low tables surrounded by pot plants on the 1st floor. Very popular with locals.
8Information
Police StationPOLICE
( GOOGLE MAP ; Jl Bhayangkhara; h9am-5pm)
Grab your surat jalan here. It’s 1km southeast of the port.
8Getting There & Away
Tickets for the small planes of Susi Air (www.susiair.com) are only sold at the airport, 6km southwest of town, and even then the ticket office is often only open very early in the morning (like 5am early…).
Every two weeks Pelni ( GOOGLE MAP ; %0986-215167; Jl Siliwangi 24) has five sailings each to Jayapura (economy class 431,000Rp) and Sorong (126,500Rp), four to Makassar, three to Nabire, two each to Biak and Ternate, and one each to Ambon and Banda. ASDP Indonesia Ferry’s Kasuari Pasifik IV sails to Biak (economy/1st/VIP class 50,000/120,000/150,000Rp, 15 hours) at 4pm Thursday. The KM Napan sails to Nabire via Wasior (economy/VIP 150,000/290,000Rp) on Tuesday at 5pm.
FLIGHTS FROM MANOKWARI
| Destination | Airline | Frequency |
| Ambon | Wings Air | 4 weekly |
| Biak | Susi Air | 3 weekly |
| Jakarta | Xpress Air, Garuda, Sriwijaya Air | daily |
| Jayapura | Garuda, Sriwijaya Air | daily |
| Makassar | Garuda (not direct), Sriwijaya Air | daily |
| Sorong | Sriwijaya Air, Xpress Air, Garuda | daily |
| Kaimana | Wings Air | 3 weekly |
8Getting Around
Airport taxis to town cost 100,000Rp. Some public taksi (5000Rp) pass the airport, bound for Terminal Wosi, halfway to the centre. At Wosi you might find another taksi direct to Kota (6000Rp); otherwise get one to Terminal Sanggeng, then another (or walk) to Kota. Terminal Sanggeng is the starting point for very frequent public taksi running through Kota and out to Kwawi and Pantai Pasir Putih.
OFF THE BEATEN TRACK
TRITON BAY
In the past few years, whispered rumours have started emerging about Triton Bay (Teluk Triton) and how, just maybe, the marine ecosystems here are even more impressive than those of Raja Ampat.
The wealth of marine life here is extraordinary. Of the many highlights are pygmy seahorses, Nursalim flasher wrasse, Triton Bay walking sharks, big pods of dolphins, marlin, groupers, sweetlips, large schools of fusiliers and surgeonfish and arguably the most spectacular soft corals in the world. And if all that weren’t enough, there’s also the big daddy of them all, whale sharks, which are attracted to the fishing bagang (platform).
So far there are around 30 identified dive sites ranging from pinnacles to shallow soft-coral gardens and drift and wall dives. The one downside is that average visibility ranges from 10m to 15m, though it can be up to 25m or as little as 5m.
Currently very few people have dived here and only a few liveaboard dive boats come through, but with the 2015 opening of the Triton Bay Divers (www.tritonbaydivers.com; Aiduma Island; 7-nights full board incl 15 dives s/d €2400/3800; hclosed Jun–mid-Sep), the first dive resort in the area, the reefs around here are about to become easier to access. The resort is set on Aiduma Island and has just four elegant, luxurious wooden cottages on a beautiful white-sand beach.
Accsess to Triton Bay is via Kaimana. Wings Air (www.lionair.co.id) connects Kaimana with Jayapura and Manokwari.
Around Manokwari
The mountains, jungles, coasts and islands around Manokwari are great for off-the-beaten-track adventures in nature. Best known for their birds of paradise and other exotic species are the mountains of the Pegunungan Arfak. The offshore islands and waters, the lowland forests and the exciting but little-known Senopi area, 130km west (reachable by a five-hour drive or via Susi Air flights to Kebar), are also ripe for exploring. Senopi village has the unexpectedly good Senopi Guesthouse (d incl full board 350,000Rp), and Aiwatar hill, a day’s walk away, attracts thousands of birds every morning to its warm saltwater springs and coastal vegetation (40km from the sea). A guide can help you get the best out of the region.
2Activities
oCharles RoringHIKING, BIRDWATCHING
(%0813 3224 5180; www.manokwaripapua.blogspot.com)S
An enthusiastic guide who seeks out exciting natural destinations, Charles offers hiking, camping, birding, nature and snorkelling trips all over the Manokwari region and as far as Triton Bay (Teluk Triton) south of Kaimana. Browse his websites (goldmines of information) for ideas. His guiding fee is usually between 350,000Rp and 500,000Rp per day, depending on group size and destination.
Arfak Paradigalla ToursBIRDWATCHING, HIKING
(%0812 4809 2764; yoris_tours@yahoo.com)S
This effusive, one-man, English- and Dutch-speaking outfit offers city tours as well as Arfak trips. Yoris Wanggai is very knowledgeable about the area’s birds, plants and insects. He charges around 800,000Rp per day for overnight trips, not including transport, accommodation or food.
Pegunungan Arfak
The thickly forested Arfak mountains, rising to more than 2800m south of Manokwari, are a region of beautiful tropical scenery, exotic wildlife (especially birds) and a mostly indigenous Papuan population (the Hatam and other peoples), some of whom still inhabit traditional ‘thousand-leg’ stilt houses. The first and one of the biggest Papuan revolts against Indonesian rule happened here from 1965 to 1968.
The best-known birdwatching base is Mokwam, a collection of small villages a few kilometres down a side road about 50km from Manokwari, before Minyambou. There’s accommodation for tourists in two of the villages, Syobri and Kwau.
In Syobri ask for Zeth Wonggor (%0852 5405 3754), a highly experienced guide who has worked here with, among others, Sir David Attenborough. He has forest hides for viewing the magnificent bird of paradise, Western parotia and Arfak astrapia (also birds of paradise), the Vogelkop bowerbird and other exotic feathery species. February and March are best for observing spectacular, iridescent birdwing butterflies with wingspans of up to 25cm. Zeth has tourist accommodation (per person 100,000Rp) in a well-built wooden house. He charges 500,000Rp per day for guiding.
In Kwau village Hans Mandacan (%081 344 214965) runs a similar kind of show. The very comfortable guesthouse (100,000Rp) here is surrounded by flowers and is only a five-minute walk from the nearest bird hides. Hans charges 175,000/350,000Rp per half-day/day for guiding.
You can get a 4WD double-cabin pickup to Mokwam (150,000Rp, 1½ hours) from around 7am, 100m along the street past Manokwari’s Terminal Wosi. Talk to drivers the day before, or get to the stop in good time, if you don’t want to end up chartering a whole vehicle for 1,200,000Rp (one way).
OFF THE BEATEN TRACK
BIRDING IN MUPI GUNUNG
Perhaps the best birding area around Manokwari, and one that so far remains very unexplored, is Mupi Gunung, south of Manokwari. The birding here is rumoured to be superb, but at the time of research only a handful of tourists had ever visited. To get there, head to the coastal village of Mupi, after which it’s a six-hour hike through forest. Currently this is one excursion for which you really will need local help. Charles Roring in Manokwari can organise visits.
Northern Papua
Papua province’s capital, Jayapura, and its airport town Sentani, are hubs of Papuan travel, and there’s a scattering of appealing things to see and do in and around these towns. Further west, Biak is a relaxed offshore island that’s good for a spot of lazing on a beach, snorkelling and diving, and has evocative WWII sites to investigate. Nabire is the starting point for trips to swim with whale sharks.
Jayapura
%0967 / Pop 316,000
Downtown Jayapura is hot and busy with traffic, but it has a beautiful setting between steep, forested hills opening onto Teluk Imbi as well as a certain decrepit tropical air that some find appealing.
A small settlement named Hollandia was established here by the Dutch in 1910. In 1944, 80,000 Allied troops landed here to dislodge the Japanese in the largest amphibious operation of WWII in the southwestern Pacific. After WWII, Hollandia became capital of Dutch New Guinea. Following the Indonesian takeover in 1963, it was renamed Jayapura (‘Victory City’) in 1968. A public consultation exercise in 2010 favoured changing the name to Port Numbay, a name popular with indigenous Papuans, but this has yet to be officially ratified.
The city stretches 6km northeast from its centre, and its conurbation includes the formerly separate towns of Argapura, Hamadi, Entrop, Abepura and Waena, all south of Jayapura proper. Cenderawasih University at Abepura is a particular focus of Papuan nationalism.
Jayapura
1Sights
Museum Loka BudayaMUSEUM
( GOOGLE MAP ; Jl Abepura, Abepura; admission 25,000Rp; h7.30am-4pm Mon-Fri)
Cenderawasih University’s cultural museum contains a fascinating range of Papuan artefacts including the best collection of Asmat carvings and ‘devil-dance’ costumes outside Agats, plus fine crafts from several other areas, historical photos and musical instruments. There’s also a collection of stuffed Papuan fauna, which includes a number of birds of paradise. The museum is next to the large Auditorium Universitas Cenderawasih on the main road in Abepura.
Pantai Base GBEACH
Base G beach is nearly 3km long, sandy, clean and lined with wooden picnic platforms. The best beach easily accessible from Jayapura, it is usually near-empty, except on Sunday when locals come in droves for a bathe and a walk. Beware the many rocks in the water. Base G was the American forces’ administrative HQ in 1944.
Frequent ‘Base G’ taksi (4000Rp) start from Jl Sam Ratulangi for the 5km trip; the beach is a 10-minute walk downhill from the last stop.
4Sleeping
Amabel HotelHOTEL$
( GOOGLE MAP ; %0967-522102; Jl Tugu 100; s/tw/d 253,000/297,000/363,000Rp; aW)
Easily the best budget option, the Amabel has neat little rooms with windows and its own inexpensive restaurant. It’s up a small, leafy side street, a block before the Mal Jayapura (shopping mall).
Hotel Grand ViewHOTEL$$
( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; %0967-550646; Jl Pasifik Permai 5; r incl breakfast 450,000-750,000Rp; aW)
A very good deal. This place has plain but bright, modern, no-frills rooms, half of which peer directly out over the waters of the bay. The downstairs cafe-restaurant is a delightfully cheery strawberry red.
Hotel YasminHOTEL$$$
( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; %0967-533222; www.yasminjayapura.com; Jl Percetakan 8; s 700,000-1,100,000Rp, d 750,000-1,150,000Rp; aW)
A quite classy place with well-equipped but small rooms, and a 24-hour restaurant. Some of the cheapest rooms lack windows and are dark, but head up a price band and you get smart, spacious and great-value rooms.
Swiss-BelhotelBUSINESS HOTEL$$$
( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; %0967-551888; www.swiss-belhotel.com; Jl Pasifik Permai; r incl breakfast from 988,000Rp; aWs)
There’s nothing very Papuan about it, but the Swiss-Bel provides high-quality, European-style comfort in a harbourside location and it has a good open-air pool. Check the website for discounts, especially at weekends.
5Eating
oDuta CafeSEAFOOD$$
(Duta Dji Cafe; MAP GOOGLE MAP ; Jl Pasifik Permai; vegetable dishes 15,000-25,000Rp, whole fish 50,000-80,000Rp; h5pm-2am)
Long lines of evening warungs open along Jl Pasifik Permai, cooking up all sorts of Indonesian goodies, including seafood galore. At the large, clean Duta Cafe, halfway along the street, an excellent ikan bakar (grilled fish) comes with several sambals (chilli sauces) lined up on your table, and the juice drinks go down very nicely.
Don’t confuse this place with another Duta Cafe further along near the Swiss-Belhotel.
Waroeng PojokINDONESIAN$
( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; Mal Jayapura; mains 35,000-40,000Rp; h7am-10pm)
Part of a small national chain of cool, comfy, air-con restaurants serving classic Javanese cuisine and frothy milkshakes and juices. It makes a delicious change from the endless oily nasi goreng of small-town Papua or the sweet potatoes of the mountains. It’s on the 2nd floor of the Mal Jayapura (shopping mall).
Resto & Cafe Rumah LautINDONESIAN, SEAFOOD$$
( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; %0967-537673; Jl Koti; mains 40,000-80,000Rp; h8am-10pm)
This upmarket place, built on stilts above the waters of Jayapura bay, is where locals come when they want to impress. The wide-ranging menu takes in Indonesian classics, a few Chinese options, and fish. Lots of fish. If you’re not eating, at least come for a fruit juice.
8Information
Bank MandiriBANK
( GOOGLE MAP ; Jl Yani 35; h8am-3pm Mon-Fri)
You can exchange US$100 notes here, and there’s an ATM.
BCA BankBANK
( GOOGLE MAP ; Blok C, Ruko, Jl Pasifik Permai; h8am-3pm Mon-Fri)
Exchanges cash US dollars, euros and British pounds, with no minimum.
Immigration OfficeIMMIGRATION
( GOOGLE MAP ; %0967-533647; Jl Percetakan 15; h8am-4pm Mon-Fri)
This office will issue one 30-day extension to a visa on arrival (VOA): apply at least one week before your visa expires. Travellers with VOAs must come here for a (free) exit stamp before crossing the land border to Vanimo, Papua New Guinea.
PolrestaPOLICE
(Polda; GOOGLE MAP ; Jl Yani 11; h9am-3pm Mon-Fri)
Police elsewhere in Papua will often only issue a surat jalan for their own regencies, but here you can get one for everywhere you want to go in Papua (that’s not off limits). They do tend to request a donation for ‘administrative costs’, however. Processing normally takes about one hour.
PT Kuwera JayaTRAVEL AGENCY
( GOOGLE MAP ; %0967-533333; Jl Percetakan 96; h8am-9pm Mon-Sat, 10am-9pm Sun)
This efficient travel agency sells tickets for flights and Pelni boats from Jayapura, and also some flights from other Papuan cities.
8Getting There & Away
Air
Jayapura airport (%0967-591809), actually located at Sentani, 36km west, is the hub of Papuan aviation. Most flights arrive and depart between 7am and 1pm. Tickets are available at travel agencies and at the airport and Jayapura offices of the airlines.
Boat
Six Pelni liners leave from Jayapura in every two-week period, sailing to some 20 ports in Papua, Maluku, Sulawesi, Kalimantan and Java.
The port ( GOOGLE MAP ; Jl Koti) is accessible by any taksi heading to Hamadi or Entrop. Pelni tickets are available there or at travel agencies including PT Kuwera Jaya.
Perintis boats also head along the coast as far as Manokwari, putting in at smaller ports en route and even heading to villages up rivers such as the Mamberamo. They normally leave from the APO port ( GOOGLE MAP ; Jl Sam Ratulangi) and typically take a week to get to Manokwari. Finding out about schedules will be a challenge! Bring food and drinks.
TRANSPORT FROM JAYAPURA
AIR
| Destination | Airline | Frequency |
| Biak | Garuda, Sriwijaya Air | daily |
| Denpasar | Garuda (via Timika) | daily |
| Jakarta | Garuda, Lion Air, Batik Air, Sriwijaya Air | daily |
| Kaimana | Wings Air | daily |
| Makassar | Garuda, Batik Air, Lion Air, Sriwijaya Air | daily |
| Manado | Lion Air (via Sorong), Sriwijaya Air (via Timika | daily |
| Manokawri | Garuda, Sriwijaya Air | daily |
| Merauke | Garuda, Lion Air, Sriwijaya Air | daily |
| Nabire | Wings Air, Trigana | weekly |
| Sorong | Garuda, Lion Air | daily |
| Wamena | Trigana, Wings Air, Xpress Air | daily |
BOAT
| Destination | Fare (Rp; economy class) | Duration | Frequency (per 2 weeks) |
| Ambon | 405,000 | 2½-4 days | 3 |
| Banda | 395,000 | 3½ days | 1 |
| Biak | 173,500 | 17-25hr | 3 |
| Makassar | 720,000 | 4-5 days | 5 |
| Manokwari | 245,000/ | 1-2 days | 5 |
| Nabire | 225,000 | 15-32hr | 3 |
| Sorong | 325,000 | 1½-2½ days | 6 |
8Getting Around
Official airport taxis from the airport at Sentani to central Jayapura cost a hefty 450,000Rp. If you organise a taxi yourself without going through the taxi booths, they will quote you the same fare but with bargaining will drop as low as 300,000Rp.
Going by public taksi from Sentani to Jayapura involves three changes and takes about 1½ hours if the traffic is on your side. Fortunately, each change is just a hop into another vehicle waiting at the same stop. Start with one from Sentani (outside the airport gate or heading to the right along the main road 400m straight ahead) to Waena (4000Rp, 20 to 30 minutes). Then it’s Waena to Abepura (3000Rp, 10 minutes), Abepura to Entrop (3000Rp, 20 minutes) and Entrop to Jayapura (2500Rp, 20 minutes). Heading back from Jayapura, go through the same routine in reverse. You can pick up Entrop-bound taksi on Jl Percetakan or at Terminal Mesran ( GOOGLE MAP ; Jl Koti).
TRAVELLING BETWEEN PAPUA & PNG
There are no flights between Papua (Indonesia) and Papua New Guinea (PNG), and the only land border crossing that is open to foreigners is at Skouw (opposite Wutung, PNG), 55km east of Jayapura and 40km west of Vanimo, PNG. This border suffers occasional temporary closures, usually due to political tensions.
To cross the land border in either direction, you need a visa beforehand. It’s best to get visas in advance at Indonesian or PNG embassies elsewhere. The PNG consulate at Jayapura ( GOOGLE MAP ; %0967-531250; Blok 6 & 7, Ruko Matoa, Jl Kelapa Dua, Entrop; h9am-noon & 1-2pm Mon-Fri) issues 60-day tourist visas. If you turn up early enough in the morning then you might get it the same day. To apply, you must submit an application form; a cover letter stating where you want to go in PNG and why; a photocopy of a confirmed onward air ticket; a photocopy of your passport; and two colour photos (4cm by 6cm), with your signature on the back. Regulations and practices at both consulates change from time to time and you might also be asked to supply a sponsor’s or invitation letter from PNG (if this is impossible, explain why in your letter of request). The Jayapura consulate is next to Hotel Le Premiere, 600m east of the Entrop taksi terminal.
Note that if you are in Indonesia with a visa on arrival (VOA), you must get an exit stamp at Jayapura’s immigration office before travelling to the border to cross to PNG.
Buses and vans link Vanimo’s market area with the border. Between the border and Jayapura or Sentani you usually need to charter a taksi for 250,000Rp to 400,000Rp; the trip takes about two hours.
Sentani
%0967 / Pop 48,000
Sentani, the growing airport town 36km west of Jayapura, sits between the forested Pegunungan Cyclop and beautiful Danau Sentani.
zFestivals & Events
Festival Danau SentaniCULTURAL
(happrox 18-25 Jun)
The Lake Sentani Festival, inaugurated in 2008, features spectacular traditional dances and chanting as well as boat events, music, crafts and hair braiding. It’s very popular with locals and lately has taken place at Kalkhote, on the lakeside 8km east of Sentani town.
4Sleeping
Rasen HotelHOTEL$$
( GOOGLE MAP ; %0967-594455; rasenhotel_papua@yahoo.com; Jl Penerangan; s/d incl breakfast 250,000/350,000-400,000Rp; aW)
The best choice near the airport, the Rasen has small, clean rooms with hot showers and TVs, plus a decent restaurant, free airport drop-offs and even a small fish pond. Unsurprisingly it fills up, so try to call ahead. Some staff speak English.
oGrand Allison HotelBUSINESS HOTEL$$$
( GOOGLE MAP ; %0967-592210; www.grandallisonsentani.com; Jl Raya Kemiri 282; r incl breakfast from 1,680,000Rp; aWs)
Quite possibly the single fanciest hotel in Papua, the Grand Allison is business slick with international-standard rooms, facilities and service that you won’t find elsewhere. A highlight is the lovely swimming pool complex. Book online for discounts.
5Eating
oYougwa RestaurantINDONESIAN$$
( GOOGLE MAP ; %0967-571570; Jl Raya Kemiri; mains 25,000-60,000Rp; h10am-8.30pm Mon-Sat, to 4pm Sun & holidays)
Sentani’s most charming dining is on the Yougwa’s breezy wooden terraces over the lake, 13km east of town. Try ikan gabus (snakehead), a tasty lake fish that doesn’t fill your mouth with little bones.
8Information
PolresPOLICE
( GOOGLE MAP ; %0967-591110; Jl Yowanibi, Doyo Baru; h8am-2pm Mon-Sat)
This police station 5km west of Sentani takes about an hour to issue a surat jalan for the Baliem Valley area, but, unlike Polresta in Jayapura, can’t issue one for other parts of Papua. An ojek from Sentani is 30,000Rp for a round trip.
8Getting There & Around
Taxis at the airport ask an unbelievable 100,000Rp to take you the few hundred metres to most hotels, and even ojeks want 25,000Rp. Outside the airport gate, ojeks are 5000Rp.
Public taksi (2000Rp) marked ‘Trm Sentani-Hawai’ shuttle up and down Jl Raya Kemiri between the taksi terminal at the western end of town and the Hawai area in the east.
Around Sentani
Several interesting places around Sentani can be easily visited on day trips.
Danau Sentani
You get a bird’s-eye view of 96.5-sq-km Danau Sentani, snaking its way between picturesque green hills, as you fly in or out of Sentani. This beautiful lake has 19 islands and numerous fascinating Papuan fishing villages of wooden stilt houses along its shores.
If you’ve got time between flights you can hire a taxi and driver at the airport for half a day to scoot about some of the sights. Expect to pay anywhere up to 800,000Rp. One trustworthy Sentani driver is Ali Rumaf (%0813 4454 1177).
1Sights
Tugu MacArthurMONUMENT
( GOOGLE MAP )F
For breathtaking views of Danau Sentani, head up to the MacArthur monument on Gunung Ifar. This was where General Douglas MacArthur set up his headquarters after his US forces took Jayapura (then called Hollandia) in April 1944. Today the site is occupied by a small monument and a room with displays on the American and Japanese participation in the fighting.
The 6km road up to the monument starts 700m east of Jl Airport in Sentani. Charter a taksi, or take an ojek (70,000Rp round trip) from the bottom of the access road. You must show your passport at a military checkpoint halfway up.
Situs Megalitik TutariARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE
(Tutari Megalithic Site; GOOGLE MAP )
On the right, as you enter the village of Doyo Lama, 6km west of Sentani, you’ll see the entrance to Situs Megalitik Tutari. This mysterious hillside site comprises various arrangements of rocks and stones, and dozens of rock paintings of fish, turtles, crocodiles and lizards. They are of uncertain age but still considered sacred by the villagers. The paintings are in six different fenced areas, all reached by a 1km concrete path. The lake views are also worthwhile.
Entry is by donation. The gate man will probably ask for an optimistic amount, but 20,000Rp should do the trick. If you find the gate closed, no one is likely to mind if you climb over and enter anyway.
Pulau AseiISLAND
Asei is the main centre for Sentani bark paintings. Originally done only on bark clothing for women of the chiefs’ families, bark paintings are now a Sentani art form. To reach Asei, take a taksi to Kampung Harapan, then an ojek 2km south to the lake, then a boat to the island.
Pulau Biak
%0981
Biak (1898 sq km) is one of Papua’s biggest offshore islands. It’s a relaxed and friendly place with good snorkelling and diving. It was once a popular destination with foreign travellers to Papua but today has been rather eclipsed by the Raja Ampat Islands.
Biak saw fierce fighting in WWII, with about 10,000 Japanese and nearly 500 Americans reported killed in the month-long Battle of Biak (1944).
8Getting Around
Public taksi and a few buses reach most places of interest around the island. You can make things easier by chartering a car or ojek, or by taking a trip with Discover Papua Adventure. Away from the south coast, most villages are little more than a handful of huts, with no accommodation or food for travellers.
Kota Biak
Pop 38,000
This main town is your obvious, and only real, base. The airport is 3km east of the centre, along Jl Yani, which becomes Jl Prof M Yamin.
Kota Biak
2Activities
Though Biak is not in the same league as the Raja Ampat Islands as a scuba destination, there is still some good diving and snorkelling. In general you’ll see most fish from May to July. East of Kota Biak there are wall dives at Marau, Saba and Wadibu, which are also good snorkelling spots, as is Anggaduber. But the best diving and snorkelling is around the offshore Padaido Islands.
The island also attracts the odd hardcore exploratory surfer between November and April.
Biak PadivingDIVING, SNORKELLING
(%0813 4436 6385; biakpadaiving@yahoo.co.id; 2 dives, 2 people mainland 1,500,000Rp, Padaido Islands 2,500,000-3,000,000Rp, equipment rental per full set 300,000Rp, full-day snorkelling trip per 2 people 2,500,000Rp)
PADI divemaster Erick Farwas offers two-dive outings to all the better spots. Farwas also offers all-day snorkelling tours to the islands, as well as island stays.
4Sleeping
oPadaido HotelHOTEL$$
( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; %0981-22144; hotpadaido@hotmail.com; Jl Monginsidi 16; s/d incl breakfast 350,000/400,000Rp; a)
A hidden delight with just five immaculate, cheery, marine-themed rooms. They’re full of thoughtful touches such as lights you can switch on/off from bed, and all have terraces overlooking a small and pretty harbour.
Asana Biak PapuaHOTEL$$
(%0981-21939; www.aerowisatahotels.com; Jl Prof M Yamin 4; r incl breakfast from 600,000Rp; aWs)
Almost opposite the airport terminal, this rambling old hotel (originally owned by KLM) received a major renovation in 2010 that has brought it bang up to date but still managed to retain some of its 1953 colonial-era ambience. The rooms are spic-and-span, with wooden floors, wood-panelled walls and terraces overlooking the gardens.
Hotel NirmalaHOTEL$$
( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; %0981-22005; Jl Selat Madura 13; full board s 350,000, d 400,000-600,000Rp; a)
An excellent option, with amiable staff. The rooms, along a tidy courtyard that catches cool breezes, are immaculate, with good air-con, comfy beds, and spacious bathrooms with hot showers. On a Sunday morning your lie-in might be pleasantly disturbed by the truly beautiful singing from the next-door church.
5Eating
oWarung Makan BakwokahSEAFOOD$$
( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; mains 40,000-60,000Rp; h6-10pm)
If you like barbecued fish or chicken in a tasty sauce (the secret of which they didn’t want to give away) and served with green veg, rice and sambal, then this eternally popular place is for you. It’s cheap, simple and frankly brilliant.
Afterwards pop over the road to the market to grab some fruit for a takeaway dessert.
Furama RestaurantINDONESIAN, CHINESE$$
( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; Jl Yani 22; mains 40,000-80,000Rp; a)
Offers cold Guinness and Bintang as well as plenty of good quality Chinese and Indonesian dishes. It’s one of the few places in town that actually feels like a proper restauant.
8Information
Bank MandiriBANK
( GOOGLE MAP ; cnr Jl Imam Bonjol & Jl Yani; h8am-3pm Mon-Fri)
Exchanges cash US dollars and has Visa and Plus ATMs.
Discover Papua AdventureTRAVEL AGENCY
(Biak Paradise; %0852 4494 0860, 0981-23196; www.discoverpapua.com)
A well-established agency that can set up just about any trip you want, not only around Biak but throughout Papua and beyond. The experienced, capable manager, Benny Lesomar, speaks excellent English. Call and he’ll meet you in town.
Police StationPOLICE
( GOOGLE MAP ; Jl Diponegoro 3; h8am-4pm Mon-Sat)
Surat jalan are issued in an hour or so here. For Biak, you normally only need one if you stay on an offshore island or visit neighbouring Pulau Supiori.
8Getting There & Away
Air
Tickets for Garuda ( GOOGLE MAP ; Jl Sudirman 3) and Sriwijaya Air (www.sriwijayaair.co.id; Jl Prof M Yamin) are sold at travel agencies as well as their offices. Tickets for the small planes of Susi Air (%0967-591782; www.susiair.com; airport; h6am-3pm) are sold only at the airport. Between them Garuda and Sriwijaya Air fly at least once a day to Jayapura and Jakarta. Garuda also flies daily to Makassar. Susi Air heads to Manokwari three times weekly and to Nabire daily.
Boat
ASDP Indonesia FerryFERRY
( GOOGLE MAP ; %0981-22577; Jl Suci 21)
Has boats on Tuesday for Manokwari (88,000Rp) and Thursday for Nabire (130,000Rp), sailing from Mokmer, 6km east of Kota Biak.
PelniFERRY
( GOOGLE MAP ; %0981-23255; Jl Sudirman 37)
Every two weeks, Pelni has three liners heading east to Jayapura (economy class 173,500Rp, 18 to 27 hours) and west to Sorong (272,000Rp, 19 to 38 hours) and beyond. Some Sorong-bound sailings also call at Nabire and Manokwari.
Taksi
Blue taksi to Bosnik (8000Rp, 30 to 40 minutes), passing Mokmer and Taman Burung, run every few minutes; you can catch them at the ‘Lampu Merah’ (Traffic Lights) stop on Jl Bosnik Raya in the northeast of town. The main terminal for other taksi is Terminal Darfuar, about 5km northwest of downtown. On most routes, service winds down in the afternoon.
8Getting Around
Yellow public taksi (5000Rp) going to the right (west) outside the airport terminal head into town. Returning, take one marked ‘Ambroben’ from the corner of Jl Imam Bonjol and Jl Monginsidi or heading east along Jl Yani. A taxi from the airport to a downtown hotel is around 100,000Rp.
Around Kota Biak
1Sights
Goa JepangCAVE
(admission 50,000Rp; h7am-5pm)
The ‘Japanese Cave’, 4km northeast of Kota Biak, was used as a base and hideout in WWII by thousands of Japanese soldiers. A tunnel from it is said to lead 3km to the coast at Parai. In 1944, an estimated 3000 Japanese died when US forces bombed a hole in the cave roof, dropped petrol drums into it and then bombarded it from above.
From a concrete walkway, steps lead down into the spooky biggest cavern with a hole in the roof through which tree roots dangle. In and around the ticket office is a collection of Japanese and US weapons, equipment and photos.
An ojek from town costs 15,000Rp. Otherwise take a Bosnik-bound taksi and ask to be dropped at the unsigned road that leads 700m up to the cave. After heading uphill for around 300m, when you get to the top, a Japanese gun emplacement overlooks the airport. This was the focus of all the fighting.
Taman Burung & Taman AnggrekGARDENS
(Jl Bosnik Raya Km12; admission 10,000Rp; h7am-6pm)
At Ibdi, 12km east of Kota Biak on the Bosnik road, the Bird & Orchid Garden contains a sizeable collection of (caged) Papuan birds, including strikingly coloured lories, hornbills, cockatoos and three sad-looking cassowaries in cages that are far too small for such birds. Mixing it up with the birds are dozens of types of orchid.
Bosnik & Around
Bosnik, 18km from Kota Biak, is a laid-back village strung along the coast for 2km. Its daily morning market is busiest on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, when Padaido islanders come in biggest numbers. Don’t get too excited about the beaches here – they’re far from the best in Indonesia and at low tide a lot of ‘reef hopping’ is required to reach the sea, but for what it’s worth the best section of beach is Pantai Segara Indah (admission 20,000Rp) at the eastern end.
Bosnik-route taksi from Kota Biak usually go as far as Opiaref, where the coast road turns inland. You can continue on foot 6km through Opiaref to Marau, Saba and Wadibu, where a road heads 500m inland to join the Anggaduber road. The coral and fish off Pantai Marau make for good snorkelling and diving, as do the rocky islets off Saba.
Padaido Islands
This lovely cluster of 36 islands and islets (only 13 of them inhabited) makes for a great day trip from Kota Biak or Bosnik, and you can stay over on some islands. Virtually all have jungle-backed, white-sand beaches with crystal-clear waters, coral reefs and plenty of marine life. The best snorkelling spots include Pulau Wundi, which has good coral and many fish near the surface, Pulau Rurbas Kecil and Pulau Meoswarek. Top diving sites include the western end of Pulau Owi, with good coral and big fish; Pulau Rurbas Besar for coral, sharks, turtles and more big fish; and Pulau Wundi, with a cave, a long wall and good coral.
You can charter a boat from Bosnik to the nearest and most-populated islands, Owi and Auki, for 400,000Rp to 600,000Rp round trip, or twice as much for Wundi.
Biak Padiving offers diving trips, and also sightseeing and snorkelling trips, to the islands. Padiving’s Erick Farwas has a basic four-room guesthouse (%0813 4436 6385; per person with/without meals 250,000/200,000Rp) on Pulau Wundi (meals must be arranged in advance).
The cheapest transport to the islands is from Bosnik on Tuesday, Thursday or Saturday afternoon, when islanders are returning from Bosnik market and you should be able to get a place in a boat for 30,000Rp to 50,000Rp. You can normally find accommodation for 100,000Rp per person in an island house or by asking the local church-keeper. Bring food.
Nabire
%0984 / Pop 52,000
For travellers the main attraction of this relatively prosperous town is swimming with whale sharks. Whale sharks can grow over 10m long and inhabit warm seas all round the world. They feed mainly on plankton but also on small fish and for this reason they hang around fishing platforms called bagan in the southwest of Teluk Cenderawasih, 1½ hours from Nabire by boat. Close encounters with at least a few of these harmless giants are almost guaranteed any day of the year. Don’t touch or interfere with the whale sharks, and try to discourage locals from doing so as well.
2Activities
Merry YoweniSNORKELLING
(%0821 9830 9115; merrypapua@yahoo.com; AA Hotel, Pantai Yamarel; per person 580,000Rp)
Merry Yoweni offers whale-shark trips from Nabire for up to five people; the cost is slightly higher for fewer people, though it’s rare that there would be less than five people on a boat.
4Sleeping
Nabire’s few hotels can fill up so booking ahead is advantageous.
AA HotelHOTEL$$
(%0853 4468 4937, 0821 9830 9115; merrypapua@yahoo.com; Pantai Yamarel; r incl breakfast 350,000Rp; aW)
Near a grey-sand beach 2.5km from the airport, this well-run and very popular hotel has neat, medium-sized rooms with hot showers and a restaurant. The enthusiastic owners also do whale-shark trips, and offer free airport pick-ups and drop-offs if you reserve ahead.
8Getting There & Away
Wings Air flies to Ambon four times each week, while Wings Air and Trigana fly daily to Jayapura and Susi Air flies daily to Biak.
Pelni sails three times every two weeks to Jayapura (once via Biak), and three times to Manokwari, Sorong and beyond.
Baliem Valley
The legendary Baliem Valley is the most popular and most accessible destination in Papua’s interior. The Dani people who live here were still dependent on tools of stone, bone and wood when a natural-history expedition led by American Richard Archbold chanced upon the valley in 1938. Dani life has since changed enormously with stone axes being replaced by mobile phones and age-old belief systems with Christianity, but even so the changes are often only skin deep and the valley and surrounding highlands remain one of the world’s last fascinatingly traditional areas. Visiting the Baliem Valley and trekking through high mountain scenery, past neat and orderly Dani villages, takes you to a world far removed from Jakarta and is an honour and an experience to be savoured. For most people it is the highlight of Papua.
The main valley is about 60km long and 16km wide and bounded by high mountains on all sides. The only sizeable town, Wamena, sits at its centre at an altitude of 1650m. The powerful Kali Baliem (Baliem River), running through the valley, escapes via a narrow gorge at the southern end. Amid this spectacular scenery, the majority of Dani still live close to nature, tending their vegetable plots and pigs around villages composed of circular thatched huts called honai. Roads are few, and the raging mountain rivers are crossed on hanging footbridges that may be held together only by natural twine.
Christian missionaries arrived in 1954 and a Dutch government post was established in Wamena in 1956. Since the 1960s, Indonesia has added its own brand of colonialism, bringing immigrants, government schools, police, soldiers, shops, motor vehicles and becak (bicycle-rickshaws) to the valley. Big changes have been wrought in Dani life, but their identity and culture have proved resilient. Tensions between Dani and the security forces and Indonesian immigrants periodically erupt into violence, most notably during a large-scale uprising in 1977 and again in 2000, when clashes led to a temporary exodus of non-Papuans.
It can rain here at any time of year, but from April to December most days are fine and warm and the evenings cool. From January to March, mud and rain can make trekking hard work.
8Information
You must have a surat jalan for Wamena and the Baliem Valley, which you can get at Sentani or Jayapura or Wamena itself. If you’re going beyond the main Baliem Valley (for example, to Danau Habbema or the Yali country) make sure your surat jalan covers this. If you’re continuing to the Korowai or Asmat regions, get your surat jalan for them before you come to Wamena, as Wamena police may be unwilling to issue one.
Carry your surat jalan on trips outside Wamena. You normally only have to show it (to police stations or village authorities) if you stay overnight outside Wamena, but you can never be sure.
8Getting There & Around
Flying into Wamena is the only way to reach the Baliem Valley. Once you’re here, trekking is the best way to explore the landscape and local life. It’s also possible to get around the main valley and see traditional people and villages, as well as mummies and hanging bridges, by car, bemo (minibus) or ojek. Paved roads from Wamena run as far as Bolokme (north), Pyramid (northwest) and Kali Yetni (Yetni River; south).
Wamena
%0969 / Pop 31,000
Wamena is a sprawling Indonesian creation with nothing traditional about it, but it’s the obligatory base for any travels around the valley. The population is a mix of Papuans and non-Papuans and the latter run all the businesses.
Penis gourds are no longer banned here, as they were during Indonesia’s ‘Operasi Koteka’ (an attempt to force the Dani to wear clothes) in the 1970s, but only a very few old men coming into town for the day are likely to be seen wearing them.
Wamena
8Dangers & Annoyances
Local guides try to latch on to every tourist stepping off a plane at Wamena airport. If someone is meeting you by prior arrangement, well and good. Otherwise, treat any guide who approaches you with caution and firmness. If you accept any help at all, they may try to interpret this as an agreement to hire them, and can be hard to shake off. Guides are useful for many tasks, from trekking to arranging pig feasts, but you might not want to choose the one who’s trying to choose you, and the best guides don’t usually need to tout for business at the airport.
4Sleeping
oHotel Rainbow WamenaHOTEL$$
(Hotel Pelangi; MAP GOOGLE MAP ; %0969-31999; Jl Irian 28; r incl breakfast 450,000-750,000Rp; W)
A great option. Rooms are excellent, clean and of a good size with aprés-trek soothing hot-water bathrooms and nice touches such as shampoo, tissues, coffee and tea. The real highlight, though, is the staff, who bend over backwards to charm and help. Hit-and-miss wi-fi in the pop-art-decorated reception.
Baliem Pilamo HotelHOTEL$$
( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; %0969-31043; baliempilamohotel@yahoo.co.id; Jl Trikora 114; r incl breakfast 456,000-726,000Rp; W)
The hotel of choice for most visitors. The more expensive rooms are tasteful, contemporary, brown-and-white affairs in the newer section at the rear. Of the cheaper ones, the standards are smallish and plain but acceptable, and the superiors have a semi-luxury feel and quirky garden-style bathrooms.
Charging 20,000Rp per hour for barely functioning wi-fi leaves a sour taste, though.
Putri Dani HotelHOTEL$$
( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; %0969-31223; Jl Irian 40; s/d incl breakfast 450,000/550,000Rp)
This small family-run place offers nine spotless, comfortable rooms with hot showers and endless tea and coffee. From December to July it’s often home to Wamena’s Persiwa football team, so may be booked out.
Hotel Rannu Jaya IHOTEL$$
( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; %0969-32150; Jl Trikora 109; r incl breakfast 350,000-450,000Rp)
A sound option, with hot showers in the more expensive rooms, along with attempts at decor (eg large, kitsch horse prints). The semi-alfresco breakfast area is a nice touch.
Baliem Valley ResortRESORT$$$
(%0812 4810 0240, Germany +49 6051 61388; www.baliem-valley-resort.de; s/d incl breakfast €108/126)
This surprising hotel occupies a gorgeous hillside position 21km east of Wamena, with large, rustic-style but comfortable guest cottages in picturesque grounds. A superb collection of Papuan (especially Asmat) art adorns the semi-open-air dining hall. The German owner has a wealth of Papua expertise, and offers a variety of excursions and expeditions.
5Eating
The expensive local delicacies are large goldfish (ikan mas in Bahasa Indonesia), which are farmed in ponds around the valley, and enormous, almost lobster-sized, freshwater udang (prawns). Nowhere in Wamena serves any kind of alcoholic drink.
Pilamo BakeryBAKERY$
( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; Jl Safri Dawin 4; cakes 10,000-25,000p; h7am-9pm)
Freshly baked breads and the biggest and best cake selection for hundreds of kilometres means that after-trek dreams come true here.
Cafe PilamoINDONESIAN$$
( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; Jl Safri Darwin 2; mains 35,000-90,000Rp; h8am-10pm)
Cafe Pilamo is clean and pleasant, and even has two pool tables upstairs, but beware the karaoke, which may start up at any time. It has a long menu of Indonesian dishes, passable burgers and fantastic juices (try the tamarind juice, a local specialty) as well as espressos, lattes and cappuccinos.
7Shopping
The Dani are experts in the art of body adornment. Handicrafts include necklaces, pectorals, armbands and nose piercings, made from pig tusks, cowrie shells, bone, carved stone or feathers, as well as grass skirts, carved spears and arrows, noken (women’s bark-string bags), and assorted head decorations, made of cassowary or bird-of-paradise (or chicken) feathers and topped off with pig tusks.
Generally, it’s cheaper to buy in the villages, but it’s also worth checking out Wamena’s main market, Pasar Jibama (Pasar Baru; Jl JB Wenas; hdaily), 2km north of town, which is full of neat piles of fruit and veg, pigs off to slaughter and slippery fish from the coast. It’s a sight in its own right. Also, check out the NGO-run Oi-Tourism ( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; Jl Gatot Subroto; h7am-5pm Mon-Sat), or the handful of craft shops on Jl Trikora north of Jl Ambon. Asmat, Korowai and PNG artefacts are also available in the souvenir shops. Avoid buying items made from bird-of-paradise or cassowary feathers and any other products made from wild animals. Not just is it pushing such creatures closer to extinction, but trade in such items is illegal and airport customs will confiscate them and perhaps fine you.
Of course, the most popular souvenir is the penis gourd. These cost from about 20,000Rp to 100,000Rp, depending on size, materials and negotiation. Changing rooms in which to try them on aren’t provided!
Wamena’s three main markets, all functioning daily, are colourful places where you can pick up bundles of veggies for your trek. As well as Pasar Jibama, there’s also Pasar Misi ( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; Jl Ahmad Yani), in the south of town, and Pasar Sinakma, 2km west.
8Information
No banks exchange foreign cash or travellers cheques.
BRI BankBANK
(Bank Rakyat Indonesia; GOOGLE MAP ; cnr Jl Yos Sudarso & Jl Trikora)
ATM accepts MasterCard and Cirrus.
Papua.comINTERNET
( GOOGLE MAP ; %0969-34488; fuj0627@yahoo.co.jp; Jl Ahmad Yani 49; per hr 12,000Rp; h9am-8.30pm Mon-Sat, 1-8.30pm Sun)
This efficient internet cafe has fax and scanning services, and also functions as an informal tourist information centre. Its owner is a highly experienced Papua traveller and a willing mine of information.
Police StationPOLICE
( GOOGLE MAP ; %0969-31972; Jl Safri Darwin; h7am-2pm)
Come here to obtain a surat jalan.
BALIEM VALLEY FESTIVAL
Baliem Valley FestivalCULTURAL
To coincide with the busiest tourism season, a two-day festival is held in the Baliem Valley during the second week of August. The highlight is mock tribal fighting, where village men dress up in full regalia and enact an old-fashioned tribal battle and accompanying rituals.
The festival also features pig feasts, traditional costumes, and Dani music on instruments such as the pikon (a kind of mouth harp). Other goings-on include pig races, tourist-only spear-throwing and archery contests.
In recent years the main events have taken place at Wosilimo. There’s an entrance fee of 250,000Rp.
8Getting There & Away
Air
Flights can be heavily booked, especially in August. The carriers between Jayapura (Sentani) and Wamena are Wings Air ( GOOGLE MAP ; www.lionair.co.id), Trigana ( GOOGLE MAP ; www.trigana-air.com; airport) and Xpress Air ( GOOGLE MAP ; www.expressair.biz). Wings flies twice daily in either direction for 624,000Rp. Most locals suggest they are the choice operator. Trigana flies three or more times daily each way, charging from 574,0000Rp. Xpress, which uses very old Boeing planes, also flies three times daily charging 750,000Rp. Susi Air ( GOOGLE MAP ; %0813 4312 2002; www.susiair.com; Jl Gatot Subroto) operate small planes to remote airfields such as Dekai, Elelim, Kenyan and others. You can charter a plane with them to fly to Angguruk in Yali country for 19,470,000Rp.
Mission airlines AMA (Associated Mission Aviation; GOOGLE MAP ; http://ama-papua.blogspot.com; Jl Gatot Subroto) and MAF ( GOOGLE MAP ; %0969-31263; www.maf.org; Jl Gatot Subroto) fly small planes to many small highland airstrips. They may carry tourists if spare seats are available. There is generally much more chance of getting a seat flying back to Wamena than for outbound flights. A seat from Angguruk to Wamena, for example, costs about 700,000Rp if you are lucky enough to get one. As a rule, MAF doesn’t carry tourists outbound at all.
Public Bemo
Overcrowded bemos head out along the main roads from several starting points around Wamena. Most just leave when they are full. The main terminals – Terminal Jibama (Jl JB Wenas), Terminal Misi ( GOOGLE MAP ) and Sinakma – are at Wamena’s three markets. Bemos get scarce after 3pm and are less plentiful on Sunday. Few villages or attractions are signposted, so ask the conductor to tell you where to get off.
BEMOS FROM WAMENA
| Destination | Departure Point | Fare (Rp) | Duration |
| Aikima | Jibama | 15000 | 15min |
| Ibele | Sinakma | 20,000 | 1hr (departures until noon) |
| Jiwika | junction 600m past Jibama | 15,000 | 30min |
| Kali Yetni | Misi | 15,000 | 1hr |
| Kimbim | Jibama | 25,000 | 50min |
| Makki | Sinakma | 70,000 | 3hr (departures 3-5am) |
| Meagaima | Jibama | 25,000 | 1hr |
| Sugokmo | Misi | 15,000 | 45min |
| Tagime | Jibama | 30,000 | 1¾hr |
| Tiom | Sinakma | 120,000 | 4hr (departures 3-5am) |
| Wosilimo | Jibama | 20,000 | 40min |
Chartered Bemo & Car
For more comfort than the public bemos, consider chartering a vehicle for out-of-town trips. A bemo costs 200,000Rp to 300,000Rp one way to Kali Yetni (a common trek starting point), or 400,000Rp to 500,000Rp for a return trip of about three hours to Jiwika. Cars (parked opposite the airport) cost 800,000Rp to 1,000,000Rp a day (possibly 1,500,000Rp in August) for a full-day trip around the northern ends of the valley.
8Getting Around
For trips within town, ojeks generally charge 10,000Rp and becak 5000Rp to 10,000Rp. Bemos marked ‘A2’ (5000Rp) run from BRI Bank to Jl Irian and up Jl Trikora to Terminal Jibama. An ojek to Terminal Jibama is 15,000Rp.
HIKING & TREKKING THE BALIEM VALLEY
Beyond the reach of roads in the Baliem Valley, you come closer to traditional Dani life. In one day, you may climb narrow rainforest trails, stroll well-graded paths past terraces of purple-leafed sweet-potato plants, wend through villages of grass-roofed honai (circular thatched huts), cross rivers on wobbly hanging footbridges, and traverse hillsides where the only sounds are birds, wind and water far below.
The classic trekking area, offering up to a week of walking, is in the south of the valley (beyond Kali Yetni), along with branch valleys to the east and west. Dani life here is still relatively traditional, the scenery gorgeous and the walking varied.
Accommodation is available in nearly all villages. Some have dedicated guesthouses (sometimes in honai-style huts); elsewhere you can often stay in a teacher’s house, the school or other houses. Either way you’ll usually be asked a standard 120,000Rp per person (guides and porters excluded). You sleep on the floor, but it may be softened with dried grass (so not very soft at all!) and you may get a mat. It gets surprisingly cold at night. It’s a good idea to bring a decent sleeping bag and some thermals and fleeces. Other items worth bringing along include a torch, spare batteries for cameras etc (there’s little or no electricity in any of the villages), a book (evenings can be long) and water purifying pills (you’ll be refilling from streams a lot of the time). Good hiking boots are an essential and walking poles a good idea. Sunscreen, sunglasses, a sun hat and wet-weather gear (including gators or trousers) are also essential.
Larger villages have kiosks selling basics such as biscuits, noodles and rice (the final reliable supplies are at Manda and Kimbim in the north and Kurima in the south) and you can obtain sweet potatoes, other vegetables or fruit here and there. But to be on the safe side you need to take enough food with you from Wamena. Villages can normally supply firewood for cooking, for 20,000Rp a load.
GUIDES & PORTERS
In the more frequented trekking areas it’s technically possible to head off alone and ask the way as you go, or pick up a local porter-cum-guide for 80,000Rp to 100,000Rp a day if you need one. However, you would need to have excellent Bahasa Indonesia language abilities and, ideally, a grasp of the local Dani language to really pull this off. Trails are unmarked and often faint and confusing and there’s frequently nobody around to point out the correct route. It would be very easy for a foreign trekker walking alone to get very lost. To summarise: get a guide!
Finding a good, reliable guide can be a challenge. You should allow at least one day to find a guide you’re happy with and make trek preparations. Tricks played by unscrupulous guides may include pocketing some of the money you’ve given them to get supplies (go with them or get the supplies yourself); sending a junior replacement at the last minute; asking for more money mid-trek and refusing to continue without it; or disappearing and leaving you in the hands of a porter.
A good source of recommendations for reliable guides in Wamena is Papua.com. It’s worth seeking out one of the Baliem Valley’s 20 or so officially licensed guides. These are not the only good guides around, but they usually speak reasonable English, and have a professional reputation to look after.
There are no fixed prices in the Baliem trekking world. Hard bargaining is the norm. Don’t be put off by glum faces and do insist on clarifying any grey areas. No decent guide will agree to anything he’s unhappy about. Official licensed guides request 700,000Rp per day (and more for harder treks to, for example, the Yali or Korowai areas), but some decent, English-speaking guides will work for less. You’ll find a number of dependable agencies and individual guides in Wamena. There are also excellent trekking guides based elsewhere in Papua who will always be happy to act as a guide in the Baliem Valley; try Andreas Ndruru and Bob Palege.
In addition to a guide, porters are a good idea and cost 200,000Rp each per day, depending partly on the toughness of the trek. A cook costs 250,000Rp per day, but guides or porters can cook if you’re looking to cut costs. You’ll have to provide enough food for the whole team (for two trekkers, a guide and two porters doing a one-week trek this is likely to cost around 2,500,000Rp to 3,000,000Rp in total) and probably cigarettes for them and your village hosts. It’s a good idea to have the whole agreement written down and signed by your guide before you start, and it’s normal to pay some money up front and the rest at the end. A 10% tip at the end is also expected for each member of the team.
Jonas WendaGUIDE
(%0852 4422 0825; jonas.wenda@yahoo.com; Wamena)
Highly experienced (your author first trekked with him in 1986) and notably knowledgeable on flora and fauna.
Kosman KogoyaGUIDE
(%0852 4472 7810; kogoyakosmam@gmail.com; Wamena)
A popular, reliable guide who will quote reasonable prices from the outset and won’t waste your time bargaining.
Trek-Papua Tours & TravelTREKKING
(%0812 4762 8708; www.papuatravels.com; Jl Airport, Sentani)
A young but energetic, internet-wise agency, which also offers tours to other parts of Papua.
Northeastern Baliem Valley
Several interesting places along the northeastern Baliem Valley are within day-trip reach of Wamena, and some side valleys offer good hiking.
Aikima
About 8km from Wamena, nondescript Aikima is famous for its Werapak Elosak mummy (admission 100,000Rp), the 300-year-old corpse of a great chief, which was preserved (by smoking) to retain some of his power for the village. You’ll probably be asked to pay 100,000Rp per person for a viewing, but this price can be quickly bargained down to more like 50,000Rp.
Jiwika & Around
Jiwika (pronounced Yiwika) is a local administrative centre and home to the celebrated Wimontok Mabel mummy (admission 130,000Rp). The mummy is kept at the tiny settlement of Sumpaima, 300m north along the main road from the main Jiwika village entrance (look for the black ‘Mummy’ sign). Wimontok Mabel was a powerful 18th-century chief here and his blackened corpse is the best preserved and most accessible of its kind near Wamena. You will likely be asked around 130,000Rp per person for a viewing. You could try bargaining but don’t expect much of a reduction. Sumpaima is something of a ‘cultural’ village and you will be greeted by fantastically dressed people in traditional garb. Some people might describe it as a tourist trap, but for exotic, and fairly pain free, photos it’s great. The going rate is 10,000Rp per shot or negotiate a fee based on time spent photographing a person (around 200,000Rp per person for up to an hour is fair).
Anemangi, just behind Sumpaima, and Obia (Isinapma) to the south of Jiwika, are among villages where traditional Dani pig feasts and colourful warrior dances based on ritual warfare can be staged for tourists, if requested a day or two ahead. A typical price for a warrior dance alone is about 1,500,000Rp depending on number of dancers. For the pig feast you’ll pay more like 2,000,000Rp plus you buy the pig (and these aren’t cheap).
At Iluwe, 1½ hours up a steep path from Jiwika, is Air Garam , a group of saltwater wells. Villagers soak sections of banana trunk in the water, then dry and burn them and use the resulting ashes as salt. Village boys will show you the way for around 30,000Rp, but to see the process at work, try to find a woman who will accompany you (50,000Rp). To avoid climbing in the midday heat, start from Jiwika before 10am.
The road north from Jiwika is flanked by rocky hills with several caves. Gua Kotilola (admission 100,000Rp; h8am-4pm) is a sizeable cavern up a short, pretty path behind a Dani compound, about 5km north of Jiwika. It contains the bones of past tribal-war victims – though they don’t show these to outsiders. It’s hard to justify the high entry fee.
Wosilimo
Wosilimo (‘Wosi’) is a relatively major village with a couple of kiosks. The cave here, Gua Wikuda (admission 30,000Rp), is said to be several kilometres long, with an underground river that reaches Danau Anegerak. It’s possible to visit about the first 100m of the cave, which has a few stalagmites and tites. Ask for the lights to be turned on. There are some small guest honai (per person 150,000Rp) near the cave entrance, which have straw floors, sleeping mats and a filthy shared mandi with squat toilet. Bring food and the people there will cook for you. It’s handy during the Baliem Valley Festival but is otherwise avoidable.
Two kilometres south from Wosi, along the main road, a path starting in front of a church leads half an hour southwest to a small lake, Danau Anegerak, crossing a hanging bridge over Kali Baliem on the way. It’s a pleasant walk, though during wet weather it may be impassable.
Pass Valley Area
A rough road heads up over the hills from Wosilimo to Pass Valley, then descends to Elelim, about 60km from Wosi. The small Wedanku valley between Wosilimo and Pass Valley still retains a traditional Dani culture. Wedanku village’s Catholic mission can provide accommodation and from there you can hike one day up through the forest to Ikipalekma (where you can find accommodation in local houses), then on the next day to Jiwika, via the Iluwe wells.
THE DANI
Dani is an umbrella name for around 30 clans in the main Baliem Valley and its side-valleys and some Mamberamo tributary valleys to the north. They number somewhere over 200,000 people in total.
Most Dani speak Bahasa Indonesia but appreciate a greeting in their own language. Around Wamena, the general greeting is la’uk to one person, and la’uk nyak to more than one – except that men say nayak to one other man and nayak lak to more than one man. Wa, wa is another common greeting expressing respect or offering thanks.
Many older Dani men still wear a penis sheath (horim in Dani, koteka in Bahasa Indonesia) made from a cultivated gourd, and little else apart from a few neck, head or arm adornments. Others now prefer T-shirts and trousers or shorts. In the past women used to go bare-breasted, but it would be a very rare day to see that nowadays, though some still sport grass skirts. Women often still carry string bags called noken on their backs, strapped over the head and heavily laden with vegetables, babies or pigs. Noken are made from shredded tree bark, rolled into thread. Some Dani wear pig fat in their hair and cover their bodies in pig fat and soot for warmth.
Most Dani are now Christian and one traditional pastime that has gone out the window is village warfare. Villages used to go to war over land disputes, wife stealing or even pig stealing, with combat happening in brief, semi-ritualised clashes (with a few woundings and deaths nevertheless). Today such quarrels are normally settled by other, usually legalistic, means.
Villages are mostly composed of extended-family compounds, each containing a few honai (circular thatched huts). The men sleep in a dedicated men’s hut, visiting the women’s huts only for sex. Honai interiors have a lower level with a fire for warmth and sometimes cooking, and an upper platform for sleeping.
After a birth, sex is taboo for the mother for two to five years, apparently to give the child exclusive use of her milk. Some Dani are still polygamous: the standard bride price is four or five pigs, and a man’s status is measured partly by how many wives and pigs he has. One of the more unusual (and now prohibited, though it still happens) Dani customs is to amputate one or two joints of a finger when a spouse or child dies. This is most frequently done by battering the finger with a rock. Many older Dani have the ends of fingers missing.
One thing that hasn’t changed, and probably never will, is the Dani’s love for the sweet potato, grown on extensive plots and terraces all over the valley. The Dani don’t mess about with fancy sauces or curries to go with their potatoes. They like them plain, steamed and, if possible, for each and every meal. If you spend long in the villages you’ll likely grow to hate the things!
Northwestern Baliem Valley
The western side of the valley is less scenic than the eastern. Kimbim is a pleasant administrative centre with a few shops and the main market outside Wamena, busiest on Monday and Saturday. An hour’s walk away, Araboda houses the 250-year-old Alongga Huby mummy; viewings cost around 50,000Rp. About 7km past Kimbim is Pyramid, a graceful mission village named after the shape of a nearby hill, with a theological college and sloping airstrip.
Danau Habbema
This beautiful lake, 30km west of Wamena as the crow flies, sits amid alpine grasslands at 3400m altitude, with dramatic, snow-capped mountains in view (4750m Gunung Trikora rises to the south). The fauna and flora are a big draw for nature lovers. It’s possible to visit Habbema as a day trip from Wamena – the drive is around two hours each way. You can rent a 4WD and driver in Wamena for around 4,000,000Rp round trip. The road is paved as far as the military post at Napua, 7km from Wamena.
The ideal way to visit Habbema is to drive there and trek back (three to four days). To do this you will need a guide; find one in Wamena. Much of the route is through rainforest. The usual route starting from the lake is via Yobogima (a forest clearing) and then through a spectacular gorge to Daela village and on to Pilia and Ibele.
Yali Country
Over the eastern walls of the Baliem Valley, amid scenery that is often just as stunning, lies the home of the Yali people. They are one of the more traditional highland peoples, although traditional dress is now much less common than it was 15 years ago. The men may wear ‘skirts’ of rattan hoops, with penis gourds protruding from underneath. Missionaries provide much of the infrastructure here, such as schools and transport.
Yali country is a great destination for more adventurous trekkers with enough time. You need about a week to walk there (the Yali themselves can do it, barefoot, in two days) and you should allow at least two or three days to explore once there. You might be able to get on a mission flight back to Wamena, but otherwise you’ll have to walk back or charter a plane. Villages with airstrips include Angguruk, Pronggoli, Kosarek and Welarek.
The most direct route runs from Sugokmo or Kurima to Ugem, then up the Mugi Valley, over 3500m-plus Gunung Elit with at least one night (but often two) camping, then down to Abiyangge, Piliam and Pronggoli in Yali country. There are sections of long, steep ascent, and the upper reaches over Gunung Elit involve climbing up and down several rustic wooden ladders. From Pronggoli to Angguruk, the biggest Yali village (with a large market twice a week), takes another one or two days.
An easier but longer option, about eight days from Sugokmo to Angguruk and still with plenty of up and down, is the southern loop via Wesagalep, Werima, Soba and Ninia.
Whichever route you take you should have an experienced guide. You should be able to organise one in Wamena.
Beyond Yali country it’s possible to trek southeastwards into the country of the Mek people, similarly small in stature to the Yali (their main village is Nalca), and even to cross Papua’s north–south watershed to Langda, the main village of the Una people (considered pygmies).
The South
Few travellers make it to the low-lying, river-strewn south, but Wasur National Park is one of Papua’s best wildlife destinations (for a few months a year), while the Asmat region provides a fascinating taste of life along jungle rivers with a headhunting past and marvellous woodcarving artisanry.
Merauke
%0971 / Pop 87,000
Merauke is a reasonably prosperous and orderly town of wide, straight streets, renowned as the most southeasterly settlement in Indonesia. The best reason to visit is nearby Wasur National Park, which is like a small slice of Australian bush in Indonesia, wallabies and all.
It’s 6km from the airport at the southeast end of town to the port on Sungai Maro at the northwest end. The main street, running almost the whole way, is Jl Raya Mandala.
4Sleeping & Eating
Marina HotelHOTEL$
(%0971-326240; Jl Raya Mandala 23; s/d 165,000/220,000Rp)
Acceptable, clean rooms with cold showers.
Hotel MegariaHOTEL$$
(%0971-321932; Jl Raya Mandala 166; r incl breakfast from 250,000Rp; a)
The Megaria has a selection of large, well-furnished rooms that wouldn’t win awards for being at the cutting edge of style but are otherwise OK. Get one as far away from the motorbike-infested road as possible.
Swiss-BelhotelBUSINESS HOTEL$$$
(%0971-326333; www.swiss-belhotel.com; Jl Raya Mandala 53; r incl breakfast from 1,005,000Rp; aWs)
Stylish, luxurious and by far the best option in town, the Swiss-Belhotel offers all the business-class frills.
8Information
Police StationPOLICE
(Jl Brawijaya 27)
Come here to get a surat jalan (travel permit). Located opposite the main market.
8Getting There & Around
Garuda and Lion Air fly daily to Jayapura and Sriwijaya Air fly thrice weekly. Garuda also offers a direct Jakarta to Merauke flight but travelling in the other direction involves flying via Jayapura. Airport taxis cost 50,000Rp into town. Yellow public taksi (4000Rp) from the airport parking area, or the road just outside, run along Jl Raya Mandala.
Every two weeks Pelni’s Tatamailau sails from Merauke to Agats (economy class 183,000Rp) and Sorong (484,000Rp). The Kelimutu sails to Agats then through southern and central Maluku to Sulawesi, every four weeks. Smaller boats run up and down the coast to Agats and as far inland as Tanahmerah.
HIKING THE SOUTHERN BALIEM VALLEY
South of Wamena, the Baliem Valley narrows and Kali Baliem (Baliem RIver) becomes a ferocious torrent. For the small number of hikers who come to Papua the southern Baliem Valley is easily the most popular hiking destination. The scenery is spectacular, the walking exhilarating and the cultural village-life fascinating.
From Kurima, the first village most trekkers reach, you can access a network of trails linking villages on the west side of the Baliem, or cross the river for the trails and villages on the eastern side. A good circular route of six or seven days links both sides.
You can lengthen the trek by continuing further up the Mugi Valley from Yuarima, or heading south from Wesagalep to Pukam and Werima. For a shorter hike, on day one you could head from Kurima to Kilise, Ibiroma, Wamerek and Wesagalep (six to seven hours), and on day two from Wesagalep to Wamerek. On day three, diverge from the Wamerek–Syokosimo path to cross Kali Mugi by a hanging bridge, not far upstream from its confluence with Kali Baliem. Then continue up the Baliem to Kurima or Seima (three hours from Wamerek).
Walking times are based on an average ‘tourist pace’, including rest stops.
DAY ONE
The paved road from Wamena passes through Sugokmo village after 16km (you may have to change vehicle here) and ends at the small but fast and turbulent Kali Yetni. This is where you start walking. The only way across the Yetni is on precarious logs for which you need a helping hand from a guide. It’s a 45-minute walk from the Yetni to Kurima, a largish village with a police station (show your surat jalan here).
If you don’t have someone to help you over the Yetni, start walking from Sugokmo, from where it’s a 20-minute walk down to a metal hanging bridge over the Baliem. A path then leads down the east bank to neat Seima (1½ hours), from where you can descend to Kurima in 30 minutes, recrossing the Baliem by another hanging bridge.
One hour south (uphill) from Kurima you reach Kilise, a honai village with glorious views. Alberth Elopore’s Guesthouse (per person 120,000Rp) in Kilise is one of the best in the area, with cosy honai-style huts and a wonderful grotto-like kamar mandi (water-tank baths). Total walk time: two hours.
DAY TWO
From Kilise follow the gently rising and falling trail for an hour to the pretty village of Ibiroma, which offers splendid views up the imposing looking Mugi Valley on the other side of the river. After a further hour of walking, the trail descends very steeply to Nalagatma with its attractive wooden church on a grassy plain. From here the trail narrows and disappears in and out of thick vegetation as it descends all the way to the Kali Baliem.
Continue 50 minutes further on and you reach the thatched honai of tiny Kotele where the trail bends and provides the first views of the massive mountains to the south through which you will pass in a few days. It’s now just a 40-minute walk very steeply downwards along a trail that is treacherously slippery after rain to a stream, small bridge and delightful Wamerek, where the knowledgeable Mr Yeki runs the honai-style Kulugima Guesthouse (per person 120,000Rp). Total walk time: four to five hours.
DAY THREE
Today is a long, hard slog, but by the end of it you will really feel in the high mountains. One hour of walking from Wamerek will bring you to a rickety wooden bridge over the angry Kali Baliem. One look at this bridge, with its missing wooden planks and gentle sway in the breeze, might be enough to make some people decide they don’t like hiking after all. Assuming you make it over the river, it’s about a three-hour unrelentingly steep uphill slog to almost the very top of the mountain (look out for the high waterfall near the top where you can take an exhilarating shower). Reaching a small level it’s another 20 minutes uphill to a small hamlet of perfectly formed huts which are often half-hidden under a cold mist. The path continues up through the mist-soaked mountains to Wesagalep village which is situated on a small, cold ridge with remarkable mountain vistas. Overnight in the village school/hall. Total walk time: five to six hours.
DAY FOUR
Day four starts rudely with a steep, breathless 20-minute climb to a low pass. Don't follow the obvious trail straight ahead (this just leads to gardens), but instead turn right along the fainter trail. After 45 minutes of steep climbing through muddy, muggy jungle the reward is a narrow, grassy ridge with endless views in all directions. The path skips along a spur before plummeting downwards for about three hours to the Kali Lubuk where you can reward yourself with a refreshing (read: bloody freezing) dip.
The path then climbs up another ridge dipping in and out of often very boggy forest before reaching a final ridge and dropping down to Wuserem village where accommodation is available in either a wooden hut in the first, higher part of the village by the church or, 20 minutes further on in the main part of the village, in the village school. Total walk time: five to six hours.
DAY FIVE
This is a fairly short and gentle day though the temperature and humidity rise fast as you descend. From Wuserem work your way along a spur for 30 minutes, from where there are memorable views to the north up toward Wamena. By now the track is fairly wide and well maintained and more and more villages start appearing. Descend gently and turn to the east into the Mugi Valley. From this point it's just 45 minutes to an hour down to riverside Syokosimo, which has a nice wooden hut to stay in. You can have a dip in the river and enjoy an afternoon of rest. Total walk time: four hours.
DAY SIX
From Syokosimo follow the trail along the river heading further up the Mugi Valley. After 20 minutes you’ll come to Yuarima and a small bridge, built only of vines and tree branches, that crosses the river. From the other side a gentle climb takes you through beautiful meadows and past little farmsteads. Soon you’ll be out of the Mugi Valley and back into the Baliem Valley proper and the village of Hitugi (1½ hours after setting off). The path wends downhill for just over an hour to Ugem village. Both villages have accommodation.
Continue onwards and nearly five hours after setting out that morning you reach Seima. On the opposite bank of the Kali Baliem you’ll be able to see where you started trekking several days ago. You could stop in Seima for the night but most people choose to press on for a further 1½ hours. From Seima continue along the track heading north. It wends in and out of forest and farmland before dropping down to the river, which you eventually cross on a scary yellow hanging bridge, built of metal and sticks (most of which are missing). Ten minutes uphill walk and you’ll reach the tarmac road, the village of Sugokmo and transport back to Wamena. Total walk time: six to seven hours.
Wasur National Park
Wasur National ParkNATIONAL PARK
The 4130-sq-km Wasur National Park, stretching between Merauke and the PNG border, will fascinate anyone with an interest in wildlife, especially birds and marsupials. But come in the later part of the dry season (mid-July to early November), otherwise most of Wasur’s tracks will be impassable.
Part of the Trans-Fly biome straddling the Indonesia–PNG border, Wasur is a low-lying area of savannahs, swamps, forests and slow-moving rivers that inundate much of the land during the wet season. Wasur’s marsupials includes at least three species of wallaby (locals call them all kangguru), though illegal hunting means numbers of wallaby are falling. There are also nocturnal cuscuses and sugar gliders. Among the 400 birds are cassowaries, kookaburras, cockatoos, brolgas, magpie geese and three types of bird of paradise.
The southern part of the park is the best for wildlife-spotting as it has more open grasslands and coastal areas. At Rawa Biru, an indigenous village 45km east of Merauke (300,000Rp one way by ojek, or 2,500,000Rp to 4,000,000Rp round trip in a rented 4WD vehicle with driver), you can stay in local houses for 100,000Rp to 150,000Rp person (bring food and mosquito nets). From Rawa Biru it’s a two- to three-hour walk to Prem, with a small savannah surrounded by water, and a good chance of seeing wallabies and various waterbirds. Also within reach (20km) is Yakiu, where chances are high of seeing the greater, king and red birds of paradise in the early morning and late afternoon.
Bony Kondahon (%0813 4458 3646; bonykondahon@rocketmail.com), an excellent, English-speaking, Merauke-based Papuan guide, can help with arrangements and show you the park. He charges 300,000Rp to 350,000Rp per day for guiding and cooking.
OFF THE BEATEN TRACK
MOUNTAIN CLIMBING IN PAPUA
Papua contains the biggest mountains in Oceania including the biggest of them all, the 4884m Carstensz Pyramid (Puncak Jaya) and the 4750m Gunung Trikora, which comes in at number two. The Carstensz Pyramid has a fast-receding glacier and both mountains are frequently dusted in snow.
Climbing either mountain is possible, though basic mountaineering skills are needed for Carstensz Pyramid. Both require several nights camping at high, cold altitudes and both require a stash of permits and the services of a recognised Indonesian tour company.
Altitude sickness can be a real danger and this risk is increased by the fact that many of the standard ‘package’ climbing tours don’t tend to include an acclimatisation day before attempting the summit.
Adventure Indonesia (www.adventureindonesia.com) is one reliable operator offering expeditions up both mountains.
Asmat Region
The Asmat region is a massive, remote, low-lying area of muddy, snaking rivers, mangrove forests and tidal swamps, where many villages, including their streets, are built entirely on stilts. The Asmat people, formerly feared for their headhunting and cannibalism, are now most celebrated for their woodcarvings – the most spectacular of Papuan art. It’s a fascinating area to explore but it requires time, money and patience.
Most visitors who do make it here spend time boating along the jungle-lined rivers to different villages, seeing and buying Asmat artefacts, and maybe seeing a traditional dance or ceremony.
Villages to visit for their carving include Atsy, Ambisu and Jow, all south of Agats. Fos and Awok, east of Agats up Kali Sirets (Sirets River), and Ocenep, south of Agats, are places where traditional Asmat celebrations can be laid on for a significant sum of cash.
Agats
Capital of the Asmat Region is the overgrown village of Agats, on the Aswet estuary. Due to the extraordinary tides and location, its streets are raised boardwalks. It’s a curious place to wander round, with markets, shops, mosque, churches and hideous monuments, just like any other Papuan town.
Don’t miss the Museum Kebudayaan dan Kemajuan Asmat (Asmat Museum of Culture & Progress; http://asmatmuseum.com; Jl Missi; admission by donation; h8am-3pm Mon-Sat), which has a fantastic collection of Asmat art and artefacts, from bis poles and skulls to full-body dance outfits.
The government-run Hotel Assedu (%0821 9831 2611; Jl Pemda 1; s/d incl breakfast 265,000/290,000Rp; a) has clean rooms with comfy beds, almost-tasteful plastic flowers and the best restaurant in town.
8Getting There & Away
Unfortunately, actually getting to Agats can be problematic as there are few reliable scheduled flights. Susi Air (www.susiair.com) flies to Agats from Merauke via the island of Pulau Yos Sudarso but the service is rather infrequent. Trigana (www.trigana-air.com) has twice-weekly flights between Agats and Timika from where you can connect to Jayapura and other cities, but these flights seem to be booked up weeks in advance.
Pelni’s Tatamailau leaves Agats every two weeks for Merauke (economy class 178,000Rp) southbound, and Timika, Tual and Sorong northbound. The Kelimutu comes every four weeks, to Merauke southbound and Timika and Maluku northbound.
Korowai Region
Far inland, in the region of the Dairam and upper Sirets rivers, live the Korowai people, seminomadic dwellers in tree houses perched 10m to 20m high as refuges against animals, enemies, floods and mosquitoes. The Korowai were not contacted by missionaries until the 1970s, and though some have since settled in new villages of ground-level houses, others still live their traditional way of life, wearing few clothes and employing stone and bone tools.
Most Papua-based tour companies offer tours to this area (an organised tour is, for all intents and purposes, the only feasible way of currently visiting). Tours typically fly from Jayapura or Wamena to Dekai, then boat down Kali Brazza and up Kali Pulau to the first Korowai village, Mabul. You then spend some days walking along muddy, slippery trails through hot, humid jungles, sleeping in tents, huts or tree houses, and witnessing tribal life, often including some prearranged festivities. You’re looking at approximately €2000 to €2500 for a seven- to 10-day trip, with perhaps half that time actually in Korowai territory.