Papua-Baliem

1 Wamena can only be reached via air, as no road has been built through the lush jungle. The flight from Jayapura to Wamena is operated by Trigana Air with ATR72-600	2 Take-off from Sentani Airport	3 The approach into Wamena is particularily tricky, as very low clouds cover the mountains which can reach up to 16000ft (cruising altitude 12000ft)	4 All flights over Papua are done in VFR, with no other navigation aid than the GPS. The GPS shows the very narrow corridor in which the ATR needs to be flown to land, with high peaks on both sides of the flight path.	5 Final Approach on Wamena landstrip with rain & fog	6 Wamena Market, a mixture of colors, odors and unfamiliar fruits as a Welcome to the Baliem Valley!
7 Wamena Market	8 Wamena Market, traditional ceremonial hat displaying the incredible colors of a bird of paradise.	9 Betel nut, the Papuan's favorite chewing gum! The formula is simple: place the betel nut in the mouth and start chewing it. When it starts to get juicy, grab a sort of twig, dip it in a white powder (made from nacre) and chew. The whole thing quickly becomes red and juicy, so spitting it regularily is necessary. 2 bettel nuts will cost IDR 5000.	10 Bridge over the Baliem River, Wamena	11 After a short hour's drive from Wamena, the beguining of the trek starts where the road stops (A major landslide destroyed the only road, isolating even more the most remote villages.	12 The landslide left a thick layer of grey rocks and opens the way to new streams from the nearby mountains, with only rudimental bridges to cross them.
13	14 Could anybody help to identify this?	15 Baliem Valley from the south bank. Rich plantations escort the small path to the villages	16 Crossing the extremly fast Baliem River	17 The bridge swayed lightly under the wind, but the most impressive and disorientating thing, was to stare through the broken planks of the fast flowing water 10m below...	18 The Baliem River
19 Sources of water are plentiful, but locals indicated that this one was particularily pure because filtered by many layers of soil	20 The soil, a natural filter for a beautiful waterfall	21 Drinking from the source	22 The water source was not only appreciated by the locals from the nearby village, or the thirsty travelers. This spider is the size of a hand.	23 Random encounter. While we stopped at the waterfall for lunch, this Dani native tribesman came from nowhere to fill his water bucket and agreed to stop a while for a picture. The native Yali people live naked, unaffected by the drastic changes of temperature and insect bites. The Koteka, the traditional "net-bag" and the head band are now mostly worn by older generations.	24 Day 1 Trek on the north side of the Baliem Valley
25 Could anybody help to identify this?	26 Could anybody help to identify this?	27 Orchid	28 Having a break half way through the climb	29 Day 1 Trek on the north side of the Baliem Valley	30 Typical Dani Village. With only a couple of huts, the villages are very well partitioned, to leave no ambiguity as of who's slot of land one is walking on.
31 Dani Village. The rock walls are very well built and draw boundaries across the valley.	32 Day 1 Trek on the north side of the Baliem Valley	33 The trek is constantly rewarded with greetings from locals, walking from a village to another or getting some water from the nearest source, or simply accompanying the rare hikers, full of curiosity. The women carry their "net-bags" on their head, mostly bare-footed.	34 Day 1 Trek on the north side of the Baliem Valley	35 Curiosity	36 Sleeping setup for a first night in the huts. Local people sleep directly on the ground, with a bit of straw as cushion.
37 Huts for the night. Yali villages have a certain number of huts, and villages are very well organised. The men sleep in a hut, and the women in another. It is common for the wives of different men to sleep in one same hut, and to be visited by the husband for a while only, as the men only sleep in their huts. A specific hut is built for the kitchen, but these huts are separated as families do not share kitchens. The villages have no toilet nor showers, and all is done in the surrounding nature, and at the nearby river or waterfall.	38 Mornings in the Baliem Valley are very misty, depicting breathtaking landscapes	39 Ugem Village	40 Ugem Village	41 Day 2 Trek in the Baliem Valley	42 Day 2 Trek in the Baliem Valley
43 The trekking is an unforgetable experience as Dani tribesmen just appear and disapear on a path or another. Unlike what we expected, the nakedness of the locals was not akward neither to the tribesmen, nor to us! What is remarkable, is that although always naked, Papuans loath the rain, and always have some kind of umbrellas with them!!	44 Yali Tribesman walking with us on a section of the trail	45 The larger villages have churches and schools and one can never bring enough pens & notebooks for all the keen kids!!	46 Hitugi village, natural perfection! Little paths, conveniently planted fruit trees, esthetically arranged flowers, sweet potatoes around the huts, inconspicious door-openings and cosy interiors!	47 Kids go at the main village's school / church and the uniforms brought a complete out-of-place feeling!	48 Day 2 Trek in the Baliem Valley, getting deeper in the Yali territory, with more and more jungle
49 Interesting encounter, could anybody help to identify this?	50 The path to Kurima village, carefully built from stone. Another surrealist feeling!	51 Lantana Flower	52 Pigs are Papuans' main asset. The number of pigs determine one' position, and wives are bought with pigs. The pigs sleep in the same hut as the women (the huts are constructed on 2 levels, the upper floor reserved for the women) and are educated to leave the village in the morning and come back in the afternoon. Dani villages are delimited by rock walls, and to enter a village, the wall has to be climbed over. Ingenious little doors are designed, however, to let the pigs travel in and out of the village. Incredible, but true!	53 A warm welcome to the village!	54 Kurima Village
55 carnivorous plant	56 A pig on his way home.	57 Crossing the bridge	58 Climbing dog, resting on top of a hut	59 Finally agreeing to pose for a picture	60 This is the most remote village in the Dani territory. 4 days hike away from this village stands the Yali territory, a different tribe with different culture and language.
61	62 From the outside, the hut on the left shelters thousands of questions. Who lives in there? How many of them? How old is the hut? How can they see anything inside? Is it waterproof? Do insects get inside?	63 From the inside, once the eyes are accustomed to darkness, an old woman progressively emerge, along with some answers. The hut is a women's hut, designed to accomodate a dozen of them on the upper floor. The "ceiling" is hardly 1.5m high, which means that one can only crawl in. Fires are lit in the center, and the whole hut structure is envelopped in black smoke residuals. There are 3 pens for the pigs at the back, and the old woman is chewing a leaf...	64 Over the smoke of the fire, dozens of frogs are attached in a tight dying ball, left to dry-off before being eaten!	65 The upper floor of the hut is quite cosy. A small ladder leads to it, and the heat created by the fire below is quite enjoyable!	66 In an incentive to ease the harsh lives of the tribesmen, the Indonesian governement subsidises solar panels and builds robust houses. Amazingly, it is Toraja Indonesians (reputed for their skills for making houses: Refer to SULAWESI ALBUM in thetravelarium) whom are contracted to build the houses!!
67 Kurima Village	68 On the way back to the village where we were going to sleep, we had the chance to make yet another incredible encounter	69 From the Yali villages at least 2 days walk away, Yali women make a brief appearance. Carrying kids and vegetables, the group, exclusively composed of women, were making their way to the Wamena market.	70	71 This encounter was one of those incredible moments when one group just stares at the other, absorbing the situation while it lasts, full of curiosity but with only smiles as means of communication.	72 On the move as the night sets in, the women walked pass the village in complete silence, one after the other, old, young, kids, all part of the same vulnerable-looking group
73 And as they came, in a blur, they left the village with a last long glance as a farewell.	74 In this picture there is more to the hut (beautiful as it is) or the man (surprising as he is) than just esthetic: there is mostly the situation. Finding the spot interesting for a group photo, the camera was aimed. This is when, a Yali tribeman (settled in a Dani village) comes out from the little door, full of curiosity, to shake our hands with a broad smile on his face!	75 The Yali people are famous for being small in size (this man was probably only 1.5m) and are recognisable by their koteka	76 Traditional Dani bridge, only made from wood and vines.	77	78
79	80 This Yali tribesman was en route to Wamena and stopped by to say hi!	81 Healing some wounds as good as possible...	82 Day 3 Trekking in the Baliem Valley	83 This part of the trek was particularily difficult. With a broken bridge, we made our way in the jungle along the river, at a painstaking pace, fighting against thousands of plants blocking our way. The most treacherous thing was probably the fact that there was no real path and that ANY wrong step or unlucky slipping would imply a steep fall towards the river.	84 At some points, landslides made the trekking particularily tricky and dangerous, with steep slopes inches away from our feet.
85	86	87 Baliem Valley, at last, out of the jungle!	88 Syokosimo Village	89 On the hights of the hill in Syokosimo village. The right oval hut is shared by two women. Their husband share another hut behind. The large rectangular hut however, is compartimented and each family has its own portion. A concept opposite to what we would tend to do in Europe!	90 Syokosimo village
91 Nightfall on Syokosimo	92 Koteka culture	93	94	95 Carrying the pots, dishes and cups is the Guide's son	96
97 Game: after catching these moths, "Man" (Our guide's son) tied their legs with a string, installed it on his head and would sometime hit them to feel the wings flapping against his head	98 Bridge over the Baliem River	99 The guide and his son. What made it difficult to cross, was the fact that the bridge was tilted towards the river...	100 Bridge over the fast flowing Baliem River	101 Poinsettia flower	102
103 Weird looking spider	104 To witness a traditional Papuan ceremony, we went to the market with the guide to buy a pig	105 Sunset in the Baliem valley	106 Orude village	107 Orude village. A structured Dani village, with men huts, women huts, and kitchen huts.	108 Dani tribe people
109 Dani tribe people	110 Dani tribe people	111 With a koteka on, Papuans do not feel naked.They take special care to adjust and fasten it proparly. Kotekas come in all shapes and sizes, and we have not been explained on what criteria certain papuans would choose a Koteka rather than another!	112 Dani tribe people	113 Dani tribe people	114 Dani tribe people
115 Dani tribe people, preparing for a hunt	116	117 Dani tribe people	118 Dani tribe people	119	120
121	122 Mock war demonstration	123 Mock war demonstration	124 Mock war demonstration	125 Mock war demonstration	126 Mock war demonstration
127 Mock war demonstration	128 Mock war demonstration. It is interesting to note that it is only recently that Dani people have stoped fighting against other tribes. A couple of years ago, some Papuan tribes were cannibals	129 Mock war demonstration	130 Mock war demonstration	131 Mock war demonstration	132 Mock war demonstration
133	134 Dani women only wear a skirt made from straw. The importance of the sophisticated hats, jewels, head bands and paintings translate the keen eye that these people have towards color, and their appreciation of beauty from nature.	135	136 Making fire the traditional way: from rubing a vine against dry wood on tinder below	137 cultivating the flame under watchful eyes	138 In the morning, the guide told us that the pig we had bought the day before died during the night. Very embarassed, he proposed to go back to the village to sell the pig as meet and buy a new one. The consequence of this was that he could only come back with this adorable piglet to be killed by arrows and eaten by everybody. The natives seemed quite used to killing both pigs and piglets, and proceeded with the killing by releasing 2 arrows onto the piglet.
139 The kill	140 Dani tribesman	141 Expertly preparing the food under the watchful gaze of dogs and kids	142 Dani tribe woman	143 Pandanus, only found in Papua, "this flower" can reach more than a meter long, and is diluted into alcohol as medecine	144 Pigs live with the women and children, inside the huts, and are part of the daily life of the tribes. This little girl happily ornated her piglet with a necklace and clutched onto it as if it was a cuddly toy.
145 The piglet was cooked inside the leaves, resting over heated stones.	146 Digging out the pig and the sweet potatoes	147	148	149 Enjoying the meat	150 The chief was the one cutting the pieces from the animal, and distributing them amongst men, women, kids, and us.
151 kitchen hut	152 Morning rain & dew	153 Back in Wamena airport, heavily protected by Indonesian army	154 As the only way to reach Wamena is by air, dozens of cargo aircrafts land everyday to deliver fuel, cars, food, clothes etc. Here a Freighter converted Boeing 737-200	155 Arrival in Cessna	156 Final Approach, cessna caravan
157 Flying over Papua, back to Jayapura	158 Relaxed crew. Crocs shoes, drinks & cigarettes on the pedestral, routine work for the Javanese pilots	159 Clear day, smooth flight	160 Descent on Sentani airport with a heavy cumulonimbus on the right with heavy downpoor.	161 Descent onto Sentani airport	162 Final approach
163 Final approach	164 Touchdown! (After a nasty bump and left bank due to strong cross wind)	165 Sentani lake from the Mac Arthur Memorial	166 Sentani Lake	167 Sentani Lake	168
169 Sentani Market	170 Sentani Market	171 Sentani Market	172 Jayapura houses over the sea.	173 Jayapura houses over the sea.	174 Back on the coast
175	176 Jayapura from the heights	177 Jayapura from the heights	178 Jayapura from the heights	179 Final stop and debriefing of this incredible trip in Jayapura beach	180