Baliem Valley

The Baliem Valley is a region in central Papua. Surrounded by mountains as high as 3,000 meters (10,000 feet) and practically isolated from much of the island, this valley hosts some of the traditional cultures of Papua.

Cities
Wamena is the main city in the Baliem Valley of West Papua that serves as the gateway to exploring further into the valley. The city is the starting point for most tours and treks into the Lani, Dani, and Yali tribal lands, and you can actually go to Asmat lands from here too. These tours and treks range from local half-day walks to 30-day expeditions deep into tribal lands.

It is a pretty functional town with basic facilities and amenities provided, though it may be considerably more expensive than Jayapura as everything is basically shipped by freight.

Other destinations
The Baliem Valley and surrounding areas offer a glimpse into what were stone-age villages. The mountains to the south provide superb scenery, but are accessible only by air and/or walking.

Some of the walks up to two days can be done without a guide, but it is highly recommended to employ a guide for anything longer than that. Trails are marginal in places, there are no signs, and almost no English is spoken in the villages.

Guided treks range from backpacking with a guide, to backpacking with a guide and a couple of porters, up to a full expedition with guide, cooks and enough porters so you only need to carry your camera.

Backcountry trails range from a road (well, almost a road), to a well-used footpath with some steep places, to game trails, to more or less a route that requires a guide. Landslides that take out section of trails are not unusual, especially during the wet season, so detours and/or bushwacking around the slide can be expected. Trails typically involve a lot of up and down as you cross rivers at the bottom or a valley and later in the day go over a mountain pass into the neighboring valley. Starting altitude (Wamena) is about 1,800 meters above sea level (5,200 ft) and many trails go over 3,000 meters (10,000 ft).

By plane
There is no road from Jayapura to Wamena. The most reliable way to get to Baliem Valley is flying from Jayapura, about a 40-minute flight.



Get around
There is a road from Wamena to the south, but due to flooding and the lack of bridges, where there are rivers only the roads are not as complete as they appear on the map. Therefore, walking and flying remain the only ways to commute outside of the proximity of Wamena.

Public transportation in Wamena consists of airport taxis, minivan taxi (called Bemos) that run set routes, and bicycle rickshaws. Prices are reasonable, even the premium rates charged to tourists. Make sure to confirm the costs with the driver before boarding.

Private-hire vehicles (with driver) are typically a small SUV or a mid-size 4X4 pickup truck.

See
Due to the limited information, a majority of tourists who come to the valley will most likely explore with a tour guide. These are some of the sights you are expected to see:

Hiking
Visit any or all of the three major markets in Wamena. Walk to them or take the bicycle rickshaw. Roaming through the markets is fascinating and completely safe. These markets are not limited to fresh produce and fruits but are more like open air shopping malls - clothing, canned goods, electronics, car parts, farming implements, etc. - truly an amazing selection of products. Please ask permission before taking photos.

The bridge across the Baliem River (near the main market) is a great place to watch locals - washing clothes, swimming, fishing, digging out gravel - as well as seeing many Dani & Yali people from remote villages coming into town to buy or sell in the market.

If you feel adventurous and are used to find your way with a GPS, you can visit without a guide, provided you do your research about the area and let some one know about your trip.

Trek from Wamena to Ungurruk through Papuan villages, jungles, deep valleys, and steep mountains. There are several routes, taking from 3 to 4 days for the routes used by the locals, including the one through Mt Elit which requires doing down makeshift wooden ladders for 4 hours - highly challenging, especially in rainy and wet conditions. One of the route south of the Baliem Valley takes about 8 to 10 days through villages but also through jungle and high muddy plateaux. You need a guide to explore these parts as they are no map, sometimes no trail to follow, and definitely not many people to help.



Buy
Be aware that everything is expensive in Wamena compared to the rest of Indonesia as virtually every single thing (including gasoline) is transported by air, though the enforcement of fuel prices that are now subsidized and the same as Java, may help to lower the prices of all things somewhat.

Souvenirs
Kopi Wamena. Wamena's coffee.

Drink
Water upstream is cool and appears to be safe to drink (but this does not constitute authoritative advice, so drink at your own risk). While this is true for natural springs that dot the countryside, anyone venturing into the backcountry should bring a backpacker's water filter and/or be prepared to boil water.

Wamena city water is not safe to drink unless boiled and filtered. Hotels and restaurants typically provide boiled and filtered water, and offer bottled water at a reasonable price. There are a number of local purification facilities that produce bottled water, generally available in 1/2-liter to 20-liter sizes.

Note that alcohol (in any form) is illegal and unavailable in the Baliem Valley.

Sleep
Do not expect a lot of options for luxurious accommodations.

Stay safe
There is little light at night and it might feel overwhelming to walk but it felt safe overall to walk even in the dark. As for any city, stay vigilant and avoid flashing expensive items (money, camera, bag, jewelry).

Go next

 * Jayapura - the largest city in Papua province.