Baliem Valley – West Papua (Irian Jaya)

Baliem Valley – West Papua (Irian Jaya)

Comodo Island

22.54

Baliem Valley, inhabited by the Dani tribe, is the most fertile part of the highland covering the west of the New Guinea Island – Papua (Irian Jaya). Baliem Valley lies about 1800 m above the sea level, and it is surrounded by a crest of mountians some of which reach up to 4500 m. There are even some fish in the Baliem River which flows through the valley. The area covered by the Baliem valley is not large, roughly 60×30 km.

The first missionary, Loyd van Stone, parachuted there as late as 1954. Only then did the civilization of the Baliem valley, and Dani and Lani tribes, begin. Since then, the Baliem valley has become a gate for discovering the west of the Papua highland. No road has been built there yet, but in Wamana a large airport was built, and supplies are now transported by large freight airplanes. American Hercules planes brought vans and construction machinery. Thanks to this, a large network of asphalt roads could emerge, brick houses were built, etc. Despite all these developments, the Baliem valley is still dominated by the straw roofs of the Dani tribe.

Source : http://www.papuatrekking.com/Dani_Lani_tribe_Baliem_valley.html

Asmat People

Asmat People

Comodo Island

23.15

The tidal swampland of Irian’s south cost are of the best known , tangle of mangrove line the shore and inland from the river the vegetation is so thick as to be almost penetrable. Only the riverbanks are habitable. This is land of the Asmat, now world famous for their spectacular wood carvings and previously notorious as head-hunters and cannibals.
Visiting the Asmat region around Agats requires hiring a dugout canoe with a guide and sleeping at night on bark floor of a JEU-the long raised men’s hut that serve as an architectural and cultural center of Asmat villages.

In the villages you can watch wood carvers at work, see how canoes are hollowed out and decorated and look around the place and chat with your host. You might even stumble onto a festival accompanied by night long-drumming and dancing, special carvings and general high spirits. In the morning you may join the Asmat people going fishing, collecting Sago grabs, and another kind of local vegetables for daily diet.