Tourism of Indonesia
Ready to Go to The Wamena Highlands
Planning to go on a tour or travelling, we definitely want a smooth trip, comfortable accommodation, cheap hotels, good food, cheap plane tickets, close to everywhere, and can rent a motorbike or car.
Attraction
In The Wamena Highlands, there is natural beauty and unique culture of the local community. There are many uniqueness, starting from the village (desa), sub-district (kecamatan), district (kabupaten) and provincial levels.
In Indonesia, each province has different and interesting characteristics. Each province has a different and unique culture and lifestyle.
The Wamena Highlands : The Other Ultimate Trekkers’ Rendezvous
Many have been captivated by the story of Shangri La. It is intriguing, appealing, and almost mystifying when chatting about it among travelers.
Hidden among the rising 2,500-meter mountains in the Baliem Valley in central Papua, the town called Wamena, was hailed as the other Shangri La. Among advanced travelers, this is the other ultimate trekkers’ rendezvous.
Here Wamena awaits as the starting point to a remarkable journey, prior to visiting the villages beyond the mists. At 1,600 meters above sea level, Wamena is the highest ground in Papua where furnished tourism facilities can still be found.
Beyond this point, one has to expect less, and get more of the unexpected. Reality can be more compelling than even the best information on the internet.
The government is taking good care of the preservation of nature and maintaining the condition of the forest.
The environment is also well maintained.
Activity
Visiting The Wamena Highlands, we will witness routine community activities in unique traditional cultures. And there are special dishes and food as part of culinary tours that are delicious and yummy.
Imagine yourself standing on a peak surrounded by a lush green valley, screened from the world by fuzzy peaks, while down below in the canyon flows an ever rushing river.
The beautiful Baliem valley was discovered by coincidence in an expedition spearheaded by Richard Archbold in 1938.
The town of Wamena is surrounded by agricultural tribes, as recorded in travelers’ journals as early as the 19th and early 20th century.
The presence of a mummy, sitting in a folding position found in a nearby village, is evidence of the longtime agricultural practices in the Baliem valley.
Here, you are also encouraged to learn how salt is prepared by local women, despite the fact that the sea is on the other side of this huge island.
Wamena became known through pictures of warring stone-age tribes. However, In the Baliem valley, in the past decade tribes have made peace with one another, and have, instead decided to hold yearly mock wars to continue to maintain strength in defending their territories.
These mock wars are held during the annual Baliem Festival. Tourism has also somewhat changed the local mindset and daily life, although their indigenous knowledge and conventions are still well practiced daily.
Among the most famous villages are those of the Dani. There are three major tribes living around Wamena, they are the Dani, the Yali, and the Lani.
They can be identified by the different types koteka (penis gourds) each wears. Until this very day, they still walk around wearing only a koteka, although when in town, they usually change into western clothes.
Despite this, you will still meet tribe members wearing koteka to the local market. If you wish to photograph them, be prepared that it will cost you some money. This destination is not cheap to visit, but it’s worth all the money spent.
If you don’t have all the time in the world, then visit the Dani’s first, as they are the most approachable, most decorative, and are very sociable.
Here you can observe staged wars, real hot stone cooking, pork feasts, as well as visit the sweet potato farms.
It is a most memorable experience that can not compare with merely watching a travel video, or having a perfect snapshot on your desktop wallpaper.
You will wish, though, that you had taken more snapshots with your camera while there.
In this place there are also regular events or activities held every year, both national and international.
Accessibility
The journey to The Wamena Highlands is now very easy. We can enter through various modes of transportation.
The condition of the infrastructure is getting better. Starting from highways, airports, trails, ports, bridges, stairs, even some places can be reached by toll roads.
Access to go to The Wamena Highlands:
Usually, travelers fly to Wamena from the nearest international or domestic airport. The Sentani Airport in Jayapura serves both as destination as well as transit point to Wamena. The Sentani Airport Information Center will help with your inquiries on flights.
Aviastar Mandiri serves Wamena, specializing in local government officials, plantation, mining, forestry, and tourism industry employees and guests.
Trigana Air Services also offer daily flights. Other airlines are: MAF, AMA, Yajasi, Manunggal Air, and Hercules aircrafts of the Indonesian Army, TNI.
Hotels in Wamena are within walking distance. For longer trips, take a becak. There are not many of these becaks here and they usually disappear when it rains.
They are usually marked as A2 and A3, heading up Jalan Trikora to the market or pasar in Bahasa Indonesia. This transport is quite convenient if you wish to be in the market for real sightseeing.
To visit the only museum in Wamena, take a Becak, then 800 meters past the stone clock, you will see the museum displaying Dani clothing, decorations, and instruments. The Museum opens from 8 am to 4 pm.
We can visit by plane, car, ship, bus, motorcycle and bicycle. At some point, we can take the train. We can also walk freely.
Amenity
In The Wamena Highlands, as technology getting better. We can easily find locations for mini markets, shops (warung kedai), ATMs, Bank BRI BCA BNI Mandiri, BTPN Bank Nagari BJB, supermarkets, and restaurants. So we will not starve or lack the necessary items.
Suggestion before visiting The Wamena Highlands:
You can visit Merauke any time of the year, although the best period is between March and August.
You will meet hundreds of tourists during the August, when on the 10th to 17th. the annual Baliem Festival is held. The Festival is the main reason why many tourists travel to these highlands.
International travelers must be in possession of a travel permit (surat keterangan jalan) before travelling to the interior of Papua.
The main Police Stations in Jayapura, Merauke, Timika, Biak, Nabire, Manokwari, and other large cities can serve you with the permit.
Prepare also copies of your passport, recent photograph, and list of places you wish to visit. Better yet, ask your guide or travel agency to help you with the travel permit. They will be glad to assist.
If you are sick and need help, you can also visit clinics, drugstore pharmacies (apotek), practice doctors, hospitals, health centers (puskesmas).
In this place we can also look for places of worship such as mosques, churches, and others.
Accommodation
Finding place to stay in The Wamena Highlands is very easy. We can stay at homestays, hotels, inns, hostels and other places.
To get lodging at a cheap and definitely comfortable price, please see below:
Booking.com
Experience and Reviews
There are already many visitors have visited The Wamena Highlands, there are many interesting stories that are told. Like feeling satisfied, happy, wanting to come again, sleep well, and almost no one is disappointed or complains to come here.
So, visitors will find out on how to find the best hotels, where is exactly located, why it is amazing, how much is the fare and rate, who are the people, whom to ask, and when is the best time to visit.
We can visit these tourist attractions from Tanjung Pinang, Tanjung Redep, Tanjung Selor, Tapak Tuan, Tarakan, Tarutung, Tasikmalaya, Muara Bungo, Muara Enim, Muara Teweh, Muaro Sijunjung, Muntilan, Nabire, Negara, Nganjuk,
That’s all the information we provided, hopefully useful.
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