The Baliem Valley was once dubbed Shangri La and it is easy to see why.
The Valley is incredibly lush and fertile and is surrounded on all sides by towering
peaks of 2,500 to 3,000 meters high. The fertility is such that the valley has been farmed for 9,000 years but it was only discovered by westerners in 1938!

There are three mains tribes inhabiting the Baliem Valley. The Dani in the main valley, the Lani to the west and the Yali in the south-east. Each tribe has a distinct culture.
One sure and interesting way to distinguish between the tribes is from the Koteka,
or penis gourd, sported by the male members. The men of each tribe tend to the growing of the gourds with the three tribes each cultivating a different style.
The Dani use a long, thin Koteka, the Lani sport a medium sized,
wide cannon-like gourd, and the Yali wear the longest of all.

The festival has a unique atmosphere. Dani, Lani, and Yali tribe people come to the festival. Both to participate in and also they enjoy watching the activities too.

We feel that a easy to moderate 2 day, 1 night trek helps make your Papua
experience complete. By first going to see how they live in their villages and
getting an appreciation of the rugged terrain, and beautiful scenery. You can then
more appreciate the festival and your whole experience is heightened.

7 DAYS BALIEM VALLEY (WAMENA) FESTIVAL AND TREKKING TOUR

Day 1
We will fly in the late morning/early afternoon to Wamena. We will check into
our hotel and then take a day tour around Wamena. We'll visit the market.

The Wamena market is a very interesting place. And you can still sometimes
see Dani tribe men wearing koteka (penis gourd) in Wamena and around the market.

Day 2
We will travel by chartered automobile for one hour on a road south of Wamena.
The automobile will drop us off and from there we will start our 2 day, 1 night trek.
We will trek for about 4-5 hours to a village several hundred meters above the
Baliem River. The scenery is spectacular, and you pass through traditional villages
along the way. Porters will carry all of your gear and food for the trek.
We will spend the night in one of the nicest villages in Papua. The accommodation
is in houses similar to the traditional Dani tribe houses. It has a beautiful
spring water shower and great views all around.

Day 3
We will continue trekking down and cross the Baliem River on a suspension bridge
and trek up the true left side of the river. Sometimes we are high above the river
(150 meters) and sometimes we are almost on the river bank. We continue trekking through Dani tribe villages and then cross the river again on a suspension bridge.
Then continue trekking til we come to the road and take a automobile back
to Wamena. We will spend the night at a hotel in Wamena.

Day 4
We will travel by chartered automobile to the location of the Baliem Valley festival.
The place where they hold the ceremony changes from year to year.
But it is usually no more than 1.5 hours from Wamena.

The festival has many traditional activities. There are large groups of men cooking
pigs and sweet potatoes in the traditional earth oven fires. There is traditional Dani
and Lani tribe dancing and singing. Also there is a mock battle to show you how they used to fight in the old days. And there are newer activities, like bow and arrow competitions. And even foreigners can get involved in this activity.

We will travel back to Wamena and spend the night at our hotel.

Day 5
We will again travel to the location of the festival. The festival is scheduled for 3 days this year. Again the activities are the similar to the previous day. But, there are other activities, such as women making their traditional noken bags. There are plenty of opportunities to take photographs of the Dani and Lani tribes people.

We will travel back to Wamena and spend the night at our hotel.

Day 6
We will travel to the location of the festival. And again we will be involved with festival activities. After the festival is finished we will return to our hotel in Wamena.

Day 7
We will catch our flight back to Jayapura. We will check into our hotel.
The tour will be concluded the following morning.

PRICE FOR THE BALIEM VALLEY (WAMENA) FESTIVAL
AND TREKKING 7 DAY TOUR
2 PESONS: PRICE PER PERSON $US 1950 ·
3-6 PESONS: PRICE PER PERSON $US 1800 ·

PRICE INCLUDES
Round trip airfare (Jayapura to Wamena), airport taxes, all land transportation,
hotels 5 nights in Wamena, hotel for 1 night in Sentani (by the airport),
all camping fees in villages, all food and beverages on the 2 day,
2 night trek, English speaking guide, all ceremonial entrance fees, travel permit.

NOTE
Papua Adventures can help arrange the booking and
payment of domestic airline tickets to and from Jayapura, Papua.

PRICE DOES NOT INCLUDE
Excess baggage fees for overweight luggage, tipping, meals and beverages
in Jayapura and Wamena, alcoholic beverages, tipping, travel insurance
and personal health insurance, laundry, personal photographs.

A reference list from past clients is available upon request.

Sincerely,
Papua Adventures
PT. Biak Papua Adventures

Under the new autonomy law governing Papua, all tour and independent groups
must use a travel company that is registered in Papua.
You must show proof of using a registered tour and travel company within Papua,
before you will receive your surat jalan (travel permit) from the police.

PAPUA ADVENTURES is a registered tour and travel company in Papua
and is licensed under the name PT. BIAK PAPUA ADVENTURES.

Many tour groups have been barred from traveling in Papua
because they did not follow the new regulations.
If you are a tour company or an independent group wanting to travel in Papua.
Then PAPUA ADVENTURES can help you secure
the necessary documents to ensure your entry into Papua.

© 2000-2010, PAPUA ADVENTURES