Baliem Valley
A Highland Valley In New Guinea Unknown To The Outside World Until A 1938 Flight Spotted It; Home Of The Dani, Whose Villages Of Thatched Honai Huts Still Work The Valley Floor · Wamena, Highland Papua
THE OUTSIDE WORLD DID NOT KNOW THIS VALLEY EXISTED UNTIL 1938, when Richard Archbold's expedition flew over the New Guinea highlands and saw a broad cultivated floor at sixteen hundred metres holding tens of thousands of people farming sweet potato in walled gardens. THE DANI HAD BEEN THERE FOR MILLENNIA. Today WAMENA, the valley's town, is REACHABLE ONLY BY AIR - there is no road to it from anywhere - and the villages beyond it are walked to. You stay in or near HONAI, the round thatched huts, walk between settlements over ridges and swaying footbridges, and in some villages are shown a MUMMIFIED CHIEF, smoke-preserved and centuries old. THE BALIEM VALLEY FESTIVAL each August stages mock battles between clans, and everyone knows they are staged. IT IS ALSO PAPUA, where the political situation is real, conditions change, and older trip reports are not a guide to what you will find on the ground when you get there.
Baliem Valley, Jayawijaya, Highland Papua, Wamena, Highland Papua, Indonesia
WAMENA IS REACHED ONLY BY AIR, on flights from JAYAPURA which are weather-dependent and frequently delayed or cancelled - BUILD IN SPARE DAYS. There is no road into the valley from outside it. TREKKING BETWEEN VILLAGES IS ARRANGED IN WAMENA through guides and guesthouses, typically two to six days, and A LOCAL GUIDE IS EFFECTIVELY ESSENTIAL for language, routes and introductions to villages. PAPUA'S SECURITY AND PERMIT SITUATION CHANGES: a travel permit, surat jalan, has been required at various times and conditions in parts of Papua have been unstable, so CHECK CURRENT GOVERNMENT ADVICE AND LOCAL CONDITIONS BEFORE TRAVELLING rather than relying on older accounts. THE BALIEM VALLEY FESTIVAL is usually held in August. Bring cash; banking is minimal.