Irian Jaya Journey

Irian Jaya Area
Posted by admin on March 07 2005 - 23:20:43

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JAYAPURA
Jayapura is the capital city of Irian Jaya Province. There are several interest places such as Sentani Lake, museum, market and monument of General Douglas Mac Arthur who led the Allied Force during the World War II in 1942. Besides them, sandy beach is good for swimming, diving or snorkeling and bird watching available in the Southern of Jayapura.

WAMENA (Baliem Valley)
Wamena is the capital city of Baliem Valley and has a spectacular natural beauty of the high land. The altitude is 1500 meters from the sea level, while the temperature in the midday around 25-27 Celsius degree and night time 13-15 Celsius degree.
Baliem Valley has been the most visited part of Irian Jaya especially in recent year. Baliem Valley is inhabited by Dani tribe with unique cultures and primitive way of life. To the west part of Wamena is inhabited by Lani tribe.
Yali tribe live in the part highland southern part of Baliem valley and more isolated tribe. Yali tribe has similar way of life with Dani people but shorter and cleaner. The Yali tribesmen wear koteka (penis gourd), straight to front instead of straight up like the Dani people do.
To reach the Yali tribe can be charter small Missionary flight on 30 minutes or by adventure walk a few days even weeks. There are actually two main tribes in the area (Yali & Yalimo). Compared with Dani people this tribe is much more primitive and less visited. There are no land transportation and hotel accommodation available there, all must be reached by foot.

ASMAT
Asmat is one of the most interesting places to explore in Irian Jaya. The highlights are exploring the native with their long houses and seeking for wood carvings. Asmat was famous of its notorious headhunting tradition years ago, but the headhunting practice has been stopped since the missionaries and government entered. The Asmat are wood age culture, living amongst the estuaries of the world’s largest and least accessible alluvial swamp. The river which snakes through their mangrove forest daily rise with the tides to submerge the entire area for up to a hundred miles inland. In much of this muddy region, there is not stone to be found. Although The Asmat had long used stone tools, these were acquired from the foothills and highlands through trade networks.

KOROWAY/ KOMBAY
Koroway/ Kombay are most isolated tribes and primitive life style among other tribes in whole part of Irian Jaya, and less influenced by western style. Both tribes are living at the low land in the south of Jayapura and have a primitive way of life. They live from environments to survive without planting any kind of plants. The fantastic house was built on the tree about 15-20 meters high from the ground level. The sago is as staple food while sago grubs, meat, fish are supplement foods. Mission flight will fly us to Yaniruma village of the starting point walking then trek through rain forest to see the Koroway/Kombay clans. Good physical shape is really needed and friendly porters will help you during your walking.

BIAK
Biak was Indonesia’s gateway during World War II and Biak was to be one of the home bases of the Allied Forces when attacking Japanese troops. And also Japanese used Biak as defense base before finally with draw. Beside World War II, There are some good beaches on Biak Island for diving, snorkeling and relax along the beach.

MANOKWARI
The city of Manokwari becomes the capital of West New Guinea since Dutch colonization. Located at the northern part of the Irian mainland, Manokwari lays on the beautiful surrounding gorges, the main interest around Manokwari includes Gunung Meja Park, from where you can view the scenery of Manokwari town, Amban beach, Anggi Lake and Arfak Reserve.

SORONG
Sorong is definitely not a tourist town. The town of Sorong is a fading oil center, with rusting tin roofs that stretch along eight km of seashore at the westernmost tip of the Bird’s head. We can say that the town is fully with disco nightlife while for daylight activities are strict business. There are some good beaches and islands to visit. In Sorong, you may also found the Japanese monument who died here in the World War II and casuarinas trees which grow in the area.

Lake Sentani
There is a settlement on-the shore of this lake not far from Jayapura whereone can observe local traditions as they are practiced in the daily lives ofthe people. The short trip from Jayapura, pleasant as it is, offers a little foretaste of the province’s magnificent scenarios.

Kasuarina Cape
Named after the big Kasuarina trees, which grow in the area, Kasuarina Cape is just two kilometers from Sorong town on the Bird's Head peninsula of northern Irian Jaya. It is good for swimming and recreation.

Padaido Islands
The Padaido Islands are divided into two groups, Padaido Atas (Upper Padaido) to the east, and closer, Padido Bawah (Lower Padaido), with Pakreki smack in the middle. The islands are inhabited by South Pacific islanders speaking the Biak language and some Indonesians. There are about 20 odd small islands off the coast of the mainland of Biak in the beautiful Cendrawasih Bay. These waters offer the best snorkeling place in the world. The diving off the easternmost islands of Padaido Atas -Runi, Nukori, Workbondi- is said to be excellent, according to divers working for Jacques Cousteau, the famous marine scientist. The water is clear and the depths are perfect for those activities. At low-tide one can actually wade in knee-deep water between many of the islands. Beautiful fish and coralheads decorate these waters with brilliant colors and sea turtles
abound. The western shore of Nusi Island in Padaido Bawah is one the nicest spots for snorkeling. The seas around these islands harbor a wide shallow reef, in addition to lots of bright reef fish, small reef sharks, blue spotted rays, moray eels and seasnakes. The white sand beaches are sunny and breezy, fringed by coconut palms and always peaceful, white flocks of parrots fly overhead. Each island has its own Chief, and the people live largely from the sea and coconut products.From Biak, take a taxi to Bosnik, about 30 minutes. On market days in Bosnik, you can hop on a motorized outrigger and cross the Owi Islands.Then ask for a motorized canoe to head to other islands.Puncak Jaya, The Equatorial Snow Mountain. The ridge of the mountain is as sharp as saw. The rocks are brittle, rough and razor-sharp. We crept along the ridge amidst gushes of cold wind andfog while maintaining our balance between the ravines, of hundreds of meters depth on the left and right. The Puncak Jaya (Jaya Peak) or the Carstenz Pyramid of 5,030 meters in the highes peak in the Jayawijaya mountain range, which is also one of the equatorial snow peaks in the world. The north wall, which rises 500 meters in the air, virtually smooth without any crevices, is one of the attractions. The weather on top of the Jayawijaya is very hostilem and in day time one can seldom see the sun, only rain and fog. The Me ren Glacierm one of the amazing places up there,storing mysterious beauties together with voices of fear for nature's erosion as well as man's actions, increasingly extinguishing their existence.Global warming proves to have shrunk the snow fields of Meren Glacier and Hanging Glacier in the amount of 3 centimeters per annum.Climbing the Jaya Peak is a long journey along areas in which civilization seems to have come to a standstill. Ascent starts started from Wamena in the Baliem Valley toward Ilaga. For two weeks trekking is up and down valleys, until the vanguard finally reaches the Kemabu Valley in the high plains. From here, the North Wall of the snow-covered Jayawijaya mountain range valiantly cleaves the horizon from east to west. To pass, one can go through the "New Zealand Pass", a narrow passengerway which leads us to the Meren Glaciers snow plains, the Valley of Lakes, the Yellow Valley, and then to the Jaya Peak, rising high in the sky, blanketed by eternal snow.When we are lucky to get permission to pass through the Tembagapura (Freeport) channel, we will need only nine hours to reach the valley of Lakes, compared with the Ilaga route, which needs 2 weeks to coverm to reach the base camp of the Valley of Lakes.

Wasur National Park
The red sky smoulders when the day draws to dusk in the savannah of theWatsur National Park. Dust whirls upwards, already from Merauke till inland of the Park, at the time of travelsing the Trans-Irian Highway whichcleaves the lowlands as far the eye can see. Thousand of fowls accompanyus on the journey. The sacred Ibis and Pelican are seen to bicker on theedges on ponds, while a herd of kangaroos hopped along, as if competingwith the vehicles. However, the best way to know Wasur is on horseback.

One can rent a horse from the Kanum and Marind, the local simple, warm and very friendly inhabitants. The Wasur which stretches for 304,000hectares, consists of savannahs, marshes, mangrove, forests and vast, tidalmuds flats inhabited by more than 390 birds species and 80 species of mammals. A WWF researcher writes that "Compared with the exotic costmes of the Baliem Valley and the fierce art of the Asmat area, Wasurlacks of the obvious attractions. But its beautiful, open terrain and excellentwildlife viewing and the ease of walking, pony-trekking and camping are unrivaled in Indonesia."

A large savanna and woodland which hold incredibly rich Australasian fauna, including some extraordinarily beautiful and unique animals such as Bird of Paradise, Cassowary, Parrot, Cuscus, Wallaby, and Salvador'sMonitor lizard - the longest lizard in the world.The Wasur National Park is located in the southern end of Irian Jaya. Fromthe town of Merauke it is only an hour's drive, and Merauke can be reached by three weekly flights by Merpati Airlines from Jayapura, the province capital.

The Crocodile Hunter
Irian Jaya Buaya ( crocodile )His face sweats, glimming black burned by the sun. On his breasts, hang crocodile talons and teeth as ornaments and a symbol of pride. For a hunter, hunting crocodiles is a the acme of valor. In Irian Jaya, crocodiles are abundantly found in the Berau Bay and the Membramo River delta. Even so, there also ones which scatter until the inland marshes to the lake Flats of upstream Membramo. The people of Sikari, Papasena, and Taijave are experts at crocodile hunting and farming.
The hunting seasons usually starts in the month of May, at the time the Taritatu and Tariku Rivers start ebbing. At that time the crocodile flock withdraw to the small lakes and river branches. It is now up the hunters to waylay them, by making traps or by directly fighting the crocodiles on land, where the animals are not so agile. Even so, a crocodile's tail is still a dealdly weapon. The hunting season ends in the month of September, when the downstream River Flats start getting inundated again, and the adult crocodile swim back to build their nests, to mate and to lay eggs.The Membramo River is the longest river in Irian Jaya, and can be covered by vehicle from Jayapura until Sarmi. From here, the journey is continued by boat until the estuary of Membramo, and on entering inland toward Kasanoweja, the capital of the Central Membramo District.

Places in the vicinity of Jayapura such as Skyline and Lake Sentani can be reached by taking a minibus. Biak has air and sea links with Jayapura.Sorong, is also served by air from Jayapura. Other destinations are reached by car or boat, or by light aircraft