Papua the last frontier

Wamena, with several thousand people, is the only urban centre in the Baleim. All flights land here, the highlands main airstrip. Foreigners will have their travel permit checked here upon arrival. The district's principal government officials all live in Wamena, along with many students of the high school and teacher training college. The roman Catholic Church has its highland headquarters here. There's a post office, a book and telephone service. And best of all, there's the daily market. In the early hours of dawn, the Dani from miles around begin to drift to the market. Most of the locals bring surplus sweet potatoes and vegetables such as tomatoes, carrots, cucumbers and cabbage along with pineapple and a variety of bananas. Souvenirs like bows and bunches of multipurpose arrows, each for a different kind of game, including humans can be bought. Other items include penis sheaths, stone axes and cowrie shells, formerly used as money.

There are a few traditional Dani villages near Wamena. The nearest, Pugima, can be reached in an hours stroll for a first taste of local culture. Jiwika, some twenty kilometres away, is linked by a good road and frequent public transportation. En route to Jiwiika, all tours stop to see the mummy of Akima, the smoke dried remains of a powerful war chief who has access to the world of spirits. There is also another mummy, not so popular but cheaper to photograph. An hour's steep climb leads to a brine pool from where salt is still extracted in the traditional way. The road continues out of Jiwika, with caves and villages along the way. This road will, someday, link with one being built from Jayapura.

To the south of Wamena, a road leads part of the way to Kurima, at the head of the Baleim Gorge. Paths along the gorge lead to the Yala tribe who saw their first missionaries only a generation ago. On the other side of the Baleim Valley from Jiwika, a road of sort leads to Pyramid at the northern entrance to the valley. Before Pyramid, side paths head into the mountain, past Dani villages to uninhabited lands where Lake Habbema and the snow-capped Mount Trikora are located. 
 

The land of the Asmat tribe, centred around the town of Agats, has been off limits to travellers in the past. Only Agat itself has been opened up recently. There is an excellent museum with world-class carvings available, however, it is hardly worth the trip if you cannot move around. Most of the swamp-dwelling Asmat are christianised and wear tattered western clothing. Other interesting tribes, some of which still practice cannibalism, live way inland and are very inaccessible. High transportation costs in outboard-powered dugouts and days of monotonous motoring in malarial swamps make these places for explorers only. Also for the specialists are several spots along the south coast of Papua where cave paintings are found, similar to those of the Australian aborigines. Below Puncak Jaya is the world's most spectacular mine owned by Freeport Indonesia, however, entry to this copper mine is by invitation only. Much easier to reach are Sorong, located at Papua's western most tip and Manokwari, on the shore of Cenderawasih Bay. Sorong, an old oil town, has a great seascape in front and offers access to the region of the Bird's Head. Manokwari, the site of the first mission in Papua, both of a couple of beautiful islands just outside its bay. There are also flights from there to the Anggi Lakes, to beautiful bodies of water located in the Arfak Mountains.