Merauke Merauke is a reasonably prosperous and orderly town of wide, straight streets, renowned as the most southeasterly settlement in Indonesia. The best reason to visit is nearby Wasur National Park, which is like a small slice of Australian bush in Indonesia, wallabies and all. It’s 6km from the airport[…]
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Danau Sentani You get a bird’s-eye view of 96.5-sq-km Danau Sentani, snaking its way between picturesque green hills, as you fly in or out of Sentani. This beautiful lake has 19 islands and numerous Papuan fishing villages of wooden stilt houses along its shores. A visit to any of them[…]
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Agats Capital of the region is the overgrown village of Agats, on the Aswet estuary. Due to the extraordinary tides and location, its streets are raised boardwalks which now support some (thankfully slow-moving) motorbike traffic as well as pedestrians. It’s a curious place to wander round, with markets, shops, mosque,[…]
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Asmat Region The Asmat region is a massive, remote, low-lying area of muddy, snaking rivers, mangrove forests and tidal swamps, where many villages, including their streets, are built entirely on stilts. The Asmat people, formerly feared for their headhunting and cannibalism, are now most celebrated for their woodcarvings – the[…]
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Sorong Papua’s second-biggest city, Sorong sits at the northwestern tip of the Vogelkop. It’s a busy port and base for oil and logging operations in the region. Few travellers stay longer than it takes to get on a boat to the Raja Ampat Islands, but Sorong can be quite fun[…]
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Sentani Sentani, the growing airport town 36km west of Jayapura, sits between the forested Pegunungan Cyclop and beautiful Danau Sentani. It’s quieter and cooler than Jayapura and can be used as a base for visiting the bigger city and other interesting spots in the area. The older area, near the[…]
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Manokwari Capital of Papua Barat province, Manokwari sits on Teluk Cenderawasih near the northeastern corner of the Vogelkop. It merits a visit mainly for the natural attractions in the surrounding area, notably the Pegunungan Arfak. Most travellers’ facilities are in the area called Kota, on the eastern side of the[…]
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Biak Biak (1898 sq km) is one of Papua’s biggest offshore islands. It’s a relaxed place with – even by Papuan standards – exceptionally friendly people, and has good beaches, snorkelling and diving. Biak saw fierce fighting in WWII, with about 10,000 Japanese and nearly 500 Americans reported killed in[…]
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Wamena Wamena is a sprawling Indonesian creation with nothing traditional about it, but it’s the obligatory base for any travels around the valley. The population is a mix of Papuans and non-Papuans and the latter run all the businesses. Penis gourds are no longer banned here, as they were during[…]
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Baliem Valley The legendary Baliem Valley is the most popular and most accessible destination in Papua’s interior. The Dani people who live here were still dependent on tools of stone, bone and wood when a natural-history expedition led by American Richard Archbold chanced upon the valley in 1938. The Dani[…]
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