The Baliem Valley

Welcome to Central Papua. Here, in the middle of the Indonesian part of the world’s second largest island lies the Baliem valley in the mountains. More than 70 km long and around 20km wide, 1800 m above the sea level and surrounded by a crest of mountains some of which reach up to 4500, this area was not touched by the western world until the 1940s. And it took many more years to discover the whole beauty of this fertile highland and the various tribes living there. The valley is incredibly lush and fertile and the people living here have a farming tradition more than 9000 ears long – much longer than in most other parts of the world.
The main “city” of the valley, Wamena, can only be reached by air since no reliable road exists until today. From Wamena, the valley and the tribes living their traditional and sometimes primitive way of live can be explored. But beware: There are no signs, no maps and next to no facilities intended for travelers: This is one of the last real adventures on earth. The best time to visit Baliem Valley is between March and September, when it does not rain so often. But it is also possible to travel during the rainy season, but then please be prepared for a little bit colder weather conditions.
If you come in August (around 10^th-17^th,,varying a bit each year) you may witness the famous Baliem Valley Festival, held annually in Wamena. The different tribes living in the villages around Baliem Valley will send groups to present their traditions, dances and culture. This festival is the perfect chance to observe the rich culture of this region. You can experience a mock tribal war presentation, pig races, pig feasts, earth cooking, traditional music, dance and many things more.
Three mains tribes are inhabiting the Baliem Valley, all are “Melanesian” with black skins and curly hair: The Dani in the base, the Lani to the west and the Yali in the south-east, each with it’s own distinct culture and language (in whole Papua there are more than 250 different languages still spoken today). Many of the people still dress in their traditional way, for example the “Koteka”, or penis gourd, is still sported by many male members of the tribes.The Dani man only use small koteka, the Lani tribes use bigger Koteka, while the Yali have long slender Kotekas and covering their waist with a rattan belt.
All three tribes are farmers and are cultivating sweet potatoes and taros. In the lowlands the people cultivate sago palm which gives and extremely generous yield for remarkably little effort. They breed feral and domesticated pigs, which originally came from Southeast Asia. Pigs are extremely important for the people and have a vast cultural and ritual significance.
Until quite recently, many of them lived with a simple Stone Age Culture wearing little clothing and decorating their bodies with paintings, shells, pig tusks, feathers and skins.
Some of the more remote groups still have virtually no contact with the outside world but the three main tribes, the Dani, the Lani and the Yali can be visited by foreigners with bearable effort.
Find out more about the tribes and regions with the links below.