Papua

at this moment we are in Papua ( Irian Jaya) and this afternoon we will take the ferry to Raja Ampat. The last 6 days were very impressive, so let me tell you a little bit about what we experienced. We arrived at Jayapura after 3 flights including a long nightflight from Denpasar (Bali). Still a little groggy from our skipped night we were welcomed by Marius, our guide for the Baliem Valley. Before we realised it we were in the car, driven to lake Sentani where a boat waited for us for a little trip over the lake. Quite nice and relaxing. At one of the islands we bought some presents for the homefront, drawings made on tree bark. Problem: we can't carry these things for months in our backpacks, so next stop is the postoffice . The drawings were packed, very good, very very good....and very heavy. So to ship the package to Britte in Amsterdam was expensive, more that 50 euros. Ouch!! Next day early rise and to the airport with Marius for our flight to Wamena in the Baliem Valley. There is no road, everything has to be flown in. Tourists, water, food, everything. Therefore everything is expensive. In Wamena we visited the local market, an experience, very dirty, very chaotic. We meet our first traditional papuas, walking around completely naked, just covered with the koteka ( penis gourd). Everybody who has been in Asia has seen people chewing betelnuts, welll this is what most people do here. The areca nut is the seed of the areca palm. After chewing a betelnut, the red residue from chewing the betelnut, buai pekpek, is generally spat out. It is addictive and extremely bad for your health. Not only it destroys your teeth, it als can create oral cancer. But this is what the majority of people do here. So everybody has this red mouth. Next day we go to Obia, a little village where we will stay for 3 days and sleep in a honai, a traditional hut, but in this case just for tourists, so with a lockable door. Not that this helps against the rats who visit the place at night and keep Katja from sleeping. In Obia,this is the name of the village, we make a walk in the area, very tough, steaming hot, many insects and extremely muddy. Hati hati, meaning careful, is what Katja and Marius tell me all the time. But is is fun to see the Dani, this is the name of the tribe, in their daily routine and after the first hours the excitement settles and we become not really part of the village life, but accepted background. The wealth of the Dani is measured only by one thing; how many pigs you own. Pigs are the payment for your bride, Katja is estimated to have a valueof around 100 pigs. This is my chance to get rich!! Most of the women miss parts of their fingers. When somebody you care about dies it is common here to express your grieve by removing a part of your finger with a sharp stone. Very cruel. By the way everybody wants to shake hands with you here and this is an excellent way of getting ill. Which happens at the time of writing to me as well. Because here in the middle of Papua everything is dirty, extremely dirty. But people are friendly and after shaking hands, asking for a cigarette, they sit down with you and talk. And every second word is wah wah, meaning good good. So we "wah wah" all day with the locals. The next day around 5.30 the silence is broken with the PA installation screaming warrior cries to the air to collect the warriors for the mock war which will be organised for us. They are going to simulate the traditional fights to end a conflict about a stolen woman or worse... a pig. Lets put is that way, the mock war we saw was a little silly, but more importantly for everybody was the feast afterwards. Because we paid for a pig, which Marius bought on the market. The pig was ceremonially killed with bow and arrow, very cruel to see and awfull to hear the pig scream. The tail and and ears were removed with a sharp bamboo and brought to the Pilamo, the hut of the chief. In the meantime the whole village is busy. Stones are heated in the fire, leaves and vegetables are collected and in the end the leaves, pig and hot stones are put in a hole where the pig is cooked. mmmmmm! We decided not to take part in the meal as we are not sure if our stomachs and intestines will survive such an attack. After three days we returned to Wamena, but not before we visited the mummy. The mummy is an old chief who died some hundred or more years ago. You can see the mummy against payment. Who says old people only cost money? They can be a source of wealth. After the village we returned to Wamena. Let me end with saying a few words about this. The hotels is Wamena are the worst I have experienced in my life, dirty in all aspects. The other thing; it is very sad to see the papuas in Wamena. They have no work, only betelnuts and alcohol. The indonesian dominated the trade and have all the better jobs. The jump from traditional life to 21st century is someting they cannot manage and there is no help. It is very sad and comparable to the situation with Aboriginals in Alice Springs or Navajo in Arizona. We left Wamena with this double feeling. Next stop Raja Ampat