Blogs from Papua, Indonesia, Asia

Without new experiences, something inside of us sleeps. The sleeper must awaken.” – Frank Herbert Enigmatic Indonesia. It seems as though every person I have spoken with since I have planned this trip has a different opinion of just what Indonesia is. Is it a country, a region, a series of islands that make up that area in the South Pacific? I too have learned a great deal about this huge country while I have started trip planning. Indonesia is its own sovereign country made up of over 17,000 islands, the more famous and larger of which are Bali, Komodo, Java and Sumatra. It is the most populous Muslim country in the world even though it is a secular state with 6 recognized religions, of which Christianity and Hinduism are the second and third largest ones. ... read more

This is only a 36 hour snapshot of a fascinating part of Indonesia, but I'll try and provide some logistical information for the adventure minded traveler. The first thing to keep in mind is the climate. My trip was in the 3rd week of December. The rainy season had began about two weeks before I arrived. While it did not affect my travels, it did mean that the wildlife was much more dispersed, therefore more difficult to find. My guide, a local ranger named Asep (085244688175), said that October is an excellent time to visit. That would be at the end of the dry season, so you'll find the wildlife congregating around the remaining water holes. So, you will enhance your chances of seeing some of the regions specialties like wallabies, cassowaries, birds of paradise, cockatoos, ... read more

When you travel for a long time there are nearly always bound to be low points but all you can do is try to make the most of it. Coming to the city of Sorong was one of these times. We'd spent 12 days on the island of Kri where the snorkelling had been great as predicted but circumstances had caused us to make the decision to leave early. A whole week before our flights back to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in fact. After leaving Kri our first jumping off point was the town of Waisai on the bigger island of Waigo. Also know by the locals as ' Raja Ampat'. We had hoped we might meet up with other travellers and join together to get a boat from there to the island of Gam. Thus, by ... read more

Eine andere Welt, voller schniefender, rotzender, hustender Menschen - kennen die keine Taschentücher? Domestic Departures in Bali, da ist gar nichts, und ich musste drei Stunden überbrücken. Und pünktlich war der Flug auch nicht. Fragte nach einem window seat emergency exit und bekam ihn auch, konnte so wenigstens etwas schlafen, bis man mir um vier Uhr früh ein Frühstück servieren wollte. Aaarrgh!! Zwischenlandung in Timika, kann im Flieger bleiben, dann noch 50 Minuten bis Jayapura. Ist das nicht die Hauptstadt von Papua? (Nein, nur der Provinz, aber trotzdem.) Und dann so ein Flughafen? Wo gibts eigentlich das Gepäck und ist hier keiner, wie sonst, mit einem Schild, auf dem mein Name steht? Irgendein sehr dunkelhäutiger, in meiner Wahrnehmung grimmig blickender Einheimischer spricht mich an und fragt, wo ich herkomme. Ich lasse ihn stehn und suche nach ... read more

When i was 9 i read in the papers about a Dutch expedition in Papua, at the time called Nieuw Guinea. I loved it and was determined to go there once. Now it is 56 years later and we have just landed at the airport of Jayapura, the capital of Papua. It took some time to arrive at Sentani/Jayapura. We had the nightbus from Hua Hin (Thailand), the city where we live now. In Hatyai (South Thailand) we changed busses. After 23 hours traveling we arrived in Kuala Lumpur and could finally sleep. Next day we flew with Air Asia to Makassar (South Sulawesi) and the day after to Jayapura, only to find out that all hotels in Sentani were full, but one, which was loaded with fungi on the bathroom walls. Moreover the first flight ... read more