written by tom / 09.09.2016 10:23

Hiking Baliem Valley independently on budget

Up do about 1970’s there were still some undiscovered and remote tribes in this area, some of them cannibalistic

Due to the high prices and lack of options, we couldn’t get to Papua New Guinea highlands – Climbing Mt. Wilhelm at 4,509 m will be in my bucket list for the future.

Back in Jayapura I met few travellers who suggested to spend some time in Wamena. As internet was in shortage, I didn’t have too many options to do my research, but to ask our local friends and read few booklets. They said that up do about 1970’s there were still some undiscovered and remote tribes in this area, some of them cannibalistic. This of course made me interested looking into it a bit deeper, by paying them a visit.

You could spend in Baliem Valley anywhere from few days to weeks, to get a glimpse of remote Dani and Yali tribes. There arent any roads going to Wamena, only option is to take airplane. Supposedly they started building a road 10 years ago, but because of frequent earthquakes and landslides the project was ditched.

Lot of websites suggest taking a guide and you will meet dozens of guides in the Airport, trying to sell their services. My advice – Don’t take guide, you will save a whole lot of money and can be your own boss at this relatively simple hike (simple if you have done some hiking before and are reasonably fit). Learn some basic Baha Indonesian and have a vocabulary in your pocket or mobile phone – you will be just fine. Locals don’t speak any English (mostly), so you have do ask directions, food or sleeping arrangement in Indonesian (or body language).

“I’ve made map, with my routes, sleeping point and possible alternative ideas. This map is indicative, roads past Hitugi are not even probperly on google map and after Yaurima, you are completely off the digital grid.”

Day 1: Fly to Wamena, take bus to Kurima and hike to Hitugi

Wamena is located in highlands and due to unexpected weather conditions the flights are often delayed or cancelled. So the best change is to take the earliest flight there and back, because usually the wather holds up to noon. My flight was delayed almost two hours, which made me doubt if I will reach my goal for the first day.

From airport take a 10-15 minutes walk to Wamena market (bazaar). Exit airport (Wamena now has a brand new and modern airport, small though :)), turn left and walk until the end of the street and then turn right and you will already see the market at the end of the street.

There are several minivans and cars waiting for passengers. So just take to one who have the most passengers on it. Price for the first bus was 20 000 rupiah – it’s the same as for the locals, do not pay any more than locals!

Little after half way you have to change bus, because they can’t cross the sketchy looking wooden bridge. Second bus costs 10 000 rupiah and will take you almost up to Kurima.

Last bus can’t take you to Kurima anymore, because of some landslides there is a wide river and no road. You have to walk through the river and about 5 kilometers until you reach Kurima.

Several sites are saying, that you don’t need a permit to hike Baliem Valley. I made permit in Jayapura, it was for free and they did ask it in Military post when entering Kurima (they might have not asked, if I’ve just walked pass the entry point, but I wanted to ask directions :))

“The village of Hitugi. Whole evening I spent warming up and drying my clothed in the traditional hut, with the whole family. My goodness, how much rice and fast noodles they can eat 🙂 The sleeping arrangement is very basic and rat infested, but good enough for one night.”

Then the hike begins, you cross narrow hanging bridge and after this point there arent anymore paved roads or mobile service, just narrow pathways and beautiful scenery. On the first day you will do a lot of up hill hiking to reach your first sleeping point in Hitugi. You see a lot of locals working around the fields, most of them very friendly, always willing to help 🙂 Weather is unpredictable, so be prepared to get rain on the way, which makes the uphill climbs very slippery and muddy.

Sleeping arrangement in Hitugi is very basic, but it has mattress and warm blankets. Only trouble is, that the small house also had a lot of rats that tried to eat my food at the beginning of the night (eating a small hole in my backpack side picket).– Top tip is to hang all you food, snacks and chocolates in to the ceiling, so they cant reach it. I also got a lot of bedbug bites through out the hike, starting from Hitugi (so probably there are bedbugs). But still I got about 8 hours of good sleep 🙂

Sleeping price is negotiable and I payed 150 000 rupiah for bed and 3 meals (2 in the evening and 1 in the morning). You will get boiled water if you ask. I filled up two 1.5 liter bottles, that was enough for the next day.

bridge to off the grid

Only trouble is, that it gets really cold at nighttime on this height.

Day 2: Hitugi to remote Yogosem village at 2500m

I am little bit confused if the village is called Yogoshine (as the map and other websites suggest) or Yogosem. It said clearly on the village sign that it is Yogosem 🙂 Maybe I was in the wrong place, but I will never know.

Second day will offer even more stunning scenery, with multiple tall waterfalls and beautiful valleys. You start you day from descending Hitugi to Yaurima. I began this day with about 20-30 other locals, who were heading towards Yaurima, also few almost naked tribe members. It is inspiring to see their basic lifestyle – walking barefoot, transporting livestock on wooden poles and not complaining.

After Yaurima begins the hard part, a lot up uphill, some of which is rather steep and slippery. It will take hours to reach Yogosem and not a lot of people go or come this way, so you will probably end up hiking many hours alone, before seeing anyone. Luckily there aren’t any other roads, it is straight forward to Yogosem. But to be on the safe side I still asked everyone I saw for directions.

“Scenery around the Valley”

On the way you will cross multiple small waterfalls and rivers. On the hillside you will find the most epic spots to have you lunch break.

It will take you about 5-6 hours to reach Yogosem. You will be welcomed by hordes of kids, who will be silly ­funny and are more than happy to have their photo taken 🙂

Sleeping arrangement there is a lot better – I was given a small room in pretty new looking house. Only trouble is, that it gets really cold at nighttime on this height. I guess it was near freezing as it was a clear night. They didn’t provide warm blankets and no mattress – But thankfully I had a good mattress and few extra blankets myself, so I got again a good night of sleep.

“Although I got a lot of rain on first two days, the scenery and people around me kept me positive”

Afterwards I had a great evening in their traditional house, where I could dry my clothes and sneakers. Cost with dinner a breakfast was 100 000 rupiah. Also, if you ask you can fill up your bottles with boiled water 🙂

scenic baliem valley

I also ran out of drinking water, but luckily had my Lifestraw with me, filled up a bottle with probably pure rainwater, but to be on the safe side, still filtered it.

Day 3: Yogosem, trying to find Syokosimo, ending up having very long day and going back to Kurima.

I suggest starting as early as possible, with the sunrise – then you have time to make changes in your plan, if you fail to find a location or get lost, as I did.

“Yogosem is remote village, far from civilization, mobile service or electricity – They do collect solar energy, but it will last only a few hours, to light their huts.”

Day starts with backtracking all the way to Hitugi, but it is easier this way around . Sun was shining the whole day, which also motivated me a lot – In the other hand I didn’t had any sunscreen, so I burnt my face and hands pretty bad. It is wise to have a strong sunscreen at this elevation!

At some point (shown on the map – locals guided me) when backtracking your way through Hitugi, you have to take a left turn – Walk down a really steep hillside and cross a river, to find your way to illusive Syokosimo. I was already getting tired and couldn’t find the right way in the mud. I must have been on the right path, but made a decision to start moving toward Kurima from different route and find a sleeping arrangement on the way. In these situations you have to trust your gut instinct.

The problem taking alternative route was, that there weren’t almost any villages on it. The one I found, people didn’t understood me (even Indonesian), although I talked about food and sleeping. Not to be mean, but I guess the lady might have been little bit cuckoo – and she also took my valuable peanuts bag (misunderstanding).

Road back this way takes you through many steep ascends and descends, through waterfalls and rough roads. Some of the pathways are really bad and ruined by landslides and rain. This was the worst way to walk after already hiked 5-6 hours. I also ran out of drinking water, but luckily had my Lifestraw with me, filled up a bottle with probably pure rainwater, but to be on the safe side, still filtered it.

In the end with the help of few small kids, who held my hands and directed me to correct route, I found the already familiar final few kilometers to Kurima. All together I walked approximately 8 hours and 20+ kilometers this day – yes, my legs did hurt little bit next day 🙂

In Kurima you can get a little bit more modern accommodation, just near to military post. They had laptops and more electricity. You get food and nice room to sleep, also for 100 000 rupiah.

happy kids of yogosem

It’s better to be safe than sorry – so get the permit!

Final day: Kurima yo Wamena to Jayapura.

Just backtrack your way to Wamena. I actually had my flight booked for next day and was planning to spend a night in Wamena. But accommodation in Papua is expensive, to it seemed more reasonable to pay few rupias and change my flight to first possible time (as Veroncia was waiting for me and we had payed for our accommodation in Jayapura). Usually they have a lot of free room and if the weather is ok, you can get back to Jayapura in few hours 🙂

“Got a decent sunburn last day, but still happy”

Budget for this hike

Getting to Wamena costs about 1300 000 rupiah or 100€ (two way ticket from Jayapura). Getting from airport to Kurima costs you 30 000 rupiah or 2€. You could buy some food and fresh fruits from the market with low cost, if needed. Sleeping and food around the villages will set you back about 100 000 to 150 000 rupiah or 7-10€ per day.

If you take guide and porter, your cost for one day could be up to 1000 000 rupiah or 70€. For example a guide tried to sell his services in the airport for 400 000 rupiah or 28€ a day (not including hes sleeping and food).

If you are spending a night in Wamena, be prepared to spend anywhere between 200 000 to 500 000 rupiah for sleeping plus the food is also more expensive. I read from one blog, that you could try couchsurfing, but I just couldn’t find any options in short notice (most of the users have not logged in for months or years).

Do you need a permit?

Im uncertain about it, as some of the blogs say you don’t need a permit, some of them doesn’t mention permit at all, but some say with 100% certanty, that you need a permit, to hike the valley. It’s better to be safe than sorry – so get the permit! There are two options, you can get the permit in Jayapura or in Wamena. I got the permit from Jayapura police office (see the map) and it didn’t cost me anything. Jayapura is a big city, getting there you have to have a motorcycle or use taxi.

Routes

I followed a tracking route found on other blog, that is actually a good starting point to plan your trip. Altough neither they or I couldn’t find Syokosimo, maybe you can 🙂

Hiking for 4 days is enough, but I would actually recommend going there for at least week, to go further and possibly on different routes (look wikiloc for gps routes).

Day 1: Wamena – Kurima – Hitugi.
Day 2: Hitugi – Yogoshine.
Day 3: Yogoshine – Syokosimo.
Day 4: Syokosimo – Kurima – Wamena.

Thank you Miguel from Travelsauro, for the great post, that became kind of my bible on this trek 🙂