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 Papua (formerly known as
Irian Jaya) is a mountainous wilderness,
wrapped in 400,000 sq km of almost impenetrable forest. A land of
knife-blade peaks (many permanently snow-capped), 250 designated
cultural subgroups, 500 languages and negligible infrastructure, Papua
is one of the planet's last truly wild places, a vast region where
tribal ways survive largely intact and the modern world is confined to a
scattering of coastal towns.
Papua, the Indonesian side of the island of New Guinea, was only
acquired from the Dutch in 1963. Since it had no racial or historical
connection with the other Indonesian islands, some interesting politics
had to be conducted to get the Dutch to hand it over.
Indonesian mining and transmigration have not gone unopposed by some
Papuans, and the independence movement, known as the
Free Papua Organization
(FPM), still engages in some rebellious activities. Concessions have now
been made to the Papuans, but the situation remains precarious and
visitors should keep abreast of events.
 Almost all visitors head to the
Baliem Valley
- the only part of the
interior generally accessible to tourism - via
Kota Biak
or Jayapura, but Papua has a lot more to offer the traveler with time to
spare.
Foreigners must obtain a travel permit known as
surat jalan
before they
can visit some places in Papua. Currently, you can visit
Jayapura,
Sentani,
Manokwari,
Pulau Biak
and
Sorong
without one, although police
may demand that you obtain one on arrival in Pulau Biak and Manokwari.
For all other areas, such as
Merauke,
Agats,
Fak-Fak,
Pulau Yapen,
Timika
and the
Baliem Valley
(including Wamena), you must have a surat
jalan before you arrive.
Permits last anything from one week to one month and will usually cover
all travel around Papua. If you have a normal 60-day tourist visa, you
can apply for a surat jalan at a local police station (polres), but they
are easiest to get in Kota Biak and Jayapura.
Two passport-sized photos, a smile and an 'administration fee' of 5000Rp
should be all that is required and permits are usually ready in an hour.
In areas where a surat jalan is required, you should report to the local
police station within 24 hours of your arrival so you can have it
stamped. It is worth keeping a few photocopies of the permit to hand in
case they are requested by hotels etc.
Papua is reasonably well connected with the rest of Indonesia and unless
you have a lot of time, flying is the only way to travel once you are
there.
The transport centers for Papua are Sorong, Biak and Jayapura, so you
may spend some time in these places waiting for connections.
Boats may also be chartered from Jayapura to Vanimo costs however may
reach 350,000 Rp per person)
Roads are not well developed in Papua so this is an ideal spot for very
adventurous travelers wanting to leave civilization behind and rough it
out.
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