Papua is one of Indonesia province comprising a majority part of the western half of New Guinea Island and nearby. The province originally covered the entire western half of New Guinea, but in 2003, the western portion of the province, on the Bird’s Head Peninsula, was declared in Jakarta as separate province named West Irian Jaya. The legality of this separation has been disputed, as it appears to conflict with the conditions of the Special Autonomy status awarded to Papua in the year 2000. The status of West Irian Jaya province is not yet resolved as of early 2006.
Papua is the official Indonesian and internationally recognized name for the province. During the colonial era the region was known as Dutch New Guinea. The province was known as West Irian or Irian Barat from 1969 to 1973, and then renamed Irian Jaya (“Victorious Irian”) by Soeharto. This was the official name until Papua was adopted in 2002. Today, natives of this province prefer to call themselves Papuans rather than Irianese. This may be due to etymology (variously identified as a real etymology or a folk etymology) the name of Irian, which stems from the acronym Ikut Republik Indonesia, Anti Nederland (join/follow with the Republic of Indonesia, rejecting The Netherlands). The name West Papua is used among Papuan separatists and usually refers to the whole of the Indonesian portion of New Guinea.
The capital of Papua province is Jayapura. Most of the population depends on subsistence farming, especially the cultivation of rice and maize. The main industries include copper (with the largest concentration of copper in the world at Tembagapura), palm oil, copra, maize, groundnuts, pepper, tuna, gold, oil, coal, and phosphates. It is mostly a mountainous and forested region, with the Maoke Mountain range rising to 5,029-m/16,499 ft at Jaya Peak. The population comprises Melanesians (original settlers of Western New Guinea), Papuans, Negritos, and Europeans. Indigenous animism prevails. The province declared independence from Indonesia, as West Papua, in June 2000. However, the president of Indonesia stated that the declaration was unrepresentative of true feeling in the province.
Irian Jaya is a tropical island with primeval rain forests, powerful rivers, beautiful beaches, lakes, and mountains. The highest mountain is Mount Jayawijaya, with snowcaps covering its 5,000-meter-high peaks. The area is also rich in natural resources, including fish, timber, and precious metals. These, however ever, have become a source of conflict between the central government and local peoples.
West Irian Jaya is a hot, humid island rising from the sea with some of the most impenetrable jungles in the world and yet also has snowcaps covering 5,000meter – High Mountain peaks, towering over glacier lakes. West Irian Jaya is Indonesia’s largest and easternmost province and covers the western half of the world’s second largest island. It is a land of exceptional natural grandeur, with beautiful scenic beaches, immense stretches of marshlands, cool grassy meadows and powerful rivers carving gorges and tunnels through dark and dense primeval forests. The most heavily populated and cultivated parts of the island are the Paniai Lakes district and the Baliem Valley to the east.
The people of the island can be divided into more than 250 subgroup, which are closely related to the islands along the southern rim of the Pacific and include among others, the Marindanim, Yah’ray, Asmat, Mandobo, Dani and Afyat. Those in the central highlands still maintain their customs and traditions and because of the terrain have virtually been untouched by outside influences. Communications hove always been difficult here and different tribes have lived, for the most part, in isolation even of each other, resulting in an incredibly diverse mixture of cultures.
Day 1 : Sorong – Raja Ampat (by speedboat)
Day 2 : Raja Ampat Waiwo – (Hidden Bay) Kabui Islands
Day 3 : Raja Ampat (Waiwo) Trekking
Day 4 : Raja Ampat Saunek Monde diving
Day 5 : Raja Ampat Waiwo – Sorong
Day 1 : Wamena
Day 2 : Saltwater Source, mummy and Dani villages
Day 3 : Trekking through the southern Baliem Valley
Day 4 : Trek Mountain Sekan
Day 5 : Trekking Pugima Valley
Day 6 : drive to the Valley Pass, Kotilola cave and Meagaima mummy
Day 7 : Markets and villages
Day 8 : Baliem Valley
Day 9 : Pork Feast
Day 10: Balliem Rafting
Day 11 :Wamena – Jayapura
Day 12 : Jayapura – Transfer out
Day 01 : Arrival Timika
Day 02 : Timika – Agats (Asmat Area)
Day 03 : Agats – Asmat village
Day 04 : stay in Asmat Village
Day 05 : Asmat village – Senggo
Day 06 : Senggo – Basman
Day 07 : Basman – Koroway
Day 08 : Koroway Clan
Day 09 : Koroway Clan
Day 10 : Koroway Clan
Day 11 : Koroway – Yaniruma
Day 12 : Yahukimo – Jayapura
Day 13 : Sentani Lake Explore
Day 14 : Sentani – Base G beach
Day 15 : Transfer out