Village Life in Baliem Gorge

We finally had a good nights rest. We felt more refreshed and more energized and were ready to further explore. I got up early and took in the views as we were high in the mountains above the clouds.



I then headed to the lodge which would be a nice place to hang out if they had not lied to us about their so called bar. Every time we entered the lodge there was this guy outside that would shake our hands and say "Wa" "Wa", the tribal greeting, and then would try and sell us some kind of pick ax. You would think that after three days he would have given up. But no way, it seemed like each time we arrived it was like the first time he met us.

Cool carvings and nice atmosphere, just missing a very critical component, and that is the liquid that belongs in those bottles.







I headed back to see if Kim and Riley were ready for breakfast.

To their credit this place does have very nice views.

Riley doing some vlogging.

Later on today we would be in for a real treat as we would eventually have hot running water. But hey we were having fun. We stunk but we were having fun.



Kim looking away from the window while Riley took a cold shower, sitting on one of the mattresses on the floor.

We then headed down for breakfast while we waited for Rufus. I discovered my new favorite fruit. Their version of passion fruit. This was so tasty and the texture was awesome, although a bit of an acquired experience. I loved it and ate 8-10 of these today. Kim and Riley were not as impressed.

Rufus picked us up and we headed out. The only car we could get had just two seats in back. So our driver and Rufus sat in front as the three of us squished in the back seat. We first passed the local garbage dump where the workers we busy today.

We would then be hiking to the village.





Looks like some poor bloke ran out of petro.





We than came across this bridge which was recently replaced. The old version failed, dropping the bodies into the river never to be found again. So we stepped lightly with a swift pattern.





We passed a few locals in route.

As the bridge did not collapse on us Riley posed for a picture.

We continued walking towards the village and enjoyed the views.

We then encountered some local villagers who were preparing lunch.

Yum, I bet it tastes like chicken.

We then hiked over the ridge giving us amazing views of the river and valley.

We finally reached the village and first came across their bee hives. They all seemed well bee-haved and no one got stung.

We first passed their "guard" house.

We then entered the village and news of our presence spread quickly.



Checking out a room they had for rent. Good price but they did not have running water either.

Some of the kids were out gathering firewood. Everyone has to help regardless of their age. In fact no one in these villages actually knows their age or birthday. It's just not a part of their life and maybe that's a good thing. If you don't know how old you are then maybe you don't feel as old as you are.

In the past when we have traveled to villages we normally bring candy for the kids, or in Myanmar the kids actually wanted notebooks and pens for school which was awesome. However, this is West Papau, and it is a bit rough around the edges. Here the kids wanted cigarettes. I guess that is another benefit of not knowing your age is that you don't have to wait until you are 18 in order to be able to smoke. So Rufus handed out some cigarettes.

We walked around the village exploring and talking with the people through Rufus. Not sure if kids were 3 or 30 as many of the people in West Papau were very short. Which made it easy for use to locate each other in crowds.





If you look closely you will see the girl in yellow texting and the girl in the stripped shirt smoking. So unfortunately the outside world is slowing making in roads and bringing all the garbage we have invented.

Riley was making some new friends.





But then the naughty boys arrived with their bad intentions.





I then asked Riley what it felt like to have your first cigarette in a remote village in West Papau. To which he replied that it was not his first cigarette and that quickly caught the attention of both his mother and I.

Some of the women were returning from the market.

They would cook today's meal, Al Fresco Lizard. Fortunately there was not enough for us to stay and have lunch.

All while the men relaxed and smoked.

We then said goodbye and continued hiking back.



Along the way Rufus had to ask for directions and I thought there is no way I can catch one of those lizards if I have to survive out here for a few days.

But we finally made it back to our four person car that was transporting five of us. We would head to a waterfall for a box lunch. At first I was a bit disappointed.

But then we came to the real waterfall. Rufus was very kind in not telling us that the real reason we had to go through a checkpoint and that there were police guards all around until after we left. Turns out a bunch of freedom fighters kidnapped some local people a few days ago. I'm just glad it happened before we got there because if they saw some white guys you probably would not be reading this blog.

We got back to our resort and enjoyed a nice glass of wine while overlooking the valley below. Well, that is would I would have liked to write, but instead I'm left with.... We got back to our resort and were pleased to find that we had running water. We then had some dinner and while we ordered the same thing we did the previous night it actually tasted quite different. But hey this was all part of the experience. We were looking forward to a second night in the same location and not only getting some rest but also further adjusting to the timezone.