Since my arrival in Indonesia about four years ago, I had been planning a trek with other friends in the Baliem valley, but three times had to cancel it for one reason or another. When the news of my transfer to Saudi-Arabia arrived, my last chance before leaving Indonesia came in June 1999. June was good timing weather-wise as that month marks the start of the dry season, when little rain falls. Actually the weather is a critical parameter for such a trip as rains can turn footpaths in ferocious and dangerous rivers.

It was when I booked my Garuda flight that I first realized just how far Irian Jaya is from Jakarta; it takes one full night (with several stops) to get to Jayapura, Indonesia’s easternmost city. I decided not to book through a travel agent but instead to organize the trip locally by myself.

After landing in Jayapura, I headed off to the local police to apply for the travel papers I would need to show at Wamena airport and in any villages I visited in the Baliem area. Two days later, my travel documents were ready and I had organized the trek with a freelance Irianese guide I met at the airport (who proved to be an excellent choice). I also had to make sure I got a seat in the tiny Merpati Twin Otter plane that flies to Wamena on an unpredictable schedule in which both the number of passengers and the weather are a part of the equation. The following day, after a magnificent one-hour flight over the Irian jungle and the Baliem highlands, I finally arrived in Wamena with my guide. I spent a day there finding three porters and a cook (very important!) and buying the food and drinking water I would need. Finally a locally chartered minibus dropped our team at the foot of a mountain near the gorge of the Baliem valley and the adventure began.