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The trek itself lasted six days going up and down the highlands in the south of the Baliem valley in the area where the Dani live. Each night we stayed in a different village, in a traditional Dani hut or, in the school teacher guesthouse when this luxury was available. The Dani people spend their days rearing pigs and cultivating sweet potatoes.

I was surprised to see many elderly people in good shape--proof of a healthy lifestyle based on a simple but balanced diet, constant physical exercise required by the everyday field work and energetic walking on the steep foot paths, and finally by the altitude that is too high for Malaria to exist. However, today the infant mortality rate here is very high, despite the missionaries' medical support that is unfortunately available only in few of the most accessible villages.

Tribal "wars", once good-natured affairs almost exclusively triggered by dispute over women or pigs, are now a thing of the past, although some time to time real fights still occur. Today the Dani people take a real pleasure at dressing up in their colorful war gear, which is a great source of fun and pride aimed mostly at impressing not only their opponents but also their women! In one of the villages we went through, a fake war with about 40 warriors was organized. Taking photos alone in the middle of the "battlefield", I have to admit was rather alarming! A colorful pig feast involving the rest of the village followed the "battle". First the pig is killed with a bow and arrow and the fire prepared. A hole is dug in the ground and covered first by a layer of hot stones, then by the pig and finally by another layer of hot stones, leaves and sweet potatoes. The meat cooked in its own juices was delicious and the entire village tucked in! Today war games have replaced war, and cannibalism, common in the past among some tribes, has been outlawed. The last official case was reported by missionaries in 1988, but there are still unexplored areas where this custom probably persists.

There’s so much more to say about this trip, but I just want to give you a taste of what it was like and perhaps whet your appetite for a trip to the Baliem valley. What I will remember most about these ancient peoples is the way they look at you. I have a very strange feeling that some of them, especially the oldest, see beyond your physical appearance, penetrating a core that we in the "civilized" world have completely forgotten. I wish you the chance to live this unique and unforgettable experience