Raja Ampat is heaven for diver where new discoveries are made every day, under the water and below the water. Raja Ampat is a 43.000 km2 island and has more than 610 islands, located at the west-side of Papua, Irian Jaya and its famous for diving. Here you can find more than 540 types of reefs, 1000 type of reef’s fish, and 750 types of mollusk. It means, Raja Ampat offer 75% of world’s reef. “Healthy with unusual reef structure dive spot with the most diverse marine” is the best way to express the beauty of Raja Ampat. Here you’ll witness other unique species such us pigmy seahorse, webbegong, manta ray and endemic fish called eviota raja (king eviota).

One of the best spot is Chicken Reef; you’ll surrounded by thousand of fish, bamboo shark and snappers. There just too many species to be named in Raja Ampat, just come and experience all the glories of Raja Ampat. One of the most breathtaking diving experiences is the encounter with school of barracuda (an expert assistance will be needed in certain diving spot), reef shark, and tortoise shell. In certain dive spot like Salawati, Batanta and Waigeo you could find Dugong or mermaid.  

Raja Ampat offers you another cutting edge experiences except the under water habitat, the above water view, beautiful sunset The four main island offer you a world class diving spot and reefs

• Waigeo Island

• Misool Island

• Salawati Island

• Batanta Island

Getting There

• Take 6 hours flight from Jakarta toward Sorong via Menado. Flight serves every day (please check to specify the flight schedules)

• 2 hour flight from Manado to Sorong is by jet, extra luggage is allowed

• To access the dive spot please contact and use the professional diving organizer

• Domestic flight served by Silk Air, Garuda Indonesia, Pelita Air and Merpati

• To enter Papua you need to have passport photo page, 3 Copies of the passport page with the Indonesian Visa)

Where to Stay

You may choose 3 alternatives where to stay during your visit to Raja Ampat:

• Hotel (star or budget) in the city

• Sorido Bay Resort famous for the house reef

• Kri Eco Resort is a traditional resort built over the water

• Island camp

Moving Around

• Pinisi Boat as one of the Indonesian traditional boat

• You may rent small boat if you wish to make a personal escape a long the line of the beaches

Dining Guide

• Dining are prepared by diving organizer, from international menu to local traditional food made fresh by local people

• Try Sup Ikan (fish soup)

• Sea food

Souvenir Tips

Many divers said that the best souvenir ever after visit Raja Ampat is the stories/experiences to tell, other wise if you wish to have other souvenirs for your own or to be given to your friends, this stuff will be perfect

• Asmat sculptures

• Traditional cloths

• Tifa and other traditional music instruments

 Other Things to See or Do

• Raja Ampat is a famous place for under water photography and here you can shot a perfect picture of under water life. It’s supported not only by the richness of the habitat but also the flat sea wave

• Wreck diving

• Sailing

• Kayaking

• Explore the islands by boat

• Visit the Red Bird of Paradise

• Explore bat cave

• Make your own wood sculpture guided by Asmat artist

• Fishing using traditional Papuan technique

• Trekking to discover waterfall

• Feeding couscous

• Snorkeling

Travel Tip

• Oct/Nov is the best season for diving the area because the sea wave is typically flat and it’s perfect for photograph

• Bring your under water camera, because you wont let all the under water beauty pass without capture your experiences

• For beginner  please take a course first on how to dive and shot picture

• To organize your travel you can arrange it using travel agent’s services in Indonesia

• Sun block, sunscreen and hat are required

• Bring your own anti-malarial medicine

Come, See and Listen to nature beat-up of Mentawai, soon you will find the heart and soul of Mentawai relief your life.  

The Place and the People

Located in the middle of Indian Ocean, 150 km and takes 9 hours trip from Padang, West Sumatra-Mentawai glowing with all the nature spirits and make it an extraordinary escaping spot from a hectic life. Mentawai is the natural habitat for 16 endemic species, and some of them categorized as endangered species e.g. Simakobu monkey (simias concolor-eat leaf as primary food).  The present life of Mentawai people categorized as the legacy from Neolithic era and they have a strong believe in nature spirit, for their life strongly affected by nature. They believe that nature is the center of life. All the genuine attributes make Mentawai a perfect place to gain cultural experiences; here you will notice a very fascinating and indigenous culture, like traditional cloths, art, music and the way of life.

The entire culture attributes strongly reflects their respect to nature. Tattoo is one of the most important symbol for Mentawai people, its reflect maturity, manhood and status. The art of this body painting inherit from their ancestor. The tattoo’s ink naturally made from leaf.  Among the surfers, Mentawai is the best place to fill their demand for challenges and nature’s beauty. The beaches offer one of the highest wave in the world, 3 to 4 meters, totally challenge your gut.

Once you grounded your self in this hidden Paradise Island, next you will paddle out to the world’s best surf. “Don’t call your self Surfer if you haven’t ride Mentawai’s waves” said most of the surfer to expressed their surfing experiences in Mentawai There are four ultimate diving spot here in Mentawai ,Siberut, Sipora, Pagai Utara (north Pagai) and Pagai Selatan (south Pagai).

You can find great waves here year round, but the best waves are during dry season, March to October.  Make sure you have the gut to explore all the glassy waves, because the best way to entitled your surfing experiences remarkable is through finding your own. 

How to get there

• Take flight from Sukarno Hatta air port, Jakarta to Tabing air port, Padang-west Sumatra (flight served every day)

• Trip from Teluk Bayur port, Padang to Mentawai island by Ferry

Where to Stay

Lot of visitors said, that the best housing to stay is the local people house. Offer you a distinctive way of living in a unique architecture and experience interacting with local people. Other wise you could stay in a budget hotel in Siberut

Moving Around

To access all the beauties offered, you can use boat owned by local people. You can find the boat a long the beach and the rate depend on your bargaining power

Dining Guide

Boost your taste with exotic and fresh sea foods that you can found in the local restaurants run by local people. If you are lucky enough, you can pick and cook your own sea food, but make sure you know the secret recipe/spices from Mentawai’s people. For those who are not sea food lover, you can find regular meals for your dining.

Souvenir Tips

Local hand made souvenirs like traditional hats; traditional bag and accessories will be genuine souvenirs for your relatives and friends. You can buy it in a souvenirs shop or buy it from local people directly.

Other Things to See or Do

Beach Activities        

• Surfing

• Diving

• Snorkeling

Cultural Activities      

• Learn how to perform the Traditional dances (war dance and gratitude to nature)

• Traditional ceremonies

• Mentawai is one of the best place to conduct an Ethnographic study since its one of the oldest tribe in Indonesia

Ecotourism Activities

As the habitat for rare primate, the natural rain forest of Mentawai will be the perfect place for research or other educational purpose. Here, you can conduct research about

• Snub-nosed monkey/Simakobu (Simias concolor)-monkey family eat leaf as primary food

• Joja or Lutung Mentawai (Presbytis potenziani) easily identified for the long tail, white face and black hair head

• Bokkoi atau Beruk Mentawai (Macaca pagensis)

• Kloss Gibbon/Bilou atau Siamang Kerdil (Hylobates klossii) – famous for the beautiful voice, different compared to general monkey

Travel Tips

• Nature and culture come to be understood and respected

• Bring your own surf board with you, because its may hard to find surf board shop in Mentawai

• You may arrange your travel using the local travel agent in Indonesia

• great wave can be find year round, but best wave is during dry season March to October

• Bring your personal medicine

• You may arrange your visit by contact the travel agent and airline services in Indonesia 

Have you ever imagine, that there is creature who can smile, a real smile with decent facial expression, and obviously they act like human being. Well, they all are hairy all over the body. People call it the Orang Utan (forest man)

Bukit Lawang might be one of the best place to meet this exclusive and unique primate. Bukit Lawang is one of the largest stronghold community of Orang Utan. Bukit Lawang situated at the eastern side of Gunung Leuser National Park, leap with the track of Sungai Bohorok, Medan. With more than 5000 orang utans occupied the jungle, Bukit Lawang considered as the house of the enormous orang utan by the visitor.

Bukit  Lawang founded in the early of 1973, set up to preserve the decreasing number of orang utan as the negative result of hunting, orang utan trading and etc. The rehabilitation center helps the orang utans to re-gain their nature habits and trained through certain programs before released to the wild. Once the primate heads the jungle, the rehabilitation center keep provide them with supplement and regular check-up.

 If you wish to feed the orang utan directly, there are 2 feeding times 08.30 am and 3.00 pm; you could feed them with milk, bananas and other food supplements supplied by the rehabilitation center. All the activities within the Gunung Leuser National Park should be done under the permit and guide by professional provide by the rehabilitation center. Some visitor argued that the regulations is way too strict and stiff, but the rehabilitation center excuses that the wrong contact by human could harm the orang utan. 

Getting There

Air

Daily international flights are available, flight from Medan to Singapore, Malaysia. The domestic flight hook up Medan to Jakarta, Aceh, Pekan Baru, Padang, Batam and Pontianak. You can arrange your flight through the airline services listed below:

• Garuda Indonesia (www.garuda-indonesia.com)

• Jatayu Airlines (www.jatayuairlines.co.id)

• Air Asia (www.airasia.com)

• Adam Air (www.flyadamair.com)

• Silk Air (www.silkair.com) 

Bus

Get to Pinang Baris bus terminals (located at Jalan Gatot Subroto) by taxy from the airport and then take the frequent public bus to Bukit Lawang for 3 hours tripIf you traveling in group or wish for something more convenient ambience instead of the public bus, you can rent car that arrange trip through most of the main tourist destination. National Car Rent (+624157744) which located at Jl. Balai Kota 2 is a good alternative for car rental 

Where to Stay

Most of the hotels in Bukit Lawang run by the local citizens. Here are alternatives to stay in during your visit to Bukit Lawang

• Bukit Lawang Eco Lodge (+628126079983), an eco-friendly lodging situated in the forest
• Nora’s Homestay & Restaurant (+62813620706561), situated on the rice field side and the materials are dominated by bamboo huts
• Wisma Leuser SibayakWisma Bukit Lawang Indah
• Indrah Valley
• Garden Inn
• Jungle Inn 

Moving Around

On fOOT?

Dining Guide

Most of the hotels have restaurants, so you can ask the owner to provide your meal. Along the river, there are some small cafes with chill surrounding; here you can have fruit salad, nasi goreng and snacks. Local pizza also available at Tony’s restaurant 

Souvenir Tips 

Visit the souvenir shops near the Bohorok river 

Other Things to See or Do

Trekking

Over night trekking is the major tourists’ favorite. Most people choose to have a two days treakking in order to have the chance to witness the Orang Utans and other unique creature n their habitat. Every single trekking activity should be guided by professional to prevent notorious event that might be occurred in the wild. Make sure to inform the guide if you have special interest to specific flora or fauna before trekking.Guide rates are including basic meals, guide fees, permit and camping equipment

Ask your guide to visit the bat cave

Jungle Hiking

Bukit  Lawang emerge as one of alternative-not to be missed. Leave at the earliest morning so you can have the chance to experience the wild lifeRafting at Sungai BohorokRide the Sungai Bohorok rapids using tubes. This activity should be done under the assistance of guide, the stream can be extremely tough and strong. 

Travel Tips

To soak the entire Bukit Lawang’s beauties, make sure you are in your best healthy, fit and well prepared because the Sumatran jungle is not an easy path

• Bring along mosquito & leech revolting

• Sunscreen and mineral water supply are highly recommended 

• Make sure you wear special shoes with grip, since the ground is always slippery

• Long sleeves and long pants are considered as the best outfit to conquer the jungle fiesta, unless you think that you can outshine Tarzan

• Heavy rains are mostly downpour at the afternoon; please bring your rain jacket and a water resistant bag to keep your items.

• Do not litter, make sure to collect your trash, any type of trash.

• Don’t feed the animal

Others:

• For more info please visit www.bukitlawangtrust.org 

• Bukit Lawang Visitor Centre, open from 08.00 am – 15.00 pm

• PHKA Ranger Station open from 07.00 – 15.00 pm

• PHKA permit office

• Bukit Lawang Guide Association

Nayak Lak!

A warm greeting from the Dani people to all of you.

Baliem Valley (Lembah Baliem) spotted as the most popular destination in Papua, rich with indigenous culture features which offer extraordinary cultural experiences. Baliem valley inhabits by several tribes but grouped together under the same identity called “Dani”. Each of the tribe speaks in different type of language and dialect; not forget to mention that each of the tribe distinguishable by their genuine clothes and way of life.

Once you read or give it a deeper study to Dani’s way of life, don’t be surprise that you may find your eye lifting or forehead wrinkling. Why? Because the Dani is uniquely amazing.

The Dani men and women sleep separately in different honai (Dani’s traditional house). The men sleep grouped in one honai, while the women and children slumber in another honai. As descended from their ancestor, sex is taboo for the women after giving birth, for 2 or 5 years; as the result the Dani generated healthier kids since the women focus on babysitting the kids during the most important phase of growth. This situation makes the men vulnerable to polygamy, it’s a true fact of life that the Dani men are allowed to have more than 1 wife or as many as he can afford. A man should give 4-5 pigs to the girl’s parent he wants to marry. For Dani men, his social status are initiated by the number of wives and pigs he has. However, monogamy is getting popular for Dani people as the pressure of missionaries around the valley.

Another remarkable   custom of Dani is that women will amputate their finger when their relatives die; hence doesn’t be surprise when you see women with missing finger.

To enhance the quality of your experience in Baliem Valley, guide is essential since there are no clear maps or signage initiated for visitor. The guide will help to lead the track, communicate with the local people and in advance, the guide will inform the tourist about local do’s and don’ts.

Getting There

Flying might be the only way to access the Baliem Valley through Wamena. Here are some alternatives on carrier from jayapura to Wamena: (For further info, ask the officers at Sentani Airport Information Center)

• Trigana Air Services provide daily flights into and out of Wamena. Spot the Trigana Air Service Offices at Sentani Airport terminal and Wamena Airport terminal
• MAF
• AMA
• Yajasi
• Manunggal Air
• Hercules carrier provide by Indonesian army (TNI)

To access Baliem Valley, you can rent car or public bus from Wamena.

Where to Stay

For those who are adventurer and cultural observer in heart, stay and mingle with the Baliem Valley people is possible, just make sure your guide booked it before your visit. “Go Show”? Affordable.

If the first alternative is way too extreme, you can stay at hotels at Wamena:

• Wamena Hotel at Jl. Homhom 61
• Srikandi Hotel at Jl. Irian 16
• Pondok Wisata Putri Dani at Jl. Irian 40
• Nayak Hotel at Jl. Gatot Subroto 63
• Hotel Syah Rial Makmur at Jl. Gatot Subroto 45
• Hotel Anggrek at Jalan Ambon 1
• Baliem Pilamo Hotel at Jalan Trikora
• Baliem Valley Resort (3 star resort) – www.baliem-valley-resort.de

Moving Around

Would you mind if we say “ON FOOT”? – Healthy foot and fit body? Absolutely. Through trekking, you can witness traditional ceremonies, traditional markets and the people of Dani.

Dining Guide

There is no restaurant inside the Baliem Valley – a guide could bargain the Dani people to provide simple meals. It’s stoutly advised, that the visitor bring their own meals and snack during the trekking. Meals and snacks can be found in grocery store at Wamena

Souvenir Tips

• Souvenir can be easily found on the valley and buy the crafts directly from the Dani people
• Stone blade is a major favorite for the tourist
• Sekan; rattan bracelate
• Noken ; made from tree’s bark
• Head and arm necklace
• Jogal; grass skirt
• And other head decorations

Other Things to See or Do

• The captivating Baliem Fiesta is held on August around 10 – 17 August every year. The festival performs traditional dances, pig races, ancestral fighting and races. Today, Baliem Fiesta is one of the main reasons why tourists visit Papua. “It’s a magical Fiesta” says most of the tourist
• Join the large and busy local market at Sinatma
• Spotting mummies at Kurulu Village

  Travel Tips

• Guide is needed to explore the valley
• Don’t forget to bring the copy of your Surat Keterangan Jalan
• Best time to visit is between March and August
• If you travel during the rainy season, be prepared with cold weather equipment
• Ask your guide about Do’s and Don’ts in the Baliem Valley

Others

Foreigner must obtain a travel permit letter or known as Surat Keterangan Jalan to get the access into the interior part of Papua. You can obtain the Surat Keterangan Jalan at main town police station such as Jayapura, merauka, Timika, Biak, Nabire, Monokwari and other main city. The permit of lasts will depend on your request, from 1 week until 1 month or even longer. Please prepare copies of your passport, recent photograph and list of places you wish to visit. It’s easy to get the Surat Keterangan Jalan, because the officers are friendly and helpful.

You can ask your travel agent to arrange the Surat Keterangan Jalan.

Further Reading:

www.papua-adventures.com

The wORLD’S bEST ISLAND Award based on:

WBA 2007 Survey Methodology A questionaire developed by the editors of Travel+Leisure, is association with Harris Interactive, was made available to Travel+Leisure subscribers at www.tlworldbest.com during the 1st quarter of this year. Respondents reported where they had traveled worldwide, and rated only destinations, properties and companies that were relevant to their recent travel experiences. The Complete survey is available in the August issue of Travel+Leisure, and online at www.travelandleisure.com/worldbest/2007/ 

1. Natural Attractions

2. Activities/Sight

3. Restaurants/Food

4. People

5. Value 

TOP 10 Island OverallRank 2007/Name/Score

1. Bali-Indonesia 86.30

2. Maui 86.22 :: Call me stupid but i ain’t got any idea about this island

3. Kauai 85.92 :: Where the hell this island?

4. Galapagos Islands 85.92

5. Santorini 85.82

6. Vancouver Island 85.17

7. Dalmatian Islands-Croatia 85.15 ::: are they dotted like the 101 Dalmatians?

8. Phuket-Thailand 84.56

9. Hawaii 84.40

10. Great Barrier Reef Islands 83.70    

To all of you Guys, you’re more than welcome to visit our country Indonesia and hope y’all will find something brand new to brighten-up your life here in Indonesia. Seriously, U should visit Indonesia before you die stop breathin’

Pack your bag and your passport please