MelatiRaya

Great distance and rugged terrain separate the Yali area from Dani in the Baliem valley. The Yali people live in the virgin forest, glistening waterfall and rocky mountain terrain. The Yali people have a different language and dress than the Dani. They are shorter than Dani people and also different social structure. The men use “Koteka” or penis gourds with gyratory rattan their waist while women wear short skirts of grasses. The Yali people were cannibalism and closed to outsider before opened by Missionary in 1970’s. The local missionary introduced them to Christianity and taught Indonesia language. The missionary aircraft can charter to this area from Baliem valley with available from Monday to Friday or trek across the mountain tops for several days from Baliem valley.

THE BALIEM VALLEYS

Dani Warriors

The Baliem Valley it’s like an island in the sky. It was one of the most remarkable finds of this century in 1938 with American explorer flew his seaplane over the snow of Mountain Range. Today it’s known as the Baliem valley, a verdant and fertile upland valley set at, an altitude of over 1554 meters above sea level, about 60 km long and 16 km of wide and all encircled by mountain peaks.

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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.

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