Pearl of East Indonesia (Papua)

Irian Jaya or papua as it is now called a the largest province in Indonesia with Jayapura as a capital city. Irian jaya is situated directly north of Australia and constitutes half of the New Guinea island, the other half of which is Papua New Guinea. At the western end, the island sweeps up towards the Indonesian archipelago, and its shape has earned it the name of the “Bird’s Head”. The people of Irian Jaya and Papua New Guinea are ethnically Melanesian but are divided by an artificial border that was established last century and has led to dramatically different political situations in Papua New Guinea and Irian Jaya. Unlike many of the other Melanesian cultures, the Irianese have had relatively little contact with the outside world. Even those on the coast who were most accessible have only really had substantial contact in recent years.

In 2003, the western portion of the province, on the Bird’s Head Peninsula, was declared by the Indonesian Government as a separate province named West Papua ( Papua Barat ) . 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 resolved in 2003 with manokwari as a capital city.

List of Beautifull Places in Papua :
1. Sorong. Sorong is a coastal city and regency in Papua and has some beautiful islands.

2. Cape Of Cassuwary. Cape Of Cassuwary is a beautiful long and clean beach where there are kept plenty of exotic corals. It is also suitable for diving lovers. The distance from Sorong town is 3 km and can be reached by vehicles.

3. Crocodile Island. Crocodile Island is An island with slightly sloping beach, soft sand and pure water is very suitable for swimming and fishing. It is located 0.5 km across Sorong town and accessible by speed boat.

4. Kafiau Island. An island located in the middle of Dampir Waigeo Straits is very rich of sea biotics. Apart from its scenic nature, it has also an interesting and enchanting sea bottom that is very suitable for diving lo-vers. It is about 1.5 hours to reach by motor boat from Sorong town.

5. Matan Island. Matan Island is An island with various kinds of trees, soft sands and pure water is a place for bathing and fishing. It is accessile approximately 20 minutes from Sorong town by speed boat

6. Klaijili Hot Spring. Here is a hot spring found in Makbon District that is used to cure skin diseases. It is situated 60 km from Sorong town and reachable by vehicles.

7. The Raja Ampat Islands And Coral Tria-ngle. The Raja Ampat, or Four Kings,a archipelago encompasses more than 9.8 million acres of land and sea off the northwestern tip of Indonesias West Papua Province. Located in the Coral Triangle, the heart of the world’s coral reef biodiversity, the seas around Raja Ampat possibly hold the richest variety of species in the world. Four large islands of Waigeo, Batanta, Salawati, and Misool, plus hundreds of smaller islands area known as the Bird’s Head functional seascape, which also contains Cenderawasih Bay, the largest marine national park in Indonesia

8. Research Forest. This forest with many types of plants is used by the Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry of Cenderawasih University for research purposes. Situated seven kilometers from Manokwari town, it is accessible by motorcycle, car, or public transport.

9. IFAR GUNUNG - ArthurMcDouglas WW.II Base Camp. IFAR GUNUNG is a base camp of General Douglas Mc Arthur troops from United States when World War Second Allied Army landed at Papua. There is a monument stand at this site and is located at the slope of a hillside of mount cyclops, called IFAR GUNUNG.

10. Sentani Lake. At sentani lake you can see the greenery of Mountain Range, the tranquility of a crystal clear blue water, in near future i believe it would be a fascinating tourism spot at Jaya Pura .

11. Baliem Valley. The Baliem Valley is incredibly lush and fertile and is surrounded on all sides by towering peaks of 2,500 to 3,000 metres. The fertility is such that the valley has been farmed for 9,000 years but it was only discovered by westerners in 1938! There are three mains tribes inhabiting the Baliem Valley: The Dani in the base, the Lani to the west and the Yali in the south-east. Each tribe has a distinct culture. One sure and interesting way to distinguish between the tribes is from the Koteka, or penis gourd, sported by the male members. The men of each tribe tend to the growing of the gourds with the three tribes each cultivating a different style. The Dani use a long, thin Koteka, the Lani sport a medium sized, wide cannon-like gourd, and the Yali wear the longest of all.