Tours & packages
Culture tours in the Baliem Valley
- Bookable all year round with flexible duration
- Stay in the Baliem Valley Resort and discover the home of the Dani tribes in private excursions
- From/to Wamena airport, we take care of everything
- No hidden costs
- You prefer other excursions? Find the full list below ⬇︎
Baliem Valley Culture Tour
4 days/3 nights
On this trip in Papua you go on a hike in the authentic south of the Baliem Valley. You also attend a traditional pig festival, which is by far the most amazing experience of a trip to New Guinea.
Baliem Valley Culture Tour
5 days/4 nights
Same program as for the 4 days/3 nights.
Additionally, you visit Kotilola cave and take a scenic hike to see the mummy of Meagaima.
Baliem Valley Culture Tour
6 days/5 nights
Same program as for the 5 days/4 nights.
Additionally, you go on an excursion to Indonesia's highest altitude lake, Lake Habbema.
Baliem Valley Culture Tour
7 days/6 nights
Same program as for the 6 days/5 nights.
Additionally, you visit an ancient salt spring and see the famous mummy of Jiwika.
List of excursions around the Resort
- Choose from a total of 10 different day tours and customize your package
- Each tour with private vehicle, lunch, and personal local guide
- Free to combine - contact us for your individual program!
Tour 1: Traditional pig festival
Today is a very special day! After breakfast, we get ready to participate in a pig feast which takes place in a traditional Dani village. Many decorated people from the Dani tribe take part in the festival. Such pig feasts with hot stones and earth pits are probably the most interesting part of a trip to New Guinea. It is difficult to describe what exactly is so unique about these festivals because there is just too much happening at once. You have to see and experience it yourself. For lunch, there is a picnic but you can also eat the food from the traditional earth pit if you like. The freshly cooked pork and sweet potatoes are delicious! In the late afternoon, we return to the Resort.
The pig festival takes place in changing villages. Precise information on travel times cannot be provided. 1 hour walking. Guide included. Accommodation: The Baliem Valley Resort.
Tour 2: Sweet potato harvest ceremony and traditional cooking
Today you learn a lot about the daily life of the Dani people, especially about their food! After breakfast, we set off directly from the Resort for a short hike to a nearby Dani settlement. The beauty of the surrounding mountains is amazing and gives us a good feeling about the peacefulness of life here. Once we reach the settlement, we accompany several traditional Dani to the nearby sweet potato fields. We are introduced to the Dani way of farming as we harvest the different varieties of sweet potatoes. The sweet potato is the most important food for highland Papuans and the harvest is accompanied by a ceremony. Once our noken carry nets are filled, we continue our walk to a nearby mountain river. Here the vegetables are washed before being taken back to the village. Back in the village, we prepare the potatoes the traditional way by cooking them with hot stones in an earthen pit. The whole village comes together to enjoy the freshly harvested sweet potatoes. After sharing the meal, we walk back to the resort on a scenic trail through pristine mountain terrain. A beautiful day, and all without a vehicle and only on foot.
1-2 hours of walking. A day without car. Local guide included. Accommodation: The Baliem Valley Resort. Meals: full board
Tour 3: Easy hiking in the southern Baliem Valley and encounter with the Dani people
Today we visit the southern Baliem Valley. We start our easy hike in the village of Sogogmo and we follow the mighty Baliem River. We cross suspension bridges, walk through Dani settlements, meet the locals and see them working in their terraced fields and wild sugar cane groves. For lunch, we enjoy a picnic with a magnificent view over the river and the narrow valley. We walk back on the other side of the river, passing more Dani fields and settlements, before we meet our driver again. In the late afternoon we are back at the Resort.
Transportation: 2 hours of drive. 4 hours hiking. Guide included. Accommodation: The Baliem Valley Resort.
Tour 4: The impressive Kotilola cave and the Meagaima mummy
After breakfast we drive to the famous Kotilola Cave with its gigantic stalactites and stalagmites. The cave has collapsed in some places, which favours lush vegetation. With the torch you can go a little deeper into the cave until you reach an underground river. There are also a lot of bats living here. After visiting the cave, we drive along the Baliem River until we get off at a small village. Here we are taken one by one across the river in a canoe. Once on the other side, we visit the village of Meagaima, where there is also one of the very rare chief’s mummies to see. The mummy here is rarely visited due to its remoteness. Of course there is also time for a short rest in one of the local huts. From the village we take a beautiful walk through the Dani gardens until, after about two hours, we reach a suspension bridge that takes us back to the other side of the river where our vehicle is waiting for us.
Transportation: 2 hours of drive. 3-4 hours walking. Local guide included. Accommodation: The Baliem Valley Resort. Meals: full board.
Tour 5: Excursion to Lake Habema, the highest lake in all of Indonesia
After an early breakfast, we drive to Lake Habema. The savannah-like landscape of the Baliem Valley gives way to fantastic mountain rainforests with monstrous tree ferns and screw pines, covered with moss, lichens and climbing plants. At 3.200 metres, Lake Habema is located on a large high moor, surrounded by enchanting meadows full of dwarf cypresses, rhododendrons and many species of orchids. A very unique flora! The lake is historically of certain importance, as the first explorers used it to land with seaplanes and then trek towards the Baliem Valley. We enjoy a picnic by the lake and if the sun is shining, we have a spectacular view over the Trikora mountain summit. Then, we go for a walk along the lake and you can even go for a cold swim! We are back to the Resort in the afternoon.
Transportation: 4 hours of drive. 2 hours walking. Guide included. Accommodation: The Baliem Valley Resort.
Tour 6: Easy hike to the Sekan mountain and through remote Dani villages
In the morning we set out on a hike to the summit of the nearby Sekan mountain range (about 2,400 metres). The summit area is characterized by huge rock slabs. From here we follow the ridge down to the Baliem Valley. From both sides of the mountain range we have spectacular views of the southern Baliem Valley and the Siepkosi Valley. Once we reach the base of the mountain, we hike through a side valley back to the Resort. On the way we pass some traditional villages and fields. Here we join the traditional Dani people to harvest a local delicacy, the Buah Merah from the pandanus tree. For lunch we stay in the village and enjoy the freshly cooked Buah Merah. We continue our hike and pass through beautiful vegetation with many different flowers, orchids, carnivorous plants, mosses, lichens, tree ferns and pine trees. We return to the Resort in the late afternoon.
3- 4 hours hiking (+400m). A day without car. Local guide included. Accommodation: The Baliem Valley Resort. Meals: full board.
Tour 7: Hike to a Dani salt water spring and visit of the famous Jiwika Mummy
Today we drive to the village of Jiwika where we meet local Dani women of the Dugum clan who escort us to their salt water spring. Together, we hike through a fairy-tale mountain rainforest to reach the hidden spring. Up there, they show us the old techniques of salt gathering. Then we all enjoy a picnic before hiking down to the village and admire the 300 years old mummy of the clan. Seated in the men’s house, it is still decorated with its godeka and hair ornaments. It is a popular place because such mummies are very rare and usually difficult to see. Return to the Resort in the afternoon.
Transportation: 2 hours of drive. 2-3 hours hiking (+500m). Guide included. Accommodation: The Baliem Valley Resort.
Tour 8: Visit of the surrounding Dani villages and local market
Today, we visit a large local market near Wamena. Every day hundreds of Dani tribesmen gather here to sell their products, especially traditional handicrafts such as stone axes, grass fiber nets, bows and arrows. For lunch, we enjoy a picnic by the river surrounded by a beautiful landscape. From there, we drive to a traditional suspension bridge which is the starting point of our short walk to a nearby Dani hamlet. We spend some time with the villagers before returning to The Baliem Valley Resort.
Transportation: 4 hours of drive. 1 hour of walking. Guide included. Accommodation: The Baliem Valley Resort.
Tour 9: Visit of the western part of the Baliem Valley
In the morning, we drive to the western side of the Baliem Valley and we stop by the big indigenous market of Wamena. The landscape in the west is very different from the eastern side. It is dominated by expansive grassland landscapes and we occasionally pass tall acacia forest. During this sightseeing tour, we also visit the bigger market towns of Elagaima and Kimbim. Depending on the weather and the state of the road, we take a trip to the cone-shaped Magi Mountain in the Pyramid region where we can enjoy a stunning view of the western part of the Baliem River. We find a place to have our picnic for lunch. Then, we take a leisurely drive back to The Baliem Valley Resort.
Transportation: 4-5 hours of drive. 1 hour walking. Guide included. Accommodation: The Baliem Valley Resort.
Tour 10: Easy hike to the populated Pugima Valley
In the morning, we drive to the Siepkosi church. From here, we start an easy hike to the Pugima Valley. On the way there we pass the site where the Yuan River comes to the surface in a large cave full of stalactites and stalagmites. The fertile Pugima Valley is densely populated with large gardens and fields cultivated by the highland Papuans. Around noon, we reach the Baliem River in the Wesaput region where we have our outdoor picnic. We walk back to our car, crossing another suspension bridge and Dani settlements. We are back to The Baliem Valley Resort in the afternoon.
Transportation: 2 hours of drive. 2-3 hours walking. Guide included. Accommodation: The Baliem Valley Resort.