Hi, everyone! This week, I’m excited to take you on the Baliem Valley Festival budget tour! The Baliem Valley Festival is an annual cultural festival celebrated in Wamena, Papua, Indonesia.
During the festival, which is held every August, various Papuan tribes will present simulations of war between them, their daily life, and dances.
Get ready for an unforgettable experience, meeting various tribes of Papua with their interesting (and au naturel) makeup, accessories, and performances 🤩 🤩 🤩
This is a cultural trip that I’ve been dreaming of since the Covid lockdown. However, I only managed to go there this year because I found a tour that suited my budget.
Baliem Valley Festival Budget Tour, How Much Is It?
Did you know? The Baliem Valley Festival is very popular among Western travellers! This year, we had people flew all the way from Denmark, Ireland, Scotland, etc to Papua, Indonesia.
We had travellers from China and Korea too, by the way!
Because of many interests from the West, some Baliem Valley Festival tours are quoted in USD, Euro, and Pound sterling. Of course, the price is very expensive!
I saw a foreign company sold the Baliem Valley Festival tour package for around RM4,000 (1k USD) per person for 2 travellers, while solo travellers had to pay a whopping RM8,000 (2k USD) 😱 😱 😱
Please note that the return flight tickets to Wamena are also expensive during the festival season 🥲
So, I kept this cultural festival at the bottom of my bucket list… until I found a Baliem Valley Festival budget tour, organised by Pesona Indo, an Indonesian budget tour company.
To be fair, some Baliem Valley Festival tours may cost more because they offer better accommodation (i.e. hotels/resorts). As for me, I was happy with my comfortable guest house and delicious food.
So, how much did I spend on the trip with Pesona Indo?
Return flight from Kuala Lumpur + 5D4N Baliem Valley Festival budget tour + pocket money
RM3,000 (~675 USD) + RM4,000 (~890 USD) + RM700 (~160 USD)
= RM7,700 (around 1,735 USD)
WHAAAAT?? That amount for a 5D4N budget tour in Indonesia? Is it a scam? Does the authority intentionally mark up the price for the festival??? 👀 👀 👀
The answer is NO.
There are some reasons why it costs a lot to attend the Baliem Valley Festival, even if you join a budget tour:
- Flight tickets to remote places in Indonesia (like Papua) are way more expensive compared to common cities like Bali, Jakarta, and Medan
- Due to the remote location, food and daily necessities have to be flown to Papua by airplanes = high price
- Hotels/resorts/guest houses price is more expensive during the festival
- The tribes come from far places for the festival. For example, the Yali tribe took 1 week from their village on top of a hill to the festival arena, transported by truck
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Baliem Valley Festival and Photography
If you love photography or are a professional photographer, the Baliem Valley Festival is an event you shouldn’t miss.
Remember to bring extra batteries, light reflectors, etc. that you need! The recommended zoom-in lens is minimum 70-200mm.
What if I’m not a professional photographer? Is it worth it?
If you love culture and unique experiences (like me), you’ll also enjoy this festival. I felt this Baliem Valley Festival budget tour was worth it because I didn’t see things like THIS…
Or THIS…
…in my daily life. Oh, I also loved Papuas’ nature, villages, and friendly children!
It was such a memorable and humbling experience… I felt even more grateful for the city life that I enjoy 🙏 🙏 🙏
If you ask about my photography skills, my Baliem Valley Festival photos are on the ‘documentation’ level. Plus, look at my Flinstone-age DSLR compared to my friends’ cameras! 😂😂😂
However, the most important thing is to enjoy the live performances and interact with the tribes.
Even if you only use your mobile phone, no problem! My Japanese friend, Shusaku, mostly used his iPhone for his Baliem Valley Festival photography:
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Click below to WhatsApp chat with the tour operator:
CLARA10
Use CLARA10 when you contact pesonaindo.com and epic.pesonaindo.com
🌏 International tours: Get 15% off when you use CLARA15 and checkout at onelifeadventures.com
There’s no need to feel intimidated by others’ cameras or compare your photography skills with them.
Actually, even some professional photographers don’t compare themselves to each other. They’re satisfied with their work and don’t care what others think.
In this blog, I’ll share my honest opinion for you to see if you’re interested in attending the Baliem Valley Festival with a budget tour 😊🌿✨
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Baliem Valley Festival Budget Tour – Arrival, Lunch, Check In to the Guest House
It took me not only financial dedication in budgeting for this trip, but also the long flight. Getting to Wamena for the Baliem Valley Festival was quite an effort.
I had three flights (one way): Kuala Lumpur – Jakarta – Jayapura – Wamena.
I’m glad that it was worth it! I met the other members and the Baliem Valley Festival budget tour organiser at the Sentani airport, Jayapura.
My tour group consisted of Sumi (Indonesian), Larissa and Camila (Brazilians), Shusaku (Japanese), me, Rizky the tour organiser of Pesona Indo (Indonesian), and his friend Ridwan (Indonesian).
The other two Indonesian women, Sophie and Elizabeth, were already at the festival arena.
Then, we took a small airplane from Jayapura to Wamena together. Oh ya, the return domestic flight Jayapura – Wamena was included in the tour.
After we landed in Wamena, we went to a small restaurant for lunch. The restaurant served various Indonesian food and they were delicious, especially the sambal!
We were free to order any food and drink – it’s included in the budget tour.
Then, we checked into our accommodation, Putri Dani Hotel (the name is ‘hotel’ but it’s actually a guesthouse). Although it’s an open trip, I was lucky to get a room for myself! 😇
We only put our bags in the room and headed to the festival. We reached the festival at around 2:30pm and it started to rain. Double luck, the rain didn’t last long 😇😇
🇮🇩 10% OFF ALL INDONESIA TOURS! 🇮🇩
Click below to WhatsApp chat with the tour operator:
CLARA10
Use CLARA10 when you contact pesonaindo.com and epic.pesonaindo.com
🌏 International tours: Get 15% off when you use CLARA15 and checkout at onelifeadventures.com
If you wish to attend the Baliem Valley Festival Day 1 in the morning, you can talk to the tour organiser, so he can arrange a pre-tour accommodation for you.
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Baliem Valley Festival Budget Tour – Arrived at the Festival Arena
Among many videos I took at the Baliem Valley Festival, this is one of the few I HOPE is decent enough for YouTube. Please don’t remove this video… I want to show it to my readers 🙏🙏🙏
As you can see from the video above, the Baliem Valley Festival arena is like a football field. There are tribunes where you can sit to watch the performance and rest.
There are two types of tribunes:
- VIP tribune – for VIP guests like ministers, etc. and has individual chairs
- Normal tribune – for travellers, with wooden, long chairs
If you want to take nice photos, stand near the VIP tribune because the performances are held right in front of the VIP tribune.
At the Baliem Valley Festival, you’re free to roam the arena. Whether you want to watch the performances or roam the arena to take photos with the tribes, it’s up to you.
When you’re tired, you can sit anywhere you want at the normal tribune (free seating).
In my case, the drivers usually sit at a certain place with our mineral water. You can ask them to look for your things for a while.
Proper toilets (squatting-style closets) are available in and outside the arena for a small fee, 10k rupiah.
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Tipping and Photography Etiquette at The Baliem Valley Festival
At The Baliem Valley Festival, you can take unlimited photos of the performance for free. If the tribes are dancing in a group outside of the performance area, it’s also free.
Candid photos are also free 😉 For example:
But if you want to take photos with some tribes/children or ask them to be your models, you must tip them per person.
For example, you want to take photos with five women. Then you must tip all five women separately. Don’t give 1 big note then ask them to divide among themselves.
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Click below to WhatsApp chat with the tour operator:
CLARA10
Use CLARA10 when you contact pesonaindo.com and epic.pesonaindo.com
🌏 International tours: Get 15% off when you use CLARA15 and checkout at onelifeadventures.com
So, before you reach the festival, make sure you have small changes like 10k, 20k, or 50k rupiah. Usually, 10k rupiah (less than 1 USD) is okay.
Some examples of tipping-based Baliem Valley Festival photos:
Tipping the tribes who are roaming at The Baliem Valley Festival is common. Moreover, if you want them to stand somewhere, pose like ABC, or have a certain expression, you should give a bigger tip.
If you come with a photography group and have 1 model, then each of you has to tip the model.
Why do I have to tip them when I’ve already paid for the tour?
The Papuan tribes, who only have enough to live, think professional photographers could make money from their Baliem Valley Festival photos. But what’s for them…?
Therefore, they ask for a tip as an appreciation. On the bright side, think of it as a donation to the locals!
The Baliem Valley Festival ended at around 3:30pm. Afterward, we returned to our guest house, had some free time, and went for dinner at a nearby restaurant.
The restaurant we went to served Western, Chinese, and Indonesian food. We ordered many a la carte foods to share, like various types of chicken, vegetables, soups, fried rice, etc…
The downside was, sometimes we had to wait for a long time for the food to arrive. This was because, on regular days, there were not many tourists, so restaurants didn’t hire many workers.
But during The Baliem Valley Festival, suddenly there were many tourists and orders, so it took a long time to cook and serve the food.
Although I joined a Baliem Valley Festival budget tour, I felt the budget part was only the guest house.
There were not many big restaurants or hotels in Wamena, anyway. The festival only ran for three days + one extra day to visit a traditional village.
So, staying at a guest house for four nights was okay. As long as the guest house is clean, no problem!
Okay, so this 5D4N Baliem Valley Festival budget tour with Pesona Indo includes:
- 5D4N stay at a guest house, Putri Dani Hotel
- Domestic return flight tickets (Jayapura – Wamena – Jayapura)
- Visit The Baliem Valley Festival x3 days (the festival is only held for 3 days)
- Visit a mummy of a Dani tribe (private hours with unlimited photography, without tipping)
- Visit Obia traditional village + retribution fee (private hours with unlimited photography, without tipping)
- Visit a traditional market
- Visit Pasir Putih Akima (Wamena lookout point)
- Visit Napua Hill (Wamena lookout point)
- See Cultural Carnival in town
- Breakfast, lunch, dinner
- Bottled mineral water (daily)
- Entrance tickets
- Local tour guide
- Private driver + car + petrol
The price for 5D4N Baliem Valley Festival budget tour is around RM4,000 (~890 USD) for a group of 5 people. The bigger the group, the cheaper the price will be.
This is an open trip, so solo travellers will be paired with other solo travellers of the same gender (1 room 2 people).
If you want to go with your own group, i.e. a photography group, you can request a private/customised trip. The best thing is, the tour price for Indonesians and foreign travellers is the same!
Oh ya, one important thing to note: during The Baliem Valley Festival, all accommodations in Wamena are usually fully booked. So, make sure you book the tour early (maximum in January).
🇮🇩 10% OFF ALL INDONESIA TOURS! 🇮🇩
Click below to WhatsApp chat with the tour operator:
CLARA10
Use CLARA10 when you contact pesonaindo.com and epic.pesonaindo.com
🌏 International tours: Get 15% off when you use CLARA15 and checkout at onelifeadventures.com
Alright, I hope you enjoy reading my Baliem Valley Festival budget tour – Day 1 with Pesona Indo. Stay tuned for the Day 2 blog post! 😊🌿📸
Also read: “Baliem Valley Festival Budget Tour: Day 2″
Also read: “Baliem Valley Festival Budget Tour: Day 3
