Hi, guys! This is the final saga of my Baliem Valley Festival budget tour travel diary. In this post, I will show you the beauty of Obia Village in Wamena, Papua, Indonesia.
Yesterday, my friend asked me if the tribes were exploited for the festival. The answer is no.
The Baliem Valley Festival was held to preserve the Papua culture and show it to the world. That’s why they wore traditional accessories and koteka during the festival, danced, and performed mock wars.
Many, many years ago, there were real wars between the tribes. However, that’s no longer the case. Also, they wear normal clothes like us in their daily lives.
However, some people in small Papua villages, like Obia Village, still do not wear clothes in their daily lives.
They live in traditional houses, make fires from woods, and use hot stones to cook their food. Despite relying on nature’s richness, the children grow up full of love.
The tribes have everything they need and are happy with their simple lives. You’ll see it soon from the photos 🥰 🥰 🥰
Alright, so here’s the itinerary for Day 4 at Obia Village:
- Private session for around 5 hours + unlimited photography (no tipping)
- Witness making fire from woods, stone burning process, wood cutting
- Mingle with the tribes and children
- Mock war performance (super close-up)
- Dance performance
- Taste sweet potato, cassava, and other vegetables cooked with stone
- Shopping – can buy handmade accessories
- Distribute donations for the children (optional)
- Late lunch
- Extra: visit Napua Hill
- Dinner
Also read: “Baliem Valley Festival Budget Tour: Day 1”
Also read: “Baliem Valley Festival Budget Tour: Day 2”
Also read: “Baliem Valley Festival Budget Tour: Day 3”
Relaxing View On the Way to Obia Village, Wamena
After breakfast, we went to Obia Village. Our cars couldn’t stop right in front of the village because it was located deep in the field, and there was no proper road for cars.
So, we had a short morning walk in the field, under the beautiful blue Papuan sky. Having been living in the city and working in the office with AC, I felt so free and happy walking in the nature.
Blue sky above, sun rays on my face, greens around me. I love this feeling!
Halfway, there was a wooden gate without a door, so we had to climb a bit to go to the other side. This wooden gate is made in a such way that the pigs couldn’t escape 🐖 🐖 🐖
On the way, we met some students who looked happy to see some visitors. Sumi and I couldn’t help to take some photos with them.
But the drivers who carried Sumi’s donation boxes were already ahead of us. Oops, we must catch up or we would be lost!
Alright, finally we saw some traditional houses. But which one did our group go to? Luckily, a woman came out of the house and told us the group had gone to the next house.
Terima kasih, thank you!
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Honai and Ebe’ai, the Traditional Houses at Obia Village – Wamena
The tribe that stayed at Obia Village is the Dani tribe. What do you think of their traditional house? 🌿🌿🌿
At Obia Village, you will see two types of traditional house – Honai and Ebe’ai. The men live in Honai, while the women live in Ebe’ai.
In the beginning, the Dani tribe lived under the trees. But they felt cold at night, especially when it was raining.
One day, they noticed some birds making nests. The birds would collect twigs and grass, then made round-shaped nests with them.
This is why the shape of Honai is round as the Dani tribe was inspired by the birds. Ebe’ai is similar to Honai, but it has a rectangular shape.
With a height of 2.5 meters, Honai has no window and only 1 door to prevent cold air from entering the house. Although it’s hot during the day in Papua, the weather at night is very cold (around 10-15°C).
The traditional houses look small and short, but when you go inside, they’re actually two-story houses. Another surprise, there could be 5-10 people living in 1 house!
Level 1 is for relaxing and eating, while level 2 is for sleeping. At level 1, usually there’ll be a place to make a bonfire for cooking and warming the body.
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Click below to WhatsApp chat with the tour operator:
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By the way, did you notice the roof? When I see it, the design of the Honai roof reminds me of a man with a very long bang that covers his eyes 😄 😄 😄
Who knew that it was meant to be that way? The Dani tribe purposedly made the roof like that to protect the wooden walls from rain and to keep the house warm.
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Watching Dani Tribe’s Mock Wars with Close-Up View at Obia Village, Papua
I’d seen many mock wars during the Baliem Valley Festival, but when we were at Obia Village, the Dani tribes did a special mock war for us.
And the best part? We could watch the mock war with a close-up view – even better than the VIP tribune’s staircases! 🤩🤩🤩
The Chief of the Dani tribe welcomed us and led the mock war. Afterward, we could take photos with them too without paying anything.
If you don’t have a big zoom-in camera lens, Day 4 of the Baliem Valley Festival budget tour is your chance to record videos or take photos of the mock war with a close-up view.
By the way, did you know that the Chief has many followers on Instagram? Oh yes, they have smartphones and there’s internet in the village. Too bad I forget his IG account!
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Tasting Sweet Potatoes and Distributing Donations at Obia Village, Wamena
When I was a kid, I saw people making fire from woods in The Flintstones movie. Now, as an adult, I could see it with my own eyes at The Baliem Valley Festival and Obia Village 🤩🤩🤩
First, the males chopped some wood to make a fire while the females prepared some stones and leaves to cook their lunch: cassava, sweet potatoes, chicken, corn, etc.
For the Dani tribe, the males get to eat the chicken first. After they’re done, they will pass what’s left to the females. The females mostly eat vegetables.
After stacking up the stones, the females burnt them and we had to wait until they were hot enough for cooking.
While waiting, the tribe sang and danced for us. We also took some photos and played with the children 😊📸🤳
One hour later, the stones were hot enough and the females were ready to cook the food. They covered the stones with some leaves and rinsed the chicken with oils.
Then, they put everything (vegetables and chickens) on the hot leaves and covered them with a stack of leaves. We had to wait for another hour to sample the food, but it was okay!
🇮🇩 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
Since it was the Dani tribe’s lunch, we only sampled the vegetables. I had a small piece of sweet potato, it tasted so good! Yummy~~ 😋😋😋
Afterward, the women displayed their handmade accessories for sale. There were bracelets and necklaces made of boar’s teeth, Birds of Paradise’s feathers, etc…
You could also buy naken aka Papua’s traditional bag, handwoven with thread or tree roots.
Before we left the village, we helped Sumi to distribute her donations to the children. She prepared 25 school bags, and brought them all the way from Jakarta.
Sumi had filled each school bag with a drawing book, a writing book, a pencil case + pencil + eraser + pencil sharpener, a box of crayons, a lunch box, and a water bottle.
Since there were more than 25 children at Obia Village, we had to take them out of the bags so everyone could get one item.
If you plan to join this Baliem Valley Festival budget tour and make donations to the children at Obia Village, please take note: it’s better to bring one type of stationery in large quantity to avoid jealousy among the children.
If you want to donate stationery or candies in a very large quantity, please discuss it with the tour leader. You wouldn’t know if the car has enough space to carry your donations.
Sadly, the drivers forgot to bring my donations (pencils)! Luckily, Sumi later helped me to distribute them to some children in another area (she extended her stay in Wamena for 1 night) 😊🙏👍
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Visitting Napua Hill in Wamena, Papua – Baliem Valley Festival Budget Tour
Once we left Obia Village, we went for a very late lunch. We went to the same restaurant that serves yummy grilled chicken and other Indonesian foods.
The last stop of the Baliem Valley Festival budget tour, Day 4 was Napua Hill. We were supposed to go there yesterday, but it was raining.
The road to Napua Hill was smooth, it was a pleasant journey. I just wanted to enjoy the serene, green views to the max before I returned to the city…
There wasn’t much to write about Napua Hill, so here are some of the photos I took 😊😊😊
Sumi: “Rizky, can we donate underwear and clothes for the people at the Obia Village? Don’t they feel cold at night?”
Rizky: “They’re not gonna use it… When it’s dirty, they’ll throw it away. There’s no “detergent” in their dictionary, they don’t know how to wash clothes.”
Sumi: “Has the government tried to give them a proper house?”
Rizky: “Actually, the government did a test once. They moved a small family to a house in the city, but the family returned to the village after a while.”
All of us: “Why???”
Rizky: “The family didn’t have the skills to earn money in the city besides physical labor… The tribes have everything they need in the village, provided by nature – for free.
In the city, they don’t know what to do. When the family moved to the city, suddenly they had to earn money to pay bills. They even had to pay for drinking water and food.
Meanwhile, in the jungle, everything was free. So, they returned to their village.”
All of us went silent… What Rizky said was true. Let’s be grateful for what we have and are enjoying now 🙏🙏🙏
Alright, thank you for reading (and following) my Baliem Valley Festival budget tour journey until the last chapter! I hope you enjoy reading the blog posts and are inspired to visit Papua next year 💖💖💖
Have a wonderful week ahead~🌻🌻🌻
🇮🇩 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
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