Organising (or lack thereof) I had organised to do some diving through Mr Romy of Waiwo Dive Resort.  He was very non-committal about all information he had given, eg. whether there were other guests, price and whether I could only do two dives instead of three. It made it look like a dodgy outfit. Apet, the […]

After a breakfast of muesli which I had brought from home, Apet (the guesthouse/grocery shop worker) took me to Waiwo Dive Resort for my two dives. It was a long day as the others on the boat wanted three dives which meant that I had to wait. It was 0815 to 1800 door-to-door.  You can […]

It was an early flight departing at 0705 from Fak Fak to Sorong. I had made it to the airport by ojek. With a 0530 pick-up I was a wee bit nervous as to whether he would show up or not and it was only a small consolation having the driver’s number. There was a […]

I got driven to Nabire airport at 0545. When I got there at 0630 the counter was unattended as the staff were busy despatching the flight to Jayapura. After a short wait, check-in commenced manually. The flight to Fak Fak via Kaimana left slightly late and got me to my destination more or less on […]

I woke at 0530 and grabbed breakfast at the hotel restaurant before heading to the airport. At 0700 the check-in for the 0815 flight hadn’t opened but I joined the queue anyway, and fortunately they switched from the previous flight to mine just as I got to the front. It was raining cats and dogs, […]

Today is the first day of the Lake Sentani Cultural Festival. I hadn’t planned on being here because the approximate dates in the guidebook didn’t quite fit in. But obviously there is some movement in the date year-to-year and I was lucky enough to be here for it. After breakfast, I led a group of […]

I left my “lovely” hotel by becak for Wamena’s shed of an airport at 0800. I went straight to the check-in counter as there was no queue. There was already a large crowd in the departure hall but I later realised it was holding passengers for two flights and their well-wishers. My flight wasn’t till […]

I had arranged with a reputable guide (who runs their association) for some assistance with today’s hike. He quoted IDR500K which is the high end of the rate in the book. As I wasn’t expecting it to be a full day, he offered me a lower end of the recommended rate at IDR400K. But he […]