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Practicalities
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There are daily flights to Wamena from Jayapura, and just about all visitors arrive at the
airport
here. Its conspicuous runway is the best landmark for orientation in Wamena: it runs from the northwest to the southeast, and the town spreads away from the runway to the west. The first thing you'll have to do on arrival is have your
surat jalan
stamped by the police officer who runs a small
information office
inside the terminal. He is a great source of information on the Baliem Valley. In his office is a list of all of the qualified guides in Wamena, with their specialities and languages recorded.
The taksi terminal is right in front of the main airport buildings, and runs daily battered minibuses and jeep taksis to end-of-the-road destinations such as Bokondini (5hr; Rp15,000), Pit River (6hr; Rp15,000), Pogga (3hr; Rp7000), Tagime (4hr; Rp13,000), and Pondok Yabbagaima for Danau Habbema (4hr; Rp10,000), all of which must be booked a day in advance. Local destinations like Kurima (1hr; Rp2000), Uwosilimo for Jiwika, Waga Waga and Akima are served by hourly taksis. Those to nearby Wesaput and Sinatma leave regularly when full.
The rather unreliable
post office
is next to the terminal on Jalan Timor (Mon-Thurs & Sat 8am-2pm, Fri 8-11am). A fair stroll away is the
Telkom
office, supposedly open 24 hours. Near the huge, sparkling new church is the BRI
bank
on the corner of Jalan Yos Sudarso and Jalan Timor; they change US dollars cash for a lousy rate. The Bank Exim on Jalan Trikora is pretty much the same. Other useful information
for tourists (each section contains more specific sub-sections): |
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Indonesia,
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