Jayapura City (Indonesian: Kota Jayapura) is the
capital of Papua province, Indonesia, on the island of New Guinea. The approximate population in 2002 was 200,000.
The city is situated on a bay called Teluk Yos Sudarso (formerly known as Humboldt Bay).
History
From 1910 to 1962 the city was known as Hollandia and was the capital of a district of the same name in the northeast of West New Guinea. The city was renamed as Kota Baru for the United Nations ceremony of 1st May 1963.
The northern part of Dutch New Guinea was occupied by Japanese forces in 1942. Allied forces drove out the Japanese after amphibious landings near Hollandia, from April 21, 1944. The area served as General Douglas MacArthur's headquarters until the conquest of the Philippines in March 1945. Over twenty U.S. bases were established and half a million US personnel moved through the area.[citation needed]
In 1945, the Dutch made Hollandia the capital of Netherlands New Guinea. After the territory was handed over to the United Nations, on October 1, 1962,
the city became known by the Indonesian name Kota Baru, and retained the name when Indonesia took control, on May 1, 1963. The city was briefly renamed Sukarnopura, after President Sukarno, until the end of 1968, when it acquired its present name. The literal meaning of Jayapura is 'City of Victory' (Sanskrit jaya: "military victory"; pura: "city").
Jayapura is the capital of the Indonesian-administered territory of Irian Jaya, otherwise known as West Papua. The Indonesian Consulate in Vanimo issues visitors visas for Jayapura. Passports lodged in the morning will be ready by afternoon. A small fee is payable.
Tourists who are wanting to travel further into Indonesian territory than Jayapura will need to wait longer for their visas to be issued as the consulate may have to refer your application to the embassy in Port Moresby.
There are no regular air or sea links between PNG and Jayapura. Light aircraft can be chartered from Vanimo to do the trip (the flight takes around 30 minutes) but this is relatively expensive unless you are travelling in a group of 4 or more. Small boats and fibreglass dinghies travel regularly betwen Vanimo and Jayapura and by asking around the waterfront you may be lucky enough to catch a ride although it may not be at a time convenient to you. You will still be expected to pay for your seat and the amount will depend on who you're
going with and how many other passengers they're carrying, as the aim is usually to spread the cost of fuel between the people taking the trip. However, be warned that small boats and dinghies are often used to smuggle contraband goods into Jayapura for sale and you may unwittingly get caught up in a difficult situation if your dinghy is intercepted by an Indonesian Navy or Customs patrol boat and found to be carrying contraband. The most commonly smuggled goods are vanilla beans and alluvial gold (smuggled to avoid PNG export controls and taxes), and marijuana. You should also be aware that the route to Jayapura is deep, open sea and dinghies often do not carry adequate safety equipment. As a passenger you will have no control over the amount of cargo or passengers being carried in the dinghy, or the state of sobriety of the driver. If the dinghy happens to be capsized by a wave you will at the very least lose all of your belongings. In general we do not recommend travelling to Jayapura by dinghy.
Most
tourists travel by road. The most difficult part is getting from Vanimo to the border post at Wutung. There are PMVs but they are not frequent or regular. There are no taxis in Vanimo although Visser Enterprises does have cars for hire and it is possible to make an arrangement for them to take you to the border and come back to pick you up on your return. We don't have costs available for this but it will not be particularly cheap; probably around K200 per trip.
It's possible to hitch a lift with a private, company or government vehicle which is making the trip to Wutung. If you stand by the side of the road out of town with your bag and look like you're hoping for a lift somewhere, most vehicles will stop and ask you where you're going. If you start early enough, you're bound to get lucky eventually. Thursdays and Fridays are the best days to catch a lift as these are the days when Vanimo people most commonly travel to Jayapura for the weekend.
Before leaving Vanimo you may need to change some money.
The banks in Vanimo do not trade in Indonesian Rupiah but there are several shops which will change kina to rupiah. The going rate in Vanimo is about K1.00 to RP3000. If you wait till you get to Jayaura most money changers will give RP3200 per kina. However there are also plenty of automatic teller machines in downtown Jayapura where you can get cash advances with your credit card. This works reliably.
The drive from Vanimo to Wutung takes about 2 hours. The road is unmade but in reasonable condition. The first hour or so passes through pretty seaside villages and the rest of the drive is through rainforest.
The border is situated on a cliff top. From the PNG border post (left) you can see down to Wutung Village on the coast and many miles in the direction back to Vanimo. On the Indonesian side you can only see jungle. On one side of the border fence is a very large Indonesian lighthouse. On the PNG side is a small solar-powered shipping light (circled in the photo at right). Locals refer to them as David and Goliath.
At the border checkpoint on the
PNG side your passport will be stamped and you will have to pay PNG departure tax (K40). You will then have to walk across the no-man's-land to the Indonesian side. If your timing is good, there will be one or two Jayapura taxis waiting. When they bring passengers from Jayapura to the border they usually wait to pick up a fare back into Jayapura. If you happen to arrive at the border at the same time as some other people travelling to Jayapura, you may be able to share a taxi and share the cost. The going rate for the trip from the border to Jayapura is RP200,000 (about K62). Most taxis are mini-buses which can carry 5-6 people plus bags. Petrol in Jayapura costs only K0.40 per litre and the basic wage for a shopkeeper is about RP200,000 per month so your taxi driver is doing OK.
The Indonesian border post is very showy. There is a few h
undred metres of wide boulevard with welcome arch and a large border checkpoint building. However the road soon deteriorates into a single lane although it is sealed most of the way to Jayapura. At the Indonesian border station you will be able to stay in your taxi while your passports are taken inside for examination and your baggage may be searched by Indonesian border guards in various stages of undress and possibly carrying weapons. Nobody seems to speak English at the border station. If you don't look like you are smuggling vanilla beans they may just wave you through.
A short distance down the road is a line of small buildings and your taxi driver will stop at one of these buildings where you will be expected to pay RP10,000 per head which seems to be some kind of charge that the border police levy without issuing any receipt. It probably goes into the staff coffee fund or something like that, of course. It's not worth querying or objecting to as it's only about K3.00.
From the border post it's another three hours drive to Jayapura but the scenery is interesting, including rice paddies and Javanese migrant settlements.
Jayapura is a big, bustling and fascinating city (well, compared to Vanimo). If you've always wanted to go somewhere in Asia where there are no other tourists, this is the place. Jayapura is a well-kept secret that the Indonesian tourist authorities don't talk about, due to the political sensitivities surrounding the Indonesian annexation of West Papua. You'll love Jayapura. Enjoy the city but don't go trying to go places and do things that you didn't state when applying for your visa, as the authorities here are quite suspicious of foreigners (especially if you look like a Western journalist).
Everything is cheap in Jayapura. A taxi costs between RP20,000 to RP30,000 (K6-K9) per hour to hire. A local bus fare is only RP600 (K0.20t). A cheap hotel room is RP80,000 (K25) per night and a room in the best luxury hotel is only RP320,000 (K100). Shopping for manufactured goods and handicrafts is very cheap. Market vegetables and fruits are fresh and cheap. Food from roadside stalls is clean and cheap.
Jayapura Tours Information and Guides
Treks into most mainland areas require an arrival by flight into the Lake Sentani area located close to the West Papuan capital city of Jayapura. This region is a beautifully dramatic introduction to Papua. A huge wall of vegetation called the Cyclops sits majestically above Lake Sentani and makes for a stunning backdrop to the clear waters.
The best way to see the Lake and adjacent areas is by motorised canoe. This transportation allows you uninterrupted perspectives of the area access to visit the small fishing village built on stilts over the lake. Fishermen have been plying their traditional trade here for many generations.
Lake Sentani is a famous primitive arts centre. Bark paintings, sago bowls and small-carved items are amongst the local handicrafts found here. Kelly is a private collector of primitive Papuan art and therefore he has the depth of knowledge and connections to ensure that you pay the right price and that all items purchased are genuine.
The Sentani tribe with settlements around Lake Sentani is the largest tribe found in the surroundings of Jayapura. The best way to visit
Lake Sentani is by motorized boat, You can visit small villages in and around the lake and see local people participating in their daily activities like fishing and making dug-out canoes or primitive art like bark drawings and small woodcarvings.
Visit the forest of the Cyclop Mountain Reserve with the highest peak at 2158 meters. Sentani has everything for further traveling to the inland such as banks, shops, markets, hotels, restaurants and the airport. A visit to the inland of Papua starts with a transfer from Sentani Airport.
The port city of Jayapura sits on the coast and has a population of around 250,000 including many people from other parts of the Indonesian archipelago. It is not an unattractive city and you will find museums, hotels, an assortment of restaurants, banks and markets for shopping. From Jayapura it is easy to take guided overnight treks to primitive villages and it is a 45-minute flight to Wamena, the main town of the famed Baliem Valley.
Tour Itinearary:
Day 01 : JAYAPURA - ARRIVAL (L,D)
Upon arrival at Sentani airport of Jayapura, you will be met by our local representative to be transfer to Sentani Indah hotel (5 minutes drive) for your accommodation. Free program at your own leisure until lunch time at the Mickey Restaurant. In the afternoon you will be drive up to Gunung Ifar to view the WW II monument of Mc Arthur with its spectacular view of Sentani Lake and Cyclope Mountain. Then, continue down to Doyo Lama at the side of the lake to explore the painting rocks art with its panoramic views. Return to hotel for dinner at hotel's restaurant.
Day 02 : FULLDAY SENTANI & JAYAPURA TOUR (BLD)
After breakfast at the hotel, drive to Sentani lake then 1 hour excursion by boat to a small island in the middle of the lake. Visit the village of Assei, walk into the village to explore the local people life and their daily activity. People of this village are mainly fishermen, b
ut they still do some art works and plenty of painting barks selling in the village's hall. Lunch will be served at Yougwa restaurant , and in the afternoon the tour continue to Abepura to visit the Museum. From the museum we drive further to Hamadi beach with a brief stop at Yotefa bay for picture and beautiful view over the Pacific Ocean. On the beach of Hasmadi we will walk to view another remains of WW II. Dozens of American landing crafts laid on the beach. Then, we visit Hamadi market with opportunity to shopping Irian Jaya's arts and handicrafts at the arts shops before we return to Sentani for dinner and accommodation at hotel.
Day 03 : DEPARTURE (B)
After breakfast at your hotel, transfer to the airport leaving Jayapura for the next destination.