Manokwari

I was excited to go for the first time to the island of Papua. In a way, it's like going out of the country. One, because it's darn far, two because it's different and unfamiliar. Yes, I've been mingling with the youth of Papua for several months now (and yet there are many of the cultures I still can't grasp), but to actually go there is an entire different thing. 

There's not a lot to see on the web when I searched for tourist destinations in Manokwari, the city that I went to. Mostly I found information on forums where adventurous Westerners discuss their itinerary for journeying the island. There's also a tourist guide by the name of Charles Roring who has a pretty complete website since he often takes visitors around the Arfak mountains for trekking and camping. 

So, I went there, with three other guys, pretty much unarmed with information. Fortunately, we were guests of the local government, so when we got there, despite the cluelessness, we had people taking us around and answering our questions. 

So, I'm going to share as much as I know (from the short two days of my visit). Obviously, I'm no expert but hopefully this sharing can be useful.

Hotel-wise, the two top ones are Swiss-Bel (10-15 minutes away from the Rendani Airport), and Aston Niu Hotel (25 minutes away). Swiss-Bel is located in the city area, with a big supermarket right beside it and also a bank nearby. It has a city view and you can see the ocean a bit further away, depending on what room you get. Free internet connection is available, although it may not be as speedy as you want it. Aston Niu is located further up in the hilly part of the city. It has FANTASTIC view of both the Arfak mountain and the beaches. It has a lot more space for gardens and swimming pool. If you are coming for the view, definitely choose Aston Niu. It is, however, a little more secluded, so getting dinner outside the hotel may not be as easy unless you have a car.

The view from Swiss-Bel Hotel

The view from Aston Niu Hotel

For food, I didn't find that there were any interesting traditional food. Manokwari is the bigger city in West Papua, so the traditional communities are out of the way. If you come to see the huts or honai as the local calls it, or adults wearing koteka (the covering for the male private parts), you will be disappointed. So as far as food goes, the most local thing you can get is papeda, which is the staple from sorghum, eaten with coconut based yellow soup. Other than that, you can get their great seafood. Being in a coastal area gives them the advantage of getting fresh seafood. We ate twice in the Mansaman beach restaurant, which is located by the sea right across from the Mansinam island. If you're not the adventurous type (which I doubt since anyone who wants go to Papua would be), there's actually a KFC right beside Swiss-Bel Hotel.

Fresh chili sauce shrimp

From Mansinam Beach restaurant, we can get across to the Mansinam island, where the first Christian missionaries went to get to the whole region. You can get there by riding a speed boat, which literally takes just 5 minutes. On the island, you can see some religious monuments, the church (not the first one built there since that one has been replaced), and of course the beach. In 1955, 2 missionaries from Germany: C.W. Ottow and Johann Geissler landed for the first time in Papua. Every year there's a big celebration to commemorate them.

Everybody in front of the cross monument at Mansinam Island.

It means welcome!

 Now for the beaches. I visited 3 main ones. The first is Pasir Putih beach which literally means white sand. It's pretty good, except for the trash after the tide that accumulates on the beach. Unfortunately, we came at the wrong time so we saw all that trash. But we were told that the community does some clean up every Friday before the large flux of visitors come on the weekend.

Pasir Putih beach, with Mansinam Island across.

 The best of the three is this one below. It's called Bakaro beach. For me this is a paradise spot; still very natural, clean, clear blue water, and just fantastic view. This is also where the fish caller Mr. Lukas lives. He usually performs his fish calling ability to tourist, but because it was low tide, the passageway to the beach was too shallow, he said. He suggested that we come the next morning, but our schedule was too tight for that :(. We sat down with him instead to enjoy the afternoon, where he told us stories about bombs that kill the fish and about how he would like everything to stay natural as God wills it to be.

Bakaro beach

Local kids playing on the beach, trying to catch small fish.

The name of the third beach totally escapes my mind, so sorry for that. But, it's a newly prepared beach and is still under renovation mostly by the interning university students. When we were there, they were building small stands for the locals to later sell souvenirs. The volleyball court was also new. There were big rocks places on the beach; we were told that it helped to reclaim the sand, to increase the height of the beach.

Looking at the ocean.

My journey was short. But I was amazed at the natural view that my eyes kept feasting on. The unfortunate thing is that I don't think the locals realize how beautiful everything is. It's like meeting a genius who doesn't know that his IQ is not normal. Although in a way that cluelessness is also charming :)

For me it was definitely quite an experience. It's my first getaway to the Eastern part of Indonesia and I hope to explore more of it.

Bon voyage!