2nd day. Trekking to Hitugi village.

Last night while I was writing my blog I dozed off for a couple of times. When I woke up I continued writing nonsense. Literally anything I wrote didn't make sense. Now fresh and rested I can finish my notes about previous days. Its only 4.30 am.
Pastor was already outside, cutting the grass for babi (it means "pig" in Indonesian).
As it's still very early, the weather is a bit cooler. The fog is covering beautiful mountains and green fields. The grass is still wet from raining all night and the yellow flowers around us are getting brighter while  the sun is smiling behind the clouds. Almost like in a fairytale.

Ester changed her clothes for more festive ones. I think the dress she put on is only for special occasions, like going to the church. All family gathered together to take photos with us. Such a beautiful moment, it almost felt like we are part of the family.

Its time to say goodbye to this lovely family and continue our journey. Before we leave a pastor is handing me a walking stick, saying I might need it because the road is getting more difficult. I'm grateful but I highly doubt that I need it. Just to be polite I still take it with me. 

Today Im also wearing the boots that I didn't think I would need. At the moment it seems to be a bit more comfortable choice. 

We have walked down half of the big hill until we met an old woman who is asking us where we are going. 

When we told her we are going to "Ikinim"  village we found out its the wrong direction. We are so lucky that everybody are curious to know about our route otherwise we would be lost probably. Now when walking back in the right direction we realised we already knew the way but just didn't pay enough attention while walking. 

Around us there is a lot of fields where women are already working. We have to climb small gates with the ladder which are made for pigs not to run off. 

The sun is getting very strong and scenery is amazingly beautiful. On our way we meet some more locals coming down from the mountains and still we see only women carrying those heavy bags full off food. Some of them carry babies in the bag or on the shoulders. All of them are greeting us by hand and making sure that we are going on the right direction. 

I'm walking a bit faster then Merike but I'm  always checking that we don't have too long distance between us. When I look behind, I see a young man, around 15 years old very close behind her. I didn't find it weird as there is lot locals walking here on the mountains. I just stop for a minute to take a breath and wait for her. Suddenly I saw the boy grab her from the boobs and squeezed so hard that Merike screamed. And then ran away. I'm shocked, I can't get a word out of my mouth. Of course Merike is in a bigger shock! In our mind is running a horror movie. Perhaps we are not so safe here and coming without a guide was a bad idea. If anything happens we will never be found, no one will ever look for us, no one even knows our exact whereabouts and we don't have any conection in our phones... But then we  are thinking, it's just a teenager who probably never will have a chance to touch a white woman's big boobs. 

Still, this situation made us a bit paranoid and we checked our back every now and then. Once I noticed that someone is probably following us and as soon as I look behind he was hiding in the bushes. This happened several times, until I raised my walking stick like a Xena - the Warrior Princess and screamed to him: "What do you want from us? Go away!" 

Once I even grabbed a sharp rock in my hand to protect us cause everyone seemed suspicious. I know how melodramatic it sounds but after events like this we just had to be sure we are safe.

 After the guy who was hiding in the bushes there was a man with a red T-shirt sitting on the edge of the mouintan, almost like waiting for us. I have to admit that was also a bit scary so we just tried to pass that  place as quick as we could. 

Now we found a lovely spot away from the danger. Let's have a little break, cool down and take some photos. 

The nature really is breathtaking here. My smile from the happiness is bigger then ever. I already forgot this little events while dreaming to stay here forever...

On the way to Ikinem we met some old ladies selling bananas so we both bought some bananas with 10 000 rp. 

Our eyes are catching a small village. It must be Ikinem. 

Im pointing to Merike: "Look, there is small kids building a house there!"

As soon as I said it the kids ran to us with knifes, hammers and axes in their hand asking for "gula gula". We are laughing but... really? I'm not gonna even start with the scenario I had in my mind. Yes, I do have a very lively imagination. Anyway, we gave them all the candys we have and left. According to our lovely little map,next village shoud be "Ugem". 

We are considering to stay there for a night. Following our trekking route we met two little adorable kids who showed us the way to the village. A little girl shared her "kelapa hutan" nuts with us and for return we gave them some bananas. 

In the village there is a big church and lot of kids having lunch there. One man was offering us a place to stay but we decided to move on to another village instead, without knowing exactly how far it is. Following our heart to the next village we found the springs. Perfect place to refresh ourselfs with a cold water and fill our bottles. We laid down for a bit. Almost like meditating - I closed my eyes while laying on the grass. I listened to the sound of the springs and birds around me and enjoyed the sun shining on my face. 

Suddenly I heard lots of children laughing and talking around us. Village kids came to get some "gula gula". Sadly we didn't have any left but they wasn't upset about it. They were still happy little curious kids with a big smiles on their faces. 

Shortly after the break we found another springs which seemed a bit cleaner, so we changed our water from the bottles for new and cleaner water. 

Little note: We haven't filtered the water anymore. It seems clean enough for us and all the locals drink it without filtering it. Until now we haven't had any illness from this. 

The trek is going mostly uphill. We are walking slower then the locals, so we told them to pass us. Most of them didn't and kept walking slowly behind us. Seems that they don't like any stranger walking behind them but i must say it's likewise.  

We had some well needed breaks to drink water and to take photos. It was their chance to pass us and carry on walking as fast as they do. And they do walk very fast. Barefoot. With a heavy weight on their head. 

Finally we captured a long awaited moment. There is man with "koteka"! 

"Koteka, horim or penis guard is a penis sheet traditionally worn by native male inhabitants of some (mainly Highland) ethnic groups in New Guinea to cover their genitals" 

We cheered him happily and asked if we could take a photo of him. He agreed, but only for some money, which is fair enough. I mean, they have to get their income from somewhere. 

On our journey we aslo met an elderly lady with the kids, smoking a rolled green leaf. I remember, I've read from somewhere that there is some kind of green leaves here that they eat and it makes them high. Hmmm, interesting, I'm wondering is it the same thing she is smoking? :) 

We are not sure how  far the next village is and locals here don't really know the distances or at least not the same way we are used to know. For example if they say its about 1-2 kilometres then it's probably 5-7 kilometres and when they say its about 1 hr walk it might be about 4-5 hr. Its not a rule but so far it has been our experience. Also, mainly for them everything is "Dekat" which means "near" in Indonesian. But it never is "dekat" haha - don't belive them. 

Our plan now was to go to Hitugi village but from the map we see that there is another small village before Hitugi. We already have been hiking about 7 hours and it might start to rain soon. We have no idea how far is the village and it's getting dark soon. We are just hoping to arrive somewhere quickly. The tiny trekking road is on the edge of the mouintain and a bit dangerous, especially when slippery or dark. Merike is about to offer us to find a big rock or tree under where we can spend the night.

 Luckily we see a village from far away. It's seems still quite long way but at least we know it's there. Probably village people are already aware that we are coming as many locals has passed us and apparently they spread the word about visitors here. 

Just before the village I  hear a sound of the waterfall. Yes, it's right here, a small but beautiful waterfall. I'm already dreaming to relax under here... We found a paradise to stay and we are happy and exited about our choice to come in this village. 

We walked a bit more further and saw a big church in the middle of the village. One very serious looking man came to us. I'm wondering, is he the pastor of the village? He offered us to stay there as we hoped and we found out from him that that we are in Hitugi village afterall. So did we missed one village or what is with that? But anyway, great! We couldn't be more proud of ourselves for making it so far today. 

 He now offered us a room with a mattress on the floor and he asked

 100 000 rph per person. As soon I see the hut I'm asking him the permission to sleep there instead - it's way more exotic. He agreed.

 His lovely wife Carolina, showed us the private area by the waterfall (covered with a towel) for women. Perfecto! We dipped in for couple of times - it was so good and refreshing. Water was ice-cold though so we didn't stay playing there all night :) 

After a little refreshment we went for a walk in the village. 

The church

Babi that I got friends with.

First hut we could sleep in

Cicada. Singing louder then a bird. 

Now it's dinner time! We all are sitting in the hut with the family while Carolina is cooking for everybody. Like always for snacks they have "kelapa hutan" nuts and "ubi". Even though we are already full from the big sweet potato and nuts there is still more to come. There is a big pot (around 10 l) full off mushrooms cooked with water spinach, sweetcorn and seeds what I didnt recognise. Carolina was starting to prepare a big plate of food for everybody. It was way too much for us so we asked only half a plate. I think they all ate two plates of food, some more "ubi" and more nuts on the top. They have a good appetite and we are just not used to eating anymore.

 Some more village people has joined us for a dinner. 

One young man with us has serious health problems. He said he had a tumor and got rid of it thanks to the same mushrooms we had for a dinner. Unfortunately I don't remember the name of the mushrooms but I know they grow only in some part of Baliem Valley. He still didn't look well though - he was coughing and his nose was running. He also had a back pain - for that Carolina was rubbing one big leaf on his back called "daun gatal" 

"Daun gatal is one of the traditional plants capable of curing headaches, sore muscles, malaria and many more" 

Then like a cherry on the cake I noticed one of them smoking a "rokok" made from a tobacco leaf (apparently the same green leaf what the old lady was smoking) and i convinced him to share with me one too. It seems way more interesting then my regular cigarettes. First it made me cough but when I got used to it, it was pretty good but made me feel very tired...