We woke today cruising the northern coast of Papua New Guinea, crossing over into Papua, a province of Indonesia.
Welcomed by dancers dressed in their traditional wear, the girls with elaborate head gear made if birds of paradise, the men painted with red beetle nut and grass skirts.
There is an option to go to the McArthur Monunent, an important historical site from World War Two, or the local market and natural history museum.
We opted for the market to get a glimpse into local life. Jayapura is so different than Wekak in that it's totally Indonesian, I knew the trip involved Indosnesia but am learning so much about the corrupt and debatable politics of this region.
Entering the maze of shops the people are all over us to take their pictures, pointing at beetle nut, fish, clothes, smiling and cheering. It's so nice to be asked to take shots of then whereas in so many other countries it's frowned upon or awkward at times to shoot the locals.
We continued on to the natural history museum which showcases some awesome collections from tribes all over New Guinea.
The local guide tells us we have to stop at the school for cake that they made us, and as we go in the children and teachers are just going crazy, they have their cameras, putting us knot position to get photographed with the kids. One lady came and put a little bird of paradise hair clip on me, then another comes and crowns me with a tiara made of chicken feathers. It was time to go but they wouldn't stop taking pictures, "one more one more!", sunglasses on, then off, so many different positions and we finally got outta there. So fun!
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