The thatched-roof homes of Wesagalep lay at cloud level, high above the Baliem Valley in Papua, the Indonesian side of the island of New Guinea. They are built on about six terraced levels of the mountain, with startling views of the valley and down to the rushing river below.
The views, and the opportunity to spend a night with the Dani people who live there, are reason enough to endure the rugged four-hour hike from the village of Tangma, the closest you can get by vehicle.
But by chance, my temporary travel companion, a 27-year-old Indonesian-speaking Romanian named Cristian, had arrived with me at the village the day before a pig-slaughtering ceremony. The reason was sad — the death of a 30-year-old village member — but we had been told that no matter what, if we found ourselves invited to a Dani ceremony, we should accept.
We had slept fitfully the night before on the wood floor of the village office, for which we paid 100,000 rupiah each ($7.57, at 13,207 rupiah to the dollar), and spent the morning horsing around with the boys of the village, who were shockingly accurate in hurling blades of thick grass and hitting us directly in the chest, which they found quite hilarious.