Day 15 - 3rd December– Wamena – Jayapura
It was an early check in at 6 am for the first flight out of wamena at 7 am. I caught a bicycle rickshaw outside the hotel and asked 'berapa' (how much)? The rickshaw driver said 'seppulu' (10,000 rupiah, just over $1). I feigned disgust and said I would rather walk. He then offered 'tiga ribu' or 5,000 rupiah and with my new-found confidence in Bahasa Indonesia I decided to negotiate further, since it was such a short journey. 'Tedak (no)! I will pay only dua pulu ribu', which every Indonesian knows means 20,000 rupiah. Somehow, I had managed to negotiate the wrong way. I figured this out on the journey and my smugness at playing hardball so effectively soon turned to mild embarassment. Given that I am about a foot taller than the average passenger, I was awkwardly wedged under the fabric shade with two bags stikcing out at strange angles. Ah, to be a tourist in Papua. Bad sport that I am, I paid him 5,000 rupiah based on the fact that this was his last offer.
At the airport, there was a Western couple already waiting at the check-in counter and we both approached an elderly Papuan at the check-in counter. Technology has yet to reach Wamena airport. The check in counter for Trigana and the other airlines was an MDF structure with holes cut out for check-in windows. The system (such as we could make out) was for all the passeneger tickets to be lined up on the couter in the order that people turned up. About half an hour before the flight, an Indonesian staff member arrived and all hell broke loose. People started waving their tickets in his face and demanding to be included on the passenger list. I was grateful that Justinus had arranged for my name to be on that list. As it turned out there was plenty of spare seats on the first flight so everyone who wanted to get on board got a seat.
This time I had a window seat and was privileged to have amazing views across the central highlands. Cloud was lying in the valleys but the rugged, emerald and still-growing peaks of New Guinea stood proudly above the cloudbase. The 45 minute flight passed quickly and before I knew it was landing back at Jayapura. I now felt like an old hane and was able to assist the other Western couple with luggage collection. Instead of hailing an overpriced airport taxi for the 10-minute journay back to the hotel, I walked out of the airport and jumped one of the local minibuses that serve as the local transport network. Similar in size to a matatu in Kenya, these minibuses are different in that you just tell the driver where you want to go and he will drop you off and then return to his regular route.
As we appropached the Sentani Indah Hotel there were a huge number of blue banners lining the street and fluttering in the breeze. I had returned in the middle of the PAN's Papua branch's 5-year political political conference, and was grateful that I had made my reservation as Romm 131 was still available. Although I'd like to believe that this was due to mu importance as a VIP guest, I was pretty sure it was more to do with the fact that the toilet leaked and the room was at the very back of the hotel........I also didn't realise it at the time, but the hotel would start to feel more and more like a prison over the next 7 days......
I cheked in , collected the bag I had stored and then headed to the Hotel Restaurant to grab some breakfast and check my emails, since I hadn't had a chance to in Wamena. I was really ready for the next challenge and excited to meet up with the expedition team after so long on my own. I was hoping for an email from the Europen agent, Petr Jahoda of www.carstenszpapua.com He was supposed to send me details of where I would meet the team in Papua and I had come back as soon as possible from Wamena specifically so that I could have time to make the flight arrangements etc. Having had my team pull out on me just a few weeks before I left the UK, I had no option but to pay him $10,500 as he was the only agent that I knew of (local or international) who was running a December expedition.
I was really happy to see an email in my inbox from him (via Iain Mackay) and opened it expectantly. To my shock and massive disappointment, the email was telling me that the expedition had been postponed. I was gutted and my brain started to kick into emergency footing. I think that, although I doubt mysalf sometimes and worry too much about small things, I am quite good at coming up with creative solutions in an emergency. His email stated that the trip MAY go ahead on 19th December but I had now lost all trust in this man, since he had only given me 3 days notice of cancellation. I sent an email to him directly stating that I required immediate reimbursement and that he had left me in a very difficult situation. I needed to get my hands on my money in case I could find another solution so that I could, if necessary, pay another (local) agent.
I then decided to check my UK account to see how things stood financially. I thought that perhaps I could send an interim payment to another agent if necessary. I was surpised to see that my account was almost empty. This was unexpected because two of my previous employers were supposed to have made deposits into my account. I had worked for a German aid agency for 13 months in Sudan, including 8 months based in South Darfur. I had been in dispute with them because they had promised that I would receive a pension contribution during the recruitment process. I didn't raise this issue until the end of my contract, but when I did there was a lot of resistance and I was told directly that although German staff members at HQ in Berlin were entitled to pension contributions, expat staff were not. Which can't be right. Being a Capricorn, I have a stubborn streak a mile wide and decided that this was one fight I had to fight (although not the only fight I had with them). In the end, they accepted my argument. However, this contribution had obviously not been paid into my account.
I was also due a reimbursement from a Canadian NGO, who had latterly been my employer in Sudan. I hadn't been paid my October salary or the promised allowances that were an agreed part of my contract. The reimbursements from both employers I needed in my account to cover UK expenses while I was on expedition and not earning. I had asked for both payments to be made two weeks before, before I left the UK and I was dumbfounded that neither had been made. I therefore sent two more angry emails.
I sent an email to Iain Mackay and asked that we discuss options later that day when Iain had a break from work. I communicated with a friendly local agent that I had built a good relationship with to identify any agents now running an expedition in December. She gave me an email address of one and I sent a message asking if I could get on their expedition. As far as I could see, I now had the following options:
1. If local agent said yes and the Carstensz expedition began 19th Dec or later, I would arrange a flight to Bime as soon as possible and attempt Mandala first. This woudl depend on the Czech agent reimbursing me my $10,500, which he claimed he will do the next day.
2. If local agent said yes and the Carstensz expedition began before 19th December, it would not be worth trying to get to Mandala before Carstensz and I would figure out a short term-plan to save money and wait for Carstensz
3. If he said no, then I would arrange to fly to Bime as soon as possible, try Mandala and then plan to go back early to the UK and postpone Carstensz until possibly next summer
4. Ask Freeport McMoran (who operate the Grasberg mine adjacent to Carstensz) if they would allow me access through their project area to Base Camp to at least collect some photos of the glaciers. During my research, they had already refused me access, although they have in the past supported expeditions collecting data for the same researchers that I support. I emailed my contact there to gauge their reaction
The local agent sent me a message to tell me that they would ask their client if I could join the private expedition and told me they would contact me on Monday with an answer. This meant being stuck in Sentani over the weekend in the middle of a political party conference! Truly bizarre. However, it was the first time I had seen other guests at the hotel.
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