Sogokmo/Kurima: There’s a bit of confusion in the
internet information about these two places. First, “Sogokmo” from what I can
tell is what people (and one local guy I talked to) are calling the place where
we started our hike, i.e., what I am calling the “Sogokmo Trailhead” (see map/GPS
coordinates). The “Sogokmo Trailhead” is a non-descript, side-of-the-road situation.
There is nothing there. It is literally a trail going off from a pull-out in
the road. There is no town or buildings, just a pull-out on the road.
Now, Kurima, is bona-fide town with lots of houses and
buildings. It is indeed the end of the paved road. There are some references to
people starting/finishing hikes in Kurima, but that must have been before a
major washout event took out the road to Kurima. In June 2018, the road between
Kurima and Sogokmo is washed out in places, and therefore, there is no vehicle
access between the two locations. This is a massive washout that appears to
have been here for years. It is possible (i.e., this is what we ended up doing)
to arrange motorcycle transport between Kurima and the washout, walk across the
washout, then get another motorcycle transport to where vehicles are parked at the
Sogokmo Trailhead – or the reverse obviously. Kind of annoying, but doable.
Based on the above washout situation, an alternative exit strategy, which I would recommend if you have the extra hiking time, is: use the foot bridge at Kurima to cross the Baliem River, and return (hike) to the Sogokmo Trailhead via Seima on the east side of the river -- although, this would add a few hours to the hike. In other words: start and end your hike at the Sogokmo Trailhead -- thus avoiding the Kurima - Sogokmo washout logistics headache.
Based on the above washout situation, an alternative exit strategy, which I would recommend if you have the extra hiking time, is: use the foot bridge at Kurima to cross the Baliem River, and return (hike) to the Sogokmo Trailhead via Seima on the east side of the river -- although, this would add a few hours to the hike. In other words: start and end your hike at the Sogokmo Trailhead -- thus avoiding the Kurima - Sogokmo washout logistics headache.
Getting to the Sogokmo Trailhead: From Wamena, it’s
about 40 mins +/- to the Sogokmo Trailhead by vehicle. The easiest way to do
that would be to arrange a driver/vehicle at your accommodation in Wamena.
Another option is to make your way to Pasar Wouma, which is a street market on
the road leading out of town on the road to Kurima. You can easily walk there
from anywhere in Wamena. Once there, either grab a bemo (over-stuffed minibus),
or just find someone who will drive you. We found a guy almost immediately, and
it costed 200,000 Rp. (15 USD). The bemo guy quoted us 25,000 Rp each (2 USD),
but we went with the private car offer (you’ll see why we opted out of the bemo
offer J).
Getting back to Wamena from Sogokmo Trailhead: upon
our victorious return to the trailhead, there were several vehicles taking
people back, and we again quickly arranged a ride back to Wamena (to our door)
for 200,000 Rp. Easy.
A note on trails: trail conditions vary wildly from
something you could drive a car down, to a hard-to-see goat trail.
Interestingly, the size of the trail does not always correlate to the main
trail. i.e., sometimes the best-looking trail is just a trail to someone’s
grass hut, while the scraggy little trail going off to the left, is “the”
trail. Do not assume something is not “the” trail, simply because it looks
small and rough. Villages are particularly difficult to navigate, since the
trails go off in all directions, and you literally walk through people’s
gardens and places you would not think is “the” trail – hence, the importance
of being able to ask for directions (which you will need to do).
(click on "older posts" for more)
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