Seeing Lake Sentani From Tungku Wiri Hill
Lake Sentani is one of Papua must visit attractions. Its beauty lies in surrounding hills and the water that turns sparkling gold once the sun sets high. The area is also home to native local tribe called Sentani which have their own language and set of traditions.
The place is also home to beautiful hills called Tungku Wiri, which locals also call Teletubbies hills as it resembles the mountain range in the Teletubbies series.
Tungku Wiri hill is about 60 minutes’ drive from Jayapura, but when I was there, I lived in a district called Abepura which was only a 40 minutes ride to reach the hill. Along the way, we passed through the lakeside where we can see some traditional lake houses and villages where in front of the house, people also sell Matoa, traditional fruits commonly found in the area.
Visiting Tungku Wiri is like killing two birds with one stone. Not only did we get to enjoy the breathtaking view of the hill but also the lake beneath it where the water was calm.
As soon as we reach the area, we must hike through the stairs. It wasn’t a difficult hike but for people like me who haven’t hiked in months, it was a challenging hike. The stairs weren’t so intimidating, and it was easy to hike those who normally hike and active. But for me, it was moderately challenging, so I was quietly content making it up to the hill.
In the middle of the hike, as you stop and look back, you can see Cyclops mountain range that looks a bit foreign to my eyes. It’s normally something I only see in foreign countries landscapes and nature.
I can’t lie that I felt awe but also felt numb. I knew that it was all breathtaking, but my response dulled as if it was nothing special.
As soon as you reach the top of the hill you can continue further exploring the hills by going down these stairs. The lake stood still beneath the hills and its a good place to meditate and think about life.
Just look at its beauty! Yet again, I wonder why I felt nothing at all when I was there.
We were lucky because it was just a normal day so I could get these amazing shots of the place. Still. When I was there, I wondered why I didn’t feel anything, I was supposed to feel something seeing this beauty.
Maybe I traveled too much and saw too many beautiful things too often. Everything felt like a fast-moving scene. Before I could feel them, I moved on and saw other beautiful places.
We stayed around the hill for about an hour and even watched the airplane about to reach the airport as it flew so closely above us. Lake Sentani is also close to the Airport, even though the airport itself is called Sentani International Airport. So, this place is also the best spot to take pictures of the planes if you love aerophotography.
Oh, I almost forgot to mention, you must pay about 20.000 IDR to park and enter the place. It’s quite a small amount to pay to enjoy the place.
Perhaps, if I visited the place before I’ve seen other amazing things or rarely see breathtaking views, I would have been more appreciative of the place. From that I learned that sometimes I overdid my travel and it isn’t good either. Traveling supposed to make us feel grateful and in awe of what the world has to offer, not to make us numb to the beauty in front of us.
Anyhow, see you in my next Eastbound Journey or you can read some of it here :
- Eastbound | Flavors of Papua
- Eastbound | Bosnik Beach & TETE Diving Point Biak Numfor
- Eastbound | Leaving Jayapura for Diver’s Paradise, Biak Island
- Eastbound | Papua New Guinea The Most Unique Border I’ve Ever Crossed And No Passport Needed!
- Eastbound |Nirmala Resort, Biak Numfor
By the way, this was one of the most meaningful projects I’ve worked on this year regarding to Hive awareness in Indonesian (Sept–Feb 2024–2025). You can learn how I managed it here :
 | 𝘊𝘦𝘮𝘺 (𝘰𝘳 𝘔𝘢𝘤) 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝖼𝗋𝖾𝖺𝗍𝗂𝗏𝖾 𝗀𝖾𝗇𝖾𝗋𝖺𝗅𝗂𝗌𝗍 & 𝘤𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘶𝘳, 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘮𝘣𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘬. 𝘏𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘨 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘶𝘴𝘵, 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘵𝘩. 𝘠𝘰𝘶’𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴, 𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘯𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘺, 𝘱𝘰𝘱 𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦, 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘭, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘺; 𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘩𝘦’𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘶𝘱𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘦. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘸𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘤𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘴. 𝘍𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘯 𝘏𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘣 𝘢 𝘤𝘶𝘱 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘴. |