Perched out on the beak of the Bird’s head peninsula of West Papua, Sorong is not really a tourist town. Its busy port, rows of low-rise cottages and golden-tipped mosques certainly attest to the fact that that this is lived-in, authentic Indonesia. The main attraction here is unquestionably its regular ferry connections to the paradisiacal Raja Ampat Islands, a series of coral reef islands that are home to some of the richest marine diversity on earth. However, opt to linger in town and you can taste a side to Sorong other travelers seldom see, such as the Sapta Ratna Pagoda, a great spot for peace and quiet, and photo ops. Sorong tour guides also offer intrepid trips out to the misty, montane rainforests that surround town, where bowerbirds and the king bird-of-paradise flit between the waxy canopies.