Lonely Planet™ · Thorn Tree Forum · 2020 |

# 33 days in PNG Country forums / Pacific Islands & Papua New Guinea / Papua New Guinea
galyna 20:56 UTC 30 May 2009 | Hello. You excuse my English but I speak it neither I write or. I am going to travel in June to PNG. I have read your messages but itself having doubts. I had thought to make the following itinerary: Port Moresby - Alotau (islands) - Lae - Goroka - TM Hagen Tari - Kutubu lake - Wewak (tour Sepik) - Madang - Rabaul. I let to Rabaul the end to be able to agree with two festivals. I do not know if it is too much for the days that I have. I do not know either if he is better to begin doing tour in Sepik. I do not want to contract an agency for the Sepik, but it gives a little respect me to go without anything. It is easy to find contacts? On the other hand, reading the delays that there are in the flights….he is too dangerous to fly of Rabaul to Port Moresby, and Port Moresby to Brisbane day 17 to fly day 18 from Brisbane to Europe? (Although already I have the bought flights….) It would be thankful for much your answers to you. Thanks for your aid. |
Laszlo 07:11 UTC 31 May 2009 | It is easy to find Sepik contacts locally - the locals are friendly, helpful and most speak good English. I am not sure what you mean talking of day 17 and day 18 - after you wrote 33 days in the title... but very tight schedules are never a good idea in countries like this. | 1
galyna 10:27 UTC 31 May 2009 | Hi, Laszlo. I talk about to fly the 17 of July Rabaul - Port Moresby - Brisbane, and to leave the 18 July Brisbane - Europe. I have made it thus to be able to be two days in the national festival of masks, that begins day 15. In any case, could change the day of return there. You can give your opinion me on the itinerary that I have thought? You advise some other place to me? Thank you very much, I see that you are an expert in PNG. | 2
Laszlo 16:31 UTC 31 May 2009 | Your choices are all very good ones, but to be able to see them ALL in 33 days, you will have to spend a lot of money on internal flights. If that is no problem, go ahead. I would feel uncomfortable flying to POM on the very same day as flying out to AU from there, but that's your choice. Keep your fingers crossed while enjoying the festival! ;-) | 3
globaltourist 16:36 UTC 31 May 2009 | For what it is worth I think you are trying to see too many things in 33 days You have 8 or 9 locations? - that is less than 4 days in each place & unless you are flying internally you may end up taking several days to travel from 1 place to the next. If you take a day getting to Wewak you'll still need time to arrange your Sepik trip - then go for 3-4 days on the river & then a day getting somewhere else. So that's going to take 5-6 days in itself. I'd pick 5 or 6 places maximum for 30 days even if you are flying internally travelling from one place to another seems to take most of the day. Have a great time at the mask festival - I would dearly love to see that. I think you will be fine going from Rabaul to Port Moresby & getting your connecting flight onto Brisbane - as long as the ash is not blowing over Kokopo. I think - from last month - getting a flight into Tari will be where you might have problems. | 4
galyna 18:54 UTC 31 May 2009 | Thank you very much! I thank for much to you the information, in my country nonencounter to which it has traveled to PNG. You can say what budget to me is needed, more or less, to do tour of the Sepik by free? It interests to know the price difference to me that there is between doing it by free or organized. He is better to begin the trip by the Sepik or in another place? | 5
globaltourist 21:24 UTC 31 May 2009 | Sepik costs http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/thread.jspa?threadID=1723090&tstart=30 | 6
Laszlo 02:49 UTC 01 Jun 2009 | You can do the Sepik for very different prices depending on how you do it. The cheapest way could be going to Pagwi by public transport on a Maprik market day, then simply riding to the village of your choice along with locals heading home - should be no more than 20 USD in total! Once you are in a village, you could rent a boat there for day-trips to other villages - again, costs would vary depending on how far you go, but should still be under 100 USD for a day-trip to a coupl of villages within the Middle Sepik area. | 7
galyna 07:49 UTC 01 Jun 2009 | Thank you very much. What kind of problem has to go to Tari? There are insecurity problems? The price does not seem to me too expensive that you happen, globaltourist. That price is by person?I have put myself in contact with a guide who requests a little less to me by 5 days (by person), everything including. Fodder that in the end will not be so much the difference between engaging a guide or doing it freely. What think you? | 8
globaltourist 12:47 UTC 01 Jun 2009 | It's your trip - not mine I think you are trying to do too much in 33 days If you can do the Sepik cheaper - great. You still need to factor in the time it will take you to do it, plus the time to do your other 7 or 8 locations - & I'm sure Lazlo would agree - include days where you are either stuck somewhere or what you have planned doesn't happen Having gone from the UK I've gone ober 8000 miles - I wanted to see the stuff I wanted to see, rather than the stuff guides wanted to show me - & I'm prepared to pay for that service up to my budget - you have to make the same choices. I went mainly for diving & met several other divers who didn't get to see what they wanted because they simply hadn't worked out the distances to the sites or the money it took to get there. | 9
Laszlo 12:59 UTC 01 Jun 2009 | I am not at all sure OP understands everything we write here. In fact his own posts look like sg out of an online translation engine! | 10
globaltourist 13:02 UTC 01 Jun 2009 | Laszlo - he'll be perfect for pidgeon '-) | 11
galyna 14:30 UTC 01 Jun 2009 | From the beginning I have said that I do not speak nor I write in English, and I have requested excuses for that reason. If you want that we communicate in Spanish, language spoken by million people, perfect for me. Thank you very much by his aid, it will serve certainly me for my trip. | 12
globaltourist 17:28 UTC 01 Jun 2009 | Yes - we fully appreciate this. The problem is yesterday you posted that you didn't have a guide to the Sepik, & were just going to turn up and find someone. Then you asked about costs for the Sepik - which we supplied. Now you say you have a guide that's cheaper than the prices posted, but as I understand it yesterday you didn't have a guide. Obviously we can't understand exactly what it is you want - so therefore we're not really best placed to advise you. I'm sorry if I pissed you off - Just put it down to the fact that I am an ignorant bastard. | 13
Laszlo 18:27 UTC 01 Jun 2009 | What I find most pzzling is that we gave price estimates for both a higher and lower budget, so either of those, or the range in between, should really suit anyone. I really think we are facing a language obstacle and that's not mockery. I also sincerely hope OP can speak English better than he writes/reads, as unfortunately pretty much none of the millions of Spanish-speakers live in PNG. | 14
galyna 20:37 UTC 01 Jun 2009 | I believe that there is a misunderstanding. At no moment I have said that I have a guide, because I do not have it. I have a budget of a guide, that I have not contracted, and only have asked how it is possible to be gone to the Sepik by free and how much it costs. Nothing else. If it is as much problem to ask to be safe of what I must do, I request excuses. And if not to speak English it is as much problem for you, I request excuses. For me it is not it. Again, thanks for your answers. | 15
old european 20:37 UTC 17 Jun 2009 | I can recommend using Roni Kowspi in Ambunti (if he still lives there - I was there back in 2005). I'll be in PNG in Sept if anyone is around and wants to travel together. Flying into Pt Moresby but no definite itinerary as yet. | 16