Lonely Planet™ · Thorn Tree Forum · 2020 |

# PNG- Solomon Islands Country forums / Pacific Islands & Papua New Guinea
romie2479 21:27 UTC 05 Oct 2007 | Hi there, I'm wondering if anyone could give me any info on PNG and the Solomon Islands, my friend and i are travelling together we are both female late 20/early 30's. It's a trip i've always wanted to take and my fiance soon to be husband doesn't want to go so my friend kinda dropped it into a conversation that she would quite fancy it, so here we are now trying to organise a months trip....How exciting!! We will be flying from the UK so haven't decided which route to take may go via Asia first. We will be on a budget ( backpacking ) but want some real experiences amongst the tribes. Anybody know of particular places that wold be suitable for my pal and i to go. Also the best routes to the Solomon and extra info would be well appreciated!! Thanks Guys Romie |
romie2479 01:59 UTC 06 Oct 2007 | Forgot to also mention, i was checking out the Lonely Planet, wondered if anyone agrees that the old Papua New Guinea LP guide book gives more information than the latest edition 2005. I had heard that the latest wasn't well written and quite unhelpful for budget travellers. Info appreciated!! Thanks Romie | 1
watsoff 05:44 UTC 06 Oct 2007 | Guess your best route depends on where you are flying to PNG & Solomons from ... Brisbane? Fiji? As far as village stays go, you could check out Ecotourism Melanesia; they might be have something to interest you. Other than that, in Solomons just go ... you'll find people very open and friendly and will often offer accommodation to a stranger (but you must help pay for it). | 2
deedee 09:38 UTC 06 Oct 2007 | Hi, PNG will not be a country that you will just wander about in. There are real security risks that need to be taken seriously. It has been some years since I lived there (Rabaul). Things were not so good then and I understand it is worse. Do your research. My suggestion would be to check out tours - I know I don't like them either! Have no idea what there is available in that line. Do you know anyone there- even friend of a friend, volunteer worker, mission type etc. Having someone or an organization that you can stay with or make contact with when you get there can really make it easier. This sort of thing is quite common. I was in the Solomons too, again some years ago, so my information may be a bit dated. Thoroughly enjoyed it and a much easier than PNG | 3
ozziegiraffe 21:25 UTC 06 Oct 2007 | Another good page for Solomon Islands is Exploring Solomons, which has been set up over the last few months by people who have been living in the country and using the opportunity to travel. My big warning if you are using the older Lonely Planet is inflation. The Solomon dollar is about 6 to 1 Australian - 10 years ago it was 2 to 1. So Solomon dollar prices are a lot higher, although at present, you get good value when you change Australian dollars. If you look through the Solomon Islands threads, you will get information about reasonable accommodation in Honiara. Flights to Honiara are from Port Moresby (Air Niugini), Brisbane (Solomon Airlines, Our Airline) and Nadi (Air Pacific, which has some good packages out of Brisbane and Sydney including an overnight in Fiji) | 4
lostscot 10:33 UTC 11 Oct 2007 | Hi Romie, A few days ago I just returned from a great trip to both Solomon Islands and PNG. In a couple of days I will post all my information up here, remind me if I havent done so. If you PM me your email address I can send you even more info. In a nutshell - great times!! And Milne Bay Province in PNG seemed safe as houses to me, had zero problems with security. Allow plenty of time as airlines VERY unreliable... but more on all that soon. Cheers, LostScot | 5
lostscot 04:57 UTC 22 Oct 2007 | Hey Romie, I promised I would post details about my trip to Solomon Islands and PNG... and here it is... Regards, feel free to PrivateMessage me if you have any questions. LostScot | 6
harryg 18:37 UTC 24 Mar 2008 | Hi LostScot, I've taken the liberty of adding your excellent post to a wiki i help to maintain - Exploring Solomons. (in fact, you already know the wiki since you left a comment there last August - clearly you've managed to do some awesome travelling since then). The links are at: http://exploringsolomons.wikispaces.com/lostscot_honiara and http://exploringsolomons.wikispaces.com/lostscot_west If you feel this is an outrageous breach of your copyright (!) then feel free to jump onto the wiki and edit/delete as you like. But I'm sure you'll only be chuffed if more people can benefit from your notes? Cheers, Harry | 7
lostscot 10:44 UTC 08 Jul 2008 | Hi there, sorry man I havent been checking back here enough recently... Totally happy for you to post that on your site... cool, I am going to check it out now. It inspires me to do more. Thanks! | 8