help! need quick advice on papua new guinea vacation mid-Aug

I just found out yesterday I get 2 weeks off work....and I've been scrambling to quickly organize a vacation, and I got super lucky that I was able to get a ticket with frequent flyer miles from San Francisco to Sydney. I leave San Francisco Aug 9, and return back Aug 23. 2 weeks with traveling.

I've never been to Australia, but I've also never been to Papua New Guinea and for some reason I've always been fascinated by Papua New Guinea. Should I skip Australia and go to Papua New Guinea? The ticket from Syndey is around $1000.

I'm a guy and I'm a pretty adventurous travel (my last 2 trips were traveling by myself in Tanzania/Malawi/Zambia, and Brazil), and I tend to like cultural and outdoorsy trips. Is Papua New Guinea safe for a solo traveler? I'm a diver, so I definitely want to do a 4-5 days of diving. What else would I want to do? How hard is it to get around to the main places in Papua New Guinea? Will I need to fly?

Yes, as you can tell, I'm trying to make this vacation happen much too quickly :)

thanks in advance!!!

Go to the Mt. Hagen festival Aug 17-19 in PNG. It's a once a year event. I'm off to PNG this weekend too!

Jo

I think png is a great place for adventure especially if you are into culture and the outdoors. my concern is that 2 weeks is not enough time to get around. my experience is in the western part of the country and it is safe but you can easily be without air transportation for 3 weeks. you could enter the country at from Jayapura, Indonesia (cheap flights to Bali) and from Vanimo take a walking trip up into a remote area. The country is ROUGH but unforgettable.

PNG is relatively safe with the exception of the cities: Port Moresby; Lae; and Mt Hagen. I really like Mt Hagen but last time i was there someone wanted 10 kina from me and told my friend he was going to his pistol. My friend said "Go ahead and shoot us but we're not giving you any money." Luckily, just then a bus appeared and one of my friend's relatives was driving. He kicked 2 people off the bus, we got on and drive away.

PNG is "The land of the unexpected". I found that much planning doesn't go very far.

Given your short period of time I suggest you consentrate on 1 or 2 places. Madang (you'll have to fly here from Pt Moresby) on the north coast is a place where you can arrange diving, snorkelling, hiking (fairly gentle) and cultural tours/singsings. Places such as the madang resort or Jais aben resort can organise this if you stay there. Madang is not to far from Goroka (by PMV or flight) where you can experience highland culture and hiking.

Other great diving spots are Kavieng, Tufi & Manus and I'm sure you can get some culture there too.

Hi
well my husband has had two trips there and the valuable lesson is.NEVER PAY FOR ANYTHING UNTIL YOU HAVE RECEIVED THE SERVICE. THEY DO NOT REFUND WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH.

Last year my husband went and was conned out of $4000 as the trip was run by a school boy. the company has since been struck off and extradition is tking place for the operator from Austrlia who we had met and he seemed fine. the tour operator was a schoolboy!!they got lost and there was no food/no refund!!

tried again this year. paid $3000 and tour ended three dys early because they were fighting and killing each other- the tour compny would not refund the $2000!! referred us to travel insurance who referred us back to the tour operator who only offered us a 25% discount off next door.. Yeah like we would gt caught again!!
and this was another company recomended by the tourism board.

So my message would be ..go..but pay as you go. Service provided ,thn service paid for.
good luck... and my husband still wants to go back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

PNG is definitely THE place to go for adventure in Oceania.

If you plan to go it on your own, the PNG link in my signo line might be of interest.

But as noted above, don't try tio see the whole country in 2 weeks - pick just 1 or 2 areas.

My suggestion would be to go to Alotau for a few days and then go to the Highlands.

There was a good trip report posted about 6 weeks ago titled '45 Days in PNG'. The poster gave a great description of things to do in Alotau and surrounds. You would have to fly from Port Moresby(POM) to Alotau and then back to POM.

From POM you could fly to Madang, have a look around the coast, catch a PMV to Goroka in the eastern Highlands, stay a few days, then PMV to Kundiawa, then to Mt Hagen. This would give you a good sense of the highlands as well. From Hagen you would fly back to POM.

I'm sorry to hear of Frangy's bad experiences in PNG. I have been here 13 months and travelled to 10 Provinces, all independently apart from one paid tour on the Sepik River, which was fantastic. I have never had any problems - it must be disappointing to Frangy to have two bad experiences. Anyway, I would encourgae you to come here and give it a go. I am quite confident that you will have a great time.

David