May next year - Guides? Home stays? Festivals? Security? Itinerary Suggestions?

Hi there,

Planning to travel to PNG next year pretty much for the whole of the month of May. Trying to get people together from the travel companion forums and had some replies so hopefully they'll be at least two of us as there's no chance I'm an experienced enough traveller to do this on my own (if anyone here would be interested in accompanying us then tell me!) (I'm 29 and male).

I've spent a lot of time reading the threads here. They're very helpful but I've still got loads of questions so sorry for the massive post. I don't have an itinerary planned except a vague idea for seeing both highland (Asaro Mudmen sound very intriguing!) and coastal melanesian culture (Trobriands are supposed to be cool!). Although even for those thoughts I'm completely open to rethink. Might just focus on one region if it turns out two would cost the earth. The vague plan is to find a guide when I get there. Go on some long trek with him to see some cool villages, and then find another guide if I need one to take me some place else.

1) Guides. What's the best way of finding guides how much do they typically cost? Did you contact them before hand in your home country? I've found various phone numbers in the threads so thanks for that.

2) Budget. Can PNG be done for about £3000 GBP (4600K USD or 12500 Kina) for a month? (excluding international flights and other costs I'd pay in the UK like kit and vaccinations). If not then how much do I need for a month and how long would £3k last?

3) Where I can survive without a guide? I can't afford to be guided for an entire month so I guess my two questions is where is it safe/possible to travel without one and are most interesting places reachable only by trekking, in which case, well, trekking through the rainforest without a guide entails safety risks of a different nature to the crime problems in cities (like getting lost in the wilderness). Heard that public transport has a habit of stopping before the most interesting places.

4) Home stays. Some advice has said that in villages the best thing to do is to just ask if any locals will put you up in their homes or stay in the churches. Is this possible? While if I'm to be fair to them I'm not expecting this to be cheaper than guest houses but it'd certainly be an experience! I'm planning on taking a tarpaulin as a backup. I've read that you can't generally camp anywhere without permission but if I really can't find accommodation in a village then I'll ask permission to camp.

5) Did you book any accommodation before you went or just found it when you were out there?

5) Dances and Festivals! Unfortunately I've just realised that there are no big festivals in May. Is it still possible to see dances and festivals? I guess you need to find smaller local ones if they exist in May - how does one do this?

5) Security. Ouch. Some of the stuff I'm reading is making me consider not going at all. I'm definitely avoiding Lae from what I've read and it looks like cities should just be a place to launch trips and never a destination in their own right. Get in, get out basically. Is this right? Bit concerned about Port Moresby because you can't avoid it as that's where the planes land. Should you just get straight on a flight to another city on arrival rather than say, finding a hotel in Port Moresby and a guide and trekking from there? If even taxis and PMVs are to be avoided then that would be the natural conclusion as you have to get to your hotel somehow and go out and eat. Or are there ways to be safe?

5) Best trekking routes?

6) General itinerary suggestions?

7) Birds of paradise? Best places to see?

8) Other animals of interest?

9) Any ethical concerns in PNG? I keep reading that in some parts of the world if you visit places inhabited by indigenous people living traditional lives you're paving the way for their culture to be ruined. Something to be aware of when you decide what travel to do in PNG?

10) How do I get to the Trobriands if I do decide to go there and how much does it cost? Wikitravel says fly from POM via Alotau or get a boat from Alotau. But there's no evidence on the Niugini website of which airport is in the Trobriands and the other option... sounds cool but where do I find this?

11) I've seen some posts about this but can anyone give me a vague rundown of which highland PMV routes, if any, are safest and which are to be avoided at all costs, for the main routes?

Think that's all I can think of for now. Sorry there's so many questions! Thanks in advance (and for your posts that I've already read!).

the issue with going alone rather than preplanned in PNG is that there is no real infrastructure for tourists so whilst you can find guides and accommodation as you go it will take time and there is no guarantee you will find something good - if you are up for adventure and have the time then go but you will be spending some days hanging around a dusty PMV stop

1 ask at hotels.guesthouses or at the market/shop/pmv stop - make sure you ask other people to vouch for anyone who presents themselves - people know who is honest and who is a rogue or a chancer - prices vary but outside the cities 50K is a lot of money - make sure you factor in that you may well have to buy food for the guide and his family

2 that is a good budget i think

3 with a good guide you will see much more and save time where ever you are - in the highlands past garoka a guide is essential for safety reasons unless you know what you are doing - generally on small islands a guide is less needed but in any village someone will usually present themsleves to show you around

4 in general people are very hospitable and will never leave a traveller stranded - be generous as often no payment will be requested - store food is a good gift

5 dont spend time in POM or Lae - you will not find a guide here like you can in smaller towns

5(2) trek not my area but kokoda and wilhelm are well trodden routes - guides essential

6 see my trip reports and search older posts here and on tripadvisor forum

7/8 not my area except if you are underwater - PNG has amazing diving and snorkelling

9 better that you go rather than a chinese mining firm or american oil company - these are the people having a much bigger effect than tourism (except maybe the big cruise ships)

10 airniugini and airlines PNG fly from alotau gurney (GUR) to losuia on kiriwina (LSA)

11 there is one main road up the highlands from lae to tari and then from each town there will be local pmvs going out to the villages off the main track - up to goroka its generally safe but things get sketchy past mount hagen

see the news - and this is just what is reported

http://www.abc.net.au/news/topic/papua-new-guinea

Thanks a lot for your thorough reply. Seems like the primary message for PNG just seems to be - be patient and don't worry if you're not going anywhere fast (well... that's part of the reason why I planned a whole month in the first place so that's ok), know the places to avoid esp cities, take normal precautions and get a guide although you can get by on safer islands. Which is reassuring as I can manage those things and it's reassuring that my budget sounds reasonable. Hostels sound like a safer bet for getting guides. So if one approaches you at, say, the PMV stop do you just sort of discretely ask at the ticket desk (if such a thing exists) or anyone who looks official if they know this person?

So it sounds to me like Goraka is the best entry point for finding a guide and exploring more of the highlands then? I had heard before that its safer than the bigger towns and cities. So maybe we should start our trip with an air transfer from POM to Goraka and start planning based on where the interesting things are and where the trekking routes are around there. And I'll look at flight prices and see how much I'll end up spending on guides and work out if my budget stretches to visiting to a few islands. I had heard about snorkelling. Alotau has good snorkelling I think I read somewhere and if I pass through it to get to somewhere like Trobriand might consider it a destination in its own right. Can't scuba dive though. And I'll have a look at your trip report.

Cheers!

Geoff

Have now just read your report also. Very informative. Thanks. Main result is that I now want Highlands + Sepik to be the core of the trip.

doing the sepik on a budget is difficult - PMV canoes are not very frequent - your best chance is to fly to wewak and then get a PMV to maprik and ask around at the market and join up with someone to go back to their village - you really need a flexible agenda as you can get stuck very easily if you dont have your own canoe on hire and the market trips could be only once a week

this blog shows what can be done on the sepik with lots of time and a sense of adventure

http://carelesswhistler.com/2014/08/08/sepik-river-singsing-crocs-paddling-and-sorcery/

Wow that blogs amazing! Thanks! A wealth of info! Interestingly he went the other way, from Indonesia to the highlands. This is tempting as it'd mean a chance to combine PNG with Indonesia. Think I might get a PNG VISA in advance in the UK so I don't have to hang out in Jayapura for a week. But you think it might be pushing it a bit? I will still have a month and the same budget as above actually in PNG, the short stay in Indo (probably just in tourist friendly Java where I can see some cool places while acclimatising) I'm counting separately, I'm just worried I'll lose a big chunk of time just getting from Vanimo to Wewak or something. Though according to my LP guide boats all the way to Wewak are sporadic but you can also get 4WDs part the way which speeds things up. Cheers. For that matter, although this undoubtedly really will be pushing it!, is the part of the Sepik South of Vanimo worth seeing? The LP makes it sound nice - undeveloped, off the beaten track and great for nature.

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