PNG Papua New Guinea in September 3-4 weeks - looking for advice: highlands, cultural show, budget travelling, Sepik River, Solomon

I am from Germany (40,male) and a friend and I planing a trip to PNG in September 2016 for 3-4 weeks.
We are normally travelling buget but in PNG it seems to be not easy or not possible. We are willing to pay more also to do trips with guids but trying to keep it still "budget". We can stay with families, homestays or mini-hotels. Travelling with public busses/ boats or plain if necessary. Not sure if we can travel all individual by ourselfs or if we need guids mostly.If someone is interessted in our plans below you can contact us maybe we can travel together and so sharing costs for tours and guids and boats.
We try to find more informations about:
1. cheap flights to PNG (maybe to Bali and further to PNG)?
2. We like see one of the cultural shows /sing sing shows. In September is Goroka Show. Can we just go there by our selfs without guids or do you need month in advance tickets and accommodation for that what I also read? How much is that show and can you stay budget during that days in Goroka? If you know homestays or something would be also find. Or can you recommend an other cultural show which is not soooo full of tourists (I know I am also a tourist ;-)) and similar nice?
3. Sepik River: Can you recommend a guid/boat for a Sepik river tour. Not sure if you need both or if you can travel by public boats? how much do I have to calculate for that?
4. Highlands: What is nice? I planed Mt. Wilhelm trekking and Tari Valley but I am open for all nice and save options. Do I need a guid for trekking and visiting the Valley and stay in viallages? I guess it it much easier and safer?
5. Where I have to fly and where can I take busses /public transports?
6. General helpful tips for finding buget accommodations and travel options.
7. Can you recommend a great spot at Salomon for one week to prolong for snorkling and diving and nice beaches?

Thanks so much for all your help.

plenty of posts here which will answer your questions - my own posts such as 'a month in png' is a good place to start - also see the tripadvisor forum

budget travel is possible but it takes lots of time and a flexible schedule

1 cheapest flights into PNG are from cairns or brisbane as there is competition - bear in mind you may need a visa as non-visa transit is very tight - there is also an issue with taking artifacts (wood seeds feather bones) back though oz

2 turning up is possible but risky - the town is swamped by performers, domestic spectators and tourists (who take all the decent rooms)- anyway PNG people are very hospitable and someone will take care of you - please reward them appropriately - transport in and out of goroka will also be very much in demand

3 there are not really any public boats on the sepik - there are village boats which ply between the villages and the markets which take paying passengers - best suggestion is to go to maprik market and ask around plenty of people will offer or suggest you travel with them back to there village - you need a flexible schedule as you could be stuck in that village for a week for the next trip to maprik market

4 the further up you go the more interesting it becomes - you do need a guide for trekking - do not go blundering around without one or you will get into trouble

5 the national highway runs from lae to tari - other than some sections along the coast there are not many roads - you need to fly

6 see above

7 see the solomon's board

1) For flights, if you are going to Sepik anyway you could consider flying to Jakarta->Jayapura, and then crossing to Vanimo (PNG) overland. You need some extra time and the right Indonesian visa for this (the free one wont let you exit in Jayapura). From Vanimo, it is one day of boat/PMV travel (200 Kina) to Wewak. Or you could enter the Sepik by going directly to Maprik via Aitape. This may not be cheaper overall but more of an adventure saves you the backtracking.

When comparing flights, note domestic flights in PNG are expensive. Using Air Niugini to fly straight from Singapore/Jakarta via Moresby to Goroka (or whatever your PNG destination) could be cheaper than using another carrier to Moresby, possibly spending a night there and then taking a domestic flight.

www.matrix.itasoftware.com is a good flight comparision engine for these sort of queries.

2) A far smaller but much less touristed show is the one in Simbai. Simbai gets maybe 50 tourists per year and I really enjoyed it. You have to fly in with MAF from either Mt Hagen (~250 Kina) or Madang (470 Kina). You can hike out but it takes a few days and you have to pay guide+porter. If you are interested, contact Esron Dotch to arrange it (+675 7135 7801, esron.dotch@gmail.com or kalamguesthouse.simbai@gmail.com).

4) Again I really liked Simbai as it is quite remote and people are very nice & honest & have a good setup for hosting and guiding tourists. In Tari town there was a bad vibe, also due to tribal fighting which led to the temporary shutdown of the airport (end of December 2015). If you go there, I would not spend much time in Tari itself but get a guide and go to the villages. Be prepared for staying the local way (very basic and often dirty rooms).

If it all goes as planned, I will be there too. How far is your planning now?

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