PNG to West Papua - transport

Hi there!
How can you get from PNG, starting from Port Morseby, and into Indonesian West Papua (Jayapura)? I would be happy for any advice regarding transport options in this route. Basically I am trying to fit in a short visit to PNG on my may from Brisbane to West Papua.

Thank you!

Fly to Vanimo, catch a PMV (or hire a car) to the border at Wutung, walk across, catch another vehicle to Jayapura on the Indonesian side.

Note that you will need a visa to enter Indonesia (available in Vanimo) and you may well need an onward ticket to fly into PNG even if you intend to leave it by land!

Thanks for that, Laszlo! How much travel time do you have to reckon on from Vanimo to Jayapura?

And in short, what is there to see and do in Vanimo (I'm not a surfer ...).

Also, finally, anyone has advice on how to obtain a PNG visa in Australia, perferably Brisbane?

Cheers,
Fredrik

Nothing to see in Vanimo besides a nice beach and mildly interesting markets on certain days of the week.

You could get from Vanimo to Jayapura within half a day easily.

If you fly into Port Moresby, PNG visas are available on arrival I think.

vai to wutung(border check)is 90 mins,,,,,then 2 hours road trip from skou to jayapura/
png visas available at png consulate in brisbane.....level 11 in the christie centre building in adelaide st city.tourist visa is 35aud...takes about 4 days to process,you need photo and airline tik copy.visa on arrival at pom is easy and costs 100 kina
surf season at vanimo only happens through december to march,due to swells.

Thanks Don

What is better, do you think: Apply for a PNG visa in advance in Brisbane or get it on arrival?
Do you know whether they require you to have a return ticket out of the country?
In my case, going to PNG is basically just a way to travel from Brisbane to Indonesian Papua, so I won't spend much time in PNG. Because I plan to go overland, I would normally not have a return ticket out of PNG. However, if they require a return ticket in order to issue a PNG visa, I might just buy one. They're not too expensive.

Fredrik

if you just want to go to papua(indonesia)from brisbane,the less hassle way and less expense is to fly brisbane to bali and get the daily garuda flight to jayapura!about 2.30am daily arrives in jayapura(sentani)at 9am......this way also means only need 1 visa,which you get on arrival at denpasar.it gets rid of a lot of consulate stuff.

Thanks for the advice, Don!

Sometimes it's those few extra hurdles that makes travel so fun... It's not always about doing to the easiest or cheapest way. It does seem like I need a return ticket out of PNG in any case, but by using frequent flyer points it won't cost me much. So I'll give it a go :)

before you get too excited about the fun side of hurdles,i would suggest you look back on previous threads about getting a visa to come back into png from jayapura!that is if you are planning to do that.good fun!

No, Don, I'm not going to go back into PNG. I've seen the threads. Instead, my plan to to fly out of Jayapura after perhaps a visit to Baliem Valley.

I"m doing the Vanimo - Jayapura trip next week. I'll let you know if anythings changed from what has been stated above (I hope not!).

Thanks, that would be great. Good luck with your trip!

PNGMangi will give us the most up-to-date information.

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But last summer I was told emphatically by all three airlines then flying Brisbane-POM that I had to have a return/onward ticket (or a PNG government document allowing travel without one) or I couldn't board a plane. I was told the reason for this is that the airlines suffer a heavy fine and are responsible for carrying the passenger back to their point of departure if they carry a passenger who doesn't have a confirmed ticket out of the country. (And four PNG embassy/consulates in eastern Australia and one in the Solomons refused to give me a visa without some indication that I had an onward ticket.)

Maybe just do a dummy return booking and print it out.

It's not a problem I've ever faced. Incidently, crossing from PNG to Indonesia, you don't need a return ticket - because there are no flights! I just show my POM - Vanimo and Jayapura - onward and return ticket. That usually does the trick.

I contacted the PNG Embassy in Australia and they said: No, you do not need a return ticket if you have an Indonesian visa in you passport and some proof of a ticket out of Indonesia. I also contacted Tourism PNG, and they told me the opposite: You do need a return ticket .... Anyway, just to be on the safe side, and because I will have very limited time there, I used some of my frequent flyer point to purchase a POM-CNS ticket for next to nothing.

However, I thought I might actually get my Indonesian visa in advance. I live in Norway, and its a fairly simle procedure to get the visa here, before departure. Then you don't have to spend time in Vanimo going through the visa application procedure.

Another question for you PNGMangi (this is really an Indonesia question though): What recommendations do you have for purchasing tickets out of Jayapure to other destinations in Indonesia? I will most likely be flying to Sulawesi. Should you get it in advance or can you just as well buy it on the spot? Looks like Lion Air allows you to book tickets online, and they're cheaper than Garuda.

easy to buy indonesian airflights on the ground at either sentani airport or from travel agents in jayapura,