Solo traveller

Hello!
I am 19 years old, female and from Sweden. I have travelled solo in Tanzania, Japan and Australia, currently writing this post from the airport in Singapore. I am going home to work for a couple of months to earn a proper amount of money before I go on a long trip.

I want to go to PNG alone aswell, but I am concerned about the safety. I want to go to the Highlands, a few cities and a few other places (haven't gotten that far in my plans yet) and I wonder if it's safe for a young, solo, female traveller?

Thank you

my honest advice would be to say do not go - sorry to say that as i love the place and am a big advocate for visiting it
but for a single female 19 year old with limited adventure travel experience (the places you mentioned dont count) i would advise against - if you were my sister i would say dont go

wait until you have more money - it is expensive and staying safe with guides etc is more expensive - and you have a much more experienced traveller to go with

PNG is dangerous - see the recent news stories and this is just the stuff that gets reported

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

the two places you wish to visit - the highlands and the cities - are the most dangerous areas

i would say go to some of the less visited indonesian islands or vietnam - much cheaper and safer (although all the normal precautions still apply especially for a single female)and still lots of adventures to be had there

Hello Stompingleaf,
It is always unsafe to travel alone especially ladies. You must have a guide. A guide is an important for many purposes such as teach and explain of culture, tradition and the places to visit. You are travelling in the country to see and experience something unique so a guide plays a major roles. He is also for a purposes, that is to safe guide, teach and explain.

Im an Highlander and Im giving you this advice from Mt. hagen so please follow my instruction.

Regards

Les

Thanks guys. You both make a good point and I read the news stories. If I decide to go, I won't travel the country alone, I will atleast have a guide.

Hello!
I am 19 years old, female and from Sweden. I have travelled solo in Tanzania, Japan and Australia, currently writing this post from the airport in Singapore. I am going home to work for a couple of months to earn a proper amount of money before I go on a long trip.

I want to go to PNG alone aswell, but I am concerned about the safety. I want to go to the Highlands, a few cities and a few other places (haven't gotten that far in my plans yet) and I wonder if it's safe for a young, solo, female traveller?

Thank you

Hi,

If I were you I would have to book through a local tour operators in the Highlands especially in Mt. Hagen. They will provide a guide for you. They are the one who will take care of you. The guides should be employees of the local ground operator. Or if you are going to Mt. Hagen you can book a backpacker guest house. The guest house owner wil provide you with another young employee male and femail to accompany you.

The guest houses cost about PNGK150.00 which is equvalent to $70.00 or some guest houses are less than that amount.

You don't have to go by yourself as it is risk unless you are male.

Thanks

You don't pickup anyone on the street as your guide as they will sometimes turns back and attack you. You must pick a guide at the hotel you will be overnighting. Makesure the hotel manager knows that person or the hotel manager will provide you a guide as they will know where that guide or his/her employee comes from and that person must be in the hotels payrole.

Thanks

Chris

Thank you, those are very useful tips! I will make sure not to pick a random guide from the streets, only from the hotel then.

Hi stompingleaf,

I agree with above posters: do not visit cities like Port Moresby and Mt Hagen alone. Best way to go is to be guided by a trustworthy local. I have been to the Highlands and it was okay but I think I would not have felt as comfortable if I had not been with locals that I trusted.

There are places however in png where I would recommend solo travel by females without worries. Based on my personal experience, Kiriwina Island in the Trobriands and also Tufi in Oro Province are super safe. I traveled there without a problem and met so many friendly people. I must say that I traveled with my friend but I would gladly go back alone and I am female. On Kiriwina we also met a woman who was traveling in png on her own and loving it though she was a seasoned traveler. I also experienced Kokopo/Rabaul as a peaceful and relaxed place.

Look very carefully into the places you wish to visit. PNG is a paradoxical country with places you should avoid like the plague and places that are gorgeous, safe (safer than most places in the West I would say) and traveler's heaven.

In general I would say skip the cities, go see the countryside and be careful in the Highlands.

Also expect a different experience than traveling in Australia, Japan and even Tanzania. Those countries are uncomparable in terms of travel experience and logistics. And like mentioned above take a lot of money. PNG is expensive, you'll have to fly to most places and domestic flights are not cheap.

Wow, thank you. This is just what I needed to read. I plan on seeing the countryside and the Highlands, however I do want to see a larger city as well. Perhaps I should see if I could get a guide with me in the city then.

I met this guy from png who told me the cities were safe but the highlands wasn't so now I'm quite unsure but I'll be sure to study up on everything real good.

What is your reason for wanting to see a city? I have lived in Port Moresby for six months and have also been to Lae a number I times but I can honestly not recommend them. It is not safe, if you don't know the place and do not have locals to accompany you, there is nowhere for you to go and pretty much nothing to see either. To give you an impression: my employer provided me with a car with driver because it is not safe to walk outside or to take a PMV. I was advised to always drive with the windows up and doors locked and to not stop for anything. Buildings are surrounded by barb wire and the only places you can safely visit are safe because they are protected by guards (such as certain shopping malls). The only sights in POM Id consider worth visiting is Nature Park and the national museum but to be honest those are not sights worth risking your safety for. Lae is a dangerous city that no one likes, even all the PNG locals that I know hate it.

Sorry to sound so negative but what I am trying to say that it is much better to spend your time in pleasant places. Tufi and Trobriand islands are fantastic, I had my best traveling experiences ever there.

Smaller cities that I did enjoy were Kokopo (relaxed atmosphere and beautiful setting and vistas) and also Goroka (Highlands). In Kokopo I could walk around on the streets alone and feel safe. Goroka I went around with locals and it was enjoyable, not sure to what extent it is safe to go around alone. I do believe it is the safest Highlands town (Mt Hagen is worse and Mendi even more so). Also nice is that near Goroka you can visit the village of the Asaro mud men.

I have also heard good stories about Madang and Alotau. Especially the latter is relaxed and safe.

If you do your research and then choose wisely about where to go you will have the experience of a lifetime.

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