To go or not to go...

Hello all,

My husband and I were planning on going to PNG for a month next August - a little background: I am a photographer who is quite obsessed with tribal dress etc and so I thought this would be the perfect place to go. Our trip is just shy of a year long and so budget has to be considered.

From what I have read and the response we have had from some tour companies - the costs are insane... I am stuck at the moment, half of me says we should go and the other half says we could save a few grand towards another trip...

Opinions please - or tales from people who have travelled around this country without having to use a tour company...

We will be entering PNG overland from Indonesia BTW, no way am I paying a thousand dollars for flights!!!

Thanks in advance,
Kim

PNG is not as cheap as Indonesia, that's for sure.
But it does not have to be ultra-expensive either, and no one is forcing you to take pricey tours.
Given that you don't even hint at quite how much you could actually afford to spend there, the only thing I can say is that it is a truly unique place and most of those who do get to visit seem to find it was worth the expense.

Budget wise if we could get there and see what i want to see (mainly Mt Hagen and Enga Festival) for about £1000 then that would be great - looking at what i have found out so far the cheapest flights from Vanimo to PM and then onto Mt Hagen will be £600 - that doesn't leave much for actually seeing anything!! I don't mind rough travel - if anyone knows of a way to get from Vanimo to Mt Hagen cheaper please let me know becuase at the minute this is the biggest expense...

p.s. all my prices are for 2 people

Agreed - £400 for the 2 of you is not much.
Perhaps leave PNG for another time?

It is possible to get from Vanimo to Hagen by a combination of boats (as far as Madang) and PMVs (from Madang to Hagen), but ASFAIK catching a boat from Vanimo to Madang still remains as unpredictable as ever, making this option a hit or miss.

As Laszlo said, PNG is more expensive than Papua (Indonesia's side). Isn't the Baliem Valley festival on August? So, you could stay in Papua and you would probably be able to take lots of Papua people on their traditional dresses during the festival.

That's a decent compromise solution, though to avoid disappointment it should be remembered that highlanders in West Papua have far less colourful traditional attire than those in PNG.

I've decided to forget the cost and go anyway - always wanted to :)

As i said we're coming on overland, i'll have already arranged the PNG visa in Kuala Lumpur and will be getting a 30 day VOA for Indonesia - is this OK or do i need to pre arrange my indonesian visa??? Very confused...

The VOA is OK if you are sure you will only stay 30 days - IMHO way too short to get through Indonesia.
PNG visa in KL? Please try to remember to post if you could get it there, and how!

definately only staying in Indo for 3 weeks prior to PNG - i heard a report that a couple of swiss travellers got turned away at the indo/png border as they had a VOA - was this just a one off - its just i can't risk being turned away as i'll have a load of flight booked by then that we can't miss!

Can you get a visa for PNG in Jakarta?

Thanks again :)

Those people may have been turned away at the border as in the past it used to be the case that people who had a VOA had to get their exit stamp at the immigration office in Jayapura, not at the border itself. Check in the city before heading for the border, or get a 60 day visa in advance to be safe.

In the past I was told by JKT embassy staff that they only issue visas for those flying into PNG, overland travellers must get them in Jayapura.
The latter is definitely a possibility, but can take time and involve idiotic troubles - another reason to get a 60 day visa for Indonesia!

Hi, thanks so much for your help - kinda going crazy now with all the visa madness!!!

We're flying from Jakarta to Jayapura so it's only a few hours, we looked at going all the way overland but as you say we'd need a lot more time!!! Thats good news about the VOA issue though, saves me a load of trouble in Bangkok!!!

Heard you could get PNG in Kuala Lumpur but only found 1 other person who has done it but they said it was very easy and only took 3 days - need to get more concrete proof of this before relaxing though...

Do you know the turnaround time for getting my indonesin visa in Vanimo - kinda forgot about this part when planning so have to re-jig everything around now!!!

I am starting to think flying in would just be sooo damn easy - the best i could find was £1100 for 2 people flying from Hong Kong to Port Moresby - any suggestions on that? Ooo - also if i did that was is all this talk about discount on internal flight with Air Nuigini?

Sorry for all the questions...

Gosh, you are asking the same Qs on 2-3 separate threads by now - won't repeat the same answers here!

If you fly to Port Moresby, you could probably even get a PNG visa upon arrival at the airport. And if you fly Air Niugini, you should ask them about the 50% tourist discount on their domestic flights - they won't tell you about this without asking. You may need to be in PNG to get those discounted tickets, if still available, that is.

Hello!

Yeah - though i'd put them in each country just in case!!!

Right - my plan... after all your help :)

Getting a 30d VOA for INdonesia, crossing overland into PNG (already get visa in KL) and then out the same way again (hopefully getting the visa in a day for Indo)

Now all i need is to get the PNG visa from KL confirmed!!! LOL

Hey hey,
Just come back from a month in PNG.
Well worth it despite breaking the budget...took a cargo ship and internal flights. Air Niugini have reduced all their fares and now offer special fares...these are a fair bit cheaper but many still go through Port Moresby annoyingly! though most fares were not over £100 each. we also took a cargo ship from Wewak to Madang (20 hours supposed to be 15 hours) but all fine. Our one came from Vanimo. The ships probably go twice a week and cost around £30-40 each. I guess if you just went to Hagen and Enga you wouldn't really break the budget very much and nowhere in the world quite like it. To get all the colours..definitely must go at festival time. THe only thing that stretched us budget wise was the Sepik river and then all the internal flights. What an amazing country and only saw about 5 tourists in a month.
Shout if you need any more info.
Going to write up a trip report soon.

PNG really isn't a budget destination. Due to the lack of infrastructure, if you want to do first world things like hotels, diving, tours etc. you'll pay first world prices. The flights, often the only feasible way to get places, do add up and some of the small planes are daunting (although buzzing the runway to clear it of pigs was fun) but the pilots are first class. It is also an absolute wonderland, the most beautiful place I've ever been. You'll love it.

thanks for the info guys - looking forward to reading the trip report - i'll be posting my grand plan as soon as i've tweaked it a bit more so if anything looks dumb or i've missed something let me know! Never have i had to plan like this for a country before - i suppose if i wasn't so cheap it would have been a breeze!!!

Heres a plan. From Vanimo, take the boat to Wewak and take a PMV to Pagwi. Hop canoes down into the Chambri Lakes and find somebody willing to walk you to Enga (can be done.) From Enga, take a PMV to Hagen.

Or, from Vanimo, find a way to get to Telefomin (spelling?). From there, you can walk into the Highlands and PMV it to Hagen.

The absolute best way to see PNG is to make incredably stupid adventures for yourself. So far, I've traveled 300 km by canoe and have gone on a quest to find the Garden of Eden on an island that hasn't seen white men in three decades. Planes are a waste of money and are useless for footed adventurers.