Trip Report October - November 2018 (Part 4)

From Wewak to Madang

Banana boats are supposed to go every morning to Bogia, from where you can get a PMV to Madang (usually overnight, I think). However, I spent all day waiting for a banana boat with the owner constantly saying we would be leaving very soon. At around 14:30 they said they did not have enough passengers and would have to delay until the next day. It’s possible I arrived too late and missed boats that had left earlier.

I then went back to a hotel where they told me the Lutheran Shipping ferry was leaving in a couple of hours. I raced down to the port and bought a ticket for 250 Kina. It left around 17:30, about 3 hours later than scheduled. We arrived in Madang around 4pm the next day.

The ferry leaves Wewak on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Once a month it also continues to Vanimo and the schedule is published around 3 - 4 weeks in advance. There are no longer different prices for different classes - it’s just first come first served. There are lots of beds and many were empty when I travelled, although they said around holiday times there are a lot more passengers and many end up only with seats, so make sure to be one of the first to board. All windows are open all the time which makes it very comfortable during the day but quite cold at night, so bring a blanket if possible. Noodles, sausages, eggs, biscuits and soft drinks are available to buy on board but no water, so buy some at the shop at the ferry port.

Unlike Indonesian ferries there were no cockroaches, which was nice. Also unlike Indonesian ferries the toilets and shower were occasionally cleaned, which was very nice. In between cleanings they got predictably filthy.

Star Shipping also does the same route, definitely departing Wewak on Thursdays and maybe also Tuesdays. They have only seats and no beds.

You can also get betel nut boats from Angoram down the Sepik to Bogia and PMV from there to Madang. However, make sure it is betel nut season on the Sepik before trying to do this.

From Madang to the Highlands

Lots of PMV buses met the ship from Wewak to unload the betel nut and take it up to Mt Hagen. However, locals advised me against taking them as they’re an easy target for robbers. I overnighted in Madang and my hotel advised me that in the daytime there are no direct buses to Mt Hagen, only to Goroka, from where you get another bus on to Hagen. The hotel said I could wait at the hotel and they would get a bus to come and pick me up, to save me waiting for hours at the PMV stop in town. I later regretted agreeing to this, as the bus I was waiting for left Madang without me. The hotel staff then found one of their relatives, a local politician from Jimi Valley, who agreed to give me an overnight lift up to Mt Hagen in a private vehicle.

In general you have two options - overnight direct PMV to Mt Hagen or morning PMV to Goroka then change for Hagen.

From Mt Hagen there are daily PMVs to Mendi and Tari. To Mendi is about 3 hours and costs 15 Kina, to Tari about 9 hours and costs 50 kina. I arrived in Hagen around 10am after about 13 hours travel and the last PMV to Tari had gone. I got one to Mendi instead, hoping to find one from there on to Tari. At a rest stop just before Mendi I found a truck going to Tari so transferred to that. See the above safety section for issues with this part of the journey.

Total travel time from Madang to Tari was around 24 hours.

Tari and Koroba

Once in Tari area everyone was incredibly friendly and I never once felt unsafe. I stayed at Lakwanda Lodge (100 Kina per night and very basic) which is located in a village called Koroba about 30 minutes drive further than Tari. The owner, Thomas, is a Huli who can provide lots of great walking tours to places, people and events centered on Huli Wigman culture. Examples are 1) visiting the bachelor boys growing their wigs with a teacher who puts spells on their hair and treats it to make it grow faster, 2) visiting a local witchdoctor with loads of painted skulls he talks to, 3) visiting a cave where skulls of past chiefs are kept, 4) organizing sing sings, 5) women’s initiation ceremony, 6) spirit dance, 7) trekking to remote Huli villages, 8) MAF flights to other remote areas such as the Hewa people. His guiding fee is 50 Kina per day then you pay quite reasonable prices for the other activities too. I would particularly recommend visiting the witchdoctor, the bachelor boys and of course trekking to remote villages over the mountains and away from the road - a really fascinating insight into real aspects of Huli culture that are alive and strong today.

MAF flights to Hewa tribe area goes usually twice a week and costs 320 one way. Apparently they live in tree houses and some still have traditional dress, but I can’t verify this. They were certainly one of the last tribes in PNG to establish contact with the outside world.

MAF flights to Mt Hagen are 550 Kina one way and go when they have enough passengers.

Lae

I was only here for 2 nights before flying home. I didn’t find much of interest other than the Rainforest Habitat and Botanical Gardens. Both were worth a visit, but the Botanical Gardens barely so. It was nice to see some of PNG’s beautiful flower species, but there were so few of them and the whole place was so run down and overgrown that it was almost not worth it. The Rainforest Habitat was in better keep and had a quite large collection of animals and birds plus a knowledgeable student guide, so was much more interesting.

Conclusion

I hope that’s useful and provides some of the information that I was searching for prior to my trip but was unable to find. My main conclusions are:

Independent travel is very easy despite the lack of infrastructure, due to the friendliness and helpfulness of local people
The country is very expensive to travel in, but the prices often quoted online for tours are crazy, particularly for the Sepik, You can organise it on the spot and get the same quality for a fraction of the price, or just use public transport if you’re not going too remote and have plenty of time.
The only part of the country which might be unsafe is the Highlands Highway. However, I felt it would be safe if taking steps to make sure you only ever travelled during the daytime.
It’s just a great country with great people! I will definitely be back to visit the island provinces and more remote mainland areas in the future!

Thanks for the report,it was an interesting read!

Loved to read your report! Really like reading about PNG.

Excellent info.
I have also written a post about parts of this route, Central Highlands to Madang

https://landscape-routes.com/wild-green-papua-new-guinea-asaro-goroka/

excellent, thanks for this informations. i'm going to PNG (and this part of the country) in August, it will be my third time in PNG. i love this country, its one of my favorites!

Thanks, I also loved it and am going back in August but for my second trip! Decided to visit the islands this time - New Britain, New Ireland and Bougainville.

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