Papua New Guinea

On July 24 we went to the Papua New Guinea consulate in Jayapura to check on our visas. The guy working there said for me not to worry and that he would help us get our visas by the following day, friday. So we went back into town and met up with our friend George and two of his highschool friends. George had to go meet with the Governor's treasurer, in order to be payed for his trip and the talks he would be doing. He invited us to come along and when we got to the governor's residence (mind you we were wearing shorts and flip flops) we were invited up into the treasurer's office. We were given drinks and snacks and the treasurer seemed really happy to meet us and eventually asked if there was "anything" we needed in Jayapura. We said no, not wanting to ask for anything, but George went on to tell him about how we were trying to get our visas for PNG and that we would be trying to get a taxi to the border. He immediately offered his drivers to take us all the way to Vanimo, the closest town on the PNG side. Then one of the guys rang the PNG consulate and 5 mins later they called me on our mobile saying our visas were ready! The next day in the morning we went and picked up our visas and then went back to the governor's residence to meet with his driver's. They took us in a nice air conditioned (not so common here) SUV, and bought us drinks and grapes for the trip. They told us in the car that there had been some shootings on the border and that they were pretty sure it would be open for us to cross but not to sure about how safe it was on the PNG side. I was starting to get a little worried about the safety issue in PNG since everyone was telling me that it can be pretty dangerous. On our way to the border we went thru two check points, in one we were asked to take pictures with the soldier there. After passing the Indonesian border we drove about 30m (no mans land) to the PNG border. The drivers did not drive thru and turned the car around, again facing the Indonesian side. They did not speak much english so they tried to explain to me that they could not cross the border but we could. Normally Indonesians can go back and forth in a day with an identity card but because of the shooting at the border they were only letting those who had a valid passport and visa through. So we walked across the border, under a big sign that read "Welcome to Papua New Guinea", and filled in the paper work and got our entry stamps on our visas. After we came out the two driver's were waiting for us and I asked them if they knew how we could get to the nearest town and if they could change us Rupiahs for Kinas (PNG currency), earlier they stopped at a currency exchange and changed over $150 in rupiahs to kinas. They handed me 500 kina, about $160 value. When I tried to give them rupiahs in exchange they refused. I think the governor's office had given them an allowance for the trip and they felt pretty bad and were a little worried that they couldn't take us all the way to Vanimo. The soldier at the border told us that we could wait for a PMV (a bus) there, but it would take longer, or walk one kilometer to the town of Watung and catch a PMV there. He said don't worry it's "safe" now. I thought of the shootings and that if they have to tell you it is safe that means that sometimes it is unsafe. So we started walking down the hill through rainforest, coconut trees and very lush vegetation. The PNG side is totally different from the Indonesian side and immediately it reminded me of all the slides and pictures from my childhood. We walked on thru a little village with the jungle on our right and the ocean to the left. The houses, made of bamboo woven walls, on stilts and thatch roofs, were built on the sandy beach. Little children, some without clothes, laughed when they saw us and ran next to us, all the adults said "gude" (good day) and some even indicated us where we should wait for a PMV. I will add that most of the adults carried machetes and some knives in their hands or stuck in their pants and all had blood red stained mouths from chewing the betel nut. I was a little nervous (about the safety issue), excited and overwhelmed at the idea of after all these years finally coming back to the country of my birth and on my birthday. I couldn't help crying, it was a very special moment. I think I was also hoping we wouldn't get robbed or worse... Finally we came to the military post where we were supposed to wait for the PMV. About 5 guys came over to us, they were soldiers in casual dress, and asked us what we were doing. They then showed us where we could wait and said they would help us get the PMV. So for the next hour we sat with these guys and they gave us some valuable info on the country, typical foods, and told us about themselves etc.. When the PMV finally came they helped us with our bags and told the driver where to drop us and after taking pictures we all said goodbye and we would see them on the way back in August. I couldn't believe our luck. First we were driven to the border for free, then given 500K and then met some really nice locals. The hour drive to Vanimo was beautiful and just what I imagined it would be, very South Pacific. The people are also very South Pacific looking, not asian. When we arrived in Vanimo we were dropped at a hotel but when they told me they charged 215K ($70) the night, I couldn't believe it. How could they charge so much? So I told Antonio to wait with the bags and I would go and look for a cheaper place. I walked on and asked directions to a Guesthouse I was told about in the hotel. The man said "oh, okay I will take you there". It was about 20 mins up a steep hill and when we arrived he said I will wait for you and walk back with you. I looked at the rooms and finally the cheapest room they had was in a little house for 98K ($33). So we went back and I said goodbye to my new friend Joe and thanked him for showing me the way. As we started to climb the steep hill, this time with our backpacks, a truck stopped and said are you going to Visser Guesthouse. We said yes and he said it's my mom's place I will take you there. The owner was from Indonesia and married to a Dutch guy, she had 7 kids almost all adults with their own families. Earlier I had seen a birthday cake in her house and so I asked her who's birthday it was and she said "mine" and I said oh it's mine too. Later she brought us birthday cake. We spent the weekend there visiting the town and the market. Everyone was super nice, they all stopped to shake our hands and talk to us. It was hard to believe that this was a "dangerous" place. Vanimo is on a penninsula and has nice beaches on both sides but when we asked about swimming we were told that in one of the bays there was a crocodile (but they hadn't seen it for a while) and in the other there were sharks. On Sunday, Derek the guy who picked us up, invited us to his friends house for seafood and drinks. We went over to John's house, a former Australian missionary. Many people came, all from either Asia or Australia. We met an Australian couple, Molly and Aaron, who were living in Vanimo. They were so surprised to meet backpackers and told us the only foreigners living in Vanimo were either missionaries, in the logging industry or expats. They invited us to stay with them and we accepted and said on tuesdaywe would move to their place. So the rest of the week we spent in Vanimo, walking around town, visiting villages and nearby beaches with Molly. Everyone in Vanimo was so friendly and it was hard to walk on the roads because everyone would offer to give us a lift. We had to wait to get our Indonesian visas and the next flight after monday was the following friday. So we ended up spending a week in Vanimo and flying on friday to Madang. In Madang we were met at the airport by our old babysitter, Elisabeth (although I did not know it at the time). We ran some errands in town and stopped along the way in Alexishafen, a mission station and then continued 2 hours up the coast to Malala. She kept telling me this is the route "daddy" took and this is what he did. Finally when we arrived at Malala we were shown our house where we were to stay and the house behind it was the house where we lived when we were there. Our house had a big window that looked right onto the bay and we could hear the waves crashing on the beach at any hour. The sand is black because of the nearby volcano. I also saw where my mom and dad taught there classes and the well my dad built. Everyone there was really nice to us and Sr. Jane Francis, a friend of the family, was so happy to see us and asked all about the family, especially Steve. One day we were taken to some of the Manam settlements (the volcano on Manam island erupted in 2004 and the people were moved to the mainland). The kids and adults were so happy to see us and everyone wanted to take pictures. Some of the little pikininis (children in pidgen) gave us coconuts and papayas as gifts. We also took a walk along the old road, just a dirt path that runs thru local villages along the coast, and everyone came out to say "apenum" (afternoon) to us. The villages are really idyllic, just like out of a movie, with palm trees, coconuts, sandy beaches, houses on stilts, naked pikininis running around. It's really something to see. After 4 days we moved to Alexishafen which is another beautiful spot on the coast just about 25km from Madang town. >From there we went to town and visited Kranket island, a beautiful island just ten minutes from town, did some shopping at the market and ate grilled fish, grilled kaukau (sweet potatoes) and bananas from the women selling them on the waterfront. From there we took a PMV, which we got at 8 am in the market, to Goroka. The PMV's drive around in circles calling out there destination until they are full and then they leave. The problem is that there are many PMV's to the same destination and they need 15 adults, children or baby's don't count, before they leave. Our PMV drove around and around the market for 2 hours before we had 16 adults and 4 children. Finally we left at 10am drove for about 20 mins stopped at a different market where everyone got out and bought what they needed for the trip. I didn't understand why they couldn't have bought it at the market in town??? The trip to Goroka, in the highlands, took almost 7 hours and most of the road is full of huge holes and is a dirt road. Hold ups on the roads are very common but luckily we didn't have that problem. In Goroka we stayed 2 days. It is a very nice town in the market with a beautiful, colorful market. The women there also loved having there pictures taken and when I showed them the photos the laughed and shook my hand and said "Tankyu tru". Antonio bought me a piece of sugarcane, for old times sake, and the women asked if I wanted her to peel it for me and of course I said "yes". So she peeled it with her teeth!!!! Then she gave it to me and of course watched while I had to suck on the sugarcane. Another women gave me one as a gift but I told her I would peel it myself. On Monday we took a PMV 4 hours to Mt. Hagen. This time we had better luck and the PMV left with only 12 adults and 5 mins after boarding. In Mt. Hagen we were picked up by another friend, Sr. Henrilena, of the family and taken to the mission station here. We were told that there was a robbery in the morning and a shooting and that the next few days the atmosphere would be quite tense due to local elections. We found this to be true. Yesterday the police closed the town down completely, no stores were open and no one was allowed to enter. But people went anyway and there was a confrontation between 7 boys and the police and the police struck out at the boys with machetes and some were injured quite badly, severing arms and legs. They were brought to the hospital at the mission station because the general hospital was closed (who would of thought). We saw many men walking to town with their machetes and slingshots. Later on in the afternoon we heard that the losers went and burnt down the oppositions homes and their was even a shoot out. Today we went to town and there was a lot of tension. We saw a big group being chased away by the police and them pushing some others into the paddy wagon. There were police on almost every corner with machine guns too. We are staying til Saturday because there is a big cultural show that is supposed to be amazing. I really hope it is worth it. You have to be really careful of your camera, wallet and money since they have a real problem with "rascals" (young men from the villages who rob people either by force or by picking your pockets). Then we will make our way back towards Indonesia and hopefully will be able to catch our flight from Jayapura on August 19th.
Overall I am very happy that I came back to PNG and it was well worth the effort. Since we still have contacts here it is alot easier for us to move around and we hardly have to pay for housing. Otherwise PNG can be pretty dangerous, expensive and not very easy to get to. All the people we have met have been extremely friendly and I hope that is the case for the next four days. When we arrive back in Bali I will post the pictures and let you know if we made it out of PNG with everything we came with.