Travel in PNG
Trip Start
Feb 06, 2008
1
17
22
Trip End
Ongoing
Madang,
Papua New Guinea
Thursday, November 13, 2008
At the top end is the Air Nuigini government airline which is the way most people crossing the country getting north to south journeys done. There are no roads. There are timetables but they change, and the aircraft are the mid range liners .Other small scale flights are done by the missionary support planes which are smallsmall, and there are also helicopter flights run by the bible translators who have compounds in some pretty isolated areas. Air flights are pretty expensive as they have a monopoly , and there is an established routine of checking your flights again and again as they can change, or you can be bumped by double bookings or government usage. We are twitching about our flight down to Moresby for the Cairns connection.
After that there are the roads...becoming increasingly loaded with traffic even in the short time we have been here. PSV(public service vehicles) are actually registered and controlled, and these can be lorries kitted with seats and a canvas roof, or minibuses which can stretch to fit a surprising number of people. There are lots of people on the move along the two roads with goods for markets. One goes along the north coast and the other goes inland over the coast range where it splits to, one way to Lae which is a large coastal city, and the other way up the highlands. The coast road has been patched up and this has knocked our journey down to 3.5 hours from 4.5 hrs. It is a beautiful journey, plantations mixed with grassy craggy hills and forest, with bush villages dotted along the road and the most spectacular coastal views .
The other road inland is not so clever, and there are severe restrictions to travelling on it. There is a section in the middle which is very badly broken up and that needs great care, plus as you go into the highlands there are hold ups whenever there are land disputes or general money making going on. The scenery however is stunning as you drop down from the coast range into the Ramu valley.
Any other roads inland from the tarmac are just dirt tracks, suitable for mad drivers , or those with a good 4x4. The locals are on the move walking to points along the metalled road with the women carrying bags of produce to get into the main markets...seriously big bags carried by very tough women. Very occasionally you see a motorbike, a few cycles. But in the main walkers. The men don't carry as much, but as you get away from Madang ALL the men have some sort of machete, bush knife or grass knife. There are always people sitting by the side, or on the road, as that is where all the action is. They wave at passing traffic, say 'mornin' or 'apinun' and keep as busy or not busy as they need to.
A bit of a novelty on part of the road are 3 water buffalo which have been introduced from the Phillipines for carts. They are huge and very placid, and the passing people are not too sure how to take them. It certainly is a shock to see a large grey back in amongst the elephant grass on the side of the road...wrong place but you never know what to expect in PNG!
