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Whilst 90% of trekkers choose the 9 days 8 night trek, some who are looking for a challenge steer towards the shorter trek.
I was asked this question again this week and thought I would share it with Grant Turner who has been judged by our guides and porters as being one of the fittest they have taken out on the trail.
Grant, a school teacher from Innisfail, was kind enough to reply to an email I sent to him asking him what his thoughts were regarding the subject matter.
This is what Grant had to say in his reply:
quote:
Hi Gail,
Regarding a 6 day trek instead of 9 – I think we all decided in our group that we could have comfortably done the track in 7 days and uncomfortably done it in 6 days.
I would consider 6 days for those that are more interested in doing the track more as a physical challenge as I think the pace of it would take away some of the enjoyment.
Personally I wanted to walk the track to see and experience PNG culture, explore the forests and get a sense of the historical significance of the trail.
The 9 day walk enabled all of this to be met because there were several days where the walking was over by midday (or earlier).
These days provided a good opportunity to relax, look around the villages and to get to know each other.
So I suppose whether you chose a 6 or 9 day trek depends (apart from fitness) on ones reason(s) for walking the track in the first place.
I hope this is of some help. Have a merry Christmas and great new year.
Regards,
Grant.
Grant is on the right in this photograph:
DCP_0116.jpgMessage received 19th Jan'04 in relation to this subject. David Wynn is fit and right into marathon running, refer below, this is what he had to say…..
hi Gail,
I sincerely apologise for the slow response to your email- I have been off
line but now im back.Having run 4 marathons (best 2:43min) and additionally having trained for the trek: if I was to do it again I would still definitely do the 9 day trek. The track, rainforest, villagers and guides are so beautiful why would you want to "race" through it and miss out on many experiences.
I will always remember the three of us fit PE boys with our packs on and racing each other on the first day from kokoda-treating the trek like an athletic competition. Russell approached us quietly on that day and gave us advice to slow down and have a look around.
We got so much more out of the trek by slowing down. We met an army and ex-army group at one stage, they were doing it for purely fitness reasons. That's fine. If you want to get more out of the track, I would suggest the 9 day trek.
Hope this is still of some use gail- Hope everyone is well in PNG. I continue to tell people to check out the website when they ask of my experiences. The three of us really developed a close bond from our experiences on the track that will never diminish.
Leigh is teaching in Belfast at present and Danny in country victoria. I'm working in the caravan park near Geelong, Victoria and will meet up with Leigh in greece at the olympics in August.
Looking foward to hearing from you and hopefully coming over to PNG again
soon,David
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