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The journey of my life
Travelling is one of the most important things in my life. Being able to visit foreign countries bear a meaning of freedom to me. I open my eyes to a place and Im always amazed that what is given to me is better than what I imagined. I always find myself attracted to the far edges of the world, which are so different to where I come from and are so rich with their own culture. When I was standing in my living room a couple of months ago, I stared again on my world map, which is hung up at the wall. Instead of looking to the middle of the map, my eyes drifted to the edges and I read the name Papua New Guinea. I could feel how an inner excitement appeared… How would the landscape look like? Which animals are living in this country? What language do the people speak?
And suddenly I was sitting in a Fokker 100 on my way from Brisbane to Pt. Moresby, the capital city of Papua New Guinea. I had to smile the whole flight, I was so happy to visit this remote area in Oceania. After two and a half days travelling, almost 24 hours flight duration, I landed 14 000 kilometres away from my hometown in Germany. Even though the aircraft didnt seem to be very new, the South Pacific Beer made it a pleasant flight. I planned to sleep one night in Pt. Moresby and already booked a flight to Popondetta on the next morning. I wanted to track the famous Kokoda Trail, 97 kilometres crossing the Owen Stanley Range, following the footsteps of thousands soldiers who fighted in the rainforests during the second world war. I got in touch with an expatriate from New Zealand, Robin, after asking in an internet forum a couple of weeks ago, whether its possible to sleep at the airport in Pt. Moresby. He was the only person who answered and wrote me an email, he offered me to pick me up at the airport, sleep one night at his house and than drop me off at the airport on the next morning to catch my flight to Popondetta.
The airplane arrival in Pt. Moresby was almost on time, which I should find out later isnt very common, and so I picked up my luggage and searched a public phone. I had to find one to call Robin to pick me up at the airport but I couldnt really see one. I asked a security man and he offered me his mobile phone, probably there werent any public phones…
Robin arrived a couple of minutes later and picked me up, my first impression was very positive, even though he had a gun in his pants pocket. He and his family have two nice houses at 6 Mile, a district in Pt. Moresby close to the airport, built up by the Airline Air Niugini years ago. The road to his house was more a mogul field than a normal road; some days later I realized that this is common in Papua New Guinea. The whole family welcomed me and we had a couple of SP (South Pacific Beer) and were talking about my life and my travel plans in PNG. Later that evening I asked Robin to check my mails and wanted to send an email back home.This was the moment I should remember as the only bad one of my journey. I saw an email of my guides agent who wrote me that its not possible for my guide to fly with me on the next morning to Popondetta, nor should it be possible to get him to Popondetta anyway within the next 5 days. Also there should be a shutdown of the Kokoda Track by disgruntled landowners. All my travel plans seemed to collapse like a house of cards. I was totally frustrated and couldnt believe that this journey I was looking for so long, should start with a disaster. Phone calls to my guides agent Philip seem to be senseless and Robin advised me urgently not to travel on my own to Popondetta, it would be too dangerous for me.
What should I do, go on my own and search for a new guide in Kokoda? Cancel my flight and stay in Pt. Moresby for 10 days before the departure of my next flight to Hoskins, West New Britain? I already paid 1700 Kinas for the guide, would I ever get a refund?
How should I spend 10 days in the main capital of PNG? My plan was to stay here no longer than 2 days on my way back of the Kokoda Trail. Robin offered me to stay at his place for the next 10 days, he would know a lot of people around town and would find a couple of nice things I could do. I wasnt really sure; I knew him for a couple of hours and didnt want to be a burden to him. Would it really be so dangerous to travel on my own? I planned my whole trip travelling alone with my backpack…
The decision I made, whether it was a voluntary one or not, was the best I could do in this situation. I decided to stay, and should have the most wonderful following next 10 days in Pt. Moresby I had never expected.
The land of the unexpected
…to be continued in the following weeks
Pictures of my 5 weeks journey:
http://www.schmidtphotography.de
Thank you
AchimHi there, just finished reading what you have written and so wish you had have booked with us as we would have got you to Popondetta and driven you up to Kokoda and YOU WOULD HAVE WALKED the Kokoda Track and loved every minute of it. We had two treks at the time you were talking about and both went ahead without any problems whatsoever with landowners.
Are you still in PNG?
Now you are able to take a look at my whole travel report:
http://www.schmidtphotography.de/papua-new-guinea
Thank you!
@Boss Meri: No, I am already back in Germany. Thanks for your offer, but well I decided to book a tour with a local tour operator and a local papuan guide. I wanted to support the local people and not an australien organisation, because that's the problem of tourism in papua, all the money is flowing somewhere else but not to the local people. And excuse that I have to write this, but have you ever looked at your prices that you charge tourists and thought about it a moment? Yes, it's your business, I know… Maybe it was a mistake to try to hire this local company and yes I lost my money, but I can still look in the mirror and nevertheless had a wonderful journey because of papuan people I met on my way. And only because of these people who helped me to experience these five weeks, I had the most wonderful journey of my life.
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