Friday, April 24, 2015

Would you go backpacking alone in Papua New Guinea?



Story y Bart Napierala
 Would you go backpacking alone to a place that has a reputation of being notoriously dangerous like Papua New Guinea?
In spite of the bad press and information I was given, I took the risk, and I had an absolutely wonderful time up there. Quite frankly, I have rarely experienced such hospitality!
The key to success was making friends from this amazing country before I started travelling. Hanging around Cairns for a few weeks gave me a chance to meet the right people to start planning my adventure. In Papua New Guinea, I spent one month in total: one week in the capital, Port Moresby, then two weeks in The Highlands, and the last week in Madang Province. Once I met friendly Papuan, I could always rely on someone recommended while on the road. Port Moresby, being avoided by tourists likes a plague, I found to be a great place. Unless you have someone local to hang with, you will enjoy its laid back atmosphere. Roaming around colourful, busy markets, or using PMV buses full of music, locals singing in Pisin language, or explaining to curious people around what is a reason of your visit, are simply exciting! If you overcome your prejudice to betel nuts and try to chew a few with your newly made friends, you will become a 100% Papuan.
The writer chewing betelnut (buai).
The Highlands, discovered barely sixty years ago, offer other attractions as well. Once getting to the village, you automatically become a member of the tribe. As walking alone in the capital might be a bit risky, there is no fear in walking by yourself in a village. You will be always assisted by automatons, who will show you the best of the village and explain whatever you wish to know about their life. An amazing tropical forest with its birds of paradise and plenty of breath taking walking tracks are just the cherries on the top of an already wonderful experience!
Those who love a real adventure will find a fifteen hour long trip by crowded PMV bus from Wabag to Madang really fun. Constantly changing varieties of stunning landscapes watched from a window, and heaps of opportunities to chat with talkative passengers, make it definitely worth experiencing.
 
The writer with his host family members.
After the fascinating, albeit cold, Highlands, Madang town and Province with their tropical influence, beautiful beaches full of sparkling sand, jaw dropping reefs and bays, was a welcome change. I found instantly the reason why the town is considered a pearl of the South Pacific.
Mount Giluwe plateau
 The trip to Papua New Guinea was the best one I have done in my life. I guess, if I had taken an organized trip, I wouldn’t have met so many authentic people on my way, and possibly wouldn’t have experienced so much. The trip gave me a chance to learn not only about Papuan life and disincentive cultures, but about some of the problems they’ve been facing. Papua New Guinea is an amazing place with beautiful people, and I cannot simply wait to visit it again. It definitely does not deserve the bad reputation it has received from today’s media.
Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions regarding this travel. Bart Napierala via email at, bart.napierala@gmail.com or local Niugini Exotic Tours at, howarig4@gmail.com or find more travel articles and photographs about Papua New Guinea at, http://howarig.blogspot.com

The writer's host family in the highlands of Papua New Guinea
   ·         The writer is a travel journalist from Poland and he traveled to Papua New Guinea in 2013, started in Port Moresby to the highlands and then down to the coastal in Madang via the Okuk Highlands highway. He was very astonished with scenes and sites and attributes this article to thank those who made his trip memorable. He plans to make a return trip and currently raising funds in Poland.


Monday, December 23, 2013

Merry Christmas (2013) to avid readers and followers of PNG Highlands blog!

HELLO, its X-mas time again and for this year 2013, we would like to send out our Merry Christmas wishes and greetings to avid readers and followers of this blog. We would like to thank people whom have so far made this blog a success. Thanks to google to allow bloggers like us to have this on the net and share information and photos.
While we were trying to built our blog, we had Dan and Alexandra whom had theirs at (http://alexandraflaviamarcu.wordpress.com/) supported us to built and promote on the net. Both Dan and Alexandra travelled to Mt. Giluwe when they found us here. Mount Giluwe is one of the many tourism products we have for travellers/climbers and tourists. Their visit has in fact attracted so many readers and followers to this blog and we thank them for their support and assistance in this regard.

A special thanks also goes to the 13 boys whom have escorted Dan and Alexandra up to the peak of Mount Giluwe. In the next couple of posts, more photographs of the trip to Mt. Giluwe will be posted.

Dan Marcu (right) from Romania meeting the Mondika and Lalga tribal community in Alkena village, Tambul, Western Highlands Province, Papua New Guinea.

Junior Kopel (left) from Kepaka tribe with Alexandra Marcu from Romania with a Romania national flag at the peak of Mount Giluwe with the inscription at the background. It was landmarked by 13 local boys with Alexandra and Dan. 

Looking towards the southern side of Mount Giluwe from its peak.
  

Monday, December 9, 2013

Mt. Hagen Cultural Show - 2014

Mt. Hagen Cultural Show is held in August every year - and PNG Highlands Tours will be offering both escorted programs and unescorted program in 2014. Escorted programs have the same guide throughout whereas with unescorted programs, you still have guides to assist you at each location, the only difference being that guides change at the different locations.

Our escort programs grantee you maximum security protection and your safety is our top priority. We have packages that are the cheapest, we can tailor our packages to meet your budget and interest. We will be looking forward to your plan to visit PNG's best cultural show ever. 

The show is very unique and it is the best in the country. Contact us now for your interest to visit this year's show. You'll never regret choosing PNG Highlands Tours as your tour guide for Mt. Hagen Cultural Show this year - 2014. 

Our email address is: pacinter12@gmail.com

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Landmarking Mt.Giluwe - 7th Volcanic Summit (highest volcano in Pacific Oceania)

AT a height of 4,367m peak on Mt. Giluwe, to plant a landmark on it is fantastic. On December 2013, it is expected to landmark the peak with an inscription that has never been before. Many locals and tourists have climb the mountain but it was never been landmarked as other peaks around the world. This year, it will be landmarked by local PNGans and 2 travellers coming all the way from Romania.

The 2 people are Alexandra Marcu and Dan Marcu. Alexandra have just launched a book in Europe and due to the launch of the book they were contacted by Nikkon, the Photo Company, and they are going to give Alexandra a state-of -the-art camera. She will be taking this camera to PNG, took shots and promote the photos they will be taking in Papua New Guinea the world over. This is great. Alexandra takes photographic courses provided by Nikkon Company. They will also make an official presentation of photos taken in PNG to Nikkon. Photos about Mount Giluwe, the jungle, the village, the wildlife, the traditions and so forth. It will be a Papua New Guinean-Romanian collaboration.

The Romanians are taking off from Port Moresby on November 30th  at 07:45 and land in M Hagen 09:15 on the same day (depending on flight schedules).

There are just 2 girls in the world that try to climb this 7 Volcanoes Circuit. The Russian Olga Rumyantseva who is 34 and the Romanian Alexandra Marcu who is 16.
If this European girl of 16 years old,  manages to climb Giluwe, it will be an hit for Mt. Giluwe as a tourism destination. Alexandra climbed Mount Blanc at 12 years old and Kilimanjaro at 13 and her records are very well known. She  is a name in the world of the climbers, trekkers and travellers the world over. 
For more of her climbing records, please do visit her blog HERE:

Mt. Giluwe, a view from the eastern side, photograph taken from Alkena village looking west into Mount Giluwe in 2007.

Saturday, November 16, 2013

Climbing Mt. Giluwe - 7th Volcano Summits

PNG’s second highest peak, Mount Giluwe, in the Southern Highlands Province holds a greater potential of tourism attraction. It is not openly known that Mt. Giluwe is the highest volcano summit on the Australian Continent and highest in the Pacific Oceania region – thus a sleeping giant for greater tourist attraction. At a height of 4,367m above sea level, is an ancient extinct shield volcano with two prominent 400m high cones forming its summits. 

The original volcano on the site of Mt. Giluwe formed roughly 650,000–800,000m years ago, probably as a strato-volcano of similar height to the current peak. Extensive glaciation eroded away much of the peak, leaving a series of volcanic plugs which form the present-day summits. (Source: Wikipedia).
Well, it is now scheduled on the 3rd December 2013 to create the history to plant an inscription at peak summit of Mount Giluwe by Alexandra Marcu who is coming all the way from Romania in Europe. This is the 5th in her record to climb the summit by a 16_years old Alexandra who is from Romania and had climbed many volcano summits in Europe. She started climbing volcano summits when she was only 12 years old. She will be coming to PNG on the 30 November 2013 with the company of her father Dan Marcu. The trip to Mt. Giluwe will start from Romania to Port Moresby, then to Mt. Hagen and to Tambul and the Giluwe. To read more about Alexandra Marcu’s adventurous trips around the world, click HERE

Sunday, November 10, 2013

PNG Highlands Tours - Travel Information

This blog, the PNG Highlands Tours blog, is to provide travel information and advise as well as assist at the lowest cost possible the adventure lovers/travellers/tourists who wish to visit the highlands of Papua New Guinea. The highlands consists of 7 provinces/townships: 1) Goroka, Eastern Highlands Province; 2) Kundiawa, Simbu Province; 3)Mt. Hagen, Western Highlands Province; 4) Banz, Jiwaka Province; 5) Wabag, Enga Province; 6) Mendi, Southern Highlands Province; 7) Tari, Hela Province. Each highlands provinces has very unique cultural dancers, mountains, animals and various different tourist attractions. PNG is rich with some of the world rare species of animals and plants and mineral resources as well as oil and gas reserves. Most of those resources are found in the Highlands of PNG. For travel information and advise to the highlands of PNG as a tourists/researchers or for business travel, contact us for free information and advise. If you wish to travel and need assistance; we can offer you the best price compared to other tour operators in the highlands. We can tailor our packages to suit your budget, and provide some services free of charge in exchange to establish a relationship with the world over. For this year 2013, we are expecting 2 people travelling all the way from Romania in Europe to climb the 7th Volcano Summit and the highest volcano in the Pacific Oceania (Australian Continent)region - the Mount Giluwe, in the Southern Highlands Province. The travellers also write a blog; you can find them HERE. To visit Mt. Giluwe or for travel information for Mt. Giluwe, please contact us via email at: pacinter12@gmail.com

Saturday, November 9, 2013

Welcome to the Highlands of PNG!

Welcome to the highlands of Papaua New Guinea. Media, the world over, had portrayed the country with much negativity. Many people who have never been to the highlands of this beautiful country may believe or accept the reported views. But as the saying stays, PNG is the land of unexpected, and the highlands of PNG is so vasted with many beautiful things and very friendly people. You'll hardly get a free assistance else where in the world but in the highlands of PNG - its different - an hospitality and warm welcome is always there - you'll hardly miss it - people will be always happy to help you. People who have visited the places in the highlands always talk about it and love the country. Towards the end of this year - 2013 (November), we are expecting a visit all the way from Europe. This is a father (Dan) and his daughter (Alexandra) who have a sincere desire to climb the Mount Giluwe, the highest volcano in the Pacific Oceania and considered the 7 volcanic summits. It is the second highest mountain in Papua New Guinea at 4,367 metres. It is located in the Southern Highlands province and is an old shield volcano with vast alpine grasslands. Dan and Alexandra have been travelling to other volcano summits and this is their fifth on their record. They have climbed other mountains in Iran, Mexico or Russia. More of their adventure is found HERE