An alternative to travelling by PMV bus…

In my last story on Wagang village I forgot to mention the drive up to Wagang on the back of a truck. I have previously written about the local PMV bus system and it’s obvious shortcomings. Now, travelling on the back of a truck is, as I discovered last Friday, a new level of experience in “extreme” travel.

When we first hopped on the back of the truck heading to Wagang last Friday, there were only 4 of us sitting on the back. Before heading in Wagang direction we had to backtrack to the nearest petrol station to fill up. Every couple of kms the truck would stop and pickup some more passengers. Well the ride to Wagang took about 2 hours and as the driver “sped” across the country side and across rivers, the truck kept on stopping and kept on picking up more passengers. Just when I thought : how can we fit any more people into the back of this truck… lo and behold : another stop…. some more passengers.

I cannot describe how “packed” the back of the truck was. It was that packed…. it was that packed…. literally like a can sardines. People sideways, on top of each other, children on laps or lying on the floor below other bodies, body odors racing up both nostrils. Transport by truck is vary common in PNG, especially when travelling towards the smaller villages or so called back roads.

Now for someone that is serious about the personal space thing, which I am, you might see this form of transport as a sort of “ride from hell”. It could very well have turned out this way. But part of transitioning to the way of life in PNG is getting used to various “new forms” of transport. Plus acceptance towards these nuances leads to one having a much more pleasant time here.

Whilst travelling on the back of this truck to Wagang, I surrendered. I surrendered to the driver going 100 kms an hour down a dirt road with 60 people in the back. I surrendered to the body odours, I surrendered to the two kids on the floor clinging to my feet. I surrendered to the man sitting to my right that had to hang on to me so he would not fall off the side. I surrendered to the fact that this ride was going to take longer than 5 mins. I surrendered. And as the squashed mass of people travelled to wards Wagang, I began to enjoy the ride. I began to smile and laugh. I felt at one with the others. We were all in this together and we all knew that we were in this together. The melanesian way.

Note that as soon as I got off the truck at the other end in Wagang…. I took back control !! Surrender is short and surrender is sweet.