Goroka Trip – Part #2

This story is continued on from : Goroka Trip (17/2/06) – Part #1

The journey up the highlands highway included the mandatory stopover at 40 Mile Market. This particular market is smack bang in the middle of the Markham Valley and its main produce being buai. People travelling back and forth between the Highlands and coastal areas always pickup some buai at these markets to take home or back to their villages. The place is filthy and there is never a shortage of street sellers and people trying to hitch a free ride up or down the highway.

Heading up the highlands highway away from Lae and just after 40 Mile Market there is another town/village called Umi. Umi has a market and is also a popular stopover for PMV‘s and travellers. Usually PMV‘s will pull in at either 40 Mile Market or at Umi. We made a quick stopover at Umi to pickup additional passengers and surprise surprise. Across the road from where we were parked there was a Corrective Services truck which was on to Mt Hagen with a contingent full of prisoners.

Once our new passengers were “comfortably” seated on board our PMV we hit the road again. Low and behold… the prison truck had left Umi before us and it didn’t take long before we saw the truck up ahead on the road and as we passed on truck, you will never guess this one, the prisoners were all singing !!! A truck full of singing prisoners, some sitting and most standing, on their way to the Mt Hagen prison center!! (another 8 hours away).

The trip from Lae to Goroka can be divided into 3x sections or stages. The 1st is the stretch of road that runs from Lae to the bottom of Kassam Pass, the road is sealed and mainly straight, I would describe this as the most comfortable stage. The 2nd is the climb into the mountains via Kassim Pass, this stage is steep and slow, it is also the stretch reknown for raskol holdups. People breath a sigh of reliefonce we make it to the “top”. The 3rd stage is the road going from the top of Kassam Pass all the way to Goroka. For me this 3rd stage is the “scary” stage as PMV‘s hurtle down crowded roads and cross single lane bridges at 100Km/hr. If you suffer from passenger syndrome (like me) this is certainly the stretch to be avoided.

The climb up the mountain is the slow stretch and the prison transport truck I mentioned before somehow managed to overtake us. Roadworks ahead !! Some roadworks forced us to stop and we had about a 30min wait before we allowed to proceed. And guess what? The prison truck was parked and waiting ahead of us!! The singing prisoners ! I took this opprtunity to go over to the prison guards and asked if it was OK if I handed out some smokes to the lads in the back : yes ! I handed out a full packet of B&H, one ciggie at a time, to hands poking out of the grill. I saw the faces of the prisoners and believe it or not : they were happy !! Some other people wandered over and began handing buai and some other food items to the prisoners. The prison guards were also very friendly. I think more out of curiosity some of the passnegers from other PMV‘s and vehicles started to wander over and check out the “singing lads”. Surprise, surpise… many people recognised some of the prisoners and before long conversations were taking place and the truck was surrounded by people conversing with wantoks and long lost relatives.

PNG : Expect the Unexpected!!

We arrived in Goroka just before 2:00pm. After a wander around town and some plunger coffee at The Bird, we were ready to head to Massey, the village 3 miles out of town where we would be staying with Eli’s relatives.

With each ride on a PMV up the Highlands Highway, I seem to be more relaxed (still scared). A very uncomfortable journey indeed but with practice : bearable! Besides, the journey soon becomes the destination and the potential for “brown pants” becomes very worthwhile.

All photos from this trip will be posted to the Goroka Trip (17/2/06) photo album.

Story to be continued in : Goroka Trip (17/2/06) – Part #3