To Finschhafen and back in two days…

(Photo: taken from the boat as it pulled into the Finschhafen #1 wharf)

In two of my recent blog posts:

I want to share an experience with you…
I’m off to Finschhafen !

…I shared the story with you of my friend Jerry losing one of his sons. This found me towards the end of last week making a decision to head to Finschhafen with Jerry and his father early last Friday morning.

I got back to Lae yesterday afternoon (Saturday) and to be honest I feel totally “stuffed”. In fact physically absolutely “rooted”. I was told that Jerry’s village was a “short walk” from the main wharf at Finschhafen. After two PMV rides from the wharf and a 5 hour treck through mountainous jungle and walking in the dark for over 2.5 hours – we arrived in his village just after 9:00pm.

The story of my visit to “Bamata” (name of Jerry’s village) I intend to share it over a number of postings. I have this “thing” about wanting get get a posting in a day and as tired as I am – today is no exception.

PNG people and there concept of distances !! I have come to the conclusion that it must be as difficult for a PNGer to understand the concept of money management (a white man’s concept) as a white man understanding the concept of a PNGers idea of distance. I have vowed after this trip never ever ever to ask : “How long do we have to go before we arrive” !!

As painful as my body feels at a physical level – my spirit feels strenghened. A visit to a village and getting exposure to the “old ways” is something that continues to fascinate and attract me.

“Bamata” is in relative terms av very isolated village. I was told on my visit that I am the 2nd white person to visit the village since the 2nd world war (60 years!!) and also the first white person since the war to walk up the mountain barefoot and after dark !! We arrived after dark and we left the next morning before sunrise !! The slept on a hard surface and slept like a log.

But enough of my romantic insights into personal experience as the purpose of the trip was for Jerry and his father to have the opportunity to grieve the loss of a loved one with their own people !!

And this story, ladies and gentlemen – boys and girls…. will be continued in a future post. In summary I made it back safely to civilisation and will now head home and get Eli to give me a well earnt massage (thankfully I packed some good “oil” in my 3.5 cubic meters of stuff I shipped to PNG).

Photos from this amazing experience of local culture and tradition will be posted to the Finschhafen visit (19/5/06) photo album.