Robert@PNG

This story is continued on from : Goroka Trip (17/2/06) - Part #4

Up and about just after daybreak. For breakfast Eli made me a breadroll with fried egg and some avocado and also some coffee. Being a male and a visitor meant that there was very little for me to do other than just sit around, reflect and talk with the locals. The fact that I came with a few spare “bills” in my wallet probably contributed to my status as “VIP guest”.

After breakfast I went for a walk with Ellyson and met lots of locals on the road. The above photo shows a couple of women on their way to the local markets carrying their produce which they will sell at the main markets in Goroka. Village life certainly favours the men as the women seem to do most of the work. As I saw these two women carrying their produce to the local markets I was aware that some of the men were still in dream land. Not a bad thing being a bloke round here !!

Some time after coming back from my walk with Ellyson, I headed into town with Eli and Uncle Joel. Our main “task” was to buy Uncle Joel some school uniforms for his two kids. If you remember Uncle Joel had lost the uniforms he picked up in Lae after he left them on the PMV once we reached Goroka the day before.

Lae has a selection of 2nd hand clothes out of this world and Goroka is no exception. I suspect that all of the clothing that ends up in those big bins in Sydney some how finds it way to PNG and surrounds. So finding a couple of uniforms for Uncle Joel wasn't that difficult - all we were basically looking for were black pants and red tops - simple.

After picking up a few other things from the markets it was time to find a PMV to take the three of us up towards Kundiawa - the capital of the Simbu Province. The plan was to drop Uncle Joel of at Mangiro - a small village on the Highway and meeting point for people walking to Basis (uncle Joel's village). We left the job of finding transport to Uncle Joel and he settled for a PMV-truck - bad choice. When I first jumped on the truck I became really excited - my 1st trip beyond Goroka and therefore an opportunity to take in new views and scenary. Like with all PMV's in PNG - we had to wait until the vehicle was full. Well, the PMV truck that was to take us up the Highway was filling up fast, my clasutrophobia kicked in real quick and before long I was having 2nd thoughts about this whole trip up the highway thing but it was too late to pull-out. A couple of drunks also hopped on to the PMV which certainly didn't make the situation any better.

As we were climbing the mountains the views were extraordinary - 2nd to none. was freezing cold (2500m above sea level). I'm rather partial to the cold but Daullo Pas was to test my limits of comfortability. Despite the surrounding beauty, the PMV ride itself was a little too intense, packed full of people and bumpy as hell. Lucky for us (and the other passengers) the drunks had disembarked not too far outside of Goroka town.

About half an hour out of Goroka Eli and myself decided that we would hop of the bus at Mangiro with Uncle Joel, hang around for a few hours and then catch a PMV back to Goroka. The truck ride was a little too much for either of us so we were both happy that the trip was going to be shorter than planned. Mangiro is roughly half way between Goroka and Kundiawa.

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

Story to be continued in : Goroka Trip (18/2/06) - Part #6