Today I find myself in a village called “Kaubasis” in Highlands Province of Simbu. As you read this post I am more than likely doing one of the following:

- Walking barefoot (but not bare arse) along a jungle track.
- Sleeping on a hard mat in some hut.
- Sitting with the village elders in the Haus Man telling stories and chewing buai.
- Eating kaukau or tin fish and rice or bandicoot/lizard.
- In the middle of polishing off a bottle of borbon with a couple of Eli’s uncles.
- Checking out some of the local gardens.
- Accepting gifts of fresh produce.
- Handing out some cash!
- Washing in a freezing icy cold mountain river/stream.
- Getting chased by a wild pig.
- Getting introduced to 100’s of potential tambus (in-laws).
- Perving on some of the local “talent”.
- Asking : “How far to the village?” …and being told klos tu… klos tu…
- Sitting around with some locals and doing sweet FA.

Some information on Simbu - borrowed from Wikipedia - follows:

Simbu Province

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Simbu, formerly known as Chimbu, is a highland province in Papua New Guinea. The province has an area of 6,100 km² and a population of 259,703 (2000 census). The capital of the province is Kundiawa. Mount Wilhelm, the tallest mountain in Papua New Guinea, is on the border of Simbu.

Simbu in the local dialect really means Sipuuuu, which means
thank you. Simbu, is in fact located in the Central Highlands, which is
in the center of Papua New Guinea. It shares geographic and political
boundaries with 5 provinces namely; Western Highlands Province, Eastern
Highlands Province, Southern Highlands Province, Gulf Province and
Madang Province.

Simbu, a province with almost no natural resources is the home to
the most rugged and unbearable mountains. It has progressed slowly over
the years. Simbu, although lacking natural resources is able to
contribute more in human resources and can now boast to have some of
the country’s top brains. Simbus are working in world renowned
institutions world wide, from USA to UK. It is home to organically
produced coffee and Mt. Wilhem, the highest mountain in PNG. There are
three Secondary Schools in the province, namely; Kondiu Rosary
Secondary School, Yauwe Moses Secondary School and Kerowagi Secondary
School.

The province is headed by a Governor, elected by the people through
the democratic process of voting. The current governor, Hon. Peter
Launa, who hails from Chuave District won under the new voting system,
Limited Preferential Voting System (LPV). The Governnor is the
provincial head. The provincial bureaucracy is headed by the Provincial
Administrator. The current Acting Administrator is Joseph Kunda Naur, a
former educationist. He is from the Endugla/Naur Tribe.

The provincial headquarter is Kundiawa, which hosts the nearest
airport. Air Niugini dash 8 make three flights to Kundiawa each week.
There are many guest houses within the proximity of Kundiawa Town.

There are 6 districts in the province and each district is
represented by a Member of Parliament in the National Parliament. The
districts are as follows. Kerowagi, Kundiawa/Gembog, Sinesine/Yongumug,
Chuave, Gumine and Karimui/Nomane.

The current member of Parliament are: 1. Hon. Mathew Siune
(Kundiawa/Gembogl) - Minister for Agriculture and Livestock, 2. Hon.
Alphonse Willie Moroyag (Kerowagi) - Chairman of Tourism Promotion
Authority, 3. Hon. Nick Kuman (Gumine) - Opposition, 4. Hon. Posi Menai
(Karimui/Nomane) - Minister For Correctional Service, 5. Hon. Jeffery
Nape (Sinesine/Yongumul) - Speaker of National Parliament, 6. Hon.
David Ango (Chuave) - Opposition, 7. Hon. Peter Launa (Simbu Regional
Seat) - Governor of Province

The Six Districts

Simbu has six districts; Kerowagi, Kundiawa-Gembogl, Sinesine-Yongomugl, Chuave, Gumine, Karimui-Nomane.

Kerowagi is located geographically towards the Western part of the
province and shares common administrative, political, economic and
geographic features with Western Highlands Province. It is in the
famous Whagi Valley with Digine-Kubor Range to the South and Drekore
range to the north. It is regarded as one of the fertile vallies where
cash crops are grown in abundance. The native people speak the Kuman
language, which is their original dialect. The original tribes of the
Kerowagi District are; Siambugla-Waugla, Kombuku, Gena, Bandi, Kumai,
Endugla No. 2, Bindeku, Graiku, Siglku, Kamaneku, Paglau and Dagle. The
current member of Parliament is Hon. Willie Alphones Moroyagl, who
hails from the Gena Tribe and is curretly the Chairman for Tourism
Promotion Authority. There are 2 secondary schools with a couple of
many top up primary school, which are feeder schools to the two
Secondary Schools in the District; Kondiu Rosary and Kerowagi. The
almost all the locals are either self-employed or engaged themselves in
some little economic activities. The district has some of the
provincial best road networks. One of the road network was sealed
recently in 2004. Of all the districts in Province, kerowagi is said to
be developing at a much faster rate then the others. This is basically
due to the fertility of the valley and its locality to excess to
infrastructure, improved and established road networks, change in
mindset of the people and community. Most of the locals are coffee
growers and have blocks of coffee. The coffee season starts from as
early as March to end of June and this period is normally referred to
as six-mun. They are really beneficiary of this current (2005)
world-wide increases in the price of coffee. Apart from coffee, they
are also engaged in spice, common local market produce for local
consumers. The biggest health clinic in the District is St. Joseph
Mingende Rural Hospital. Its status has been changed from Health center
to Rural Hospital in 2000, with a full time medical Doctor.