Difference between revisions of "Papua New Guinea"

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'''Papua New Guinea''' is an island nation in [[Oceania]].  There are not many tourists, nor many roads. [[User:Zenit|Zenit]] hitchhiked around PNG in March 2013 and will add his experience to this article in due time. For the moment, you can [[Special:EmailUser/Zenit|e-mail Zenit]] or read his blog posts about PNG [http://www.mygrannyisonfire.wordpress.com here].  
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'''Papua New Guinea''' is an island nation in [[Oceania]].  There are not many tourists, nor many roads. It is a country with a very rough reputation (which to a certain degree is justified) and most generous and welcoming people.
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== Hitchability ==
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The relative scarcity of roads makes it difficult travelling around the whole country purely by hitchhiking. If you have lots of time, however, this is the place to get your first experiences of hitching boats and planes. Where there is roads, hitchhiking is easy as pie as everybody is always enthusiastic to meet travellers and help them out -- sometimes so much that you won't be able to hitchhike due to the crowd around you! The main roads are the Highlands Highway down to its end points in Lae and in northern Madang province, some roads around Port Moresby on the south coast and some roads on the north coast and on the islands that don't go too far. For connections between these roads, people take boats and fly, and there is also some trecks that can be walked (see below). Hitching on the Highlands Highway is particularly nice and easy -- usually the first or second vehicle will pick you up --, it's been proven possible around Port Moresby and Madang, too, but seems a little bit harder. People in PNG usually won't expect any money from you for giving you a lift, and you have good chances getting free rides in PMVs (public motor vehicles, i.e. buses) too if you try.
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== Seasons ==
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Travelling in PNG outside of the rainy season will make things much easier, especially if you're trying to piece together Port Moresby and the North together without flying. Your two prime options (as long as the Southern Gulf Highway won't be completed which might be years and years) are walking the Kokoda track and going through Alotau. The Kokoda track is arguably the only touristy area of PNG and probably not cheap when it comes to food, permit fees and campsites even if you go without a guide which should be possible after March when you can just follow the tourists' tracks. Before March, rivers are flooded and the tracks overgrow because they're not maintained. This probably also goes for most other trecks in PNG. Getting from Port Moresby to Alotau without flying is only possible if you hitch to the Kupiano area and catch a dinghy from there -- dinghies also don't usually operate during the wet season due to westerly winds and rough seas.
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[[User:Zenit|Zenit]] hitchhiked around PNG in March 2013 and will add his experience to this article in due time. For the moment, you can [[Special:EmailUser/Zenit|e-mail Zenit]] or read his blog posts about PNG [http://www.mygrannyisonfire.wordpress.com here].  
  
 
[[Category:Oceania]]
 
[[Category:Oceania]]
 
{{IsIn|Melanesia}}
 
{{IsIn|Melanesia}}

Revision as of 07:55, 26 March 2013

Applications-office.png This article is a stub. This means that the information available to us is obviously insufficient. In these places little information is available or the description is severely outdated. If you have been there, whether hitchhiking, for travel or as part of an organized tour − be sure to extend this article!


Flag of Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea
Information
Language: English, Tok Pisin, Hiri Motu
Capital: Port Moresby
Population: 6,741,000
Currency: Kina
Hitchability: <rating country='pg' />
Meet fellow hitchhikers on Trustroots
<map lat="-6.942279461016" lng="143.79593093772" zoom="6" view="0" float="right" />


Papua New Guinea is an island nation in Oceania. There are not many tourists, nor many roads. It is a country with a very rough reputation (which to a certain degree is justified) and most generous and welcoming people.

Hitchability

The relative scarcity of roads makes it difficult travelling around the whole country purely by hitchhiking. If you have lots of time, however, this is the place to get your first experiences of hitching boats and planes. Where there is roads, hitchhiking is easy as pie as everybody is always enthusiastic to meet travellers and help them out -- sometimes so much that you won't be able to hitchhike due to the crowd around you! The main roads are the Highlands Highway down to its end points in Lae and in northern Madang province, some roads around Port Moresby on the south coast and some roads on the north coast and on the islands that don't go too far. For connections between these roads, people take boats and fly, and there is also some trecks that can be walked (see below). Hitching on the Highlands Highway is particularly nice and easy -- usually the first or second vehicle will pick you up --, it's been proven possible around Port Moresby and Madang, too, but seems a little bit harder. People in PNG usually won't expect any money from you for giving you a lift, and you have good chances getting free rides in PMVs (public motor vehicles, i.e. buses) too if you try.

Seasons

Travelling in PNG outside of the rainy season will make things much easier, especially if you're trying to piece together Port Moresby and the North together without flying. Your two prime options (as long as the Southern Gulf Highway won't be completed which might be years and years) are walking the Kokoda track and going through Alotau. The Kokoda track is arguably the only touristy area of PNG and probably not cheap when it comes to food, permit fees and campsites even if you go without a guide which should be possible after March when you can just follow the tourists' tracks. Before March, rivers are flooded and the tracks overgrow because they're not maintained. This probably also goes for most other trecks in PNG. Getting from Port Moresby to Alotau without flying is only possible if you hitch to the Kupiano area and catch a dinghy from there -- dinghies also don't usually operate during the wet season due to westerly winds and rough seas.



Zenit hitchhiked around PNG in March 2013 and will add his experience to this article in due time. For the moment, you can e-mail Zenit or read his blog posts about PNG here.