My experience in PNG

[saina]

Originally Posted by jenan

Hi Saina, sounds like a great trip - how hard is it to organise a trip to Siassi Island, as that is something I might want to do, probably from Lae when I go to PNG next year. Like you, i'm budgeting too! Is it possible to organise it from Australia or would it be better to wait till I get there?

Hey Jenan..
thats cool. i'll tell you what, you come over to Lae and you organised it here in Lae.
The ship schedules are not always according to set schedules due to Luship management.
so make sure you booked a few days stay in Lae. The last time I went home (Finshafen), some Siassi friends of mine went there on the same trip. this was how they scheduled their travel. we all travelled together to Finshafen, they then got on a Sialum PMV and travelled to Sialum. From there, they took a 30 minute boat across to the Island. that is an adventerous trip if you like. i have been to Sialum before and its an awesome view and great terraces landscape.
otherwise, you have to be in lae and check out the cargo ship that also take passengers to Siassi and then to Wasu.

until then
saina

[jenan]

Hi Saina
thanks for your help - I'll have to see how I go. I'm not sure if I'm up for the 'adventure trip" - I'm getting a bit old for that, but I'll think about it! Maybe I'll be able to go on the cargo ship. Jenan

[ReubenLA]

I hate to ruin the mood of the rest of the people who have shared their stories here, but I feel compelled to share mine. I was in PNG for 6 days from June 2nd to June 7th, 2009. On my last day, during a lay-over in Pt Moresby, I decided to hire a cab and go visit the Parliament Haus and take some pictures. The taxi driver was going to drive me back to the airport so that I could catch my flight to Brisbane later that evening. I was a lone traveler from the U.S. and on that infamous day at around 10 AM, I was ambushed by savages who were hiding in the trees across the street (behind Independence Park) and after leaving me with a huge open wound in my head, stole every piece of my belongings and ruined my entire trip to PNG and the reputation of that entire nation in my mind for quite a while to come. It's been a month and I'm still suffering from the traumatic consequences of the attack. It is obvious to me that the taxi driver was in on the entire incident. Simon Barki, taxi driver of a clearly marked silver Toyota Marki sedan taxi cab. License plate number 44121. He was introduced to me by a manager at the Madang airport by the name of Peter. It's quite possible that the incident was planned by Peter at the Madang airport.
The police and other parties involved acted helpless and the taxi driver who took me there, just stood aside and watched me get brutalized by the ruthless thugs.
The ironic thing is that after I arrived home to safety in the USA, I constantly received phone calls from a police officer named Daniel Oki of the Waigani police station who has been telling me that he knows the criminals and wants me to wire US$500 into his bank account 1000-447106 at Bank of South Pacific, Boroko branch so that he can get my things back from them!! Burn me once, shame on you, .....!! Well, let's just say that saying will just end there in this case!!
The US embassy and other police officials are hoping that this event will go away for some political reason, but the world needs to know that Port Moresby is one of the most dangerous and brutal (if not the most) cities in the world and my word of advice, from my own personal experience is STAY AWAY!

[ReubenLA]

Originally Posted by echachi

This tale hits a low should it be true. If investigations are to be carried out, some other facts need to be provided before we get any closer to seeing justice.
Best Advice, "Be at the right place at the right time, with trusted company".
Speedy reco.

With all due respect, this is not a "tale"! The stitches in my head, my ongoing daily flashbacks and the emotional scar that these savages have left me with are a reality with which I will live for the rest of my life and I consider myself a seasoned traveler. A better piece of advice: AVOID the whole goddamn place altogether!!
At this point, I don't care if PNG is wiped off the face of the earth!
Any of the facts I've written about here are documented at the US Embassy and the backward police station in Waigani. No one would benefit from making up a "tale" about this and most definitely not I! Other would be visitors need to know that if a tourist is not safe even in front of a government building in broad day light, then this should not be a tourist destination. The police force is only a disfunctional formality.

[Joan_models]

Yes, it is very possible that such arrangements are setup while you playing the "stupid" looking tourist. This a very simpel but effective way of robbing a tourist. But it is wrong, and it will dis-imaging the country true culture.

I will telling you some rules in PNG and especialy in the towns like Moresby, Madang, Lae, Goroka, Kundiawa, Mt.Hagen etc..

1) Never trust a private taxi driver, who is unknown by hotels or lodges. Never grab a taxi from the airport, those guys are "driving criminals". Just call a cab company or go to a information desk and let them give you some numbers of offical cab companies from the yellow pages.
2) Never walk alone at day or of course at night (when the sun is down)
3) Never show (like a stupid tourist) the goods you are wearing, like cams, your rolex, your pilot sun glasses, your golden ring, your fancy boots. Just wearing very cheap and sweaty clothes.
4) Walk like you been before, do not stop for a long time watching the beautiful **** around you. Walk fast if possible.
5) Don't alow people to come to close to you. Stay away at least 1 meter.
6) Never go in a croud of people hanging around or wait for a bus. Go stand in a position in a way you have direct view about ur surrounding.
7) Don't think adults robbing people, young teens are working in groups and are very active in croudy places (markets etc..) they can pick you out of all people when you act like a stupid tourist. It does not matter if you white or black or yellow, or green. You have to act you living at PNG. It is harder to them to decide to rob you or not.
8) Please walk in groups if you are not alone in the country or grab some of your well known contact to walk around.
9) Don't think they only after the tourist, even there own people they rob like a hungry lion.

That is the way it is, in other countries you may hang out like a tourist but do not in Moresby man.

I know this **** because i've been there before for many times. I was never robbed or tricked. Even in de slums i've walked. I'm from the Netherlands and my experience is when you want to have a nice holiday in PNG, just go to little villages, those people will help you and protect. Never in your life stay in big city. Because that is the place the thieves hanging around. They hiding them self there because they abandoned by the village people because the villages know the thieves and bad guys.
My overall opinion is that PNG the last paradise is of the world. I've seen it with my own eyes.

I've seen before: once there was a boy picking a wallet from a older lady. Some people have seen his action and notify some other peoples on the market. Within seconds the boy was taken, and there was no escape for him, he was beaten up man like boxing ball. That was a good lesson for the boy. Next time he will think 10 times before acting stupid and risk his life.
Next time mail me if you plan a trip to PNG.

Ok dude.

[wiz310]

A better piece of advice: AVOID the whole goddamn place altogether!!
At this point, I don't care if PNG is wiped off the face of the earth!

A rather large generalization. Just because you had a bad experiance, you write the whole country off?. So what would your opinion be of the USA if you wandered down to Queens and a couple of gangbangers hopped you?. write the country off? or mark it down to experiance?.
PNG is a wild and beautiful place with the majority of people being friendly and helpful. your incident was an unfortunate event, and although you had trouble with the police (it is after all a third world country...... see how you go in the back blocks of Indonesia or east Africa) you should not have. Maybe write a letter to the minister of Police with the information you have regarding the rouge who is ringing you. they do take this sort of thing very seriously.
I work in POM and so far have not had any of the trouble you seem to have had. a few precautions will generally serve you well. Don't write off the whole country just because you had one bad experiance though. you do the country a dis-service and you really do rob yourself of a much better experiance if you ever revisit. this can be a truly wonderful and spectacular place.