Hi there!
The security situation in PNG comes very controversial over various internet sources!
Many governement travel advice offices warn for terrible things to happen, while travellers report better situation.
iI anybody has a good idea about how things are going this period, I would be greatfull to know!
My plan is to travel solo and budget, so with public transport and stay at simple places, which might expose the backpacker to some more possible danger, instead of staying in top end hotels with security, private transport etc, which is not my case.
I'm thinking to enter overland from Indonesia and stay for about 10 days, then return to Indonesia or fly ex Port Moresby.
Many thanks guys
Nik
Should a solo budget traveller worry about safety in PNG?
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Heya nik: I've been to PNG three times. Just go. Don't be a dumb-ass and you'll be fine - MOST OF THE TIME. Your risk of being in the wrong place at the wrong time is greatly increaded in PNG - as I found to my cost.
Reality is, as a scungy backpacker you're unlikely to encounter much of this. Trick is to get out of the cities. Moresby and Hagen are pretty terrifying [so the locals say] . Hagen IS terrifying. lol.
The rewards are great. Go. But I'd get some VERY clear advice on entry requirements if you think you're gonna come in overeland from Indonesia. Check, double check. Don't just rock up.
thanks for the info dogster,
I really must look well into all these factors
it seems it can become very tricky!
happy travels!
N.
I had to jump in, because years ago I was in the same predicament. I was in Australia, wanting to also go to PNG, but every single person I talked to warned me off the idea, saying they were 'raping white women' etc, etc. So I dropped the idea. Then, in a small outback town in a youth hostel, I roomed with a young German woman who had just spent 5 weeks there on her own and she just absolutely loved it! So, in the next outback town I hit, I bought a ticket.
It WAS hairy. Port Moresby was frightening, as was Mt. Hagen, but Goroka was fine. There was barbed wire on all the fences of accommodation, locked doors both going in and going out, but, if you'd ever been to NYC in the 1980's and survived, you'd survive PNG,
As a solo female, I still took the local transport to local markets, went walking between villages in the highlands with other solo travelers. I did connect with 2 other travelers and together from Mt. Hagen we went out to a compensation ceremony in Mendi, where we were the only white people among over a 1,000 locals. We flew up to some place on the Sepik (Ambunti I think) and hired a local...on the spot...to take us down the Sepik in a boat (not a canoe), taking 3 days and sleeping in local villages, even inside the huts with them.
Granted, it was a long time ago. But, the scary stories today sound the same as I heard back then. So go and love it as much as I did. I was there 12 short days. Now I'm older, and married, and I want so much to take my husband there, but we haven't made it yet.
It's the closest thing to going back into the stone age around, and you'll see things so unique and beautiful. Not many tourists venture there, and it does have it's dangers, but you only live once.