Should a solo budget traveller worry about safety in PNG?

Personally I don't think it is a good idea to ignore travel warnings. I know many people do especially Aussies travelling to Bali, but Bali is much more tourist oriented than PNG with great hotels etc. Fortunately whenever I travel the Pacific it is on business and I have not had to go to danger spots. Honestly you could spend 10 days in the Pacific having a wonderful time and experiencing different cultures without going to any areas that have travel warnings. Why take the risk?

Yes downunder, this is the voice of clear thinking!
I want to travel to south pasific and papua seems better accesible from mainland asia, which could be cheaper, too, istead of flying from greece to australia and then fiji etc.
but of course, nothing worths the danger, where it really exists
it's just a pity to avoid travel if you don't have reliable info
many thanks!

PNG is not for solo travellers and I would not go there unless with a group tour. The warnings are there for a reason. The Indonesian side of the country would even be worse I would think.
Do not go.

nikosk, I notice you've also posted on the Asia forum and it seems you want to see something of the South Pacific without travelling as far as Australia. Well, call me unadventurous, but Irian Jaya and Papua-New Guinea would be close to the bottom of my destination list, especially for an independent traveller. My advice would be to take advantage of the many attractions of Indonesia - or if you have the money, fly to Australia and from there to one of the tourist-friendly South Pacific island nations.

Me either, I live in Cairns where we have a lot of ex-residents from PNG, advice from a PNG neighbour is no, unless on an organised tour. Then I would love to see it, but tours I've seen are very expensive.

Nik, I can’t tell if you are a man or woman. Speaking as a woman, PNG is one of the very few places I would NOT go as a solo traveler. I have been to PNG, but on a trip with Habitat for Humanity where we lived in a small village 2 hours outside Hagen and stayed with local families. So I think my experience was quite different from anyone who goes there with a group or as a solo traveller. I never for one moment felt unsafe. The local people we met were welcoming beyond belief. But here are some things which I found very interesting:

1. The locals in the village did not want us to go anywhere without them. They said they felt they could not ensure our safety if someone from the village was not there to watch out for us. I have lived in small villages elsewhere in Asia (like Bali) where such insistence on unescorted trips was not the case.

2. The locals kept stressing over and over that we were safe with them because no one would dare to harm us as we were members of the village now. The fact that they felt is was important to tell us we were safe is unusual in my experience.

3. The local villagers locked the doors to their houses. This is EXTREMELY unusual in my experience in almost 20 years living and traveling in many Asia countries. They barely have any possessions, and their houses are grass huts for the most part, but their doors are locked when the go out to the fields for the day. This told me something about the level of safety.

I don’t think you can enter PNG from Papua. I think Papua is quite dangerous and the border between the two is not really open for immigration. I also don’t think there are ferries from other Indonesia islands to PNG. I would fly in and out if you decide to do this. Also, the only way to get to inland places like Hagen is to fly, which is not exactly cheap, so even though hotels are cheap, you may end up paying more for this trip than you would staying in other parts of the archipelago where you can go overland or by ferry from place to place.

All in all, I am not sure it is worth the hassle of travelling there alone, as you may spend so much time making sure you aren’t in the wrong place at the wrong time that it would take all the fun out of a trip. There are lots of other options in Indonesia that work well for a solo traveler. Unless you were planning on being there for something specific like one of the sing-sing festivals in Hagen, where you can go in and go out, I think I would not bother with PNG as a solo traveler. (Or join something like a Habitat trip, which was really rewarding.)

I lived in PNG for 2 years and I would not recommend it as a destination in this situation.it can be a very dangerous place and as previously stated there are far better, safer destinations you could consider.

So, it is unanimus that PNG is best for organised travel!
It's a matter of price, I'll have a good look in it again, or else, PNG will go lower on my wish list for the moment.
Our life and our 'travel career' is too important to risk and worry all the time if we are at the wrong place the wrong time etc...
many thanks to all!
happy travels!
Nik

Its death for you if you kill one of the tribesmen's pigs accidently or are in a car that kills it.

I went to PNG when it was much safer than it is now - when it was still administered by Australia. I'm much more familiar with Indonesia, and I can't see how you would be allowed to travel overland from Indonesia across the border into PNG. In fact it is extremely difficult even for Indonesians to get access to West Papua/ Irian Jaya.

New Guinea is a beautiful and fascinating island, but not for solo travel.

There are plenty of beautiful corners of Indonesia to see. East Timor is another overland option, as I don't believe it's difficult to cross the Indonesian - East Timorese border now.

so tourists worth equal to a pig!!!!??
I hope this was a joke, but I get it, it's not that easy for solo independent!