Would anyone recommend waiting until we get to Port Moresby to get our tourist visa? We can get it here in the USA by using one of the companies that do that for a fee, but we do hate sending our passports away (though we have done it for other countries--and are always nervous until they arrive back).

I'm also going to post this to the Australian forum.

I do it all of the time. 100 Kina. It helps to get your Kina at the Brisbane or Cairns airport. You can get them on arrival at PNG but you will then end up at the back of the line.

Thank you, AlwaysOnTheRoad. We are going to spend a few days in Sydney before we head on over to PNG, so I imagine we can get them at the Sydney airport, as well.

Maybe. As I recall the SYD-POM flight stops in Brisbane. You can always hop off the airplane and visit the Foreign Exchange desk. You will not find many places that sell Kina.

American Airlines has us using Jetstar Airways going from Sydney via Cairns, then Air Niugini from Cairns to POM. Reading some negative things about Jetstar, I'm a little concerned at the short connection time (depart SYD 7:05 am, arrive Cairns 10:15 am, depart CNS 12 noon). Hopefully, Jetstar will be on time.

As my husband and I will be spending a few days in Sydney before heading out to Papua, I'm pondering whether we should fly up to Cairns the day before our flight out. We do need to meet up with our group in POM on the Thursday as they are leaving early the next day for Mt. Hagen. Decisions, decisions!!

eve - will you be going to the Tumbuna Sing Sing Festival (May 21?)while in PNG?

Hi Craig. We'll be going to the Sing Sing in mid-August.

Hi Eve,

I've been trying to contact anyone who has had first-hand experience traveling to PNG? Can you tell me which group you'll be going with? I wonder if you might share your previous experience?

Thanks,

Pete

Pete, I do not have first hand experience but I am planning a trip to PNG next May. I have found Greg Stathakis at pngtravel.com to be very helpful. He has been leading tours for 30 years.

If you would prefer not to go on one of Greg's tours, he has an associate that is the US representative for Trans Niugini Tours who can answer questions and make arrangements for independent travel in PNG.

Greg has also introduced me to people that have been on his tours. We have spoken on the phone and their input has been most helpful. You can contact Greg through the website www.pngtravel.com He is leading his once/year tour in PNG right now but he will either respond when he returns the last week in May or forward your query to his associate.

Hi Craig,

Are you planning to go yourself? Next May?

Pete

Pete - we are going with Greg Stathakis next May for the Tumbuna SingSing. Although only this year's itinerary is laid out on the website, next year's is exactly the same but it starts on May 12 rather than May 13.

Pete,

For our previous visit, we used Trans Nuigini Tours http://www.pngtours.com/, had a fabulous time, but didn’t go to one of the big organized sing sings such as at Mt. Hagen. I’d go with them again in a heartbeat. We stayed at the Karawari Lodge, took a three day trip on the Sepik Spirit, and ended up for a few days at the Ambua Lodge, visiting the Huli Wigmen and other tribes in that area.

For our return visit, besides visiting a big sing sing, we wanted to do something more in-depth.

This time we’re going with ElderTreks. Here is the itinerary: http://tinyurl.com/5p43le. (Even though it doesn’t show it, both August trips are fully booked with a waiting list.) I’ve emailed a couple of folks who took this trip last year and they can’t say enough good things about their experience. What I’m also looking forward to is the visit to Milne Bay and Kiriwina Island.

What do you have in mind for your trip?

Eve

Thanks for the input, Eve.

I was looking at both Australia & PNG--it would be one or the other. I've been thinking about next May, but have read about humidity, malaria (have a small problem w/ meds) & didn't know how comfortable a trip it was these days.

Appreciate your help!

Pete

Can't tell you about the humidity in May, last time we were there in September. It was humid, but not like Singapore.

We took Lariam and, even though I've heard bad things about it, none of us had trouble with it, although I think it made me a bit more “accepting” and less “curious”. Rather like that zoned-out state I get in on long plane journeys. We didn't see one mosquito on the trip. This time I'm going to take Malarone--it wasn't available in the USA at that time.

Australia is on our bucket list.

I'm working on a website for my grandkids to look at while we are gone. Here is a link to a page of photos from our last trip: http://tinyurl.com/64r9j7

Eve,

Was there a lot of difference from village to village--outside of the costumes? Craig, on the board, mentioned the Tumbuna Sing Sing. I can't find much information on this, but I assume it's a bit smaller & less commercial than the ones in the fall. Did you have a chance to travel the Sepik 10 years ago?

Thanks for the info.

Pete

Pete,

We only went into villages while we were on the Sepik River (not in the Highlands). The villages were somewhat similar but the costumes were different from each other, and what we were shown was different (sago making--from chopping the tree down to the finished foods--at one village, woodworking, preserving and cooking at another, small sing sing at a third). We were on the river in the Sepik Spirit for 3 days. At the Karawari Lodge a group of local young men played music and danced for us one evening. I loved the Karawari Lodge. Gorgeous.

It does seem like the Tumbuna Sing Sing is smaller and less touristy.

The trip we were on last time with Trans Niugini Tours was comfortable and easy, but we don't have trouble with malaria meds.

What are you looking for in your trip next year? Sounds like you've been in malarial areas before.

Eve

Once again, thanks, Eve.

I've traveled quite a lot, but haven't seen much of the Pacific outside of Hawaii & NZ--& that was years ago. I have enough freq. flyer miles for one final trip & have had PNG on my radar for three years. I just haven't connected with anyone who has actually been there outside of tour company reps. I know several companies are now running PNG trips and all seem to use the same hotels & the Sepik Spirit. It's a haul to get there and AU looks like an easier journey--but they're quite different, I'm sure. I can't do anything with air reservations until July, so right now I'm just taking in as much information as possible.

Best,

Pete

I too am puzzled by the Tumbuna Singsing. I've been to P.N.G. three times, a month each time, between 2000 and 2004 and have never heard of it, till now.

Tried a Google search - nothing but a whole bunch of travel agents who all seem to have 'discovered' it at the same time. So, it might be smaller, it might be some secret gem - but it sure ain't gonna be less touristy. [This is all relative - there aren't many tourists in P.N.G. anyhow]

I'd love to hear the real story. Regardless - P.N.G. is a KNOCK-OUT.
Smart choice Craig.

Hi Eve,

I have just planned a last minute trip to Australia and PNG for this August and am having the same question that you did about getting a visa ahead of time or getting one at the airport. I also never like sending my passport off unless absolutely necessary. What did you finally decide to do? Use a visa service or get the visa upon arrival at the airport in Port Moresby? Also, if you do get the local currency (KINA) ahead of time as advised by another forum member, how long does one typically have to wait in line at the airport for the visa (recognizing that it will vary from plane load to plane load)? Thanks!

Hi Gene. Our trip to Sydney and then PNG is in August, so maybe we'll bump into you!

I decided to take the easy way out and send them off to a visa service. More expensive but it was another chore out of the way. Took about three weeks. I wish the rest of the world would take a page out of Australia's book and have the online visa service--didn't take 10 minutes. Inexpensive, too.

Ten years ago when we were there, the folks who bought their visas on arrival at Port Moresby got done more quickly than we did, but they had kina from a previous trip.

I'm going to get some kina at Sydney airport if I can; our connection in Cairns is legal but rather tight, so don't want to wait until then unless I can't get any kina in Sydney.

BTW, Walgreens (at least in Colorado) has started a travel clinic. My husband got his shots and malaria prescription there last week. He said they were most pleasant and efficient. It was $10 for the consultation, which will be increasing in price after their introductory period.