Road less travelled (4): Papua New Guinea (3)

I have visited a few countries that perhaps not a lot of people get to visit, mainly for my work. I thought it would be a good idea to share these experiences with you guys. After Eritrea, Somalia and North Korea, now part three of Papua New Guinea; some other countries that are on my list to be included in this series are: South Sudan, Iraq, Bhutan and perhaps a few others.

Well perhaps the title of this post, “road less travelled”, is not very appropriate for the first leg of my trip here in Papua New Guinea (PNG): from Port Moresby to Goroka.

Screen Shot 2018-06-21 at 21.02.04.png
Source:abc.net.au

This is because there is no road.

The distance from Port Moresby to Goroka – as the crow flies – is 420 km. Google Maps will tell you: - Sorry, we could not calculate driving directions from "Port Moresby" to "Goroka". The area between the two towns is just too mountainous and densely forested for any road development. This means you have to fly, and it’s a flight of just over 1 hour with a Dash 8 aeroplane.

Goroka is famous for its colourful cultural show, held every year in September. Just google images for ‘Goroka show’ and you’ll find some extremely colourful people, people dancing, and masks.

Screen Shot 2018-06-21 at 20.59.16.png
Source: lonelyplanet.com

Goroka has a very pleasant climate, it’s at 1,500 meters of altitude and a constant average temperature of around 22 degrees Celsius. If I say ‘constant’, I mean constant; just have a look at the average temperatures over the year shown in the below graph. Apparently, if you want to go to a place with constant temperatures, you have to go close to the equator (PNG is just below the equator) and look for any place close to the ocean, with the body of water acting as a temperature buffer.

Screen Shot 2018-06-21 at 20.35.41.png
source: meteoblue.com

There are a few hotels in Goroka: Bird of Paradise, Hotel Phoenix and Pacific Garden hotel, all three star hotels. I stayed in Pacific Garden hotel, the rooms are basic but they have a kettle for coffee / tea, the food is quite good and the gardens are beautiful! The hotel is made from wood, beautiful material of course, but it means the rooms are noisy: I woke up because my neighbour was snoring!

“you no can come inside” – sign in my hotel room in the 'Tok Pisin' language