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Published: August 6th 2007
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Thanks to the Indonesian government, we had to do a visa run in Papua New Guinea (PNG) to allow us the twenty extra days we needed in this sprawling mass of islands. We headed to Papua to get this mission rolling, by catching a plane to Jayapura.
Jayapura, set beside a large, sweeping bay was a dirty, noisy place. It had internet connection, sometimes, and also a book shop where we selected from a limited English language section - 'Gulliver's Travels' and 'Three Men in a Boat' - to attempt to satisfy our hunger for books. The enormous amount of waiting involved with Indonesian travel meant that we were reading even faster than usual.
First we had to track down the PNG embassy and apply for a visa to enter. This involved the usual mountain of paperwork, as well as an interview documented on a typewriter, in which we had to confess our full intentions. However, due to a day-long power cut, it couldn't be completed the same day, and due to the fact it was Friday, we would have to wait all weekend.
Luckily, we scored a hotel with a DVD player, and managed to watch about
six movies and eight episodes of 'Friends' during this time. Don't worry, we did sample the local culture too. As well as eating sate ayam (chicken satay) from a roadside barbecue, David watched Bolton V Blackburn at the local police station! The officer count soon quadrupled in number when they realised who had joined the group. Apart from the odd interruption when they had to get their rifles out of the cupboard (for a spot of police work), the over-keen company did not detract from the victory.
Earlier that same Sunday, we had an extremely memorable day out. Deciding to visit the WWII-famous beach 'Base G' (catchy, I know), we jumped in a bemo (taxi-bus). This local beach was alleged to attract many Jayapurans every Sunday, for picnics and strolling. We arrived to a very warm reception. We had asked where we could get some of the food we saw everyone tucking into, and were then served some, free! It turned out that this was a family picnic, not a business. We felt cheeky, and tried to give some money, but to no avail.
The huge Di-mana family met regularly in this spot for enjoying prayers, games and
food. There must have been at least thirty kids and teenagers, and about twenty adults. We first observed a few games designed for the younger children, who raced each other to swallow hard-boiled eggs, among other wacky pursuits. David had a game of football, and was then coaxed into taking part in the sack-race tournament, just about to start. Well, four heats, two semi-finals and a final later, David held aloft his prize for first place. (Louise didn't fare quite so well). The family had made us feel so welcome, and said David would always be 'David Di-mana' for his triumph. After a quick prayer it was soon time to go, however, and we got in the free family bus for a complimentary lift back to town. Magic.
So Monday morning came, and after much further procrastination at the visa office, we were off. The bemos were jam packed, hot and uncomfortable, but incredibly cheap. We eventually reached the border, and managed to squeeze into another minibus full of locals to get to the nearest town, Vanimo. We could immediately feel that we had arrived in a different country; furthermore, entering PNG meant that we had left Asia behind
Now time for prizes
Can you see anyone you recognise in the back row? us for a taste of the South Pacific. The people looked different. You could tell from their dark skin, prominent noses and afro hair that these people resembled the indigenous peoples of Australia. They also seemed so much more relaxed: Bob Marley t-shirts and Rastafarian locks, some with no shoes, some with no teeth. We took it all in as we stopped and started at small villages along the way, and marveled at the mountains and the sea roaring up along the winding road. The scenery was certainly different too - rainforest, beaches and mountains loomed up at every corner.
Vanimo was a small town with a few warehouse-type shops (selling everything from building materials to socks), churches, a post office, a bank and acres of space in between. We changed some local currency and went to get our new Indonesian visa, hitching a lift from the kind man at the exchange counter in the back room of the local shop. We then checked into a hotel which reminded me of 70s prefab housing, complete with wood-paneling, floral bedding and carpet tiles; steak and chips available in the restaurant. You could see and taste the colonial legacy left behind
by the British. The TV showed the national anthem, in English, with the words on the screen to accompany pictures of this incredible country.
Papua New Guinea
O arise all you sons of this land,
Let us sing of our joy to be free,
Praising God and rejoicing to be
Papua New Guinea.
Shout our name from the mountains to seas
Papua New Guinea;
Let us raise our voices and proclaim
Papua New Guinea.
Now give thanks to the good Lord above
For His kindness, His wisdom and love
For this land of our fathers so free,
Papua New Guinea.
Shout again for the whole world to hear
Papua New Guinea;
We're independent and we're free,
Papua New Guinea.
(Papua New Guinea National Anthem Lyrics)
The people were proud of their country and its heritage and diversity. We wanted to change our plans and explore but we were unable to get more cash or find a guidebook, and as the accommodation was double the price of Indonesia, we decided to head back the next day to continue our plans.
In search of internet, we were sent to all corners of this town. Those
who had heard of 'the internet’ at all, had an idea about where it might be, but we soon realised that the connection which one man had in the whole town, would be down for the rest of the week, so we gave up! During this process we met Lynn. She worked in the government offices and dropped everything to help us, walking us across town to ask her Internet friend, and then walking us across a field to our hotel, chatting all the way about PNG and answering our questions. She felt so sorry that we couldn’t find a guidebook or any information and desperately wanted us to take something to remember her country by. She insisted on meeting us the following morning to give us a token of our new friendship and a souvenir of PNG.
Lynn stayed true to her word and brought us a bag made by her family in her village. It took months to make it as it was woven from bark fibres of three different trees. She was adamant that we should take it, and would accept no money. She said that as we were younger than her, she considered us her
children, and she would give to us what she had to give. Moved, we parted company and made our way back to Indonesia with our new visas. We would love to come back to PNG and devote our time to this interesting country: Rich tribal culture, scenery and friendly, warm people with a strong Christian culture would make it an interesting destination to visit.
We entered Indonesia once more and hunted down a guesthouse near the airport in Sentani to await the main event, which would begin the following day.
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june and graham
non-member comment
it could only happen to David
Watching footie in the Police Station and winning the sack race! What a perfect day. (all it needed was a karaoke). Hope you bought 3 men in a boat and enjoyed it - can't think of anything more English to remind you of home (albeit in the last century). Excellent blog as usual.