Blogs from Mount Hagen, Western Highlands, Papua New Guinea, Oceania

Geo: -5.8674, 144.207From the minute we entered the festival grounds we knew we were in for something special and it just kept getting better from there. We went early so we could wander around the outside of the show grounds and watch the various participating tribes getting ready.It's hard if not impossible to describe what we were seeing, hearing, smelling. An explosion of colour (can colours explode?) was made that much more exciting by the various tribes practicing both dances and songs with an energy that, at times, seemed to shake the ground. At times aggressive and at other times offered up shyly, the hospitality of the various participants was warm and authentic. Every time we turned around there was an amazing site that was pulling my camera like some sort of digital magnet- we had ... read more

A car full of young men screeched to a halt beside our bus and started shouting at all the people who had got off for a short break. Everyone quickly ran to the bus and pushing and shoving, started to clamber on. I turned to Howard and he shouted “Tribal fight!” and urged me to get back on the bus. With everyone looking on edge and all of the windows tightly shut we continued on a few hundred meters to the next village. There was a big group of sullen looking men waiting by the side of the road, all holding machetes and with black paint smeared on their faces. Thankfully they paid very little attention to us and we crept past and continued on our way a little more mindful of where we would take ... read more