PNG in 2014

My boyfriend and I would like to go to PNG next year. I have looking into flights from the US, and they are very expensive.

We just got back from a trip to Fiji and Vanuatu last month. I know that I can take a flight from Fiji to PNG via Air Niguini and it will cost about $550 US pp. The flight from DPS (Bali) is much cheaper, but the costs maybe more from LAX>DPS and longer than from NAN>PNG.

Does anyone know of a cheaper/better route to get to PNG from the US (Los Angeles, CA?)

We want to spend at least one week in PNG mainly interested in the culture. Is one week enough?

What is a suggested itinerary?

Thanks in advance.

What might end up being cheaper is finding an off-season flight to Australia, then fly from there.

I've thought about it, but didn't necessarily want to go to Australia. I'm open to every feasible option.

Thanks.

There is no really cheap way to PNG.

As for whether one week is enough - I'd personally say even a month is not enough for that enormously diverse country with its poor transport connections.

Thanks for your input. Then what would you recommend for someone who wants to experience the country and it's culture? I really want to go next year.

For a good overview of PNG, you should visit the Sepik, the Highlands and at least one of the islands. Each of those could easily take up a week, including getting there and back. You could cut them a bit shorter, but still, one week is way too short.

Thanks. I'll do some research on those places. I am thinking of extending my time. I'll make a decision after doing some research.

Thanks for your input.

Does anyone know of a cheaper/better route to get to PNG from the US (Los Angeles, CA?)

I don't know if it'll be cheaper or better but take a look also at Air Niugini's fares out of Manila, Hong Kong and Tokyo to see if the cheapest flight from the USA to either Manila, Hong Kong or Tokyo plus an Air Niugini flight from there is overall cheaper.

Another option you could research is to fly from Los Angeles to Honiara with Fiji Airways (changing planes in Nadi) and from Honiara to Port Moresby with Air Niugini.

And take a look too at webs like Kayak, Skyscanner, Orbitz and any other similar to see if it would be cheaper to make a single booking for all the route.

Thank you. I have looked into routes out of Asia, and most are cheaper to PNG, however, the flight from LAX is much more expensive and a longer flight time. I am looking at flying out of Nadi International to POM. I'll still research other options and see what works best for me.

I appreciate your input.

Personally I feel that you can do 1 week total in PNG if you concentrate on for example the Sepik River (fly to Wewak) or the Highlands (preferably time it with the Mt Hagen festival). If you've been to "paradise" islands before, you don't have to go in PNG. Remember, PNG is horrifically expensive and the quality of accommodation, food etc is very low in comparison to the prices they charge.
You can send me a private message if you want more info.

Faefuwill - I could not send you a private message. However, I am interested in hearing more about the route to PNG that you mentioned above.

I warmly recommend the guide Johannes Teven
He also happens to be an excellent cook and has the most wonderful positive outlook on things.
You can call or text him at +675-73637760.
No e-mail. Might take a few days before he answers.
Tell him you got his number from tourists he took around in August and that he take you to all his favourite villages and guesthouses.

Unfortunately we had booked our trip through another guide - who turned out to be really really awful in many different ways - who had contracted Johannes (who is amazing).
The other guide had decided on guesthouses which belonged to a friend of his and were in mosquitoe-infested villages next to swamps.
Johannes can arrange everything (transport from Wewak to the river and canoe - insist on a motorized canoe, not a regular boat - to various villages).
(and to avoid the swamp-infested mosquito-infested places).

Johannes made a very positive and professional impression on us.

The cost - including transportation, accommodation, food, village visits & fees, 2 litres of water per day etc - was 500 PGK per day. However, prices can go up quickly in PNG (which is sooo expensive) so don't be worried if the price quoted is higher.

One village to stay in is Wombun. Supercute, nice market, really friendly people, lovely guesthouse.
I think Palimbai was the most awful guesthouse (isolated from the rest of the village by the swamp = nowhere to walk). Kanganamon is a nice village across the river, a lot of mosquitoes (but less than Palimbai) but at least much nicer and cleaner and possible to walk around.
Wagu village with rainforest, birds of paradise and view over the water.
http://www.wagurainforest.com/your-trip
Avoid staying in Ambunti. Between Ambunti & Wagu there's a large village with a newly built Haus Tambaran and a church which had been torn down due to termites. They had lovely guesthouses. Would have loved to stay there. Hope this helps. :)
Oh, there's a crocodile festival in Ambunti in early August (dates determined a few months before). Try to go then, if you can.

Thanks so much for this information. This is a good start.

Are the use of guides typically how travel is handled in PNG? I've seen some organized tours websites, and the prices are exorbitant (for my budget.) How do you pay the guide, i.e., upon arrival or at the end of the tour?

Yes, unless you have lots of time, are extremely well-travelled and can handle unforeseen situations, and are very very budget-oriented, you need a guide. Despite having travelled to 70 countries, this was only my third time to have a guide on a trip. Unfortunately most guides will insist on receiving most, if not all, of the money upfront. Try to negotiate (beforehand + in contract) that you pay a portion (1 day's worth?) when the trip is over. A bad guide we had threatened to not take us at all (after having made a downpayment via banktransfer & flown to Wewak) if we did not pay him more upfront (despite our agreement). Then, once we were on the river he insisted on the rest of the money or he would leave us there in one of the villages.... And once he had all of our money, he became very rude (we had no leverage).
In the end, you are very dependent on whoever you go with. You just have to hope that person is a good person. I believe Johannes is. Both my mother and I had such a positive impression of him. He is a very good person. The other guide - unfortunately frequently recommended in Thorn Tree - made our trip a nightmare.

Oh, I would still recommend going on a private tour ie arranging something with a guide directly. All the people we met at the Mt Hagen festival who had travelled in groups told us (no surprise) that they had never really had a chance to interact with people, or to go off on little unforeseen adventures and walks. Our warmest memories are of the locals we spent time with - so many sweet happy people and lovely conversations, being invited into people's homes, talking late into the night about their lives and our lives - and of sitting quietly on our own motorized canoe marvelling at reflections of the river and lakes.

Oh, if you go to the rainforest-village by the water, make sure they take you out on the water to see the sunset (well ahead of time). Gorgeous!

faeifuwill, i would like to DM you, but it seems your settings are not allowing direct messages right now? I'm headed to PNG in April and would like to get some more information about your suggested guide.

Cheers,
Christine

it seems your settings are not allowing direct messages right now?

PMs are disabled on this forum for everyone at the moment. They are expected to be enabled once again in February.

Hi, all the info I have I have posted in the above replies. The guide is Johannes Teven
He also happens to be an excellent cook and has the most wonderful positive outlook on things.
You can call or text him at +675-73637760.
No e-mail. Might take a few days before he answers.
As for contacting me directly, find a binary to text translator/decoder online and enter 01100100 01110010 01100001 01101011 01100010 01101111 01110010 01100111
then add the at sign and yahoo
Feel free to e-mail me and if I can, I will help.