“When you travel, remember that a foreign country is not designed to make you comfortable. It is designed to make its own people comfortable.” –Clifton Fadiman
After the hustle and bustle, heat and humidity of Port Moresby, the Highlands come as a pleasant surprise. People living in the Highlands tend to not have running water, a flush toilet, or electricity, and the climate is cool enough to put on a jumper and get out my sleeping bag. I’m staying with a CouchSurfer named Cedric. He is French, and his wife, Cathy is Papuan. Getting here yesterday was an exhausting journey, and I sure slept well last night. Cedric is very well travelled, and he met Cathy during a trip to PNG several years ago. Far out in the back of beyond, I’m in the village of Nondugl. There are no supermarkets or post offices, and living out here is very simple. Water comes from a rainwater tank, and you wash yourself with a bucket of water. After breakfast, Cedric and I walked toward the village market but since it was after 10 AM, it was largely finished for the day. Avocados and onions caught my appeal, and I got a few at 50 toea each (1 kina = 100 toea). Children from the local school ran out to greet me.
As I sat down for a rest I soaked up the cool mountain air and the gorgeous views, and then I glanced at my phone (there is coverage even out here) there was another piece of bad news: another mass shooting in the United States of America. It’s more like the “Divided States of Embarrassment” because the US won’t change their damn gun laws! 19 children were shot and killed today, and I read the news only a short time after that group of schoolchildren ran out to greet me. Gun violence has to stop! It can affect any person, any friend, any family member…anybody! Cedric could even see how upset I was, and I have a right to be. If it were my house I probably would have put my fist through the wall. Innocent people are getting killed at supermarkets, churches, schools, cinemas, mosques…places where people are providing for their families, worshipping, learning, having a good time, or simply minding their own business, and they are getting shot. People were telling me to be careful before coming here but I feel a lot safer in PNG than in the US. At least here, children can go to school and not have to worry about someone with an AK-47 coming in and shooting up the school. I’ve never been interested in guns to begin with but after today I have a chip on my shoulder, and I’m ashamed to say I’m American. Yesterday I was very tired, but today I was very emotional, and I even chatted with a few villagers today about what goes on in the US.
After lunch, we went for another walk through the village. Locals always come out to say “good afternoon” or to shake our hands (I prefer fist bumps). Unlike in many developing countries, people in PNG love having their photo taken. In a few countries I’ve travelled, such as Guatemala and Peru, the locals dress very colourfully but tend to not like their photo taken. One local even posed with his bush knife.
Food in PNG, much like in most of the South Pacific, tends to be simple and filling: rice, taro, kaukau (sweet potato), and tinned meat are the basis of most meals. Fresh vegetables including cabbage and silverbeet are common in highland villages. Earlier we walked to the market, but later in the evening we'd walk in the other direction. Villagers walk their pigs, often on a lead, in the same manner that people walk their dogs elsewhere.
We all crossed the stream but it's too chilly for a swim. Many locals regularly bath themselves in streams, and even bridges tend to be rudimentary.
Languages are my Achilles heel, but Cedric said he managed to become fluent in Tok Pisin after only a few months. It can be very frustrating in many places when I can't even communicate. After a couple of days, I feel very peaceful in the Highlands. The climate is nice and cool, and Cedric's home reminds me of perhaps Shiloh and Lani's home in Ngatimoti (New Zealand) with a mountain setting, an abundance of green, and colourful flowers.
Despite having lived in PNG for the past few years, Cedric has yet to climb Mt. Wilhelm. He and I are going to make a run for Kundiawa tomorrow of the goal of climbing the highest mountain in PNG. After being served a huge portion of rice, Cedric and I chatted about all manner of things in the Highlands and in PNG. When a couple gets married, the husband is expected to pay a "bride price" to his wife's family. Foreigners are expected to do the same if they marry a Papuan lady, and the price can be as high as K40,000 (US$12,000)! How could anyone afford that? Cedric has told me the topic is a rather sensitive one. Aside from hearing about gun violence, it was another peaceful day, and I still have a lot more to see, do, and learn on this fabulous journey.
Life in the Highlands is simple but tomorrow, Cedric and I have a long day ahead as we begin our quest to conquer the roof of the Highlands.
