A land that cannot be forgotten

The air was clean, crisp, thin, and limited overlooking the valley. What took the locals 20 minutes to climb barefoot, took me almost three times to reach the peak in hiking boots. My heart skipped each step as the local children held my hand in a bid to pull me to the mountain’s top. I almost did not make it, but the view was well worth the steep struggle. Papua New Guinea's mountains, a neighbouring land to us Aussies, but often considered forgotten to the rest of the world.

There was an overwhelming sense of completion once you reached the mountain’s peak. If only your eyes were able to permanently capture every blink so that it could be embedded inside of your eye lids. It would capture the unfiltered green landscape free from litter, the unique display of trees that formed a pattern almost like one you see sewn on a Christmas sweater. If only you could capture the crispy cool air unknown to waste, the untouched terrain, the locals who accepted what nature had to freely offer, and bask in the starry night unfamiliar to light's pollution. It was freedom. Freedom from the rush of a 9 to 5 lifestyle and the pressures of a western life. Not that the western world represented a bondage. This mountain top is where every heart desires to reach at some point in life. This is what living is; feeling that heart skip a beat only to continue beating again for the next moment.

Others may replicate this experience, but it is a land I fear exposing for its potential to become a commercial land. If you dare, accept the culture head on. Eat the staple food, celebrate the traditions with the locals, spend time with the women as they sit on the grass and knit. Live with little, perhaps off a back pack with no comfort and the luxuries. Cross the rushing rivers, immerse yourself in the valleys, explore the coastline, touch the volcano, trek the muddy roads into the small traditional villages, attend a local church service in a hut, and embrace the open markets. But the peak of it is this valley known as Fore; a valley hidden among the nation, a vast array of mountain peaks and valleys that sheltered the locals. Reach the top!

My visit was short-lived, but my heart wept leaving the land. I'll never forget witnessing a people so rich in love and generosity. Generous because they offered their livelihood, their homes and crops to a foreigner that knew very little about them. This was all they had left to live for and they offered it all. My heart left full.