Papua Highlands 2 Voracious Appetite

We crammed into the bicycle rickshaw and were ridden along a bumpy road to the local market to buy some food. 

We bought a huge bag of veggies, some eggs, rice, seasonings, fruit and some biscuits and snacks. We brought well more than we needed for the 3 days. I could've lasted about 2 weeks on it. My guide ate about three times I did however so i was feeding his voracious appetite.
So we headed off in a crammed packed bemo full of old ladies and young children. Imagine a pickup truck with a cover. Then fit 30 people. That's what it was.
The ride took about an hour or so, and given the excessively long bus trips I've taken up to this point it seemed rather short (although going back was another story). We got off at what appeared to be a washout from a rock slide that took out the road.
Ralf Kreuze

(to be continued) 

Papua Highlands 1 Wamena

I got on the flight. The aircraft was a tad sketchy and had the front half of the passenger section taken out for a rigged up cargo hold (all supplies to Wamena are flown in). 

The airport was basic but still decades ahead of any PNG airport I saw. I went in, got my Suran Jalat signed by the police. I found a guide and negotiated a price. It was quite high and while his guide fee was reasonable, his prices for food, hotels and transport was way beyond what it actually cost. So I negotiated to pay him his fees and then would pay for everything that was needed, at cost. This ended up cutting my costs in over half.
So after it was negotiated, he calls another man over to be my guide as he was unable. I left my belongings (locked with nothing of real value to him) with him through the hotel he works through and then went off with the other guide, Penius. Quite the ironic name as you will soon see.
Ralf Kreuze (to be continued)