A mud bath. In the Netherlands it costs money and in Papua New Guinea it is insurmountable. The trek to the middle of the jungle in the Hela province (Pilongo village) starts with an unplanned mud bath. 

On the way to Pilongo village

We walk a few meters over the road until Panda (our porter) points us to a small path inland. Thomas , our guide, is no longer behind us. He has to arrange some personal things before he can also enter the jungle. But it doesn’t matter because judging by the path Thomas is catching up with us. It is muddy and since our luggage is still somewhere in London, I am not wearing proper shoes.

Slippery we walk between two high walls made of the same mud. An advantage is that it is nice and cool here. Away from the sun, which burned our skin yesterday. But soon I hope that the sun can also shine in this muddy alley. It is slippery there. 

Introduction to the hiking trails of Papua New Guinea

And that slippery slippery quickly turns into a veritable mud pool. Panda deftly climbs up the side of the path. He puts his feet on a few branches and hop jumps to the other side. It looks so simple that I climb after him in good spirits. The first branch already goes wrong because it breaks, forcing me to take a step in the mud. “Oh sorry” Panda calls out to me. Something that the Papuans are quick to say when something unforeseen happens, something that they experience as annoying for us.

Many neighborhood children have now come to see how that ‘whity’ is climbing awkwardly. Although half are watching with a grin, the other half steps into the mud with bare feet to make sure I get off unscathed. One boy even offers to lift me onto his back. But that is going too far for me. Especially because I have been called ‘big’ a ​​number of times. 

After having overcome a few more obstacles like this, we really start the trek. In the scorching heat we climb a very steep mountain. The vegetation is low, so there is no shade, the ground is very dry and behind us is a column of neighborhood children. We walk up sweating, almost crawling. We don’t go fast with a backpack, in the heat of the day. But it is cozy.

Women fishing.

Mud as a sunscreen

Panda shows us how to use mud to protect our skin. Our sunscreen is also still somewhere in London and they don’t use it in Papua New Guinea. The sun is already burning a lot, so my skin is starting to look red, so that natural sunscreen in the form of mud suits us well.

Thomas has now caught up with us and sings cheerful songs. Because it is quite slippery, Panda provides walking sticks. Quite nice because now we have reached the top and we have to go down again. In the mud that is quite disappointing.

Time for a break

But we survive that too and we have now arrived at a lake. Children play in the water, women do some fishing and we take a break here. Soon we are surrounded by children from the village. They don’t see white people that often because they never really come here. Thomas plays some games with the kids and the girls love to touch my hair.

We are on our way again soon because we still have a mountain to climb. This time it does not start in the mud but through cute fields with even more adorable houses. They grow sweet potato, broccoli, carrots and cauliflower here. The women are hard at work, the pigs are plowing the earth well and the children are running around.

It almost looks idyllic, life in Papua New Guinea. But appearances can be deceiving, because life here is of course very hard. It is now nice and dry weather to be outside, but it rains more often than the sun shines and then it is just dirty working in the mud.

Sitting indoors all day does not really sound like a good idea to me. Where in the Netherlands I can read a book, watch movies or write a blog all day, that is of course not an issue here. The days seem quite long to me, although they will have that sense of time less than we do. They don’t watch the clock here because they don’t have one. 

We’re almost there, we’re almost there

We soon leave the fields and go back to the scorching heat. We make our way up and occasionally jump over a dry ditch. Like a princess I am pulled up or led down everywhere. The stick also helps and I’m sure nothing will happen to me as many hands are handed to me when the road is a bit slippery. But it is hot, very hot.

I can feel the sun burning in my neck. And because I was badly burned yesterday, I now wear long pants and a cardigan. Good for my skin, terrible for the heat. I also break out in a sweat. Sweat has never dripped down my back as much as now. And that of course makes the trip up extra difficult.

But not quite yet

“Another 30 minutes up” Thomas shouts cheerfully. He whistles and points to a tall tree. There it is, but now we know better. He means, of course, that the guesthouse for tonight is somewhere behind it. And indeed. After the same tree we have to climb for another 15 minutes before we arrive at a beautiful house.

Our accommodation in Pilongo village

In the middle of nature there is a small house covered with bamboo and sago leaves. The roof is covered with a thick layer of moss, we have never seen that before. According to Thomas, this is how she used to cover the roofs. Today there is no longer any moss to be found. Just like with the birds of paradise. They used to flew around here happily, but by hunting those animals they are now giving up. 

Our first sing-sing

Not too long after we arrive, we hear chuckles and laughter. A whole procession of people is arriving. They are children. They are dressed in their finest attire. Beautiful headdresses and colorful skirts. The headdresses are of course made of that bird of paradise that can no longer be found here. To make a headdress they have to go far into the jungle. She doesn’t really care that killing such a bird of paradise is now prohibited. Maintaining your culture and proudly propagating is also important.

The children stare at us and we stare at them. I introduce myself in Tok Pisin (Pidgin) and ask for their names. They respond with a chuckle and say their name one by one. I say “Paica Ore”, or in other words ‘very beautiful’. The children chuckle again. 

After some shouting from the elders, the boys stand in a circle and start a sing-sing. It looks super cute, especially because things go wrong now and then and the parents are yelling at the children. It almost looks like a football match in the Netherlands, only more fun.  Papua New Guinea is known for its sing-sings, a dance-off in which people dance and sing in their finest tribal costumes. 

After some shame, the girls finally dare to dance. Or actually jump more. The girls place their hands on their chests and jump out with their legs wide. There is no rhythm, but the girls are having a good time.

On to Pilongo village

Soon we are called for lunch. Bananas, bread and egg are ready for us. A cup of tea and we can rest for a while from the trip. But not too long because we are invited to visit the market of Pilongo village. White people do not come here and it shows.

Welcome to Pilongo village.

White visitors in Pilongo village, that’s new!

The moment we arrive, wide eyes stare at us, we shake everyone’s hands and are spoken to loudly by the head of the village. I don’t understand what he says, it doesn’t sound very friendly, but everyone nods yes and greets us kindly. 

Women are selling their goods, boys are playing cards (they put the money on their machetes, so we hope they can take their losses) and the pigs are guarded by a man with a big gun. He knows how to tell homemade. He looks friendly and yet I don’t feel completely at ease.

The market of Pilongo village where they welcome us.

The children provide a more pleasant feeling. One by one they try to touch me. “Many haven’t seen any whites,” a man tells me. We also see that almost everyone has red teeth. They all eat betel nut. Perhaps the reason why the teeth quickly rot and the older the person, the fewer teeth they have.

Bragging rights in Papua New Guinea; the amount of women

We are introduced to the chief of the village. First we hear his name, the second that he has 16 wives. Bragging rights. This gentleman may have 16 wives and more than 30 children, but he cannot communicate with us. His brother does that, who has 4 wives. “I can’t beat him, but that’s okey. Four is good ” . When I indicate that women are not owned, he looks at me questioningly and takes another hit from his pipe. It will be a while before they see women as equals I think. 

The Pilongo village school

We get a short tour of the village. Actually only about the school grounds. The school is currently closed because there is disagreement between the clans. But our guide understands that education is important. “To travel the world like these white people, you have to be educated” he tells the children who followed us. 

School of Pilongo village

It is getting dark and we decide to go back to our cabin for the evening. But of course not before we have said goodbye to everyone and shook hands. 

There and back again

After a night among the mice, we are awakened by what sounds like thousands of birds. They all seem to want the last vocals. And then suddenly it is quiet. For us the sign to get up. After a nice breakfast of scrambled egg, bread and tea we are on our way. The owner of the cabin where we slept, his brothers, a cousin and a friend join us. 

Chew sugar cane against thirst

This time we choose a different path, one through more fields, along a lake where fishing is fierce and with an immensely steep mountain in a kind of small rainforest. But before we start the steep climb we first get some sugar cane from the cousin. They eat large pieces, we get small pieces. But even that seems too much when climbing and I quickly suck them up before climbing further. The men keep climbing with whole sugar canes in their hands and mouths. 

I am a fragile flower

It is a tough climb, but here too I am treated as a fragile flower. I am taken up the slope by hand. Because it is a small part of the rainforest, it is also very wet here. This provides a nice cooling on the skin, but of course also smoothness. That is not very up, but down it is quite a challenge. We do not shy away from a challenge and so we keep walking. In good shoes, while our delegation does it barefoot. And maybe that is just much better. You will of course slip less quickly. 

That all ends well. After about 4 hours of walking we arrive at the main road. Time to say goodbye to this fantastic group of men who made sure that we walked safely through the rainforest. 

A well-deserved shower … or something

We are broken, and it is also time for a shower. A cold, from a bucket, nevertheless a welcome shower! We wash our clothes a bit and hang to dry. We don’t have anything else with us and will most likely have to use it for a few more days. If our luggage still arrives at all.