Papua New Guinea Mount Hagen Festival Tour & Bougainville Tour

Tuesday 12th August – Port Moresby

• Arrive at your convenience into Port Moresby – the capital city of Papua New Guinea which is well connected with flights from Australia, Singapore, the Philippines and Hong Kong.
• Pre-tour meeting will be held at the lobby of our hotel at 3:00pm to discuss tour itinerary and to meet your fellow travellers and Pioneer Adventure Travel guide.
• We’ll then head out to visit the botanical garden, beachfront to take a dip, and the national museum.
• Dinner and drinks at the beautiful Yacht Club Waterfront.
• Overnight in Port Moresby.

Wednesday 13th August – Mount Hagen

Morning

• Breakfast at hotel.
• Early morning transfer to the airport to catch our flight to Mt. Hagen with PNG Airlines departing at 8:30am and arriving in Mt. Hagen at 9:30am.
• Upon arrival, we will meet our local guides and transfer to our hotel for check in.

Afternoon

• After check-in, you will go on a guided city tour to Mt Hagen where you can see all kinds of tribal artefacts unique to the interior of the New Guinea highlands, as well as visit the city’s main market.
• We will take a lunch break at one of Mt. Hagen’s top café-restaurants, where you can enjoy a diverse menu of local and international dishes, all paired with expertly brewed coffee made from freshly roasted local beans. Vegetarian options are also available, ensuring something for everyone!
• For dinner tonight we head to Mt. Hagen’s most posh local restaurant which boasts the best drink and wine selection in the city.

Thursday 14th August – Mount Hagen

Morning

• For the early risers, there’s an optional 5am excursion to our local guide’s village, where we’ll hike to a special viewpoint and watch the Birds of Paradise as they begin to stir with the first light of dawn.
• After breakfast, we will begin making our way deeper into the highlands to join the villagers as they begin preparing for the celebration for our arrival.
• We’ll then head to the village of our local partner to be welcomed by his family and elders. For those wanted to join the festivities further you’re invited to wear local tribal attire, which includes getting your face and body painted.
• The locals will prepare beef and vegetable Mumu – Mumu involves meat which is then prepared and cooked in a hole covered by hot rocks with bananas, sweet potatoes and greens. While we wait for it to cook, the villagers will introduce us to different customs and traditional such as group dances and traditional music.

Afternoon

• After a massive feast, and welcoming ceremony by the village elders, we will return to back to Mt. Hagen for dinner and drinks at the Highlander Hotel for a treat!
• Overnight in Mt. Hagen at Kuri Lodge.

Friday 15th August – Mount Hagen

Morning

• After breakfast at a local cafe and market, we begin our drive one hour out to the Luglamp community.
• Here you’ll have the chance to mingle with villagers of this community on their school’s cultural day. It is a much lesser-known festival organized by students, teachers and the administrators of the community. Contrary to the Mount Hagen Festival, we will be the only foreigners at this event.
• Return back to Mt. Hagen

Afternoon

• Lunch at a local restaurant in Mount Hagen.
• Tour around a local coffee plantation – Mount Hagen is renowned around most of the world for the high quality coffee beans produced here on site.
• Return to the city where we will have an excellent dinner at a local restaurant, with vegetarian options also available.
• Overnight back at Kuri Lodge.

Saturday 16th August – Mount Hagen Festival Day #1

Morning

• Breakfast at a local cafe and market just beside the festival grounds.
• Today’s the big day! We head to the local football field which converts into the site hosting the Mount Hagen Festival. We’ll arrive early to ensure you can meet each of the members of the tribes preparing their costumes to get more of an insight of the event.
• You may choose to participate in the games, and opt to have the locals prepare your dressings and make up. (extra charge)

Afternoon

• During the show, we will have a chance to sample some delicious snacks and street food prepared on the grounds by locals
• You will have the unique opportunity to meet over 60 Papua New Guinean tribes, each showcasing their traditions. Highlights include the Huli’s feathered headdresses, Asaro Mudmen’s clay masks, Chimbu’s vibrant dances, and Sepik tribes’ spiritual carvings.
• Once the show completes we’ll return to the hotel for dinner.
• Overnight in Mt. Hagen at Kuri Lodge.

Sunday 17th August – Mount Hagen Festival Day #2

Morning

• Breakfast at local cafe and market.
• Day 2 at the festival – get in on those final photo opportunities you might have missed on day one!

Afternoon

• Lunch at a local cafe and and market.
• After the show we’ll head further out rural to a river where we can not only swim and jump into the way from a great vantage point, but use the clay in the ground for facial masks.
• As our last night in Mt Hagen we will visit a local village where you will have the opportunity to purchase local fire water. We then head to the communal tribal house with a fire built in the middle for our dinner and drinks.  Singing, dancing and partying PNG style!
• Overnight in Mt. Hagen at Kuri Lodge.

Monday 18th August –Mt Hagen – Simbu – Goroka Road

Morning

• Breakfast at a local cafe and market.
• We’ll begin our long days drive through Simbu province to reach Goroka on our private bus to explore more of the highlands regions. We’ll be stopping on the way for multiple photo opportunities. Goroka is the site of the other big festival in PNG and its oldest one.

Afternoon

• Quick stop at a bakery/cafe in Simbu province to grab lunch on the go.
• We’ll meet the Mindima Skeleton Tribes – Legend has it that the ancestors of this tribe were tormented by the presence of a monster in a cave and full of bones. So to attack the monster they disguised themselves as bones which was a success according to the locals.
• We’ll greet the tribal chief of Nintul village and visit the Snake village.
• Arrive late afternoon in Goroka
• Time permitting, we will stop by the J.K McCarthy Museum – in the city which is made up of several rooms showcasing everything from WWII relics and traditional PNG objects. A highlight of the exhibition is a collection of photos showing PNG as it was when it had its first contact with Australians during the 1930s.
• Check into our hotel for dinner and overnight sleep.

Tuesday 19th August – Lae

Morning

• Breakfast at hotel
• We make our way towards to the beautiful coastal town of Lae – the capital of Morobe Province. On our way we’ll pass incredible sceneries through the thick of the jungle and up the mountains.
• Once through the mountains, we’ll be driving down Shaggy Ridge and through Ramu Valley. Some of the fiercest combat between the Australian and Japanese forces happened here during World War II.
• We’ll stop by Markham Valley village.

Afternoon

• As one of the many stops on the way, we will go to a local market which offers amazing street food, including coconut chicken, with PNGs own version of saveloy, washed down by coconut water.
• Arrive later afternoon in Lae – Lae is one of the busiest cities of Papua New Guinea and an important trade centre. This city is not connected to the highland provinces so most freight comes by boat.
• We’ll partake in a city tour which will include a visit of the WWII cemetery, explore the the shipwreck of the Myoko Maru, and a Japanese War Memorial.
• Dinner, drinks and overnight in Lae.

Wednesday 20th August – Port Moresby – Buka

Morning

• Breakfast at hotel
• Board an early flight departing Lae at 7:25am back to Port Moresby arriving at 8:10am
• Group A members conclude the tour. Pioneer Adventure Travel can arrange ongoing transport, optional tours of the area or advice on flights out.
• Group B members continue the tour onwards to Bougainville as we depart on our next flight to Buka.

Afternoon

• Once arriving at Buka Airport we’ll be greeted by our local Bougainville team and escorted to our accommodation at Masalang Village
• Explore the village and visit a small business that produce traditional clay pots.
• Lunch at a local restaurant
• Board our bus to Kubu to visit the parliament house and access a gorgeous viewpoint allowing us to observe the whole of Buka passage, a strait filled with shipwrecks of WWII.
• On our way back to Buka we will stop to explore the ruins of Japanese WWII bunkers in Hahela.
• Dinner and overnight in Masalang Village

Thursday 21st August – Buka – Arawa

Morning

• Breakfast at hotel
• Depart by bus to a historical site located next to the police station in Buka Town. This site is known as the mass graveyard for the Bougainville Revolutionary Army during the Bougainville civil war. Our local guide will share facts of what happened during those troubled times.
• Board an iconic banana boat and cross the Buka passage to Kokopau.

Afternoon

• Jump in our 4WDs and embark on a 4 hour journey to Arawa with stops along the highway for photo opportunities and lunch
• Before we arrive in Arawa we visit the decommissioned Panguna Mine – this mine used to be the largest open cut mine in the world with a total width of 2 kilometres and a depth of 430 metres. Farmers protested for the mines closure in 1989 which sparked the secessionist movement in Bougainville and the civil war. It’s common to see locals visiting the mine and panning for gold. Here you’ll explore the abandoned installations of this monstrous monument to careless exploitation.
• Continue driving to the Siwai Region until we reach Panakei Lodge
• Dinner, drinks and overnight at Panakei Lodge

Friday 22nd August – Siwai Region

Morning

• Breakfast at hotel
• We begin our WWII relic hunting tour! Bougainville was a the centre of the Pacific Campaign and where the Australian and American forces were locked in a brutal fight against the Japanese. During our relic hunt, we’ll see an Australian tank, cannons, artillery and a small museum, where a local exposes the artefacts he finds regularly.
• Explore a few nearby villages where the locals receive very few tourists each year and are very eager to show off their performances and local welcoming rituals.

Afternoon

• The village prepares an absolute feast of local delicacies for us. Bougainvillians eat mostly yam, root vegetables and chicken. We might have the opportunity to try other very special delicacies.
• Tour highlight – As part of the preparation of our Bougainville tour, Pioneer Adventure Travel will prepare your visas to visit the micronation of the Twin Kingdom of Me’ekamui and Papaala. During the civil war of Bougainville, and after the takeover of Panguna Man, the leader of the rebellion group, Francis Ona, owned half of the island and proclaimed himself as Kim of Me’ekamui. However, on the other side of the island, another man known as King David Peii II proclaimed himself King of Papaala. Upon Francis Ona’s passing, King David Peii II then combined both kingdoms of the island into a Twin Kingdom.
• Head to the Hurai Guesthouse for dinner and drinks. Located right under a Digicel satellite tower, this guesthouse probably has the best network signal on the island.
• Overnight at Hurai Guesthouse.

Saturday 23rd August – Buin Region

Morning

• Breakfast at hotel
• Begin the drive south towards the region of Buin.
• We’ll take our 4WD as far as possible but eventually we’ll need to get out and explore by foot for roughly two hours until we reach the wreck of Admiral Yamamoto. Admiral Yamamoto was the leader of the Japanese Army who planned the attack against Pearl Harbor –  thus declaring war against the US. Yamamoto was flying to inspect his troops within a certain region of PNG. His flight itinerary was intercepted by the Allies and a surprise attack caused Yamamoto’s plane to crash into the remote jungle.

Afternoon

• After successfully exploring Yamamoto’s wreck,  we’ll continue our drive south towards the coast and to stop for lunch.
• Explore Japanese War Relics such as bunkers and artillery cannons. From here it’s possible to see the islands belonging to the Solomon Islands. It’s common for the locals to take their boats across to enter the Solomon Islands which share a similar culture with Bougainville. Most agree that Bougainvillians feel more like Solomon Islanders than Papua New Guineans.
• We return to Arawa, which used to be the capital and take a boat to cross to Pokpok Island, stopping on the road to buy some refreshments!
• Check into the Uruna Resort to drop our luggage before we head out for an afternoon of island hopping.
• At this moment, there is nothing more heavenly than Uruna Resort. This will be the nicest accommodation arranged during your tour. We’ll be based on a pristine island without a single other tourist in sight. The ocean is crystal clear, our surrounding is incredibly peaceful, what perfect way to relax.
• Fresh seafood for dinner, and our little own party on the island!
• Overnight at Uruna Beach Resort

Sunday 24th August – Pokpok Island – Arawa

Morning

• Breakfast at resort
• Continue island hopping where we can swim, snorkel and fish in untouched waters.
• Board a banana boat and travel to a cliff over the sea called “Eberia”. “Eberia” literally translates as ‘’this way‟ in the local language and according to local folklore is rumoured to be the gateway to the Underworld. It is a truly unique and spooky sight. We’ll stop and explore the abandoned Arovo Island Resort. Its services were disrupted by the civil war.

Afternoon

• Continue by banana boat to Pidia village, if you are familiar with the movie ”Mr. Pip”, staring Hugh Laurie, which tells the story of a girl in Pidia village going through the events of the Bougainville civil war. It happened here!
• On our way back on the mainland, we’ll stop by a WWII memorial by the town of Kieta where a Japanese Zero plane and a Japanese tank are exposed.
• We stop by Arawa market to meet the locals and shop for souvenirs – most of this city was destroyed from the civil war.
• Visit Topiniang village where villagers will welcome us to stay and eat with them. They will show us their flower gardens as well as a living bridge made up of vines from a Ficus tree. The most intrepid of us will get to cross this bridge which goes over a mountain stream and takes us to pools and caves for us to explore.
• Back in the village of Topinang, we will see women weaving a traditional fan called Biruko and relax in the afternoon by the beach.
• The villagers will send us off with our own personal ‘singsing’ and a night of storytelling
• Dinner and overnight at a homestay in the village.

Monday 25th August – Kieta – Buka

• Extremely early start for the scenic drive back to Buka for our flight. This will again take us through some of the best sites on the island, so we will be making regular rest stops.
• Breakfast in Buka
• Transfer to airport for the 12:35pm flight arriving at 1:05pm
• End of tour Pioneer Adventure Travel able to help with Papua New Guinea tour extensions, or ongoing transportation