Mt Wilhelm

Dear friends, It is with a bittersweet symphony that my 15-month adventure in PNG ends. I vividly recall first stepping foot in Port Moresby in March last year, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed to take on a challenging career in the government of a country no one I knew had ever been to. Reports of the country were mixed, safety being cited as a constant concern but balanced (for me) that the amazing biodiversity that was promised - double the marine life that is in the Red Sea! It will be surreal to leave this place that has been my home for over a year, filled with amazing people who have welcomed me wholeheartedly into their lives. But I'm sure this is not the last I've seen of PNG, and so I venture on to new pastures of self-development, that I may contribute to even greater heights in the future.

Before I left PNG, I had the opportunity for 1 big mission - climb the country's highest mountain, Mt Wilhelm (4502m). Like most adventures in PNG, this turned out to be much more than just a mission, it provided a prime example to reflect on the wonders of PNG, her people and my time here.

path to Betty's Lodge

Day 1: Flew to Mt Hagen, and 5 hr drive to Betty's Lodge. Betty's lodge is at 2800m, and is the furthest one can drive by road, before scaling the rest of Mt Wilhelm on foot. Betty herself is quite a character. Having won numerous awards for entrepreneurship, Betty not only set up the lodge, but also manages it on a daily basis (has over 30 beds), and cooked us some wonderful food. We proceeded to rest and acclimatize for the next 2 days of fun, socializing around a fire with other tourists from Europe, Australia, including a group of 3 who returned from scaling Mt Wilhelm and returning in a day (Betty called them crazy).

Betty's trout!

Day 2: During the early part of the day, we got to wander around the compound, and discovered Betty's business was more diverse and extensive than we had expected: she also managed a fish farm, with thousands of trout separated by size among 7 large containers. On the path leading to the farm, the path was adorned with a magnificent array of flowers - much like PNG is dressed with people from its 800+ tribes, coexisting across the country, blooming at different times and each unique in their own beautiful way. After a light lunch, our trek began under the canopy of the rainforest. A well traversed path and an efficient guide took us from Betty's lodge to base camp (3500m) in just under 3 hours. 

Base camp

'Base camp' was quite an apt description - this was the base of the mountain, with no more well worn easy tracks to follow. And it was effectively a 'camp', a roof over our heads, gas stove (instant noodles and milo for dinner) for the night, and a place with function but little form. That was irrelevant however, because the beauty surrounding us was amazing. Peering out of base camp, one immediately sees a beautiful lake, as well as the waterfall feeding gently into it, caressing the mighty mountain as the water makes a languid journey downwards. Our roommates at base camp turned out to be an extremely interesting Belgian dude, and an Indonesian family who arrived much later. The Belgian regaled us with tales of how he decided to take a gap in University (between his 3rd and 4th years), and travel for 2 years. He had slowly made his way up from Australia, and was spending a month traveling upwards along the coast of Papua New Guinea. He had been through the madness of public buses, stayed with locals he met on his journeys, named a newborn child of a village, and intended to sail across the border to Indonesia in a few weeks time. Yet another reminder that people we meet in this country often have a curious mix of a desire for exploration, high flexibility of plans, and are a self-motivated bunch (with any of these 3 missing, one won't survive too long in the bush). After a short nap, we awoke at 2am to start the 6-hour climb to the summit with borrowed flashlights and our trusty guide.

We made it!

Day 3: After the first hour armed with a small flashlight each, darting over muddy puddles on our steep ascent parallel to a waterfall we could hear cascading beside us, we asked our guide whether it would be this steep and muddy the whole way up. After deliberating for awhile, he finally answered "Well its steep and muddy about half of the time.....and steep and rocky the other half of the way." On the bright side, we were glad he was honest with us. This allowed us to be mentally prepared for the journey ahead, and pace ourselves through sunrise to head closer to the summit with every step. 

In many ways, the journey up Mt Wilhelm was reflective of my time in PNG. Absolutely, constantly punctuated by all kinds of beauty. A challenging working environment, setting up a government agency in a quarter of the time it usually takes required navigation of stakeholders and terrain which was the equivalent of steep, rocky and muddy ground. Of course, I was also extremely to be accompanied by amazing guides. People who were keen to lend a hand, direct me on the best path to take, and excite me to carry on. Most of all, the warm, accepting, friendly people I've met over the past 15 months will remain with me always.

Lukim yu PNG, and thank you all for being a part of this journey with me.