10 Day PNG Tours 2024
- Mar 7, 2024 – 7 Day Dirt / Adv Bike Tour of Morobe – FULL
- Aug 3- Aug 13 2024 – 10 Day Tour of Highlands AUD$5550 Highlights: See Coffee beans in every stage from Tree to Cup, plus Fire Dancers of Snow Pass, Asaro Mudmen, Smoked Bodies of Angapena) & much more. Start Lae, Finish Madang
- Sept 11, 2024 – 10 Day Tour of Highlands AUD$5550 Highlights: 49th Independence Celebrations, visits to WW2 Battle site tours, and incredible sights incl Fire Dancers of Snow Pass, Asaro Mudmen, Smoked Bodies of Angapena & much more. Start Lae, Finish in Madang
- Oct 17, 2024 – 10 Day Tour of Highlands AUD$5550. Highlights: 2 Day Morobe Cultural Show. See over 100 cultural groups up close. Not forgetting the incredible Highlands sights incl Fire Dancers of Snow Pass, Asaro Mudmen, Smoked Bodies of Angapena & much more. Start Lae, Finish Madang
- Dec 8, 2024 – 10 Day Tour of Highlands AUD$5550 Highlights: Fire Dancers of Snow Pass, Asaro Mudmen, Smoked Bodies of Angapena & much more. Start Lae, Finish Madang
Sample Tour
Day 1 (Wed)– Air Niugini, Pom to Lae dep 4.40pm, arrive 5.30pm
Day 11 (Sat) – Air Niugini, Madang to Port Moresby dep 7.00, arrive 08.25
Cost – AUD $5850 per rider. Covers all food (with exception 1 evening meal at Lae Yacht Club), 10 nights’ accommodation, bikes, support vehicles and transfers to and from the airport. You pay for drinks & personal needs during the tour only.
Deposit – 50 % upon Booking. Refer FAQ for terms and conditions.
Bikes – KTM 390 & KTM 300
Accommodation – at Niugini Dirt base in Lae (4 nights) and various Guest Houses and Hotels while on the road (7 nights)
Day 2 – Lae to Bulolo via the ‘Snake Valley’. Familiarise yourself with the bike for 35km on the Lae – Bulolo Highway, then detour into the Snake Valley (with its prehistoric style mountain ranges) and ascend to 1500metres, with stunning views in all directions.
Superb scenery abounds enroute to the forestry town of Bulolo (staying at the Bulolo Country Club). Riders can try their hand at gold panning also. There is also a quick detour to see the 80-year old Baiune Hydro station. Gym, swimming pool and sauna available
Day 3 – The Smoked Bodies of Angapena are our destination. We visit the only site out of 3 in the country where we can view the bodies. The mummification has been done for hundreds of years. Bodies are placed over a fire, smoked, then placed in chairs under a hillside. There is little recorded history of the practice and erosion and lack of care are slowly causing the sites to degrade.
The Journey to the Bodies is one way, so after the 85km to the bodies, we head back to Bulolo and continue for another 30km to Wau for the night, staying at the Valley View guesthouse.
Wau has great historical significance for PNG, with the Battle of Wau, stopping the advance of Japanese troops towards Pom. 349 Allied troops and 1200 Japanese soldiers were killed in this 7 day battle. A crashed B17 Bomber from the battle lies in several pieces on a hillside 15 minutes from Wau.
Wau was also the sight of PNGs first gold rush. Between 1932 and the start of WW2, 7 massive 1100t dredges were shipped in parts to Lae then flown to Bulolo & Wau in Junkers G-31 planes.
Day 4 – Starting with a visit to the local orphanage (Haus Pikinini) for a really moving experience, the group then visits the Mountain Coffee factory in Wau.
In coffee season (April to Sept) you will see coffee beans through all stages of processing (and taste the finished product later in Lae). Riding to the Edie Creek goldfields (Errol Flynn tried his luck here) and Mt Kaindi at 2,300 metres you will where tens of thousands of people make a meagre living. A trip to the Wau WW2 memorial will occur upon return from the goldfields.
Riders will return to Bulolo via the scenic Bulolo Gorge and make the afternoon trip back to Lae via the highway (more suited to bikes than cars due to its shocking state of disrepair)
Day 5 – The Markham valley awaits the riders for the first 180 km of today’s ride on the Highlands Highway. The Highway rises sharply at the Kassam pass, twisting and turning until reaching the Yonki Dam at a little over 1400 metres. Tonight’s accommodation is in Kainantu at the Lodge.
Day 6 – In the morning you visit the local Kainantu Pottery and see uniquely PNG styled pottery items, as well as other arts and crafts being made nearby. We catch up in the morning with some of the pilots from one of the mission stations at Aiyura (over 1000 American families live in the Eastern Highlands Province). We ride around Lake Yonki, on very poor gravel & dirt roads, through coffee country until hitting the highway again and enjoying some great winding roads until arrival at Goroka at 1600m above sea level.
Goroka has an ideal temperature for vegetable growing so you will visit the local market upon arrival and see the array of fresh produce available
Day 7 – After a relaxing night at Goroka’s best hotel, the Bird of Paradise, it’s an 80km run on tarmac to visit the ‘Asaro Mudmen’. You see the photos but they don’t them any justice. They are haunting and will surprise you when you least expect it.
From the Mudmen the group starts the ascent of the Daulo pass (height 2485m), traversing through the Chimbu Gorge (incredible landscapes) and ending at Bettys Lodge at the base of Mt Wilhelm.
At almost 3000m its somewhat cold at the Lodge, but the foods hearty and the pot belly stove keep’s everyone warm. Its used primarily as a staging camp by groups summitting Mt Wilhelm (4509m).
The lodge has a trout farm, so expect trout on the menu. Betty and the team will have cultural sing sing group waiting biker’s arrival. It tends to get chilly here, so pack accordingly
Day 8 – A short stretch on the bikes today. After a leisurely walk around the village and late lunch at Betty’s, you head down another mountain range to Snow Pass.
It’s just 2 hours ride to the Snow Pass Eco Lodge, but the ridings on a narrow dodgy as hell road, with 300 metre drop-offs on either side. Experience the Unique Snow Pass Fire Dancers at dusk – it is a surreal experience.
Day 9 – Rise early and try to glimpse PNGs iconic ‘Bird of Paradise’, sometimes seen at dawn at Snow Pass. The route from Snow Pass today is winding mountain 4WD, descending from 2,000 metres to the Ramu river.
The days riding sees numerous river crossings and passes the group close to the Ramu Nickel Mine at Kurumbukari (Chinese nickel mine), before the Road Journey to Madang your final destination.
Day 10 – Rest day at Jais Aben Resort. Water activities own cost
Day 11 – PX 111 Departs at 07:00 to Port Moresby in time to catch Aust Flights. Groups can obviously extend their stay if they want
Papua New Guinea
“The Land of the Unexpected”