Real Exotic Adventure: The hectic journey to climbing Giluwe (PART: ONE)

Story by Sophia Lee Taylor 

 IF I were honest, I’d have to admit that I felt more than a little trepidation about heading to Papua New Guinea. I had done enough research to know that the country was a beautiful yet hazardous part of the world. If it wasn’t articles on the urban Raskol gangs with their trademark robberies and car-jackings, it was reports on the deadly attack on foreign trekkers out in the bush. Word has it the tourists were hacked with machetes over a business dispute. I did not want to go there. Volcanoes are damned.

And then there were the lingering rumours of cannibalism, as my family and friends gleefully reminded me: (“You’ll be a well-seasoned traveller – godwit?! Seasoned? As in, at the bottom of a cauldron??”). Thanks guys.

A village in Tambul-Nebilyer.

 But as the project gradually took shape, there was nothing to be done. Mt. Giluwe, set in the Highlands of Papua New Guinea, is the highest volcano in Australasia. I desperately looked for an alternative – Australia’s Kosciuszko (teeny tiny)? Could I send an emissary?

Nope. So I went about setting up the trip.

Walking trek to Giluwe. Photo courtesy of Niugini Exotic Tours/2015.

It was surprisingly hard to find an agency which offered Mt. Giluwe climbs. After some legwork, two recommendations pointed me in the direction of a local contact based in Mt. Hagen, Western Highlands Province.

  Late Anthony Taylor with little Sohpie.

We corresponded for several months, and the resulting and greatly shortened itinerary had me skimming the country, dragonfly-like: arrival in the capital Port Moresby, zip straight out to Mt. Hagen, punch out a truncated expedition and zip back to Port Moresby to hide out in the fortress-like confines (bazooka-wielding doormen!) of the wonderful Airways Hotel, which was right by the airport and absolutely nowhere near town.

Late Anthony Taylor with his beloved wife in front his home.

Then the trip started and that’s when most of my preconceptions fell away.

Air Niugini (Singapore-Port Moresby flight, 6 hours) was a very comfortable, modern, well-fed experience. Politer than most airlines and efficient to boot.

A view of the peak of Giluwe. Photo courtesy of Niugini Exotic Tours/2014.

Upon landing at Port Moresby, I walked out into arrivals expecting to be mobbed by minicab drivers and their aggressive brethren. Not so. Just my local contact bearing a big smile and a sign emblazoned with “SOPHIE”, come to take me to a 6am hot breakfast. I was charmed.

Bundled onto the next flight to Mt. Hagen, and after an hour the plane was descending on a lush, burgeoning landscape. Palm trees, bougainvillaea, and three-metre-high poinsettia. Lots of old botanical friends from Hong Kong days.

Mount Giluwe Plateau. Photo courtesy of Niugini Exotic Tours/2014.

We touched down. We walked off the runway into the single-room airport. All around were people grabbing bags off an outdoor bench which served as baggage reclaim. I looked around – where was the arrival hall? Was there one? I walked down a corridor to find it and then I realised I’d already walked clear out of the airport. Fought my way back in again and walked into a man with blood-red teeth.

“SOPHIE??”

Mount Hagen City. Photo  courtesy of Niugini Exotic Tours/2014.

It was Luke, the guide. And that wasn’t blood, it was betelnut juice. He greeted me warmly, grabbed my bag and bundled me into a car.

We drove to a hut, a set of countryside villas. After a hearty dinner of chicken and rice, jetlag hit hard.

   Mount Hagen City. Photo  courtesy of Niugini Exotic Tours/2014.

After retiring to my room, I organized my climbing gear and wondered how I should be feeling. It seemed silly (and stupidly girlish) to be alarmed, but I’d be lying if I said there wasn’t an undercurrent of anxiety. Everything had gone according to plan, but the facts remained: I was in a remote area of a remote country, conspicuously pale of skin, female and alone. I was totally dependent on the goodwill of those around me. Even if I could defend myself, there’s nowhere to run when you’re in the outback’s outback.

The grassland near the peak of Giluwe. Photo courtesy of Niugini Exotic Tours/2014.

 There was nothing I could do about it but watch a little Chris Rock on my iphone and get some sleep. This is would be real and an exotic adventure, the journey to Giluwe starts the next day.

  Sophie, the writer

·         *The writer is the Director of Seven Volcanoes Project in the UK and a former journalist. Seven Volcanoes Project is a bid to raise funds for cancer research by climbing the highest volcano on each of the seven continents in the World. This project is dedicated to the memory of Sophie's father, Anthony Richard Taylor. She has raised over £14,000 for a cancer research from climbing mountains. The second part of the article is on the hectic journey, trekking through the thick jungles and tropical rainforest of Giluwe to the peak. Queries regarding this article contact Howarig Traders (Tourism Marketing Agent) via email at: howarigc@gmail.com