A trip to Port Moresby

Hi all,


Today was an interesting day. Todd and I when to get our PNG drivers license and were unable to get it. We had our passport, papers, letter of recommendation and drivers licenses ready to go. Went to the window and got the paper to fill out. The guy behind the counter photocopied everything and came back to tell us our visa stay was not long enough to get a license. Our visas are for only 30 days and we needed to have our work permits saying we were going to be here longer than 60 days. I tried everything I could think of to talk them into it and failed. Todd and I had already paid 120 kina each for our license, which, they refunded. So we both walked away without our licenses. The one thing I forgot to bring was Asi, my field safety guy. He know most of the people at the licensing center. He talks with them and we pay an extra 80 Kina as a tip for them to over look the rules. So tomorrow Todd, myself, and Asi are going to get our licenses. It's nice to have friends that have higher tribal standings than others.

Sunday Dan, Todd and I went to town from some shopping and lunch. Here are some pictures of our outing.

 This is the city of Port Moresby, PNG from across the bay.

A small community outside the city. All the house are built on stilts here. The reason is to keep animals and snakes from entering the house. Most people use under the house as a cool shaded area to sit and eat. The houses stay cooler with the ocean breeze blowing around the house.

Here is one under construction. The posts are made of tree trunks and the frame is 2x4 timber or metal stud. Most of the roofs are corrugated metal. There is no insulation since the temperature doesn't vary much between day and night. This is one of the nicer ones I've seen. Inside the houses are very few walls and the floors are usually made of plank wood. The people don't have much furniture and most sleep on the floor and sit in home made chairs or benches.

OK... so let go to the vendors in town and the beach area.

The first stop was Baroko Market place. Dan wanted to buy some carvings a street vendor had.

 This was the street vendor. All the carvings are handmade by him and other locals. Dan is in the blue shirt in the back on the left.

 This guy was selling blue crabs he had caught off the beach.

Here are the crabs he sells. the bunch in the fore picture go for 15 kina. the one behind was 10 kina.

 Across the street from the vendors was the SP beer brewery. They make some great beer and sold everywhere.

 This is for Kris. It was the only hair salon I could see on this outing around town. Had one lady and 2 men doing hair design.

 Here is Dan and Todd. Todd is in the foreground. Todd arrived last week from Montana. He'll be replacing Dan when he goes home for leave.

The beach was crowded with kids playing in the water.

 All along the walkway along the beach were vendors. This lady is selling Betel nut. Betel nut comes from a tree in the mountains. The locals open the fruit and chew the nut inside to a fibrous mash. then they take a leaf - roll it - dip it in powered lime and mustard. They snip off the dipped end with their teeth and chew it into the nut mash. The chemical reaction of the mixture turns their teeth and gums deep red and the juice acts as a drug. They say it give you a high similar to marijuana. In most of the cities and on the project it is illegal to chew betel nut because of the red staining on the ground once spit out. Almost all adults chew betel nut. This lady sells the nut, leaf, and a dip for 1 kina.

These next three pictures are of the local flowers that grow wild here. They can be seen throughout the city and in the villages.

Well it's getting late. I will continue tomorrow. I hope everyone is enjoying the pictures. It's been fun writing this blog and will continue until it's time to come home. Hopefully soon I can get to a village and talk with the locals. The people I work with have invited me to come and see they're home life.

Take Care,
ken