National Museum and Art Gallery, Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea

Advantages: Brilliant experience, unforgettable taste of a culture very different from my own.
Disadvantages: High crime rate in the capital city.

...four houses on the main island had telephones. The majority of people cannot speak English or even Pidgin (the language used in most major cities), and it has only been within the past few decades that the people stopped wearing grass skirts and took to cheap t-shirts instead (though a lot of women still go around topless). The main diet includes yams, bananas, coconuts and freshly caught fish. As experiences of different cultures go, I have to say this definitely topped my list. Sadly though, I have to say that my time spent in Port Moresby (the capital of Papua New Guinea) did not affect me in the same way. It is a very ugly, over-populated city, and the crime rate is continually rising. Unemployment rates are ridiculously high - something like 90%, which is why 'Rascals' (PNG term for criminals) abound. My advice is to spend as little... Read review

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Advantages: Close to airport, clean and secure, great restaurant, bar and pool on the roof
Disadvantages: Close to airport, little way out of town.

...I stayed at the Airways Hotel back in October 2004 having missed a flight up to the Tufi Dive Resort. Prior to arriving in PNG I had heard a few stories about Port Moresby, and the advice was not to stay too long in town, so to find I would have to make a unscheduled stop was a little worrying. Any worries I had soon went when we pulled up at the Airways, it is a modern, high quality, air-conditioned hotel located about 5 minutes drive from the airport, so a little way outside the main town. The rooms are very comfortable, the ones we stayed in had either double or twin beds, in-room safe, both had air-conditioning and one even had a kitchen! The front-desk staff were very helpful, allowing us to store some large items in their main safe On the roof terrace the Airways name becomes the theme. There is a DC3 (I think) forming part... Read review

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Advantages: Breathtaking country!
Disadvantages: Rascals, unemployment, thieving

...I spent 16 years in one of the most beautiful countries of the world and although I loved living there I wouldnt recommend it as a tourist destination. Papua New Guinea is an island located north of Australia. Half of the island belongs to Indonesia and is called Irian Jaya. The other half is Papua New Guinea. Within PNG there are 2 distinct areas - the coast and the highlands. The coast is your typical island paradise. The highlands are a little more primative and saw their first white man less than 100 years ago. Having grown up in PNG I was well aware of the crime and how to deal with things. Only too often I saw tourists (or terrorists as we called them :) ) being ripped off, having passports, cameras and anything else of value stolen. Crime in PNG is rampant! As a resident, there are places that you wouldnt go and things that you... Read review

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