Spa? Boot camp?
How do you combine travel with renewal? Well, you could treat yourself to a fabulous spa vacation where you get pampered by facials and mudpacks and massages, and gently guided through yoga fitness and meditation sessions. Or you could commit yourself to a fitness boot camp, where they take things a bit more seriously.
Or a real frontier…
But you might consider a more out-of-the-box option, and stretch yourself with immersion in a completely different way of life in Papua New Guinea (PNG). Thanks largely to its isolating geography, this island nation north of Australia is fairly unique among tourism destinations, offering an ancient and intact culture. It’s one of travel’s last frontiers.
Extreme terrain has separated the native Melanesian people into isolated pockets over the millennia, and more than 700 different languages are still spoken in various parts of the country.
Exchange stress for the basics
And speaking of talking, leave your cell phone at home. Service is limited and spotty at best, and often non-existent. “Travelers to PNG say they’ve never felt so remote from their everyday lives and all the attendant stress,” says Mary Jane Murray, a veteran travel industry pro who promotes and occasionally escorts tours for Papua New Guinea Travel (http://www.PNGTravel.com).
“Seeing the local people living quite happily with very little can be very inspirational. The experience takes you back to basics and what is important, providing a new foundation for renewal.”
Oscillation is supposed to be inherently stimulating, and you get plenty of that. By day you may get hot and sweaty in the lowland equatorial climate, taking a step or two beyond your comfort zone as you explore thatch-roofed villages, beautiful trails and waterfalls, and traverse the authentic vine bridges that constitute a big part of the local infrastructure. You do things you wouldn’t ordinarily do, and interact—on a very genuine level—with people you wouldn’t ordinarily even encounter.
A comfortable base camp
Then at night you return to modern accommodations offering many of the creature comforts of home. The daily contrast is quite invigorating, and the experiences can build self-confidence and help propel you to take on more challenges when you return home.
You find your own way to Jackson International Airport in the capital city of Port Moresby, where your Papua New Guinea Travel escort meets you. The island has no road infrastructure to speak of, so you are flown from place to place, including the iconic highlands and Sepik River wetlands regions.
Renewal through perspective
In the highlands you see the Huli Wigmen imitate the island’s famous birds of paradise in traditional “singsing” dances after adorning themselves in very colorful headdresses, feathers, and body paint. If you go to PNG in August, your itinerary can include the big annual singsing festival on Mt. Hagen in the western highlands, where you will enjoy stunning views from your accommodations in the new Rondon Ridge lodge. A smaller and more traditional tumbana singsing festival is held in May.
“The outside world didn’t know about the highlands region until the 1930s, when the Australians came looking for gold,” Murray reports. “It’s amazing to think that the grandparents of many of the staff you interact with at your lodge didn’t have things like steel and the wheel—basics we take for granted in our everyday lives. It’s a privilege to meet people who have made this huge, huge leap in such a short time.”
Down in the Sepik River lowlands, much of the creative energy is channeled into wonderful art and totems featuring animal motifs. You can mix with the artists and see people living a very traditional life, and then spend the night on the water, in an air-conditioned cabin on the Sepik Spirit.
Free yourself!
As you tour the back country, weight and space restrictions on the intra-island flights restrict you to a small carry-on and one soft-sided suitcase weighing a maximum of 22 pounds. Any excess is stored for you in Port Moresby. The island’s perennially warm climate means you don’t need a lot of clothes, anyway. “It reinforces the realization that you don’t need much,” says Murray. “It’s actually very liberating.”
$$$
The PNG Travel tours aren’t cheap. Prices start at about $5,500 per person double occupancy (including meals, escorts and guides, and admission to cultural events), plus intra-island airfare of about $1,700, and the cost of your ticket to and from Port Moresby. However, it’s a good year to go, because of the great deals currently on offer from the international airlines.
PNG also offers the usual tropical island activities, including scuba diving, boating, and fishing. You can extend your cultural tour to encompass these. But I’m guessing they are going to seem a little flat after your immersion in the highlands and Sepik River cultures.
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