Episode 20 - Getting Around

Today I start my language training at New Tribes Mission in Lapilo. Lapilo is about a 15 minute car journey away from my house, which raises the question; how will I get there? Usually when I’m getting around, I can get to most places either on foot, or by getting a lift with someone, but in this instance neither of these will do, which means that my main means of transport to Lapilo will be… by PMV (public motor vehicle). PMV’s are the equivalent of the bus service in PNG. They come in all shapes and sizes, well two that I can think of anyway… Minibuses, and open back trucks where passengers sit in the back. Bus stops are found in a variety of places, usually anywhere where lots of people gather such as markets. There are usually a number of bus stops on the same stretch and they are all completely unmarked. It would seem that somehow knowledge of the location of each bus stop is passed on to Papua New Guineans at birth as not only do they all seem to know which particular piece of cracked pavement you need to stand on to get which bus (despite the lack of marking or as far as I can tell, observable logic) but when you ask them, they look as though it’s obvious. None the less, they are very friendly and helpful and pointing you in the right direction.

 

The people are usually on the inside of the PMV

The second mode of transport I will be using (when I want to stay into the evening after it goes dark), will be the CRMF van – driven by me! I have now driven around Goroka a few times and taken a test drive to Lapilo, but driving to class will be the first time I drive on my own. They drive on the left here, which is the same as in England, so that helps. The other drivers very rarely signal and when they do, very rarely do what they’ve indicated, just like England, so that helps. Okay, so the other drivers are quite a lot more unpredictable than in England, but having learnt to drive in Birmingham and experienced driving through the centre of London on a Saturday night, I can definitely say that it is tame by comparison and throws up no new experiences. Until I drove to Lapilo that was. You see the road to Lapilo has something not found in England – potholes! Now I’m not talking about those tiny little things I used to complain about England, I mean the sort deep enough to lose your car in! Swerving to avoid these potholes without hitting the oncoming traffic which is doing the same thing is quite an art, and feels more like a computer game than a normal part of life. Still, I’m starting to get the hang of it, even if I do still do it quite slowly!

Okay, that's more of a landslide than a pothole, but you get the picture!