Teptep 1

still internet probs - so from VSO HQ (they have satelite dish)

Plane to Teptep forecast for Wednesday but message on Monday says plane is “bagerup” (a common complaint in Papua New Guinea). Another plane has been found however and will fly on Tuesday at dawn. So Tuesday morning am sitting beside the young German pilot, keeping my hands off the dual controls and with 2 other passengers in the back seat. The engine sounds like a grass cutter and we fly slowly along the coast past Basamuk where the waste from the new Nickel mine is being dumped into the sea before turning up into the Finistere hills. We weave in and out of the steep sided forested valleys with rushing rivers till we see Teptep below us in a valley. We circle round to make a direct landing uphill on the grassy slope to be met by a hundred or more people – mostly children but also people with fruit and vegetables to be shipped down to the Madang supermarkets and resorts.

The guest house is said to be close by, and as a crow flies so it is but for me, a 3 km walk up and down slippery ravines, crossing wild streams. Glad I have a guide from the airstrip to find the way and help with my suitcase. The guesthouse itself is a rickety but attractive affair perched on tenuous stilts, thatched and with a stunning view across the village to the steep slopes up to the ridge above. No network access for the laptop or the mobiles, should have left them behind and packed some more warm clothes, maybe that’s why VSO do not have any programmes up here. I huddle round (if one person can do that) the fire in the centre of the room, watching the smoke curl its way through the hole in the ceiling and look forward to a good night’s sleep. The sing-sing birthday party in the village is still going and I should really go down to see it but those slippery paths in the dark? I think not! Am told it will go on till dawn with its rhythmic chanting and drums

ps good to see the pictures of Rebecca’s birthday bash – looks to have been a memorable affair!

Path to guest house

Guest house entrance

Guesthouse from ravine