Again, we had the most amazing time onshore! Madang is the second largest city in PNG and totally untainted by tourism. They get maybe 1 ship in per year, ours being the largest ever according to some people in the town.
We weren't scheduled to dock until noon, which was different. We had an early lunch so we could be off first thing and grab a cab. We asked 2 women who we've become friends with if they'd like to share a cab. When we were finally allowed off the ship, it was almost 12:30. When we got off, there must have been 100 people there just watching us come in then greeting and welcoming us, it was really nice. Mel went with the others to find a cab while I shopped for a few minutes at the market set up on the pier.
We knew about what we wanted to see from the port lecture as well as from reading where the ship's tours were going. We first stopped at the light house which was dedicated to the Coast Watchers during WWII. We then headed on to a typical village, about 20 minutes away. We knew the buses would be rolling in so were happy to have some time there before them. That was only about 10 minutes, but I had first dibs on the small market they had set up. There must have been at least 100 people from the ship there. Hard to take a picture that wasn't full of tourists. The natives put on a colorful dance for us, another showed us how they cook over fire. The houses had palm frond roofs and were built on stilts. I think the stilts were for several reasons, one being water of course. The other is that there are many snakes in PNG. We left the village before the buses so we wouldn't get caught up in a traffic jam.
We'd seen a wide river on the way to the village, and asked the van to stop there on the way back. We walked across the bridge taking pictures while the van moved to the other side to pick us up. There were some tables set up next to the road, a roadside market. They were mostly selling beetle nuts. Mel and I had seen that custom/habit in Taiwan. Those nuts have something very addictive in them. In PNG, they mix them with a seed like thing they said was mustard, dipped in powdered lime. The beetle nuts turn their teeth an awful red color. Most of the people had red teeth.
We continued on to a market we'd passed earlier also. We stopped and all got out. This was a 7 day a week market for the people who live in surrounding villages. They looked at us like we were aliens! One lady came up to me and very politely asked "Are you a tourist?" I think she'd heard about them but had never seen one. Everyone said hello, the kids followed us around. We took a LOT of pictures, it was very interesting. I'd say 1/3 of the stands were selling beetle nuts, 1/3 chiclets and cookies, the rest had vegetables. It was a muddy mess, so we were walking carefully, especially since it was on a slope, but it was SO interesting. There are few places in the world where they haven't seen tourists before!!
Our next stop was the cultural center, although while we were there we didn't know it was the cultural center. Once again, we beat the buses, so had the market and dancers to ourselves. It was very nice. The crafts there are mainly wood carvings, but there is some basketry and some very bright colored paintings. I would love to have bought a painting but they were several hundred dollars, and we have no space on our walls! They also make brightly colored bags, out of wool or twine.
What I really wanted to buy was postcards! I've sent them out from all over the world, I especially wanted to send some from this port. Everything was closed, but we figured maybe they would have some at a hotel we'd passed by earlier. We went back out to walk there. On our way thru the market on the pier, Mel bought a 5' spear, so was carrying that thru the streets of Madang. It was just about a 10 minute walk to the Madang Resort. Just inside the gates, there was yet another market set up. A lady there got her spear and I snapped a photo of Mel vs Native. It was cute, they were all laughing.
The hotel had a small gift shop. The postcards were of the hotel, the hotel's yacht, or some other type of advertising. I did get one of a native, that was my only choice. Unfortunately they were sold out of stamps, and being Sunday, the postcards will not go out until we hit Palau. I bought a couple of wicker animals. Our friend picked one up to look at it, and a lizard crawled out of it! Glad he found his way out there and not in our cabin.
Outside the main lobby and reception area, there were some cages so we went to check them out. They held mostly birds, which were beautiful. In the last one were 3 tree kangaroos! We'd been told about them by the port lecturer and were very happy to get to see some. They were about the size of a large raccoon with a long, prehensile tail! Very cute and very curious. When we got close to take pictures without the wires showing, one came up to smell the camera. They didn't like being touched though. So cute. We bought a few more things at the market then headed back to the ship.
On our way, we headed to the German cemetery which was right downtown. Our 2 lady friends are German so they were especially interested in seeing it. Before PNG became independent, it was ruled by the Germans. We passed by a sporting goods store with words printed in huge letters: Golf, Fishing, Diving. On the other side of the door was: Squash, Tennis, Snooker! Mel asked the men sitting out front what Snooker is. They told him they had misspelled Snorkel. LOL I asked a lady getting into her car where the German cemetery was. She pointed the way then followed us in her car for 2 blocks to be sure that we found it. Once there, we asked some men sitting on the corner where the gate was. He went up and opened it for us then went in a pulled some of the grass that had grown up around the headstones so we could read them better. He left before we did because his bus arrived. Everyone went out of their way to help us and welcome us, it was a very friendly place.
When we arrived at the market by the pier, people were starting to pack up to leave. Now they were bargaining. One man came up and asked Mel to trade a carved mask for his towel. Of course it was a ship's towel, we took the trade. LOL I'd admired a woven frog mask when we first got off the ship but at $50 figured it would be difficult to get home. For $20 I bought it! The man said his grandmother had made it and it is very old. It is very unusual. Another man showed us a mask with a large snake coiled on top, a frog in the middle with the face at the bottom. We weren't going to buy a large mask as getting it home would be a problem. When he said $22, we couldn't resist. It reminded us of Africa where everything was so inexpensive that we couldn't help but buy! We were back on the ship just before 7, sail away was at 8. What an interesting port that had been. Wonder how long it will be before it's spoiled by too many visitors?
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