Yeah I have been to Mt Hagen twice recently… March 2008 & Feb 2009. I am a 30 year old bloke from near Sydney, and I gotta tell you Mt Hagen is a funny place. The young fellas over there generally have no work so they hang around chewing beatle nut and holding each others hands (we find it weird but totally normal up there in PNG)

If you go for a walk through the markets in Hagen you will find the locals don’t treat you as a ‘rich’ white guy like other countries (eg Vietnam). I find most Hagens have a geniune respect for each other, and whites are no exception.

Last time we were over there, we had the pleasure of meeting some of the unique characters who run business in the industrial area of Hagen. These guys are full of character and nothing seems to phase them… they do business in one the most rugged, wet, muddy and neglected areas on earth. You will find the odd ‘misfit’ Aussie running a business up there too.

Anyway we actually work about 6 hours out of Mt Hagen. The roads outside Hagen are terrible. They are dangerous, and quite often half the road is impassable because of mud slides. Sometimes you will come across a length of road which has been totally eroded which mean vehicles struggle to negotiate the road. Further out you sometimes get held up when young fellas put small boulders across the road and ask you for money in order to pass. Generally you can convince them to move the rocks without any trouble. These guys are not serious rascals. Its the ones who hold machette’s in order to get their way that make one nervous.

Anyway, like PNG generally, you will find it very exciting, unique and incredibly unpredictable. From my perspective, it is the Christians up there who are stopping the place from sliding into complete anarcy.

I would recommend anyone with an adventurous spirit to head to Hagen & beyond!!