Kokoda Trek: Day 3

We all got a wake up call at 5 AM by the chef and soon we were at the breakfast hut for breakfast. Some of the Aussie friends had delicious breakfast items to share including quinoa puff cereal, and satchels of gourmet espresso coffee. After hanging out for an hour, and wishing Hector a happy birthday, we all started the trek, but not before taking a group photo with the beautiful rainforest background.

The porters walking next to us keep making jokes amongst themselves and sometimes said 'Kikini moragina' and others responded 'Aaine barana' and laughed. It seemed like clothes we put by the fire to dry overnight somehow become more wet when I wore them in the morning. However, it appears that my clothes have come back to me, more shiny, sparkling, and clean than last night. Jackson had done a great job cleaning for me while I just slept in the camp tent right after reaching.

Joe, the trek lead, said if we walk as fast as yesterday we would reach about the same time to camp like yesterday. He also said that the walk is supposed to be eight hours. But yesterday‘s walk was 12 hours. So I asked him if we walked fast yesterday or slow. He said we were fast. Then what time will we reach today? I asked. He said about 5 PM. That did not compute 8 hours expected today. There is a rampant conspiracy to not accurately tell hikers about time and distance in PNG! Besides me, Our group had 10 Aussies, and a Lebanese national. The Aussies swear a lot. At the drop of a hat, they let out expressions laden with fxxx, c*** etc. I don’t know if they rubbed off on me or the terrain was oversteep, but after an especially hard stretch, I screamed 'Fxxxing Kokoda!' drawing some laughter.

I was having a tough time with my small daypack and was always amazed that the kiwi who walked 3000km from North to South of New Zealand carried a huge backpack and did not engage a porter.

The first break was right after crossing the creek river, and we all had a good break right away. we filled our water, put on our shoes and just hung around for a bit. It was so scenic, green with ferns and creepers.

The world war 2 is over for 7 decades but the traces of the fighting are visible here on this track. At one spot, we saw bullets of two types and gathered them to take a picture.

Hector was very entertaining, quick witted and kept everyone's spirits up. The bodybuilder turned life and fitness coach was with six of his clients in our group. He shared his wisdom, jokes and good humor with us all the time. He had brought a lot of food and had more of it dropped off mid trip, not to mention different health boosters like oregano oil, coconut cream, collagen, honey and gluten free items. He trained his clients in exercise mobility, nutrition, hydration, and sleep.

At the village, we bought some Galip nuts. The nut is very delicious. I had been seeing it walking all along the path with the dark purple cover broken into 2 pieces and the nut missing. You could purchase these in a bunch of about five or six for just 1 Kina (30 cents). The nut is about 2 to 5 times as big as an almond and has a brown cover that you are supposed to peel. That exposes the bright white interior, which is chewy, moist and crunchy. It is also flaky just like a Chilean Seabass, and satisfies immensely.

At the airport, while leaving PNG, I found the nut as a snack pack.

it was very hot and humid and we got relief in the form of heavy rains and soon led to worries that the river crossing leading to camp would be impossible with strong water currents. Porters asked us to walk fast or even run through the mud to avoid having to go back to the previous camp if we would not be able to cross the river. That possibility included a lot of hill climbing which no one wanted to do.

We reached the river, and the Porters had set up a long rope across it, and we crossed the river one by one. The current was extremely strong in the middle, and each person got help from the porter to ensure they stayed safe.

After the crossing we all we happy as the walking for the day was about to be complete. Soon we reached camp and had a chance to bathe in the river. Dinner was white rice noodles with pork curry and was very delicious, everyone got seconds. For conversation topic, we talked about an unexpected positive experience at any travel. Someone had lost their passport on a bus going from Venezuela to Colombia and backtracked from checkpoint to checkpoint, finally retrieving it. Another met their future wife at an international world bodybuilding and bikini model contest. Someone bought a local art piece from a Madagascar artist, forgot it at the airport security and the passenger behind them retrieved and delivered it to them in the airplane.

We all retired to the camp knowing the following day was going to be grueling.