Ukarumpa to Madang

Thursday, April 3, 08
With Dr. Jeff wanting to see me on Monday, 9:45, Bill and I decide to ride to Madang today, returning Sunday. I place my big money bills in my cargo pants pocket and split smaller bills into my two top pockets. This is preventative in case we get waylaid by some rascals. We each are driving a Honda XR 400 (400 cc), 5 speed - lots of power. The first 1/3 of the road is paved but in the highlands so there are lots of problem areas. The second third is on flat land, the Markham Valley, we turn left to Madang instead of right to Lae. But, the last third is hard to describe except as steep, eroded, rutted, dangerous, slow going, and shakes your liver into your toes. The 200 kms take 4 hours of driving, of which the last third devours most of that. My wrist is sore from clutching through the gears, my butt aches from the bounce and slipping, but oh did I have fun. No rascals! I only stalled once, I forgot which gear I was in while coming out of an extended mud puddle, and only fell once, with only a partial back brake I was forced to use more front brake than is safe so at a very slow point my braking turned the front wheel sharply and I fell. Bill gets tagged in the helmet by a Kite (hawk) which is flying too close. Kites are everywhere, not just here. Most often there are 3-5 in the sky at any given time. We stop halfway for fuel and lunch - flour sausage and coke - yum. When yellow lines cross the lane, be ready for a one lane area, usually a bridge. This only applies to paved areas. Once, after a particularly dangerous and difficult section of descending and then hard climbing, we pull off to the side for a water break. A PMV (Public Motorized Van) stop for a chat. The passenger asks for a drink from my bottle - keep it. Sharing is common. But, I don't need his backwash. Bill has a full face shield, I do not. Mine leaves me open to the bugs and dirt. At the Madang Cultural Center, where we stop for help in finding lodging, beautifully placed on the ocean's edge, Bill tells me to wash first in the bathroom. No mirror, but if my face looks like my helmet I could scare someone.
Lae is a commercial town. Madang is set up as a resort town. With an early dinner overlooking the Pacific Ocean at Eden, a Chinese/Thai restaurant, we return to our motel as lightning flashes in front and back of us. My lights keep turning off or dimming at odd times - flip on the blinkers and the headlights go off, on again a minute later. Odd! We are in Mot Guesthouse, and have a 2 bed room , #7, common bathroom and shower down stairs in the carport. Bill decides to go for a walk in the community. The motel refuses to let him go out alone and send a guard. I am tired and elect to catch up on some reading and writing. Our room is 80 Kina ($28) together. Flying fox are everywhere. The clicking of bats is all around as well as the sounds of other birds. How I wish I could record these interesting sounds. Tomorrow, we have reservations on the ocean a few kms out of town.