Countdown begins...

Once again, the countdown begins...Oh I so love the ticking of the clock...tick tock...it goes, bringing with it so many hopes and joys...

Starting March 1, I have exactly 92 days left. If all goes well with my visa (touch wood, touch wood touch wood), I am going to be on that plane and wing it to Papua New Guinea for the dream trek (some may call it nightmarish, I know).

Training has begun and how!! Wish me luck people. I would need loads of it. If I pull this off successfully, there will be a great news waiting at the end of it...and not just a completion certificate!

Miracles do HAPPEN

Between Sept 2010 and Feb 2011, were 5 months in which I gave up all hopes of ever walking Kokoda Track. I did think about the track often but with a tinge of regret that I couldnt, despite my best efforts find a way to make it happen. Gave up hope and because of that gave up wanting to turn super fit as I had done for Kilimanjaro, allowing myself to go soft out of dejection.

Then something happened. My friend Indeever Kaul in Singapore, who had been on my case long after I gave up called me with a piece of news I could give up both my arms for: That a visa to PNG was possible and rather easily too, I only had to go to Delhi for a day, yes ONE DAY, and someone he knew there would grant me the visa. It came from the horses mouth.

Never look a gift horse n the mouth, I believe and I am not even going to wonder why and how, all I know is that if such a thing is going to happen, thenI damn well be on that Delhi flight, leg it to the PNG High Commission and have the visa...and wing it to Port Moresby ASAP.

Oh, ASAP means at least 3 months from now for I must absolutely get rid of all the fat around my tummy to begin with.

Yes, it feels like Kokoda Will be possible after all.

Thank you Indeevar!! Cant tell you what a boost to my sagging morale that has been...!!!

A Ray of Hope

A Ray of Hope gleams in the distance...I might, just might be able to procure a VISA to PNG and do the Kokoda afterall! This time round, the organisers of my trek will apply for the tourist visa and facilitate the process...just in case the PNG govt decides that I might 'settle' down there and hence refuse to give me a visit visa. To be honest, I dont care anymore how I get the visa, so long as I get it. I have set my mind on Kokoda Trail and I want to do it at all costs...

Tentatively, the trek dates are March 4-11, which means I leave my city on March 1st. Well, nearly five months to go, but the preparation promises to be more intense and tougher than Kilimanjaro. I have, well, begun the 'training' so to speak, but I see that I need to buck up and get a move on.

Few obstacles

I am in the mid of July and havent heard about any Visa. Looks like I will have to apply again and hope it will come, second time around. The trip, originally sheduled for September of 2010 will now be postponed to early 2011, for various reasons...Visa being one of them! Also, its a bit expensive trip and seeing that I am not doing this for any organisation or chairty anymore, I want do this at my pace.

But yes, Kokoda will happen. Sooner or later!

An application form--- Hurrah

Okay, so I have it. A 3-page PNG Visa application form! Oh, to look at it and woner why it is so hard to come across one!

(Had someone told me I could download any of these forms online, I would have saved a few calls to PNG and wouldnt have had to wake up at 3am to speak to an official, 6 hours ahead of UAE time.)

To download a form, click here

The application form is simple and straightforward and they have rightly put in a question.

Have you ever been a patient in a mental home/institution or do you suffer from a disease which may constitue a health risk to PNG?

I wish I had enough space to reply!

No, I havent been in any mental home, but good question. I suppose no person in his/her right mind would consider walking Kokoda, seeing that even a simple application is hard to come by, concerned officials first ask why not try walking in India and why an Indian woman wants to do it...just what is in it for her?

Oh, yes, I do suffer from adrenaline defficiency which can be restored only through walking in rainforests and risk getting cholera and collapsing from exhaustion, being held up by kids with guns on streets etc!

If you can ignore these occasional bouts of insanity, I am a healthy, normal  woman who wants to walk the Kokoda Trail in order to raise funds for an institution doing their best for the special needs children in the UAE.

Thtere, that's my reason to walk this.

Now to see what happens to my application. Fingers crossed!

Visa for PNG

Okay, this seems to be turning into a nightmare! PNG doesnt have any embassy/consulate in the whole of the Middle East, which makes it very very difficult to seek info on how to get a visa. And visa for all countries except US, UK, Australia, NZ is a must, Indian included.

There are very few options available online. Most sites will direct you to the Australian High Commission and then you are stuck with unreturned phone calls and unanswered mail queries.

The only proper info I have managed to find regarding a visa is to write to the officials is Papua New Guinea who will then send you an application form, that you need to fill out and fax back to them. They will scrutinize it, and approve it. Once approved, the Australian Embassy in Abu Dhabi will gladly issue your visa.

(And two weeks after I have started my seach, I am still waiting for an application form!)

How is that?

The only hitch in this otherwise smooth operation is that it could take anything from a week to two months!

Few helpful links: For entry requirements

People wanting to visit PNG and living in India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Pakistan may contact

Papua New Guinea High Commission

B-2/19, Vasant Vihar
New Delhi 110 057
India

Contact: Mr A. Rajan, Administration Manager
Telephone: +91 11 26145909
Fax: +91 11 46012812
Email: kundund@yahoo.com

About the trek

Kokoda Trail (Track): I would rather call it a challenge!

Distance from Owers Corner to Kokoda: 96kms
Access: By foot only
Terrain: Rugged, mountainous rainforest
Trek type: Rated as one of the toughest trek in the world.
Expect: Gruelling uphill slogs and knee-trembling downhill slopes

Dangers: Fast flowing rivers,dehydration, exhaustion, malaria, cholera, mud.
Death: Not unheard of. Last reported was October 2009. Death due to exhaustion