Our road trip home
needs a little background.
VERY recently, a
logging company moved in to do work in the area. This logging company
specializes in selective logging, so they don't level acres of the jungle, they
just go in, pick their trees and fell them, and they do most of their work on
or just off of their road. In order to get their timber out of the jungle, they
have to have roads. And to get those roads, they make their own. So where
before there was no road, they made a road. Now this road has no gravel, it is
a dirt road. Straight up dirt road. But there are a couple cars that now chill
in the area exclusively to pick up workers and bring them into the logging camp
(and give free rides to anyone who wants to hitch).
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| A level stretch of the logging road |
There is a limit in
that there isn't a bridge that crosses the river. If we could drive to the
other side of that river, then we'd be able to take the road on the other side
straight back to Madang, a 4 hour road trip.
If only…
We've been under
some financial stress recently and a road trip would save $1000…
Behold, there was
word that a bridge was going up!
It was up!
It was washed out…
They're working on a
steel bridge!
It's almost up!
So we figured we
would try to drive.
We would go down to the river and wait. PBT would send a car
down and if they couldn't get across the river, we would just
cross the river, jump in, and head back.
If they could get
across, we would jump in and come back to our house (ideal, since the car was
loaded with our cargo!)
But here's the
second problem.
To get from the
logging road to our house involves a bit of off-roading, maybe 10 minutes. But
there was a fissure in the rock in one spot just off the logging road, with the
ground level on one side and a 3 foot deep pit right where the Landcruiser would
have to put its tire.
Ok, now my village
brother was coming into the village on the Landcruiser to show them how to get
to my house. He came a few days early to scout the road, and the river was so
dry that people were fording it with no problem! He also tasked some people with
the work of filling in the fissure so the Landcruiser could pass, which they
did.
So, after talking to
the driver, we decided not to expend the energy to come down to the river.
They forded the
river and drove over the fissure and parked in front of my house!
But then there was
some hemming and hawing about whether we should go with the plan and stay the
night or just pack up and leave. We made the right call, too late.
By the time the car
was loaded, rain had started to fall. We got in the car and drove to face the
first obstacle.
The fissure was on a
steep uphill incline, all covered in sticky wet mud.
We did not get up
the first try.
We did not get up
the second try.
We did not get up
the third try, but!
We did get stuck on
that try…
Which, honestly, was
preferable to nearly sliding off the crest of the mountain which we toed the
line of doing every time we reversed downhill to try again. Judging by the
expressions on the people outside the car, we got very close indeed.
So guys came out to
dig the Landcruiser out of its pit. And after about an hour, we were free.
Free to try again.
And they did. The
men working on trying various solutions to make the road less slick.
But eventually we
were too close to evening to get across the river before dark, so we just went
back to my house to spend the night.
The next morning, at
10 am, giving the sun time to dry the roads, we tried again.
We did not get up
the first try.
We did not get up
the second try.
We did not get up
the third try.
I got out. My stress
levels were too high and I was afraid my stress levels would not help
interpersonal relationships with the driver.
Standing at the
bottom of the hill, I watched the truck fishtail back and forth, finding
traction, then slipping out, until finally, amazingly they made it past.
I walked up the
hill, towed by Regina who kept a helpful bit of tension on her leash.
And then we had to
face the logging road. Luckily the sun had done a fair bit of work drying out
this wide road with few shade trees. But there were still some areas
dangerously slick, threatening to throw us in pits of soft earth that we
wouldn't be able to get out of, or off the hill into steep gardens. But
finally, we made it to the river.
Which had risen to
dangerous levels thanks to yesterday's rains.
Unpassable.
It was 11 o'clock.
So we sat and waited and prayed.
Maybe the river
would go down.
Maybe the bulldozer
driver would come back from his post-payday trip to a small town.
Maybe. Maybe.
Meanwhile, I have
two children who aren't quite at the age of reason. While it was probably
James' favorite day of our whole trip (car ride, swimming in the river (until
we got sunburned like whoa), playing with new friends, splashing in mud
puddles, playing on his kindle, eating cinnamon rolls), Marissa was having a harder
time of it. She wanted to walk around but didn't want mud on her toes. She
wanted to eat but didn't want to sit in her carseat. She wanted to be held but
didn't want you to be sitting. She wanted down but didn't want to get dirty.
This cycle continued for the duration of the day.
For provisions, we
had a loaf of bread, a third of a block of cheese, some apples, a box of
cinnamon rolls, cheetos, and candy.
So we just sat at
this hamlet, by the river, trying to avoid the sun, bummed we couldn't swim
more, munching on junk food, and trying to ration the water.
And then it started
raining again.
We started
contingency planning. If we couldn't cross by the next morning, they'd send
someone else from town to come and get us (the Smiths') and the Logistics
person and we'd leave the driver with the Landcruiser until… Until he could get
across or have to leave the fate of the Landcruiser to the mercy of the hamlet.
This wasn't a good
plan as his wife was out of country and, when she got back in a few days, would
probably kill Logistics (coincidentally their daughter), then kill us, then
swim across the Sogeram to kill our driver for causing her that worry.
But there didn't
really seem to be a good option.
So we sat. And
waited. And prayed. And ate cinnamon rolls.
Finally at 5:00, our
head translator came back with word that he had spoken to the bulldozer driver
and he was getting the bulldozer and coming down to the river. But how long
would that take? Could we go across at night?
There were three
other Landcruisers waiting for passage with us. (Landcruisers are very popular
here)
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| "Ambulance" Landcruiser getting prepped for a tow |
It was 8pm before
the first was towed across the river. Our turn was at about 8:45.
 |
| Image to depict width of the river |
We were finally
across!
And then there was
the other side of the road.
Unpaved.
No gravel.
Just after a
rainstorm.
But we were
caravanning with the other cars. We saw where they slipped and were careful
there. Then, at a logging camp, two cars pulled abreast of each other and
stopped. And we stopped behind them. Some peculiar activity was starting to
happen, and before I could tell the driver to get us out of there, caravan or
no caravan, a drunk was banging on our window demanding K50 ($16). Men were surrounding the car until finally our head translator,
from the back of our Landcruiser, says something along the lines of,
"Hey, it’s me."
The men backed off
and a sober fellow directed us around the road block.
And we were off on
our own with only the tracks of those who went before to warn us of the dangers
of the road ahead.
After an hour, we
finally reached gravel roads, and from there we were off like a shot.
Got into Madang at
12:30. Dropped off the translator at our dorm like facility for our national
co-workers who come into town. Got home, unpacked, went back to the office for
some freezer meals because man cannot live on cinnamon rolls split 6 ways alone.
We fell into bed at 2 am after a quick shower. And were awoken the next morning
at 6am by a hungry little monster/princess in the next room.
A 21 hour day, a 5 hour trip made in 14 hours, and 4 hours follow up sleep!
We will NOT take a
PBT vehicle over the river without a confidence inspiring bridge again. Maybe,
depending on cars on the other side of the river, we could meet a car at the
river to carry us and our cargo back to our house. Maybe.
We will NOT take on
that fissure again until some SERIOUS work has been done, not only on the hole
but on the degree of the incline.
We will NOT take a
road trip near or during wet season EVER unless gravel has been laid down on
every inch of that road (which is unlikely).
So helicopters are
still our mode of transportation and maybe next year there will be some
exceptions. We shall see.
