Madang Diving - Local Cultural Images

Local Cultural Images

An all time favorite image in Papua New Guinea - the baby in a bilum. The bilum is a distinct PNG art form and is basically a universal carrying and storage container. They are made in endless varieties of materials and forms. The only essential ingredient is imagination.
	War relics are very common around Madang, but it's very rare to see an undisturbed site. A local friend show us this P-38 shot down near the end of the fighting. We had to promise not to tell where it is, so please don't ask. You can see part of the engine in this shot.
Another cultural icon of PNG is the singsing. The roots of this musical/dance ceremony are buried in traditional religion and cargo cultism. Today, organizing a singsing is mostly a really good excuse to dress up and party!
	This young lady is Talita. She is proudly displaying cooking pots of a distinctive style made in Bil Bil village. Her house is very typical of those found all around the coast of the island of New Guinea. The floor is made of the outer bark of a palm tree and it is very durable. The material of the walls is the central spines of very large palm leaves.
Here is another singsing picture. These dancers are from the Mount Hagen area of the Highlands. Cultural festivals are held all over the nation. Every significant cultural event will include singsing resis. (That's Pidgin for 'singsing races' meaning contests with big prizes for the best costumes, dancing, and music.) Singsing groups will often travel hundreds of kilometers to compete.
	Well, it's not actually in Madang, but at Saidor, in Madang Province, we have The World's Scariest Bridge. Most of us walked across. The Saidor area is difficult to get to, but has some rewarding dives, including another B-25 bomber!