*At the time of writing the itinerary, the (very infrequent) flights connecting the different countries of this trip have not been published. This itinerary was made based on our knowledge of previous years. Dates are tentative and might be subject to change. The final itinerary shall be confirmed around May 2020* 

Friday 31st July – Majuro

• Arrival at your own leisure in Majuro, the capital of the US freely-associated state of the Marshall Islands! We will arrange for pickup to take you to the Marshall Islands Resort hotel.
• Once all the group arrive we will have a quick orientation at 6pm before heading out for dinner.
• We take the very short journey to the Tide Table Restaurant, a popular place with locals and expats alike for a dinner, drinks and a chance to make some new local friends and learn about life in the Marshall Islands.
• Overnight at Marshall Islands Resort hotel.

Saturday 1st August – Majuro

• At 11 am we go to take our boat for the one hour journey to the paradise of Eneko Island. The trip is worth it for the journey itself, with us passing through a number of islands and atolls. Eneko Island itself is famous for being part of a fraudulent 1990s micronation, but taking that aside it is genuinely an island paradise and a great place to spend the day.
• We now expertly cook our BBQ on the beach using coconut shells as the fuel, giving it a unique taste. Eat to your heart’s content! BYOB.
• We have lots of options for stuff to do for the rest of the day on the island, with kayaks, a pontoon to jump from, snorkeling, and of course pristine beaches to simply hang out on. If this island was anywhere else in the world it would be packed with people. It’s not packed, but there’s usually some locals hanging out playing volleyball that might let you join in.
• We head back on our boat at around 6pm, stopping halfway through the journey for you to get perfect sunset shots, weather permitting!
• We go for dinner in the hotel restaurant, which has some of the best sashimi in the world (in our opinion)!
• Overnight in the Marshall Islands Resort hotel.

Sunday 2nd August – Nauru

• Early start to go to Majuro airport for our 3 hour 40 minute flight from the Marshall Islands to country number two, and the world’s least visited nation: the Republic of Nauru, at 9.25am (arriving at 13.05).
• Met at the airport by our guide for the next 5 days.
• We check into the Menem Hotel, the main international hotel of Nauru.
• We have lunch at the international restaurant at the hotel.
• We head to Anibare Bay, which is where the best beaches are to make the most of this tropical island with swimming and beach time.
• We go for dinner and drinks at The Bay restaurant, renowned as being the best restaurant in Nauru. This bar is also popular with the expat community, which will give us a chance to learn about what it is like to live in Nauru.
• Overnight at Menem Hotel.

Monday 3rd August – Nauru

• Whilst Nauru is famous for being a country without a capital, it does have a capital village (where the airport is), and we head there to check out the parliament building, high court, and all the other little quirks that make Nauru a country.
• Lunch at Od’n Aiwo Hotel.
• We also know how important it is for people to buy fridge magnets, t-shirts and postcards, so we head the main gift shop and post office to deal with this.
• During our time in Nauru we’ll meet plenty people who arrived as asylum seekers, who’ll be happy to answer any questions that you might have about how they arrived there, what life is like for them and what hopes and aspirations they have for the future.
• Overnight at Menem Hotel.

Tuesday 4th August – Nauru

• Get up relatively early and head out after breakfast to explore World War 2 relics In Yaren. Explore the remains of Japanese guns, bunkers and pillboxes left over from the Pacific Theatre of the war, and visit the Japanese prison which was used to lock up any non-compliant locals during the occupation.
• We head to Island Restaurant, one of the newest and most popular restaurants in Nauru, run by Iranian refugees, that offers great food.
• Sunset drinks at the local Jules bar, before heading opposite to one of the other popular pop-up refugee restaurants to sample Pakistani food in Nauru!
• Overnight at Menem Hotel.

Wednesday 5th August – Nauru

• Ever walked around a country? Ok, maybe you have, but have you ever done it in one day? Nauru is the only country in the world where it is genuinely possible to do this in a few hours! It’s about a 5 hour walk at a gentle pace. For those feeling slightly less energetic, we can arrange for scooter rental at an extra charge.
• Following this, we give the walkers some time to rest, before heading out for Chinese food for lunch. Believe it, or not 8% of people in Nauru are Chinese, and that means great quality food.
• At night we head to Od’n Aiwo Hotel, for dinner, drinks, pool, and maybe a bet on the pokeys!
• Overnight at Menem Hotel.

Thursday 6th August – Nauru

• We’ll have our local guide take us to some of the secret caves around the island, and tell us some of the scary stories about events that took place there in the relatively recent past.
• We head to the fish and chips restaurant for locally-caught fish and a few beers for lunch.
• After lunch, we grab our supplies and head on a short hike to the Buada Lagoon: the only fresh water lagoon on the island, a beautiful place surrounded by palm trees, great photo opportunities, and a wonderful place for us to hang out.
• After this, we explore the other side of the nation’s recent past by looking at the detention center at topside, as well as doing some serious urban exploration at the former phosphate ore processing plants of Nauru, and checking out the abandoned industry and shipwrecks at the port.
• Sunset drinks at the local Jules bar.
• Overnight in Menem Nauru.

Friday 7th August – Tarawa

• Up early for the 5.15am one-hour flight from the world’s least-visited country to the third-least-visited – Kiribati, arriving at 6.30am. Kiribati was formerly the Gilbert and Elise Islands before it gained independence, with Tarawa the capital island chain/city.
• Get picked up at the airport and transfer directly to Mary’s Motel to freshen up (as well as get some internet).
• Lunch at George Hotel.
• Tarawa was where one of the bloodiest battles of WW2 occurred, so we meet our local guide and head out to explore the island’s WW2 past and see some of the many relics of the war such as coastal defence guns, bunkers, pillboxes, tanks and shipwrecks. If you like WW2 history, Kiribati is heaven.
• As well as checking out the WW2 stuff we get a chance to explore the villages that make up Tarawa, where we will see real Kiribati life almost unchanged for centuries. So few foreigners come here that you can expect the locals to be very friendly!
• Dinner at Mary’s Motel followed by drinks at the one and only Fab Ace bar.
• Overnight at Mary’s Motel.

Saturday 8th August – Tarawa

• After an early breakfast, we head off to see the rest of Tarawa, including the Parliament complex.
• We’ll get out our high-altitude oxygen masks to hike to the highest point on the island, a whopping three metres above sea level. We’ll also explore one of the local villages and meet the children playing in the rockpools made, according to local legend, by giants’ footprints.
• We’ll take a canoe taxi, local-style, to one of the islands and sip drinks by the beach while our lunch of freshly-caught fish, chicken and vegetables cooked in coconut milk is prepared.
• Those with strong stomachs can sample karewe – a local moonshine made by fermenting the sap of palm trees.
• Boat and bus back to Tarawa.
• Head out for a dinner and few last drinks in one of the cool local bars near our hotel in Tarawa; karaoke optional.
• Overnight at Mary’s Motel.

Sunday 9th August – Honiara

• Relaxed start for the 11.50am flight to Honiara, the capital city of the world’s 15th least-visited country – the Solomon Islands, arriving at 3pm.
• Met at the airport and transfer to the Honiara Hotel where we will have a chance to freshen up.
• The Honiara Hotel is a local institution – we’ll get the chance to talk to the eccentric owner, Sir Thomas Chan, about his life in politics on the island, as well as his experiences meeting various member of the Royal Family and being invested as a knight by the Queen.
• We dine on the generous buffet and finish with drinks by the pool at our hotel.
• Overnight at Honiara Hotel.

Monday 10th August – Honiara

• Up early to explore Honiara central market, which is where real Solomon life occurs, and where we will have a chance to buy local souvenirs.
• Following this, we do a full city tour including all the monuments to WW2, parliament and the national museum.
• The way to really discover a country is through its street food, so on the journey to the next part of our tour we stop at street-food heaven, where the choices are pretty much chicken or fish served with rice and pumpkin.
• #TRIP HIGHLIGHT# We head to a beach which has a major Japanese WW2 wreck for some wreck snorkelling and underwater photography, as well as great views of the city of Honiara, whilst enjoying the beach.
• All good things must come to an end, including tours to the least-visited countries in the world, so we enjoy a specially cooked meal for us put on by the Honiara Hotel, a few snaps on the bed that Kate Middleton slept in, goodbye drinks by the pool, and a general end to the Least Visited Countries part of our tour as the rest of the group leaves us tomorrow.
• Overnight at Honiara Hotel

Tuesday 11th August – Honiara

• Today, you’ll have more time to explore the main island of Solomon Island, known as Guadalcanal, for optional activities (extra cost). We can arrange for you a trek through the jungle to go and see japanese bunkers and waterfall nearby Honiara.
• Alternatively, we can rent a car and visit two museums of  Guadalcanal.
• One is the Vilu War Museum, at the north of the island, which displays crashed planes from World War 2
• The other museum, at the southern tip of the island, is the Tetere Beach War Museum.
• Overnight in Honiara Hotel

Wednesday 12^th August – Mount Hagen

• Morning transfer to the airport to catch our flight to Mt. Hagen with Air Niugini departing at 10:50 am and arriving in Mt. Hagen at 16:25pm.
• Upon arrival, we will meet our local guides and transfer to our hotel for check in.
• Head back to Mt Hagen for dinner
• Overnight in Kimininga Hotel

Thursday 13^th August – Mount Hagen

• We go deep into the highlands jungle to join villagers as they will prepare a celebration for our arrival.
• The villagers will prepare pig mumu for us. Pig mumu involves the slaughtering of a pig, which is then prepared and cooked in a hole under hot rocks along with yam and corn. While we wait for it to cook, the villagers will introduce us to different customs and traditional skills such as fire making and archery.
• After a massive feast, we will go for a trek to the nearby waterfall where we can swim and enjoy ice cold water.
• Head back to Mt. Hagen for dinner at a Kaibar, local hole in the wall kind of restaurant and overnight.

Friday 14^th August – Mount Hagen

• After breakfast at 9am, we will drive out to the Luglamp community.
• Today we will get the chance to mingle with villagers of this community at their school’s cultural day. It is like a mini-Mount Hagen festival organized by students, teachers and administrators of the community. Contrary to Mount Hagen Festival, you can expect us to be the only foreigners in sight!
• Drive back to Mt. Hagen (1 hour)
• Lunch in a local restaurant in Mount Hagen
• Visit of a local coffee plantation and factory. Mount Hagen is renowned around PNG but also the world for the quality of the beans they produce here.
• We head back to the city for dinner at the Highlander Hotel
• Overnight back at our hotel.

Saturday 15^th August – Mount Hagen

• Today is the big day! We head to the local football ground which will turn into the site hosting the Mount Hagen festival. We get there early to make sure we can witness the members of different tribes dressing up and preparing their costumes.

• Participate for a full day with a street food lunch outside the hotel. We can partake in traditional games and get to wear traditional makeup (extra charge)
• This will be your chance to get up and close with the Huli Wigmen a tribe that wears extremely elaborate headdresses made from their own hair and other materials.
• After the show in the afternoon we will head back to the hotel for dinner.
• Overnight in Mt Hagen

Sunday 16^th August – Mount Hagen

• Another day at the show, this time with a chance to see he Waipa dance also known as the “big jump” dance which is a mass dance only found in PNG, quite an awesome sight and definitely a highlight.
• Night out in Mt Hagen to celebrate the end of the festival and tour, we will go for dinner and drinks partying PNG style!
• Overnight in Mt Hagen

Sunday 16^th August – Mount Hagen

• Another day at the show, this time with a chance to see the Waipa dance also known as the “big jump” dance which is a mass dance only found in PNG, quite an awesome sight and definitely a highlight.
• Lunch at Banz Cafe, just beside the show.
• Night out in Mt Hagen to celebrate the end of the festival and tour, we will go for dinner and drinks partying PNG style!
• Overnight in Mt Hagen

Monday 17^th August – Goroka

• Today, we leave Mount Hagen for good as we will take our hired bus to see more of the highlands regions, stopping on the way for multiple photo opportunities.
• We will stop for lunch in the city of Goroka. Goroka is the site of the other big festival in PNG and its oldest one.
• We stop by the J.K McCarthy Museum in the city which is made up of several rooms showcasing everything from WWII relics and traditional PNG objects. A highlight of the exhibition is a collection of photos showing PNG as it was when it had its first contact with Australians in 1930s.
• Overnight in Goroka

Tuesday 18^th August – Lae

• After resting well in Goroka, we take our bus and head to the beautiful coastal town of Lae , the capital of in Morobe Province.
• This road trip will take us through incredible sceneries through the thick of the jungle and up the mountains.
• Once through the mountains, we’ll be driving down Shaggy Ridge and through Ramu Valley. Some of the fiercest combat between the Australian and Japanese forces happened here, during World War II.
• We will get off our bus to stretch our leg and have a picnic in the wilderness of the Ramu Valley.
• We arrive in Lae early afternoon.
• We go on a city tour of Lae including a visit of the WWII cemetary there but also stop by the coast where we will see the shipwreck of the Myoko Maru, as well as a Japanese War Memorial.
• Lae is one of the busiest cities of Papua New Guinea and an important trade centre, as the capital is not connected to the Highland Provinces, most freight comes by boat from the capital to Lae.
• Dinner at our hotel in Lae and overnight

Wednesday 19th August – Port Moresby/Buka – START OF GROUP B

• We take an early flight at from Lae back to Port Moresby.
• End of tour for Group A. Many international connections are available from Port Moresby such as flights to Australia, Singapore, the Philippines and Hong Kong. YPT can assist you in further adventures to the rest of the Pacific!
• For those who continue onwards to Bougainville, we meet our new group members at the airport and catch our next flight to Buka.

• Arrival at Buka airport where we will be met and greeted by our local Bougainville team and escorted to our accommodation at Masalang Village
• After resting and settling down for a while, we will tour around the village and visit a traditional clay pot making place.
• Lunch at a local restaurant
• In the afternoon, we will take a bus ride to Kubu where we will see the parliament house and access a gorgeous viewpoint allowing us to observe the whole of Buka passage, a strait filled with shipwrecks of WWII.
• On our way back we will stop to visit ruins of Japanese WWII bunkers in Hahela.
• Dinner and overnight in Masalang village

Thursday 20th August – Buka/Arawa

• After breakfast, we will ride our bus to a historical site located next to the police station in Buka Town. This site is known as the Mass graveyard for the Bougainville Revolutionary Army during the Bougainville civil war. Our local guide will take this time to explain to us what has happened during those troubled times.
• We hop on an iconic banana boat and cross the Buka passage.
• On the other side, called Kokopau, we will take a 4 hour 4WD ride to Arawa with stops along the highway for photo opportunities and visit a roadside market
• Just before we arrive in Arawa we will go through the decommissioned Panguna Mine. It used to be the biggest open cut mine in the world with a width of 2 kilometres and a depth of 430 metres. In fact, it was the farmers protests for its closure in 1989 which sparked the secessionist movement in Bougainville and the Civil War. Locals still come here to pan, hoping to find gold. We will visit the abandoned installations of this monstrous monument to careless exploitation.
• Then, we continue driving to the Siwai region until we reach Panakei Lodge, where we have dinner.
• Overnight in Panakei Lodge

Friday 21st August – Siwai Region

• We wake up in Panakei for breakfast and head out for a village tour.
• In the morning, we’ll go WWII relic hunting! Bougainville was a the centre of the Pacific Campaign and here the Australian and American forces were locked in a brutal fight. During our relic hunt, we’ll see an Australian tank, cannons, artillery and a small museum, where a local exposes the artefacts he finds regularly.
• Then, we head to one of the nearby villages where the locals have organised a singsing for us. If you’ve been to Papua New Guinea, you’ll find that the style here is very different and quite lively!
• We visit another village for another great performance, this time of a bigger size. The locals here get very few tourists so they are very eager to perform, which is very different from the jaded cultural performances you’ll find elsewhere in the world.
• The village has arranged for us a feast of local food. Bougainvillian eat mostly yam, other root vegetables and chicken. We might have the opportunity to try other very special delicacies.
• TRIP HIGHLIGHT – Having arranged our visas well in advance, we visit the micronation of the Twin Kingdom of Me’ekamui and Papaala. During the Civil War, after the takeover of the Panguna man, leader of the rebellion Francis Ona owned half of the island and proclaimed himself king of Me’ekamui. Another man, now known as King David Peii II, proclaimed the kingdom of Papaala, upon’s Francis Ona’s passing, David Peii II combined Me’ekamui and Papaala into one Twin Kingdom. Now, the Kingdom rules over a village. The kingdom has its own currency and defense force and the king wears an actual crown of gold. We will be the first tourist group to ever set foot there!
• Head to the Hurai Guesthouse for dinner. Located right under a Digicel satelite tower, this guesthouse probably has the best network signal on the island.
• Overnight at Hurai Guesthouse.

Saturday 22nd of August – Buin Region

• After breakfast this morning, we will drive down south to the region of Buin.
• We drive as far as we can go before we get off and start our trek to nothing less than the plane wreck of Admiral Yamamoto. Admiral Yamamoto was the leader of the Japanese Army who design the attack against Pearl Harbor, effectively declaring war against the USA during WWII. One day, as he was on a tour to review the troop, his itinerary got intercepted and an ambush was design to attack him. Admiral Yamamoto’s plane crashed in the jungle here and we’ll get to see it. The trek takes about 2 hours each way but is on easy flat terrain. Bugs are not an issue either. Things will get very muddy though! We’ll see multiple kinds of scenery and are sure to meet some very curious locals.
• Successful in our outing to Yamamoto’s wreck, we drive south to the coastal area.
• Here, we will see some more japanese war relics, such as a bunker and cannons. From the beach, it is possible to see the first islands of  the Solomon Islands. Locals take boat and cross into the nearby islands of the Solomon, which share a lot of their culture with Bougainville. Some would say that Bougainvillians feel more like Solomon Islands than Papua New Guineans.
• We drive back towards Arawa, which used to be the capital and take a boat to cross to Pokpok Island, stopping on the road to buy some drinks!
• Check in at Uruna Resort to drop our baggages before we head out for an afternoon of Island Hopping.
• After a day of trekking, there is literally nothing more heavenly than Uruna Resort. The nicest accommodation on our tour, we’ll be on a pristine island between us and not a single other tourist around. Water are crystal clear and everything is so peaceful. Anywhere else in the world, this place would be a tourist hotspot!
• Dinner of fresh fish prepared just for us.
• Our own little island party!
• Overnight at Uruna Beach Resort

Sunday 23rd of August – Pokpok Island/Arawa

• After breakfast, we’ll go Island Hopping, we can swim, snorkel and fish in untouched waters where snorkelling is so good it feels like scuba diving! We are in one of the least visited part of the world!
• Afterwards we‟ll get on a banana boat and travel to a cliff over the sea, called “Eberia”. “Eberia” literally translates as ‘’this way‟ in the local language and according to local folklore is rumoured to be the gateway to the Underworld. It is a truly unique and spooky sight. Then, we’ll stop and check the abandoned Arovo Island Resort. Its services were disrupted by the Civil War.
• We go by boat by Pidia village, if you are familiar with the movie ”Mr. Pip”, staring Hugh Laurie, which tells the story of a girl in Pidia village going through the events of the Bougainville Civil War. It happened here!
• On our way back on the mainland, we’ll stop by a WWII memorial by the town of Kieta where a zero plane and a Japanese tank are exposed.
• We stop by Arawa market to meet the locals and shop for some souvenirs. Arawa was the capital of Bougainville before the Civil War but most of it was destroyed during the war.
• We head to Topiniang village where we will finish our trip with a bang. Here villagers will welcome us to stay with them. Amongst other things, they will show us their flowers gardens as well as a live bridge made up of vines from a Ficus Tree. The most intrepid of us will get to cross this bridge which goes over a mountain stream and takes us to pools and caves waiting only for us to explore them.
• Back in the village of Topinang, we will see women weaving a traditional fan called Biruko and relax in the afternoon by the beach.
• The villagers will send us off with our own personal singsing and a night of storytelling
• We have dinner and sleep in a homestay in the village.

Monday 24^th of August – Kieta

• After an early breakfast, we transfer to Kieta Airport to catch our morning flight back to Port Moresby.
• End of tour, numerous international connections are available to Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia and others.

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