Qualla: Bougainville https://qualla.com/bougainville en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:29 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_res/siteimages/rsslogo.png Qualla: Bougainville https://qualla.com/bougainville Bougainville: Introduction https://qualla.com/bougainville/ The troop carrier pulls up in a cloud of gravel dust, and the driver nods you aboard. It is, improbably, the local bus. The vehicle is a Land Cruiser modified for carrying infantry, surplus from the civil war that ended in 1997 - not a relic in a museum but the practical reality of public transport on an island where paved roads remain mostly aspiration. You climb up among schoolchildren and women with bilum bags of garden vegetables, and the truck sets off toward Arawa. Nothing about Bougainville is convenient. Everyone you meet will tell you how glad they are you came.

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]]> Thu, 16 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/r/q/y/k/bougainville-wk/rqyk-bougainville-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Bougainville: Getting There Is the First Test https://qualla.com/bougainville/ Most visitors arrive in Buka town on Air Niugini's daily flight from Port Moresby. Some flights stop first in Rabaul on New Britain, extending a two-hour hop into something longer. PNG Air serves both Buka and the smaller airport at Arawa-Kieta. Neither is cheap - air travel in P...

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]]> Thu, 16 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/r/q/y/k/bougainville-wk/rqyk-bougainville-getting-there-is-the-first-test.mp3 0:06 2 full Bougainville: Where People Live https://qualla.com/bougainville/ Bougainville is divided, practically, between the north and everywhere else. Buka town, on Buka Island just across the passage, is where government offices, NGO workers, and most of the formal accommodation now concentrate. It replaced Arawa as the functional capital during the c...

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]]> Thu, 16 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/r/q/y/k/bougainville-wk/rqyk-bougainville-where-people-live.mp3 0:06 3 full Bougainville: Panguna and the No-Go Zone https://qualla.com/bougainville/ The signs at Morgan Junction are clear and the barricades are real. The road that once carried copper concentrate from the Panguna mine down to the Loloho port has been a no-go zone since the peace agreement, and ex-combatants - officially disarmed, practically not - still contro...

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]]> Thu, 16 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/r/q/y/k/bougainville-wk/rqyk-bougainville-panguna-and-the-no-go-zone.mp3 0:06 4 full Bougainville: Mountains, Reefs, and a Famous Wreck https://qualla.com/bougainville/ The three-day trek up Mount Balbi from Wakunai village is the serious hike on Bougainville, taking you to 2,685 meters where sulphurous vents still breathe and the view opens across the Emperor Range to Bagana's plume in the distance. Extended to seven days, the trek crosses the ...

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]]> Thu, 16 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/r/q/y/k/bougainville-wk/rqyk-bougainville-mountains-reefs-and-a-famous-wreck.mp3 0:06 5 full Bougainville: What to Eat, What to Know https://qualla.com/bougainville/ Fish and chicken are the staples. Pigs are reserved for special feasts. Cassava, yams, tapioca, and choko (chayote) fill out the plate. The traditional dish worth asking for is tama tama, made by pounding cassava or banana into a starchy dough - Bougainvilleans will tell you, pro...

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]]> Thu, 16 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/r/q/y/k/bougainville-wk/rqyk-bougainville-what-to-eat-what-to-know.mp3 0:06 6 full