gym in moresby png

[Husaweednow]

Hi I am travelling to Moresby in Papua New Guinea for 3 weeks for work and wondered if anyone knows of a hotel with a decent gym? I stayed at Lamana hotel last year but their gym was closed for renovating.

Or a local gym that a palagi could use safely? I will have security with me so can go anywhere an expat would go.

I do stronglifts 5x5.

Google/tripadviser is useless on this.....

[Pseudonym]

Blimey, that's a bit of a curly one. I'm not sure we'll be much more help than tripadviser is. PNG is not one of your more common destinations. What work do you do, mate?

[Husaweednow]

Construction, its good up there, pay rates are higher and the food is really good and cheap as the hotels cater to fat ass American/Aussie businessmen its a steak or chicken dinner every night but the hotel gyms all just seem to have a treadmill, a bike and a swiss ball...totally cardio focused.

Trouble is you really can't even go for a jog around the block without a guard dog running alongside.

Only decent attempt at a gym was the Madang Star Hotel with a few machines and free weights but that on the otherside of PNG.

[Pseudonym]

Wow. I don't know much about PNG, other than that it's pretty wild. But I assumed it would be safe (well, relatively!) in the city? What's the danger in a jog around the block?

[Husaweednow]

Robbery in PNG is common and extremely violent.

If I did get robbed you don't goto the cops for help instead I would call Guard Dog Security. They are the toughest and most loyal bodyguards in PNG. I heard a rumour one of their depots has a Tank or APC hidden in a garage somewhere in Moresby.

I do wander around a bit on my own if I am wearing my work overalls and steel toe boots.

Moresby is safer than the Highlands.

Pulling out the judo moves in a robbery would get me killed or a nasty machete chop to my arm.

Having a pattern of behaviour like going for a run on my own each evening would make me a very easy target.

Even my cellphone or a few dollars or my running shoes would be a big payday to the Raskals.

When I was in the Png Highlands last year a local foreman got shot onsite, guy just walked up to him and shot him, not because of anything he had done. He did it because of a tribal feuds and he was from the other tribe.

with the wontok system, most fighting goes tribal and spreads fast.

Your right though Moresby avoids most of that type of thing.

PNG is rich in oil, Gas , gold and more. Once the locals complete the rural urban drift and the cash economy grows it will become a very wealthy country.

[Realtalk]

Hope you get paid well bro, that place is a shit hole.

[Gym rat]

Shit that sounds very hardcore and scary as well

[Husaweednow]

It pays more than the dole, Plus I get free Doxycycline

[Pseudonym]

Yeah, I vaguely knew about the tribal issues, but I didn't realise they also extended to the city. Interesting!

Do the locals have any sort of gym scene? Or are they more concerned with daily survival, so the gym is just a luxury that foreigners use?

[Gh14]

Dont worry bro, PNG is not as dangerous as people make out and if your friends with a local youll be treated very well by his family or village aslong as you use common sense and arent travelling around the highlands.

[Husaweednow]

Settling in to Moresby now, its more mellow here than the Highlands.

Found a great gym -McNash Fitness @ Royal Papua Yacht Club. Mix of locals and expats there great food upstairs at yacht club. Happy with that setup... Squat racks, yoga the whole gym experience..

Lamana Hotels gym has good cardio gear. But f-all to lift, just a curling bar with 50kg and some flash machines with f-all plates.

Whey protein available at Pharmacy in the Vision City Mall but as meat is so cheap here I'm just scoffing real food.