Wednesday, December 06, 2006

Sunny, shiny worst place on Earth

Have you ever though of a place as "the worst place on Earth"?
If I thought of a place as the "worst on Earth", I wouldn't think of a sunny land, full of palm trees at the rim of the ocean, located in an exotic island. I could think of a thousand features that the worst place on Earth could have, but the ones I mentioned would not be included in such description for sure.
I was recently seeking information about such so called worst place on Earth. And my surprise was excessive when I found out that the worst place to live on Earth, according to some studies published in the last months and years (in which some issues, such as access to good health care facilities, safety, and transportation systems, were analyzed), was a sunny beach, full of palm trees and coconuts, in an exotic location in Oceania. I'm talking about Port Moresby, the capital city of Papua New Guinea.
Yes, my surprise was absolute when I read that it's a city ruled by heavily-armed gangs (called raskols), where the murder rates are by far above those of other big cities in the world like Moscow, the amount of yearly rape cases are among the highest in the world, the AIDS is spreading very quickly, and the health care facilities lack some essential equipment.
How accurate are those versions that claim that Port Moresby is indeed the worst place in the world to live? I read some opinions about these concerns from people who visited this city, and people who actually live there. Some of the opinions claimed that there are some problems indeed in Port Moresby (like in any other city in the world), but they still thought that the general description given about the city was exaggerated, and its accuracy was not close to reality whatsoever. Contrary to that, others thought that Port Moresby can be fairly called "the worst city to live in the world".
Personally, I've never been there. I wouldn't know then how is life in that city, and I can't be neither for or against qualifying it as a bad place to live. But some international warnings have been issued when traveling there.
Have you had any experience in Port Moresby? Share it! Post a message.

2 Comments:

At 9:17 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

i lived in moresby for a year doing volunteer work, and really enjoyed it - the weather is great (except in wet season), people mostly lovely, it has a quite laid back pacific feel and fascinating culture. While it can def be dangerous, the risks are manageable (you just don't go to certain places or do certain things), and certainly have been exaggerated in the media. But then again, i wasn't a tourist, i learnt pisin and got to know many in the community, so they looked after me. I would say moresby has very limited entertainment options tho, and is not as interesting as other parts of the country, which are the main reasons i left (plus it also pricey as many things are imported). But i would definitely go back to PNG for a holiday!

Andrew

 
At 11:16 PM , Blogger Eddie said...

Hey Andrew! That's a very interesting feedback! In fact I've never been in PNG myself and I was never able to find a positive view of the city the way you did. As I say in the post (and as you point out as well), it must be a sunny tropical place that should definitely have its natural beauty. I hope to be able to go there one day and see if I can build an opinion like yours...

Thanks for dropping by this humble blog!

 

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