Mount Hagen Market is the town at its most alive. Women arrive with garden produce from the Wahgi Valley, bilums hang from stalls, live chickens change hands, and the air has the particular highlands mix of smoke, wet earth, tobacco, and sweet fruit.
It is worth visiting with a local guide or someone who knows the market rhythms. Ask before taking photographs, keep money discreet, and go in the morning when the produce is freshest and the place is busiest in a good way.