Though the must find it confusing sometimes that most of the white people they meet travelling through do not have a religion and it was white man who brought God over on a boat. Surprisingly, even though it is against the law, they still practice black magic and sorcery. I did get to see some as the village people were very interested when I said I wanted to see some. They denied the use of it at first, but couldn't hold back the excitement of showing a white person magic. I even got some done to me to rid me of the evil spirits that have entered my body. I'm not sure they were unable to remove them all, some may be permanent!

In every town we learned who everyone and all the local gossip. Since I was so well integrated I decided that I should spread some gossip too. Just a regualar PNG local. Had my usual incidents filing reports at the police station and spent some well deserved time in the Mt. Hagen hospital deathly ill from drinking the water. It was great sitting in an uninspiring hospital for 3 days with an IV hanging from a nail in the wall.
We went to the Mt. Hagen Cultural Show which is once a year where all the tribal people dress in their best gear and have a big sing and dance. There were over 40 tribes chanting and dancing. It was totally heart pounding, and I swear for once second, in the mist of it all, the earth moved. It was truely sensational and incredibly colorful.

I spent my birthday on the islands off the mainland of New Ireland. I went sailing on a yacht and couldn't have had a better day. We went to some deserted islands and did some of the best snorkeling ever. have a national obesssion with cleanliness. Everyone was always so concerend about us washing. And instead of roosters waking me up in the morning, it was the sound of a broom. Sometimes I was scared to leave a cup sitting for too long as it would get whisked away and immediately washed to a sparkeling clean. They probably though I was a disgusting, dirty white person. The country in general was probably the cleanest place I have been to aiside from Australia. There are flush toilets and superb water pressure (even hot water sometimes!)

Then with a radio motor, bic pen, sewing needle, and a car battery, I painstakingly got a tatoo edged in my skin with ash as the ink. And yes, it hurt like a BITCH!

So basically, going back to Indonesia will probably be kind of boring. With lush jungles colored with birds of paradise beaming black magic from below, this is the most addictive country I have travelled through. With that being said, I will forever dream of the sensational Papua New Guinea.

After a ton of boat rides and lot of airplanes, I finally reached my destination of Papua New Guniea, which was more like reaching the end of the world, and what an amazing place it was. The last leg of the trip was the boat smuggeling route from Indonesia. It cost 25 bucks and mabey I could sell my uselful knowledge to the U.S. government. Unconvinced by those who said I would get cut up into little pieces if I went there, once again proving myself to be right - turning a 2 weeks in PNG into 6 weeks. The people were overly friendly and I got showered with gifts from the local people. They were so excited to see tourists - as they are very aware that PNG has a horrible reputation. And unlike other developing countries, people did not stare at me in wonder nor did I have any snot nosed kids following me. Probably the only place in the world I have been to where I felt totally comfortable walking the streets.
PNG has a long lasting reputation of head-hunting and cannibalism, that still exists today, even behind the backs of the freak American missionaries. In the 1700-1900's missionaries were unable to convert the people as they were killed and eaten. And since the conversion has been done in modern times (about 60 years), the missonaries were unable to kill people who didn't convert, as they did in the rest of the world. They did use practices of burning down houses and cultural artifacts, but one went to jail for arson and burning was no longer a means to spread the gospel. This also meant all of the tribes and clans have maintained strong cultural values and traditions.

With less than 1% of Earths land mass, there's over 800 different languages in PNG. Every tribe has their own language. They have a national language called Pigeon so people from different clans can communicate, and English is a standard in school. Probably about 70 percent of the population can speak 3 different languages, which is quite impressive. Though most converted now, I actually believe that alchurch is, is a place where people can get together with other clans and rant & rave, sing and spread gossip - as they are very lively people.