bomb hills, not countries: Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea lies on the eastern coast of the island, New Guinea, split in half with a territory owned by Indonesia in the South Pacific. Papua is one of the rawest, most rugged spots on Earth, with thousands of indigenous people making up villages all over the country. The majority of the people live in traditional societies and practice subsistence-based agriculture. I was most excited about my trip here and scheduled it for my last stop on the survey. The city of Port Moresby is quite small and the airport consists basically of a landing strip on a flat bit of land. However, as you approach, you get a sense of the dense jungle and rugged mountainous terrain that makes up the country. This has caused it to be difficult for any type of transportation infrastructure to exist. To get anywhere, or even out of Port Moresby, you have to fly to one of the other small cities.

Crowne Plaza Port Moresby

Papua New Guinea has a big expat population due to oil companies and shipping yards scattered around Port Moresby. The country may be best known for its indigenous and tribal people living outside of the city, who most famously wear bones and other items pierced in their faces and some are still cannibalistic. A common response to "I'm going to Papua New Guinea" was met with "Don't get eaten." Port Moresby is also known as one of the most dangerous cities in the entire world; run by a gang of hoodlums known as 'Raskols' who carjack, rob and rape. In fact, Port Moresby has had the most rapes per capita of any country in the world, several years in a row. This is amazing to think about once you spend time there, as the general population appears to be the friendliest, gentlest people I have ever met. Everything moves extremely slowly (you sometimes have to ask your waitress for your drink or check repeatedly before you might actually obtain it) and everyone seems quite happy; a true south pacific island.

Port Moresby Homes

I had heard of some epic surf breaks off the coast of Papua, mostly on the north side, but I was desperate to find my way out to the ocean. I made friends with some locals at a pub in town, and they pointed me towards the local surf club, which was made up of a bunch of guys on some rundown old boards (a couple with donations from some Aussies and South Africans who visited on surf trips) who frequented the islands around the mainland to take in some surf. There wasn't much break, but I got to spend a day paddling around in the south Pacific with a bunch of Papua locals, quite the experience. We finished the day with snorkeling around the neighboring islands which captivates the south side of the Great Barrier Reef, a natural wonder.