New Guinea is the second largest island on earth. A borderline runs down its center; the western side is a part of Indonesia called Irian Jaya or West Papua, and the eastern side is an independent state (formerly an Australian colony) called Papua New Guinea, PNG for short. I spent a month in Irian Jaya, trekking into the jungle-clad mountains for ten days with my local guide and porters, and then desperately waiting another ten days for the single engine plane that was supposed to come pick us up. I then crossed the border into the more developed PNG and toured around some of the towns and islands, checking out World War II plane wrecks and an active volcano that regularly dumps ash on nearby towns.

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