Lonely Planet™ · Thorn Tree Forum · 2020 |

# "Last frontier" countries? Less influence from the west? Country forums / Pacific Islands & Papua New Guinea / Papua New Guinea
mthawkins 00:26 UTC 21 Feb 2014 | I'm searching for countries that I like to call last frontier countries - areas that still have little influence from the west. I've been looking into Papua New Guinea, as it seems to be one of the last areas (as far as I know) where most of the popular still lives true to their ancestors. Tribes, etc. Regarding PNG, I would love to "trek" around from area to area, stumbling upon villages and towns where I may hopefully briefly stay while still experiencing the authentic PNG, not influenced by tourism. Any advise? Are there any other countries I should look into? |
Laszlo 04:54 UTC 22 Feb 2014 | Most of PNG is not influenced by tourism, but pretty much all of it is influenced by missionaries, schools and other agents of the outside world. Vanuatu is probably the other very conservative country, though definitely not "untouched" either. Ditto for Yap in Micronesia. Tourism is at its lowest levels in remote, tiny countries and territories like Tuvalu, Kiribati,. Tokelau, Pitcairn and Wallis & Futuna, but you would be surprised at quite how "westernized" the people in some of these might seem. Don't hope to find "totally untouched" people anywhere. | 1
ozziegiraffe 11:53 UTC 25 Feb 2014 | Some parts of Solomon Islands have very few visitors, especially the remote outliers like Tikopia and Anuta, and the Ontong Java Atoll. However, you are about 100 years too late for no Western influence. Pitcairn is somewhat different to the other countries, as it has no indigenous population, only descendants of the Bounty mutineers. | 2
tilos 05:03 UTC 03 Mar 2014 | The outer islands of yap aren't as affected as mainland yap, but you have to wait for a cargo ship to get to most of the islands (the ones the missionaries fly to are likely the ones to avoid). I met an anthropologist couple studying one of the outer islands, and what they described was an island with zero tourism and merely a radio link to the main Yap island. How one gets an invitation to visit such places, I don't know. Palau has some outer islands with near zero tourism, such as Sonsorol. That also involves finding ships. Keep in mind you are a very long way from medical help--while I was there, a woman got ill and it took 24 hours for the ship with a nurse to reach her, then 24 hours to bring her back to Koror! Another (very pricey) option: charter a plane to get to the far-flung northern islands in the Cooks. The Air Rarotonga tours no longer exist. | 3
Laszlo 05:16 UTC 03 Mar 2014 | I know someone who visited Manihiki in the Northern Cooks and saw his photos. They showed a place and people as westernized as any in rural Polynesia. Geographical remoteness doesn't always mean that a place is as traditional as it is remote, especially if it's a territory run by a very developed, "Western" nation like New Zealand. | 4
h2ooh 15:56 UTC 03 Mar 2014 | Manihiki is an industrialized island and very much an exception to the rest of the Cook Islands. The pearl industry has pretty much taken the place over and runs Manihiki.. | 5
mthawkins 02:42 UTC 04 Mar 2014 | Any other suggestions? I have been looking at the Mentawai islands | 6
Laszlo 03:25 UTC 04 Mar 2014 | While still of some interest, Mentawai has been horribly touristy and commercialized for decades. It's one of the few places in Indonesia I have very few fond memories of. | 7
wemso123tours 04:13 UTC 28 Apr 2014 | This post has been removed because it may not have met our community guidelines. | 8