avoiding PNG's beaten path

Hello,

My girlfriend and I are headed to PNG for 6 weeks later this year (late April - early June). I'm hoping someone can fill us in on just how touristed the country is. It's important to us to avoid other travelers for the most part and to visit places where the people aren't burned out and cynical towards outsiders. Hence choosing PNG as a destination. Even so, in my reading it seems like there's a pretty well-established tourist route through the country. I am simply wondering about New Guinea's "beaten path," and if it even exists. We're going to skip the Kokoda Track and Goroka Show, but aside from that, if we do the more obvious and highly recommended activities (boating down the sepik, hiking in the highlands, birding in the western lowlands, etc.) are we going to be bumping shoulders with backpackers, or is meeting fellow travellers a rare occurance?

Supposing it is necessary to be a little bit more original in our trip planning, is it a particularly safe thing to try to go explore more obscure routes, presuming that you go with local guides?

It's been tough to put together an itinerary without knowing about this, so any advice would be much appreciated.

-Andy

I havent been to PNG yet, but it seems to me, after reading plenty of travel logs, contacting local tourist centers in PNG, and reading books about the country, that there is no beaten path yet. And besides, why would you want to miss the Sepik river, hiking in the highlands, or birding? I think bumping into a few backpackers here and there would be fine, because anyone that takes the effort to go to PNG is a different kind of traveler anyway.
My suggestion is that if you want some seclusion, go to the islands and enjoy a village stay.
And always keep into account, traveling around PNG will not be easy, especiialy around the highlands.
Anyway, if some of the tribes weren't "discovered" until 1938- how beaten can the path really be?

Shanna is completely right!

On my last trip, in 2 months in PNG I saw not one real backpacker, and only 2 tourists who were not on a package tour though still booked everything from home. Other than these, there are package tourists staying in upmarket resorts/hotels in a few key places like Tari, Hagen, Goroka, Wevak, Karawari and a number of beach or coastal resorts, but unless you can afford to stay at the same places you will hardly ever see them.

I can't think of any places in PNG where "the people aren't burned out and cynical towards outsiders".

If you do the recommended activities you mention with a guide, you may meet some of the package tourists, NOT the backpackers!
I think that if accompanied by a local guide, pretty much anywhere in PNG will be safe.

Read the PNG link in my signo line for more on budget travel in PNG.

Correction to the above:

I can't think of any places in PNG where "the people are burned out and cynical towards outsiders".

As the others have said you will be lucky if you bump into other independent travellers. If you do it will be cool to talk to them, because you will know they are at least the interesting sort of backpacker and not say like the certain types that ply the east coast of australia or western europe. The possible exception to the rule is the Kokoda Track where there will be groups of Australians travelling in packs along it. The villagers along the track may be the only people in the country who would be tourist jaded, but then again they do like your dollar.

andy andy - If you want to surround yourself in new experiences, cultural understandings, loveley country side, (POM is not what PNG looks like), smiling faces, friendly people and unbeaten paths...YOU WILL LOVE IT. I've visited a few time and I've never seen a backpacker, I generally meet travellers in airports which is alway's nice to hear thier travells, the other internationals I've meet live in PNG on vounteer gigs. Other that that it's pretty much all yours! It's a truely endearing country and people. cheers missy

Thanks for the quick replies, that's just what I was hoping to hear. Of course it's no problem to meet the occasional interesting traveller, and it sounds like our relative poverty will pretty well segregate us from Ambua Lodge-ing group tourists.

-Andy

hey andy...was always lucky enough to have the old man living up there and i could bunk down with him...apart from moresby, madang and maybe a couple of surfers in kavieng and now vanimo (depending on season) you don't see ANY tourists...it's seriously back country...infrastructure (ir lack there of) makes it pretty expensive travelling as well so don;t expect to rock up and wing it...it just doesn't work like that...as far as skipping things like the goroka show and kokoda...well, kokoda is a pretty amazing experience and youcan truly witness the magnitude and beauty of the country when you gotta walk across it, plus it cuts out some expensive travel time between south side and north side because you walk out of the track in popondetta which gives you easy access to the north coast...the goroka show is a must see...you're not going to be rubbing shoulders with pissed soccer hooligans and loud mouthed seppos...you'll be a white face amongst thousands of real happy "locals"!!!...so don't think that doing some of the more "main stream" activities in PNG will mean you are pissing off the local population...you'll find they love the fact you are interested in their culture and their celebrations...they're amazing people and the more you try to avoid the more obvious activities, the more likely you are to offend them...have a great time though...i've spent alot of time in PNG the last 7 years and love the place to death...one thing i highly reccommend is diving!!!...the best in the world hands down...

Oh, you identified one of the last places on earth where backpackers don´t exist!! Have a look at our travel report from Tari , Sepik River, Mt Hagen and Goroka and the diving in Milne Bay and get inspired.

PNG itself is outside the beaten path for travllers so just enjoy it!!

Best regards

EvAnders