An exciting story of discovery and adventure in the most primitive place left on Earth. Primitive people in the central highlands of West Papua, New Guinea aka Irian Jaya that I met while trekking in 1995. And my story of the magnificent experience.

Gupy, my Lani porter, although not understanding a word of my song, laughed as the two of us walked alone on the mountain trail in West Papua, New Guinea -- formerly known as Irian Jaya. His amusement was because I was singing a mean a cappella rendition of Cocaine Blues. Not just mean, it was subterranean mean, you know, below average. He had been singing for quite awhile and so when he got tired and stopped singing I decided to return the favor. Although I cannot prove it, I am very confident that no other person in the history of the world had walked that trail singing Cocaine Blues and, I dare say, no one has since. I have made my mark, albeit a rather obscure one! That is just one of the wonderful, amusing memories I have of this fantastic adventure!

Irian Jaya or West Papua is the west half of the island of New Guinea and just 3 degrees south of the equator. New Guinea is the second largest island in the world and it is one of the most remote and primitive places left on Earth. The people of the interior have only moved out of the Stone Age in the last 30-40 years (as of my 1995 trip). Up until the 1950s stone tools were the norm. It wasn't until steel was introduced to them by outsiders that steel axe heads, knife blades, etc. became fairly common. Before that stone axe heads and bone knives were all they had. In the south, headhunting and cannibalism were also common up until a generation or two ago. Some parts of Irian Jaya are still not truly explored and maps often have blank spots where there is not enough information available to fill in the details. The island of New Guinea is home to about 800, or 1/4, of the world's known languages. 112 pages.