1. ISBN13: 9781741045802
2. Condition: NEW
3. Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.

Editorial Review :

Discover Papua New Guinea & the Solomon Islands

Drift with the current through Sandfly Passage, a hidden submarine valley teeming with fish and manta rays
Sway to the rhythm of kundu drums at the spectacular Goroka Show
Walk barefooted into a towering spirit house along the Sepik River

In This Guide:

The only guide to Papua New Guinea & the Solomon Islands
Special color tribute to WWII battleground the Kokoda Track, new diving chapter and expanded Solomon Islands coverage
Tips from authors who've travelled safely through the region for years

Customer Review :

The first post 2008 revised edition review (this book)

The reviews below have been transfered from the 2006 edition, probably because the authors haven't changed. However this is a mistake. Lonely Planet did listen to customers and the book is now over a 100 pages longer and contains much more information on all regions of PNG and the Solomons. Sure, it's still not what it was when the countries had seperate guidebooks, but now the PNG part is almost as complex and the Solomons are getting there - the section is almost twice the length. So now this is quite a good guide for PNG at least (haven't tested on the Solomons). The advice is very useful as media coverage of PNG is generally only bad and quite false and the listings seemed accurate. As this is the only guide to PNG it probably doesn't need recomendation, but at least now you can buy it knowing that the new edition IS useful!

Rating :

A Very Poor Guide! :-(

Once upon a time, Lonely Planet had a good guide to Papua New Guinea (371 pages), and an excellent one to the Solomon Islands (279 pages). For better or worse these fascinating countries don't exactly attract hordes of holidaymakers, so after leaving those books unupdated for many years, the publisher has now decided to dump them together in this new edition (272 pages).
The result is basically a new, much slimmer guide to Papua New Guinea, with fewer than 30 pages on the Solomons (where it only actually covers half the country even nominally).
Not only has much of the detail been thrown out, the quality of information has also gone downhill sharply! :-(
The authors have very obviously never visited even major tourist destinations of PNG described in the book - as confirmed by owners of accomodations included in it, who told me they had merely received phonecalls from the author who didn't even visit most of the Sepik Region or the Highlands, for example!
Much of the "updating" seems to have been done by surfing the web, and as a result the book abounds in recommendations for expensive, upmarket places and tour-operators that do have websites, while completely ignoring cheaper, budget guesthouses which have no info on the net. Even excellent, small locally owned places that were in previous editions of the PNG guide are conspiciously missing! And as for what the authors consider "budget": their itinerary recommended for budget travellers includes staying at a 150 USD/night resort!

This book is a real shame to Lonely Planet.
If you are planning on resort-hopping on a short holiday, it will be sufficient, but if you want to explore these two countries in depth without spending a fortune, you are far better off trying to find copies of the now out-of-print old editions, which still contain far more useful information than this new guide.
Check Amazon for reviews and availablity of the old Papua New Guinea guide and Solomon Islands one.

Another cheap little book that may well enrich your travels in either of the two countries is LP's Pidgin Phrasebook.
Those keen on getting way off the beaten track in PNG on foot will still find Bushwalking in Papua New Guinea invaluable!

Rating :

Review

I bought this book hoping it would be helpful for the Solomon Islands. There was only about 30 pages about the Solomons. This book is a great guide for Papua New Guinea. I would suggest looking for older guides. I bought an older guide from lonely planet that was strictly about the Solomon Islands. It was much better, only the finacial info was definitely out of date.

Rating :

Wish there was more information about various locations

The book does not really give sufficient information about the villages which are, in fact, memorable experiences. Nonetheless, I am not aware of a better source for information about places in PNG and so recommend that someone traveling to PNG buy this book. There are a few other good books about the culture and art.

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Editorial Review :

Following the route taken by British explorer Ivan Champion in 1927, and amid breathtaking landscapes and wildlife, Salak traveled across this remote Pacific island-often called the last frontier of adventure travel-by dugout canoe and on foot. Along the way, she stayed in a village where cannibals m was still practiced behind the backs of the missionaries, met the leader of the OPM-the separatist guerrilla movement opposing the Indonesian occupation of Western New Guinea-and undertook an epic trek through the jungle. The New York Times said "Kira Salak is tough, a real-life Lara Croft." And Edward Marriott, proclaimed Four Corners to be "A travel book that transcends the genre¨It is, like all the best travel narratives, a resonant interior journey, and offers wisdom for our times."

Customer Review :

hard times to come

for kira salak in png
it feels good that kalak doesn't hide the somehow "stupid" mistakes she made during her journey (trying to track through the highland jungle with a heavy backpack...).
still it feels pretty authentic and personal.
you can either admire or feel sorry for salak for what she did there and why she had to do it.

Rating :

A great story about the first Western woman to cross Papua New Guniea

I found this to be an excellent book in which the author, Kira Salak, retraces the journey across Papua New Guinea that explorer Ivan Champion took in 1927.
This book provides amazing descriptions of Papua New Guinea. It takes you to all parts of PNG, from the cities to the inner jungles, and introduces you to the PNG native tribes and their spiritual and religious beliefs. Salak also meets with the rebel leader of a guerrilla movement fighting in Western New Guinea through a series of adventures that are reminiscent of a scene in a James Bond movie. Throughout the book, Salak discovers ways out of nearly impossible situations.
What makes the book so readable and interesting is the vivid and powerful narrative that describes the journey from Salak's own perspective. This allows us to easily join Salak in this incredible trek across PNG as we read her story.
The book begins with the events in the author's life that led to her taking this journey. Without this introduction, I think I would have spent the entire book wondering what would lead a person to take such a journey. I consider this introduction an essential part of the book, giving a unique insight into what leads someone to take a dangerous journey into the unknown.
In this book you will find a rare glimpse into the hidden world of PNG as Salak works out her demons through this difficult journey. This makes for a book that cannot be put down. "Four Corners" is an inspiring real life journey into the unknown, and a story of survival and personal triumph. I highly recommend this book.

Rating :

Does this women need help?

Please take me to task if I am wrong but
Ms. Salak seems to be a bit funny in der
kopf. On one page she is very angry
about the superstition concerning a
woman's period being evil(this is the
thinking in tribes in New Guinea)then
she decides to walk back and forth
amongst the men and try to spread 'the
evil.' Then the next page she is naked
in a lagoon. She is swimming with a man.
Then she comments, "I now know how Eve
must have felt in the Garden."(!)

Rating :

four corners

I thought book would be strictly about the native tribes. It was about some lame adventure.

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Wish there were more Salak books out there

I have read both of Kira Salak's books and thoroughly enjoyed them. I am hoping she will write another one soon. Four Corners was great and I was able to compare much of my trip to hers (although mine was not quite as adventurous). I don't feel she spoke too much on the dangers of PNG, as one reviewer wrote. The dangers are very real and different than other countries. I also enjoyed the excerpt on her travels through Mozambique included in this book. She has a gift for writing. Hurry up Ms. Salak and write another book soon!

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Editorial Review :

In an era in which explorers can use cell phones to call from the peaks of the Himalayas, Irian Jaya and Papua New Guinea have somehow remained untouched by "civilization." There are still hundreds of unknown populations in Irian Jaya, many of which are dying out. This volume introduces readers to this place that is the reign of the last men of the earth. Readers are transported into the sole remaining pockets of prehistory, untouched by time and nature, where they are given a glimpse into the lives of the people of this untamed Eden. This heritage of humanity, which will probably not withstand the advance of modernity, is examined thoroughly in a compelling text written by a journalist who specializes in in-depth anthropological research. Hundreds of specially commissioned pictures taken by a photographer renowned for his daring reportage from every corner of the globe bring to life this remarkable vestige of prehistory. Through authoritative text and unsurpassed photography, this book investigates the everyday lives of and challenges confronted by these people; evokes the island’s splendid yet hostile natural environment; and depicts the unique uncultivated characteristics of its flora and fauna.

Customer Review :

"Man As Art" In Stunning Photographs

Hardback, 11.75" x 12.5", large-format book, 288 pages, hundreds of full-color, (often full-page ), photographs. Admitedly, this is not day-to-day life in New Guinea....this is fully adorned, fully committed, fully made-up for special occasions, pedal-to-the-metal New Guinea, and the effect is viusually stunning. This is quintessential MAN AS ART (See Also : Man as Art (A Studio Book) In my opinion, The Last Men is significantly superior in capturing the awesome majesty of New Guinea Ceremonies than the book actually entitled "New Guinea Ceremonies". New Guinea Ceremonies (Photography) Indigenous New Guineans are presented in their full body paint, with extremely striking colors and patterns representing their tribal identity. Chapters include "Papua Niugini", "Asaro" (Mudmen), "Omo Bugamo" (Skeleton Warriors), the "Sing-Sing of Enga", "Kutumb (Engagement Ceremony)and several others,and includes a section on Irian Jaya (West Papua).

Rating :

A fascinating book

It is an incredible book. When the book came to my hands, what most surprised me what its size and incredible pictures.
But the reader can also enjoy a book of great anthropological value, with magnificent descriptions of the tribes in New Guinea.
Definetely, it was really a worthy purchase.


Rating :

Editorial Review :

Customer Review :

Interesting

Having visited the region where this book is set I found it mostly interesting for giving a picture of how things used to be there - they are much changed today!
For those who haven't been to the Asmat region of New Guinea, this will be a fascinating read. Those inspired to go should be prepared to find it a lot more civilized these days.

Rating :

word

I read this book and enjoyed it. Tobias is an off the books type of person, who is haphazardly entering upon territory in a why that is both remarkable but beyond the responsible range of any anthropologist. the other person reveiwing this book says that the Asmat regions are now civilized, so much the worse. there are traits common to the humanistic tradition which have thrived for millenia due to thier geografic remoteness, now the origins of our collective character is being usurped by values and judgements most purverse. Tobias was a man who belonged to a bygone era. one of color and mystisim. i rate this book highly for those who cant afford to bombard New guinea with thier tourisim and want a look at what things were like in a diffrent time and scope.

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An Odyssey...but not thee kind I wanted

A nice read but a bit too much about the author rather than about the people of New Guinea.

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outrageous but true account of life among headhunters

I read this at the suggestion of a drugged counter culture english teach in 1969 need I say more, the actual acount of Tobia's stay among the headhunters, where all other journalists who were dropped there and eaten, Tobias sheds his clothes and embraces the tribesmen and becomes one

this left such an impression on me that 30 years later i can remember all of it

going on hunts and cutting the enemy tribes limbs and heads and pileing them neatly and eating the hearts first to release thier evil sprit and use thier skulls as pillows

Rating :

Where few men or women have gone before

I read this book as a follow up to "Keep The River On Your Right". Again, Tobias takes us where few of us have ventured before. This exploration takes us to the primative people of New Guinea. Tobias gives us an excellent narrative of encounters with the people. In addition, we have insight to the politics and policies of the 1970's, when these people are invaded by the outside world as the need for natural resources become greater. Those who are interested in primative cultures, anthropology and third world experience will highly enjoy this book.

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1. ISBN13: 9781582431659
2. Condition: USED - VERY GOOD
3. Notes:

Editorial Review :

A story of extraordinary danger and adventure as a very young woman attempts, alone, a trip across Papua New Guinea.

After her first taste of the freedom found in travel at age nineteen, Kira Salak spent the next several years of her youth as a constant, impulsive traveler. Barely old enough to drink, she leaves her life behind-graduate school, a job, a boyfriend who loves her-to attempt the impossible, her dream of following in the footsteps of British explorer Ivan Champion, the first person to successfully cross the island of Papua New Guinea in 1927. She is motivated by something much deeper than simply wanting to be the first woman to make such a crossing, and as she composes this memoir she still searches for answers. Why would a lone traveler, a very young woman at that, want to embark on such a dangerous and mysterious trip? Where was her fear? Or was this all an attempt to court and indulge her fear for some larger purpose? No one, on the road or at home, could quite understand.

Kira Salak matches her adventures in these vivid landscapes with prose that is quite simply thrilling. More than a travel book or adventure story, Four Corners is a work of self-discovery in extreme, of being at great risk in places that are on the edge and being, most of the time, their equal.

Customer Review :

moving and insightful

(Memoir) Salak decides to travel across Papula
New Guinea solo and has some amazing and
some frightening adventures. She gives some
good insights into Papua New Guinea, and she
also has some exciting internal discoveries that I
found moving and insightful. She's a great
storyteller: a great and thought-provoking read.

Potentially offensive material: Some language, references to sex

Rating :

A harrowing journey of self-discovery

A compulsive traveler to remote and dangerous places, Kira Salak is on a journey of self-discovery. The trouble is, she keeps making the same mistakes. Intent on proving that she, a young, single woman, can go anywhere she pleases, she keeps setting the bar higher.

In Africa, 1992, age 20, she decides to cross war-torn Mozambique on the lawless, mine-riddled road known as the Bone Yard Stretch. Natives and tourists alike point out the dangers, but Salak convinces a reluctant trucker to take her. A former runner with Olympic aspirations, when the inevitable happens Salak manages to escape her captors. "No one knows where I am....If I died here no one would ever know." Guilt stricken, she realizes that her "self-indulgent, foolish trip" has probably cost the lives of the men whose need for money induced them to risk bringing her.

Several years later, Salak is bound for Papua New Guinea with a vague plan to "get from the south to the north of the country via the major rivers." Or, as she explains to a fellow traveler, "Actually, I have no idea what I'm going to be doing. I'm just going to wing it as I go." Again, no one knows where she is and all advice falls on deaf ears. "The only rule I try to follow religiously in life is not to listen to most people." And I suspect the "most" was an editing afterthought.

But Salak grows on you. The child of Ayn Rand fanatics, she struggles to overcome a loveless childhood through self reliance and searches for epiphany through ordeal. And she gets plenty of that, from guides who take her money and strand her in the jungle to hordes of mosquitoes, armies of roaches and plagues of leeches. She nearly repeats her Mozambique experience on a trek to a camp of refugees from Irian Jaya (invaded by Indonesia), suffers serious sunstroke after a harrowing jungle trek, gets lost on land and water and meets an amazing variety of kind and vicious people, native and foreign.

This is a colorful odyssey by a quirky narrator who both exasperates and inspires.

Rating :

Wonderful Book

I found Kira Salaks Four Corners a very good book. I have hardly been able to put it down.The only thing I found disappointing was that there were no pictures except for the cover. It would have been so nice to see these places where she went. I do hope we see another book from Miss Salak soon.

Rating :

Great read!

I am leaving for my second trip to Papua New Guinea in little under a week. I found Salak's book to be a great read! I agree with another reviewer that her introspective thoughts became a bit redundant but all in all the book flowed well and was very interesting
I would definately-- and have already-- recommended this to friends.

Rating :

Natnats, hot sun, and dangerous men.

Four corners is a tale of a 24 year old woman's journey across Papua New Guinea. Her experience makes for a wonderful read, but she overworks the "finding herself" bit. Despite the self obsessive and all too frequent maudlin tangents, Salak writes in tight prose that grips the reader early in the book and doesn't let go until the second to last chapter (the last chapter is so sappy it brought the entire book from a solid 5 stars to a 4. It nearly morphed the read from high adventure to a "chick" book).

Despite the nearly manic determination it took to make the journey, Salak is quick to acknowledge the help she got from others. There is very little chest thumping and unlike so many other adventure writers, she never claims to have "conquered" the island. Much of the writing is about the nature of the people she comes in contact with and I finished the book feeling like I had been personally touched by the peoples of PNG. I am grateful for her story and ordered a hard bound version to last another reading before passing it on to my daughter.

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