We've been in third world countries before but the Solomons, or more accurately Honiara and Guadalcanal, really have the vibe you might imagine when thinking about a developing country that is just barely stable. From here we're going to an even more remote and unstable country, Papau New Guinea.

The funny thing is, out in the villages, they have no idea what is going on with the power mongers in the city. You feel a million miles away. Stay out of the heavily populated areas and you will meet wonderful, kind people living a simple life. These are the spots we enjoy.

Before entering PNG we needed to get visas and a cruising permit. This is the first country in all our travels that has required a US national and/or a Japanese national to get a visa in advance. Strange given the country's reputation, you would think they would make it easy for people to visit to encourage the tourism. Perhaps they don't want tourists? I could see how keeping the seeds of materialism out might be beneficial as the country seeks internal stability.

The PNG high commission here is in the tallest building in Honiara, six stories. They are only open from 9-noon for visas. We managed to fill out all of the forms (including a complete itinerary of our travels in their borders), get the two passport photos and 500 Solomon dollars together before they closed. They normally produce the visas in 5 working days but after some pleading the lady at the counter told us to come by on Friday (yeah!).

We also went by the US consulate to check in. The main embassy is in Port Morseby, PNG. The office here is just a consulate but they will check you in as a US national with an itinerary through the Solomons and PNG. Not sure if this actually has any value but it was nice to look over the library in the air conditioned room and see the propaganda we're (USA) putting out there. I wanted to shake the agents had before we left but I couldn't reach her through the bullet proof glass.

We spent the afternoon on the internet trying to turn back on the various credit cards that have shut down for the betterment of our security and updating the blog. The Kitano Mendana hotel is right next to the Yacht Club and has internet and a fair Japanese restaurant. The place is not amazing but it is the best we have seen here in Honiara, a good place to get basic food, good internet and a nice seat with a view of the big boat.

I was surprised to see how trashed the beach in front of the hotel is. Plastic everywhere, glass and an old tire. Make sure to wear shoes if your going to walk through the surf to get around the fence on the way back to the yacht club (just next door).

Back at the big boat we found the sun had blessed us with enough hours to fill the batteries up. That settled it. It was an Enterprise double feature night. Roq, Hideko and I turned in early and enjoyed a cool land breeze as Captain Archer put down the bad guys again.