We tapped our global network of correspondents to bring you 国产吃瓜黑料鈥檚 2012 Travel Awards: a definitive roundup of the best new adventures, exotic retreats, empty beaches, local food, bars with a view, 颅on-time airlines, screaming deals, gorgeous islands, and more. This isn鈥檛 just a collection of unforgettable trips鈥攊t鈥檚 a road map to life-changing experiences.

PLUS: A list of our Hall of Fame travel destinations.

Best Islands

The Seychelles

Culebra, Puerto Rico

Culebra, Puerto Rico

Villa North Island, the Seychelles

Villa North Island, the Seychelles

There are islands with white-sand beaches all over the world, but once you鈥檝e been to the Seychelles nothing seems to measure up. Its 115 islets lie in an end-of-the-world location 700 miles north of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean, which sets the stage of remove. Most hotels have an island to themselves, creating the illusion of a private kingdom. And the Seychelles鈥� clear waters host some of the greatest marine biodiversity on earth, attracting divers, bone-fishermen, sea-kayakers, and sailors. While you can certainly splurge鈥攖he pinnacle of indulgence is still North Island鈥攖here鈥檚 no need to empty your bank account. At the (from $88), a hotel with 14 rooms on a secluded beach on Mahe, only a cold beer will distract you from the vista of empty sand and sea.

RUNNER-UP
Culebra, Puerto Rico
On many Caribbean islands, $2.25 won鈥檛 even get you a cocktail, but on Puerto Rico it鈥檒l buy a ferry ride to Culebra, a seven-by-five-mile island that feels much farther than 17 miles away. This is a slice of bygone Caribbean, with not even a hint of a big resort or cruise ship. There are a handful of seafood shacks, small pensions, and a year-round population of about 2,000 laid-back locals. Rent a room at the (doubles from $95), then wander to the harbor to hire a boatman to take you to beaches unreachable by foot. offers scuba and snorkel trips.

Best Airline

Virgin America

Leave it to Richard Branson to inject style into the business of flying with the country鈥檚 newest major airline. The lounge at the San Francisco terminal feels like the lobby of a W Hotel, and the planes have mood lighting and hip music playing as you board. With above-average on-time arrivals and departures, the airline also features onboard Wi-Fi, seat-back screens passengers can use to order meals and cocktails, and sleek entertainment systems with first-run movies, TV shows, and music videos available at a finger swipe. (The airline will debut a system with social-media connectivity later this year.) But what really surprises are the reports of stellar customer service. It鈥檚 almost as if the flight attendants are happy to work there.

RUNNER-UP
Southwest
Because of its two-free-checked-bags policy, democratic seating, decent fares, on-time arrivals and departures, good service at check-in and in the air, clean cabins, reliable baggage handling, and helpful website, almost 15,000 readers voted tops. Enough said.

Best Travel Company

Geographic Expeditions

Our criteria in this category were exhaustive. We looked at the quality of a company鈥檚 guides, the authenticity and diversity of its trips, its level of service, philanthropic credibility, safety record, and, most important, clients鈥� reviews and experiences. While companies like Austin-Lehman 国产吃瓜黑料s, OARS, and Wild China scored high marks, Geographic Expeditions stood above the rest. For starters, has consistently taken travelers to the most remote regions of the world, from Everest鈥檚 north side to Patagonia鈥檚 glaciers to the far reaches of Papua New Guinea. This year it鈥檚 trailblazing new terrain with a ($11,450). Guided by Vassi Koutsaftis, a 20-year vet who has led treks in Tibet, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, the journey starts on the Silk Road in China鈥檚 Kashgar and tops out at the 17,056-foot advance base camp of K2. No need to worry about getting back alive. The company鈥檚 emphasis on safety comes from the top: president Jim Sano, a former Yosemite National Park ranger and search-and-rescue team member, is an accomplished mountaineer himself. The price of every GeoEx trip includes medical assistance and evacuation coverage from Global Rescue and medical-expense insurance through Travel Guard. The company has also pioneered relationships with nonprofits and NGOs鈥�37 and counting鈥攍ike the Maasai Conservation Wilderness Trust, which draws in annual tourism revenues of $750,000, all of which goes straight back to the Masai community. But the primary reason more than half the company鈥檚 clients come back for more? Its outstanding guides鈥攆rom Buddhist icon and scholar Robert Thurman, who leads meditation trips in Bhutan, to mountaineer (and 国产吃瓜黑料 correspondent) Dave Hahn, the only Westerner to have summited Mount Everest 13 times, who runs the company鈥檚 expeditions to South Georgia Island in the South Atlantic Ocean.聽

RUNNER-UP
The Wilderness Group
In 1983, Wilderness Safaris, now known as the , was founded with a simple but novel idea: offer a superior travel experience while conserving land, wildlife, and local culture as part of its business plan. The company now runs more than 60 lodges in nine countries across Africa, from rustic tented camps in Botswana to tony desert outposts in Namibia. Proceeds from guest fees go to the Wilderness Wildlife Trust, an independent entity that puts 100 percent of its funds toward conservation work, like reintroducing endangered black and white rhinos in Botswana. But customers return for the bucket-list adventures: driving hundreds of miles over-land between Botswana鈥檚 savannas, the Kalahari sands, and the Okavango Delta鈥攕potting elephants, rhinos, zebras, and lions along the way (from $5,400 per person for seven days)鈥攐r diving with whale sharks off a private white-sand island in the Seychelles.

Best New Frontier

Myanmar

Myanmar youth

Myanmar youth

Julian Alps, Slovenia

Julian Alps, Slovenia

Good news is starting to trickle out of Myanmar, formerly known as Burma. In August 2009, influential pro-democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi and her party reversed their stance on tourism (it鈥檚 no longer discouraged); elections鈥攁lbeit contested鈥攚ere held for the first time in decades; and the long-repressive regime has begun loosing its grip. Meanwhile, the number of travelers has surged about 60 percent since 2008, and more than a dozen guide services plan to debut trips this year. Still, the place saw only 310,688 travelers in 2010. (By comparison, Nepal brought in more than 600,000.) That may be due to the ethnic conflict with the Kachin Independence Army in the northern region of Kachin. But the fighting is far from the areas of the country most travelers see. So should you go? The pro-tourism argument holds that avoiding government hotels and patronizing small businesses funnels money to locals, who need it. And the appeal is undeniable. A long-standing trade embargo with the West has insulated the country鈥攆or better or worse鈥攆rom modernization. Men still wear traditional skirtlike lungis, horse carts trot dirt roads, and golden stupas and Buddhas are preserved as if in a time warp. Though independent travel is possible鈥� has a guidebook鈥攇etting permits to trek or raft is difficult, and public transportation is poor. Asian-travel specialist Effie Fletcher, of , organizes custom trips with local guides ($100鈥�$200 per person per day), including hiking through tiny Buddhist villages in the Shan Plateau mountains, rafting the Malikha River, shopping at a colorful floating market, soaking in hot springs, staying in monasteries few foreigners have ever seen, and visiting the 4,000-plus temples that have stood on the plains of Bagan for more than 800 years.

RUNNER-UP
Slovenia
Slovenia packs Mediterranean beaches, more than 87 hot springs, rugged peaks in the 9,000-foot Julian Alps, 6,000 miles of trails, and 40-plus ski resorts into an area about the size of New Jersey. Yet it gets a mere three million visitors a year, compared with neighboring Croatia鈥檚 10.6 million. Our bet? Not for long. It鈥檚 easy to get to: drive 3.5 hours from Vienna or fly from a number of European cities into Ljubljana. and locals are friendly, making independent travel easy. Fish for marble trout, Europe鈥檚 second-fattest species, in the Soca River with , or explore some of the country鈥檚 8,000 caves and mountain-bike alpine valleys with outfitter . 鈥� new eight-day trip ($3,299) includes kayaking the Krka River with a Slovenian Olympic medalist, biking through Swiss-like villages, and trekking to a vista above seven alpine lakes in Triglav National Park.

Best Camera

Canon PowerShot G-12

Professional photographers use as a spare. Here鈥檚 why: it shoots with the power and precision of a DSLR, fits in a breast pocket, captures 720p high-definition video in stereo sound, and sports a flip-out, adjustable viewing screen that allows for discreet composing. $500

RUNNER-UP
Nikon Coolpix P300
The big news is the 鈥檚 1080p full-HD video, a rarity in compact point-and-shoots鈥攅specially at this price. As for still images, it鈥檚 a 12-megapixel camera in a category that usually tops out at ten. $330

Best New 国产吃瓜黑料 Lodge

The Singular, Patagonia, Chile

Heli-skiing Thompson Pass, Alaska

Heli-skiing Thompson Pass, Alaska

Patagonia's Torres del Paine National Park

Patagonia’s Torres del Paine National Park

owners took a 100-year-old cold-storage plant and transformed it into a luxe, minimalist 57-room hotel. The best part? It sits a few miles outside of Puerto Natales, on the shoreline overlooking the glacier-backed Fjord of Last Hope, and 70 miles southeast of Torres Del Paine National Park, making it the perfect jumping-off point for guests to get immersed in this massive landscape. The lodge offers more than 20 guided adventures, including boating up the fjord, riding with gauchos on a private reserve, and trekking to the famous Salto Grande Glacier in Torres del Paine. The hotel鈥檚 spa overlooks the moody fjord, and dinner is local Magellan lamb or king crab accompanied by any of 135 local wines. Rooms, including transfer and full board, start at $580.

RUNNER-UP
Tsaina Lodge, Alaska
Want access to 15,000 vertical feet a day and 900 annual inches of Chugach powder? now operates out of the brand-new Tsaina Lodge, a sleek 24-room building nestled at milepost 35 on Thompson Pass, 40 miles north of Valdez. Each room has huge views of white-capped peaks, the restaurant serves up fresh Alaskan seafood, and the bar sports the woodstove from the legendary old Tsaina tavern, where big-mountain riders like VHSG founder Doug Coombs used to grab a microbrew. Not a bad place to return to after a perfect powder day. Seven nights lodging, 30 guaranteed ski runs, breakfast, airport shuttles, and use of avalanche gear, $8,340.

Best Luggage

Tumi Ducati Evoluzione International Carry-On

For the past seven years, Ted Alan Stedman, our Buyer鈥檚 Guide luggage expert, has tested hundreds of bags around the world. This one is his favorite. Inspired by the Ducati 1199 Panigale motorcycle, the 35-liter corners nearly as well on its durable wheels; has a telescoping handle, a full zip-around main compartment for easy access, and large and small exterior zip pockets to keep crucial small stuff handy; and slides seamlessly into an overhead compartment. The only problem? Getting your hands on one. The Evoluzione sells out fast. $545

RUNNER-UP
Patagonia Maximum Legal Carry-On
After rigorous field testing, we know that the 45-liter is enough bag for a 14-day trip to Africa. With tuck-away straps that convert the carry-on into a backpack and no wheels to add weight, the soft-sided MLC, made of 1,200-denier recycled fabric, is ideal for rugged trips that involve flights in small planes and always fits overhead. $159

Best Eco-Lodge

Mashpi Lodge, Ecuador

First, it had to have eco cred. Just as important鈥攍ocation. The striking new , with windows so large you feel like you鈥檙e suspended in a cloud forest, crushes it on both fronts. It will soon run on hydropower; sources papaya, guava, fruits, and herbs from local farms for meals; and hopes to one day be an important job-provider in the region, with a goal of hiring 80 percent of its employees from surrounding communities. The lodge sits in, and will help support, 3,200 acres of mainly primary forest in one of the most under-studied cloud forests in the world. Two and a half hours northwest of Quito, at 3,116 feet on the western slope of the Andes, Mashpi is home to an estimated 500 species of birds, 36 of which can only be found here. It鈥檚 also a place where the lucky can spot an ocelot, puma, or rare cuckoo. $1,296 per person (double occupancy) for three days, two nights, and all meals and transfers.

RUNNER-UP
Kosrae Village, Micronesia
The owners of developed the Micronesian eco-lodge in 1995, before it was trendy to be sustainable. The reason: between empty beaches, wild rainforest, and ultraclear waters teeming with coral reefs, there鈥檚 a lot to protect. Visitors kayak through mangroves, hike to ancient ruins, and dive with eagle rays and sharks. Kosrae Village hired local builders to construct the collection of nine low-impact thatch-roof cottages on a small stretch of beach, all fish and produce are purchased from local farmers and fishermen, and the lodge owners started the , which is monitored by volunteer divers. From $139 per night.

Best Off-the-Beaten Path Trip

Chiapas, Mexico

Amasra, Turkey

Amasra, Turkey

Until recently, Mexico鈥檚 southernmost state was considered a backward land of masked, murderous Zapatista rebels. What gets overlooked: the region hasn鈥檛 seen violent conflict since 1994, making its mountainous landscape ripe for exploration. Chiapas isn鈥檛 even mentioned in the U.S. State Department鈥檚 Mexico travel warning. Your biggest worry here is how to fit in all the rugged wilderness鈥� 3,300-foot cliffs for climbing near Tuxtla Guti茅rrez; the 13,200-foot Tacan谩 volcano, straddling the Guatemala border; Class III whitewater on the Lacanja River, in the 818,413-acre, jaguar-populated Montes Azules Biosphere Reserve; and hiking and mountain biking on trails packed down by centuries of use by the indigenous population, many of whom have rarely seen outsiders. Fly to the city of Tuxtla Guti茅rrez; hop on a bus for the one-hour ride to San Cristobal de las Casas, a 16th-century colonial city sitting at 7,218 feet; base out of the centrally located (doubles, $96); and piece together your own adventure with local rafting and biking guides. rents mountain bikes in San Cristobal de las Casas ($14 per day) and offers guided six-hour bike tours of nearby Maya villages, like Chamula ($50 per day), and four-hour hiking tours of the cloud forest ($17). Heads up: Chiapas is untapped for adventure tourism, so you won鈥檛 find outfitters with the latest gear on every corner. For an excellent eight-day immersion, the offers a trip that includes visits to the seventh- and eighth-century ruins Palenque and Yaxchil谩n, a stay at a jungle lodge on the Lacant煤n River, a visit to a biology research center in the Maya Biosphere Reserve, and time to explore San Cristobal de las Casas ($2,555 based on double occupancy).聽

RUNNER-UP
Central Black Sea Coast, Turkey
Turkey sees some 30 million tourists each year, but very few of them ever make it to the remote central Black Sea coast, a four-hour drive north from Ankara. Which is good for you, because the region鈥檚 mile-long beaches, empty coastline dotted with ancient cities like Amasra, and absurdly good seaside restaurants remain undiscovered. Even fewer people make it to , a pristine enclave of forests and gorges with a series of hiking trails recently crafted from ancient footpaths. English speakers are hard to come by, even in hotels. Brave it on your own or hire a seasoned Turkish guide, like Turan Kirac, who runs trips in Turkey but guides independently in this region. He鈥檒l lead you on a custom road trip from the Ottoman-era, Unesco World Heritage town of Safranbolu, along the dramatic California-like seashore, to the ancient mountain village of Azdavay (from $120 per day; kiracturan@hotmail.com).

Best New Biking Trip

颁别谤惫茅濒辞 Pro Travel Experience

Sierra Cascades route

Sierra Cascades route

Leave it to and Robinson and bike manufacturer to raise the bar for outfitted trips tied to races. This year they鈥檙e offering the Tour de France, among other custom tours. The difference? You鈥檒l be on 颁别谤惫茅濒辞 R3 team bikes鈥攁nd get to test a 颁别谤惫茅濒辞 S5, the cycling equivalent of a Ferrari鈥攁nd cover the exact same routes as the pros do mere hours before the peloton screams by. You鈥檒l ride in a paceline and have support from a team car and a soigneur for water refills and pre- and post-ride massages. And you鈥檒l schmooze with pros along the way. It鈥檚 the closest most of us will ever get to the front line of race culture. After rides like the famed Col d鈥橝ubisque on the Tour de France trip (July 14鈥�20; $4,995), cyclists sack out in grand historic hotels, gorge on butter-heavy meals, and top it all off with a snifter of cognac.

RUNNER-UP
The Sierra Cascades Bicycle Route
When the debuted the new Sierra Cascades route in 2010, the 2,389 miles connecting Sumas, Washington, and Tecate, California, became the most challenging border-to-border road ride ever designed, with some 20 passes. The good news: its leg-pulverizing challenge is matched only by its spectacular views. Tracing the Pacific Crest Trail through a greatest hits of western scenery, riders see the volcanoes of the Cascades, groves of sequoias, Lake Tahoe, the Sierra Nevada, and beautifully desolate stretches of the Mojave Desert. Pit stops include Mount Rainier, Crater Lake, and Yosemite national parks. Riders typically use the 鈥攚hich include detailed directions and landmarks like campgrounds, motels, gas stations, and bike shops鈥攖o navigate the route, which takes about 50 days to complete if you average 55 miles per day. Or bite off a chunk, like the nine-day, 446-mile stretch between Mount Rainier, Washington, and Crater Lake, Oregon (map section 2), which passes through Hood River, the Columbia River Gorge, and Bend, Oregon, where the beer flows freely.

Best New Safari

Odzala-Kokoua National Park, Congo

Next month the Wilderness Group will open the first two camps in the Republic of the Congo鈥檚 , introducing travelers to a creature few people have ever witnessed in the wild: the western lowland gorilla. Rwanda has long been known as a gorilla-watching hot spot, but in Congo you鈥檒l see few other visitors. (The peaceful country is often confused with its more tumultuous neighbor, the Democratic Republic of the Congo.) Local Mbeti trackers lead hikes through forests and savannas to observe these close evolutionary relatives foraging, socializing, and caring for young. By evening guests retire to one of two lavish camps, each with six low-impact bamboo suites. It comes at a price ($6,000 per person for a six-night safari), but the experience is singular.

RUNNER-UP
Ngoma Safari Lodge, Botswana
Because of a prescient commitment to conservation, Botswana has some of the largest concentrations of wildlife in southern Africa鈥攈erds of hundreds of elephants aren鈥檛 uncommon here. The newest addition to Botswana鈥檚 safari offerings is the luxurious community-run , which opened last spring near Chobe National Park. Each of the eight thatched suites, with atrium ceilings and canopy beds, looks over the Chobe River floodplain, which is dotted with elephants, zebra, and buffalo. From $495 per person per night, all-inclusive.

Best Beach

Mahaulepu Beach, Kauai

Catching air, Kauai

Catching air, Kauai

Ilha Grande, Brazil

Ilha Grande, Brazil

Off the coast of Ilha Grande, Brazil

Off the coast of Ilha Grande, Brazil

There are plenty of Hawaiian beaches well suited to sipping mai tais, surfing, and admiring a parade of imaginative swimwear. is not one of them. Located on the south side of Kauai, this two-mile stretch of coast is accessible only by a brain-rattling two-mile dirt road or a three-mile hike that passes by Hawaii鈥檚 biggest sinkhole cave鈥攂oth of which tend to weed out the cooler-toting riffraff. The area is considered sacred by native islanders, with ancient burial sites in the dunes and water where endangered monk seals outnumber people and whales pass by in winter. Bring a sailboard, snorkel the offshore reef, or simply take in the mountains and the sea from your own private stretch of shore. The closest hotel is the in Koloatwo miles away. This is the Hawaii of centuries ago.

RUNNER-UP
Ilha Grande, Brazil
No country does beach culture better than Brazil, and Ilha Grande鈥檚 106 white-sand ones are pristine. One hundred miles southwest of Rio and 14 miles into the Atlantic, this 75-square-mile island was once home to Brazil鈥檚 common criminals. The prison closed in 1994, and the government turned the island into a reserve. Abra茫o is the only town large enough to mention, and most beaches are a short hike, bike, or boat ride away. Lopes Mendes, with its empty lineup, is impossible to beat for surfers. Stay at ($135), a small guesthouse with a hammock on your own private balcony, a mere 150 feet from Praia do Canto beach, another beauty.聽

Best Video Camera

GoPro HD hero2 Professional

GPS

GPS

The company鈥檚 latest helmet-mountable camera has a lens that鈥檚 twice as sharp, and an image processor that鈥檚 twice as fast, as the original鈥檚. It also has an 11-megapixel sensor, up to 1080p video resolution, and an integrated battery warmer. Users cite its excellent image and audio quality and especially its bomber waterproof housing鈥攖he can handle tumbles in snow and big waves. Available in outdoor, motorsports, and surf editions. $300

RUNNER-UP
Contour GPS
This tiny, 5.2-ounce 1080p video camera is embedded with a GPS receiver that automatically tracks your speed, location, and elevation up to four times per second. Download the app to your smartphone and you have an instant wireless handheld viewfinder. The one bummer: the Contour lacks the waterproof casing necessary for soggy outdoor pursuits, which also makes wind noise louder at higher speeds. $300

Best Weekend Escape

Vancouver, British Columbia

Mount Lemmon ride, Tucscon, arizona

Mount Lemmon ride, Tucscon, arizona

A water-fall along Vancouver's Fraser River

A water-fall along Vancouver’s Fraser River

Vancouver has 250 miles of bike lanes and paths, at least 100 North Shore mountain-bike trails spread across three mountains, 11 miles of beach, the best oysters you鈥檒l ever slurp (at the ), and, within two hours inland, some of the best skiing, mountain biking, fly-fishing, whitewater rafting, hiking, and climbing on the planet. Not to mention the protected coves and bays for sea-kayaking Vancouver Island, just a 1.5-hour ferry hop away. Book聽a room downtown at the 47-room (doubles, US$89鈥�$179) and rent one of its Pashley Cruisers (US$40 per day) to tour the city. Want big mountains? Hop the train downtown for a 3.5-hour ride winding through canyons and up steep mountain grades to Whistler (round-trip from US$264). The lift-accessed has more than 4,946 vertical feet. Want watery fun? Fly-fishermen catch and release steelhead on one of the myriad Sea to Sky rivers, like the nearby Upper Cheakamus. For more water, raft the , a thrilling Class III鈥揑V ride (from US$165 per person for a day trip). Stay at the , a classic log building on the shore of Nita Lake, less than five minutes from the Whistler train station and trailheads to world-class hiking, biking, and skiing (doubles from US$229).聽

RUNNER-UP
Tucson, Arizona
World-class athletes know that Tucson is an excellent place to train in winter. For one thing, it鈥檚 warm: the dry Sonoran Desert sees 84-degree highs in October and November, and temps range from 68 to 99 February through June. Base out of the (doubles, $299), then start exploring. There are more than 500 miles of premier road biking nearby, and desert singletrack radiates in every direction, including the 16-mile Molino Milagrosa Loop east of the city, which climbs up the side of Mount Lemmon. Hikers can choose from more than 165 miles of trails in nearby Saguaro National Park.聽

Best Apr猫s-国产吃瓜黑料 Bar

Montanya Distillers, Crested Butte, Colorado

, which opened a rum distillery and tasting room in Crested Butte in November, has notably upped the standard for ski-town cocktails. They craft their Platino and Oro rums from spring water, Hawaiian sugarcane, and local honey, and have snagged an impressive amount of gold hardware at spirits competitions in the past three years. Order the Freestyle (lemon juice, basil leaves, clove syrup, pineapple, and Oro, with a turbinado-sugar rim) or the Teocalli Martini (lime, mint, cucumber-infused Platino rum, and honey-lavender syrup) at an antique bar under the 40-foot ceilings of a former powerhouse that has hosted mountain folk for over a century.

RUNNER-UP
The Rhum Bar, Beaufort, North Carolina
At the Rhum Bar, at the , it鈥檚 all about the waterfront deck, which is perched over the Beaufort Inlet. The bartender whips up an awesome mojito鈥攖hen kick back for killer sunset views. Come by car or boat.

Best Deal

国产吃瓜黑料 Camping Safaris in Kenya

Skogafoss waterfall, Iceland

Skogafoss waterfall, Iceland

Hiking north of Reykjavik

Hiking north of Reykjavik

Gamewatchers Safaris鈥� new six-night have all the trappings of an expensive tour鈥攈ighly trained guides, Land Cruisers, chef-cooked meals鈥攚ith two notable differences. Instead of swanky lodges, guests stay in simple Coleman tents (patrolled by armed watchmen at night), and instead of paying up to $4,200, clients pay $1,550. See the rare African wildcat and gerenuk, a long-necked antelope, in the Selenkay Conservancy, and watch a pride of 25 lions on the hunt in the Ol Kinyei Conservancy in the Masai Mara. Come evening, sit next to a campfire and watch the sun set behind Mount Kilimanjaro.

RUNNER-UP
Iceland
If there鈥檚 a silver lining to the 2008 implosion of Iceland鈥檚 banking system and the devaluation of the krona, it鈥檚 that the famously expensive country is now vastly more affordable for travelers鈥攑rices are down as much as 40 percent. Rent a car in Reykjav铆k and circumnavigate the island on the 830-mile Ring Road, stopping to dive the ultraclear Silfra Ravine between continental plates; hike over glacier-carved valleys to hot springs and waterfalls in the Skaftafell area of Vatnoj枚kull National Park; ; ; or fish for salmon on the newly opened ($4,000 for seven days).

Best Himalayan Trip

Trekking the Tsum Valley

Most trekkers don鈥檛 stray far from Nepal鈥檚 obvious routes, like the Annapurna Circuit and Everest Base Camp, which might explain why the Tsum Valley, a remote north-central region nine hours by bus from Kathmandu that opened in 2008, sees fewer than 500 travelers annually. That could change quickly as word trickles out about a region where women spin wool by hand, men in Tibetan hats ride jangling horses on centuries-old paths, and many households still brew homemade raksi, a local moonshine. You need a permit to trek on your own here, and local guides and porters can be found at . Or go with 鈥檚 new 27-day trip and trek with a local lama through valleys dotted with monasteries and surrounded by 18,000-foot peaks (Nov. 6鈥揇ec. 2; $4,900). 鈥檚 Tsum Valley Research Trek is another good option, a 21-day trip that passes hot springs, peaks, waterfalls, and hamlets (Oct. 7鈥�27; from $2,495).

RUNNER-UP
Mountain-Bike the Himalayas
This year, introduces a novelty: a 25-day Himalayan mountain-bike expedition between Lhasa, Tibet, and Kathmandu (May 6鈥�30; $4,890). Riders cover as much as 56 miles per day on remote four-wheel-drive roads and singletrack under the shadows of the tallest peaks on earth, including a three-day side trip to Tibet鈥檚 Everest Base Camp to see the North Face of the famed mountain. Camp and stay in guesthouses in tiny, seldom-visited Buddhist villages, ascend three passes over 16,000 feet, and top it off with a screaming 11,000-foot descent from the Tibetan Plateau to Kathmandu.

Best New 国产吃瓜黑料 Hub

Lake Wanaka, New Zealand

Paddling Vallecito Creek, Durango, Colorado

Paddling Vallecito Creek, Durango, Colorado

When tourists in New Zealand want adventure, they go to Queenstown. When Kiwis want to escape, they head an hour north to tiny Lake Wanaka, a town of 5,037 right next to Mount Aspiring National Park that鈥檚 emerging as the country鈥檚 Jackson, Wyoming. Lake Wanaka is surrounded by the Crown Range and the Southern Alps, and sits on the shore of New Zealand鈥檚 fourth-largest lake. There are two ski resorts, Treble Cone and Cardrona, roughly 20 miles away; more than 20 mountain-bike trails in Sticky Forest, five minutes north of town; endless mountainous road cycling; and 74-square-mile Lake Wanaka for sea kayaking, sailing, fishing, and swimming. The (doubles, $143), just a few hundred feet from Lake Wanaka, has an alpine-lodge feel and is an easy walk to town. Or splurge at the (doubles from $1,158), an elegant lodge on the edge of Mount Aspiring National Park that offers everything from backcountry heli-skiing to fly-fishing. Cyclists: sign on to 鈥檚 eight-day Zone ($2,999), a challenging trip that starts in Christchurch and crosses the South Island鈥檚 two major passes: 3,018-foot Arthur鈥檚 and 1,850-foot Haast. The last two days, you鈥檒l bike the 40 miles from Wanaka to Queenstown.聽

RUNNER-UP
Durango, Colorado
Durango an adventure-sports capital? Go in April and you鈥檒l see why. Within an hour of town, you can ski spring corn, nordic-ski around an alpine lake, kayak the Animas River, catch fat trout, hike a thirteener, ride 10,000-foot passes on a dizzy-making scenic byway, and mountain-bike blue-ribbon singletrack. Packed with college students and young transplants, the populace is uniquely devoted to the pursuit of fun, which might explain the four microbreweries and outsize nightlife for a town of 16,000 three hours from an interstate. Stay at the , a historic hotel that has a full breakfast and free cruiser bikes for guests (from $129). Large groups can base-camp at , a downtown vacation rental with a hot tub, views of the mountains, and singletrack right out the back door (from $1,400 per week for up to ten).

Did we mention the 300-plus days of sunshine?

Best Travel Investment

Travel Guard

More than 1,200 travel companies sell insurance to their clients. Here鈥檚 why: the insurer, which has been in business for more than 25 years, has a base policy that includes vacation and trip cancellation, travel interruption and delay, emergency medical and health expenses, lost baggage, and more. It also offers two important add-ons: hazardous-sports protection of up to $25,000, with coverage of injuries incurred while high-altitude trekking or bungee jumping, among other pursuits; and evacuation coverage of up to $1 million. Policy costs vary depending on age and the length and price of the trip, but are far less than chartering a helicopter should things go drastically wrong.

RUNNER-UP
Global Rescue
The official emergency-response service for the U.S. ski and snowboard teams and the American Alpine Club, has saved a woman gored by a Cape buffalo in Africa and climbers caught in a violent miner鈥檚 strike in Indonesia. Its medics are largely military-trained former Special Forces, and they鈥檙e like having a Navy SEAL team at your disposal. They鈥檒l not only get you out of danger, but they鈥檒l also deposit you at the hospital of your choice (wherever that may be). Individual memberships, $329 per year for medical only and $655 with security.

Best New Hotel

Treehotel, Sweden

A room at Sweden's Treehotel

A room at Sweden’s Treehotel

A room at Sweden's Treehotel

A room at Sweden’s Treehotel

A lot of great hotels have opened in the past couple of years, but we have a thing for treehouses. 鈥檚 five surreal 鈥渞ooms鈥� sit as high as 18 feet off the ground in a 100-year-old pine forest with views of the Lule River near the village of Harads (pop. 600), roughly 600 miles north of Stockholm. Choose from a flying saucer, a mirrored cube, a bird鈥檚 nest with a retractable staircase, the Blue Cone (which is actually red), and a futuristic 鈥渃abin鈥� with a rooftop deck that looks as if it鈥檚 floating in the canopy. Then there鈥檚 the Tree Sauna, a traditional wood-fired Swedish steam room with a hot tub out the door. Guests eat in the 1950s-era Britta鈥檚 Pensionat, a five-minute walk away, or order 鈥渢ree service.鈥� Doubles from $590 per night.

RUNNER-UP
Washington School House, Park City, Utah
Park City is a mecca for winter fun, with average annual snowfall of 360 inches. But few know that come summer, the crowds thin and the locals have excellent mountain biking and hiking on more than 150 miles of Wasatch trails practically to themselves. The , an 1889 National Historic Registry icon just two blocks from the town lift, is in the center of it all. Last summer the building was gutted, and it reopened in December with 12 spacious rooms and suites, a fireside lounge, a private chef, and a heated pool and spa terraced into the hillside out back, making it difficult to motivate for a ride but all the sweeter when you return. Doubles from $400 per night.

Best Surf Trip

From Cape Town to Durban, South Africa

The stunning 1,000-mile coastal drive between Cape Town and Durban offers more consistently uncrowded waves than anywhere else in the world. Why? Southern Ocean storms produce southwest waves that start as raw, monster swells in spots like Dungeons and Sunset Reef near Cape Town, then mellow out along the coast at Mossel and Victoria Bays, ultimately feeding one of the best right-hand point breaks in the world at Jeffrey鈥檚 Bay, 423 miles east of Cape Town. Past Jeffrey鈥檚 Bay, there are ridiculously empty spots, like Seal Point and East London, all the way to Durban. Rent a VW bus in Cape Town through (standard two-berth bus from $80 per day), which will drop off the vehicle at the airport, then check in at on Big Bay for surf reports, shark reports (attacks are a real threat in places), and last-minute necessities. Before hitting the coast-hugging N2 Highway, have a beer on the Bikini Deck at the Brass Bell and watch surfers take on sketchy Kalk Bay Reef. Then stop wherever the waves look good. Roughly halfway up the coast at Jeffrey鈥檚 Bay, take a break from the van and rent a room at the , a surfer鈥檚 hangout that overlooks the famed Supertubes and offers B&B rooms, self-catering digs, or an entire house (from $54 per person per night including breakfast). Splurge at die Walskipper for some of the best seafood in South Africa. In the unlikely event that you hit a bad day鈥攈ey, you鈥檙e in South Africa. Go see the Big Five.聽

RUNNER-UP
Pavones, Costa Rica
Pavones鈥檚 location鈥攆ar down Costa Rica鈥檚 Pacific coast, a jostling two-hour drive from the nearest airstrip鈥攌eeps its waves uncrowded. Services in town are limited to a couple of mini-marts, a handful of guesthouses, a beach bar, and one glorious half-mile-long left surf break called Rio Claro. Though most surfers come between March and September, when South Pacific storms bring swells across the ocean, it鈥檚 rare that the surf falls below waist-high at Rio Claro or the half-dozen other point breaks in the area. Rent one of four artfully simple stucco cabinas at ($25鈥�$35 per person), run by a laid-back American surfer and his Costa Rican wife, who offer lessons on blissfully empty breaks.

Click Here

The best travel tools to get your trip dialed

Twitter Feed:
George Hobica, the founder of Airfarewatchdog, has by-the-minute scoops on fare sales, tips for maximizing frequent-flier miles, and hints for sleuthing airfare deals.聽

Travel App:
Tell Localscope your need, from an ATM to a beer, and the magic app will search Google, Twitter, Facebook, Bing, YouTube, and other social media to turn up the best options and map them in seconds. $2

Outdoor App:
Accuterra Unlimited downloads detailed topo maps of five million square miles of recreational terrain in the continental U.S. and Hawaii. It also triangulates your location with cell service, all at a fraction of the cost of a map-loaded GPS. $30

Voluntourism Vetter:
The problem with voluntourism trips: you don鈥檛 know how effective they are. GoVoluntouring painstakingly vets and catalogs effective and ethical trips from a variety of outfitters.

Travel Site:
Local Guiding connects far-flung travelers with guides around the world. Most are licensed, some are private citizens, and the majority have been rated and reviewed by the site鈥檚 users. The result: authentic travel experiences at prices that are usually cheaper than those charged by big companies.

The post The 2012 国产吃瓜黑料 Travel Awards appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

Above It All

Lagoon Resort

SOUTHERN COMFORT: A garden path at the Bora Bora Lagoon Resort

Bora Bora Lagoon Resort and Spa, Society Islands

WITH AN OPALESCENT BLUE LAGOON, views of a velvety green ancient volcano that juts 2,385 feet into the sky, and a banyan-tree-house spa, the Bora Bora Lagoon Resort and Spa—set on its own 150-acre jungle islet—is the original South Pacific idyll.

THE GOOD LIFE: Fifty Polynesian-style thatch-roofed bungalows stand over the water on stilts. Employees leave a supply of bread near the door so you can feed the fish below. The roomy digs also have private swim platforms from which you can cannonball into the water before breakfast, which arrives via outrigger canoe.

SPORTS ON-SITE: The 160-square-foot infinity swimming pool is the largest in Bora-Bora, perfect for serious laps. Drinking mai tais at the poolside bar should qualify as exercise, too. For salt water, take a complimentary Hobie Cat or kayak for a spin in the lagoon.

BEYOND THE SAND: Check out the shark-feeding excursion. Mask-wearing guests submerge in waist-high water—safely behind a rope—while a wrangler baits the toothy predators.

THE FINE PRINT: Over-water bungalows from $830, garden bungalows from $485; 800-860-4095, . Air Tahiti Nui flies direct from both LAX (from $923) and New York (from $1,223) to Tahiti (877 824-4846, ). From there it’s a 45-minute flight to Bora-Bora on Air Tahiti (from $320; 800-346-2599, ).

Royal Davui Island Resort

Fiji

FOR CENTURIES, UGAGA ISLAND, an inconspicuous eight-acre chunk of rock, sand, and coral about 20 miles south of Viti Levu, was little more than a resting place for local fishermen. Today it serves as a refuge of a different sort: Since it opened in November 2004, the Royal Davui has become one of Fiji’s most sought-after hideaways. The marble-and-onyx bar feels straight out of a slick L.A. club, giant two-foot clamshells line the walkway to the massage studio, and gnarled century-old tree roots run across the $8.5 million property.

THE GOOD LIFE: Each of the 16 multiroom villas is designed more like a house than a hotel room, with private plunge pools, a titanic Jacuzzi bathtub, and retractable bathroom skylights. Sit down for dinner under the branches of a 100-foot banyan tree and enjoy a four-course meal of mahi-mahi with freshwater mussels or papaya ravioli.

SPORTS ON-SITE: Reef sharks prowl the 25-foot wall drops along the private coral garden circling Ugaga Island. Myriad dive sites sit farther offshore, some of which have never seen a scuba diver.

BEYOND THE SAND: The resort offers tours of Beqa Island, where you can join the village chief of Naceva for a kava ceremony.

THE FINE PRINT: Doubles from $1,013, including all meals; 011-679-330-7090, . Air New Zealand (800-262-1234, ) flies from LAX to Nadi, Fiji, starting at $806 round-trip. Forgo the nearly three-hour car-and-boat transfer to the island and take the helicopter shuttle; from $690 round-trip.

Pacific Resort Aitutaki

Cook Islands

Pacific Resort Aitutaki

SOUTHERN COMFORT: Deckside at Pacific Resort Aitutaki

DURING WORLD WAR II, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers built two miles of runway on the island of Aitutaki for use as a South Pacific refueling and supply station. These days, the bustle is gone on this fishhook-shaped atoll, 183 miles north of Rarotonga. But on an island of white-sand beaches and azure water, who needs action?

THE GOOD LIFE: Pacific Resort Aitutaki’s three beachfront villas, complete with Italian-marble bathrooms and woven-bamboo ceilings, sit atop black volcanic rock, crowning the three-year-old, 27-room resort. From garden-fresh mango-and-passion-fruit smoothies to the house specialty, ahi katsu—chile-spiced rare tuna wrapped in nori (paper-thin dried seaweed)—the resort’s restaurant is all about blending island flavor with modern flair.

SPORTS ON-SITE: The shallow waters of Aitutaki’s 20-square-mile lagoon make for some of the Cook Islands’ best bonefishing. Or ditch the fly and think bigger—because the volcanic island rises up from a depth of more than 13,000 feet, big game like marlin and sailfish are waiting to be hooked just minutes from your beachside sundeck.

BEYOND THE SAND: Guide Ngaakitai Pureariki teaches guests local medical and cultural practices on three-hour island tours. Slice your foot on coral? The meat of an utu fruit will ease the pain. Upset stomach? The juice from a noni tree eases gastroenteritis.

THE FINE PRINT: Doubles from $543; 011-682-31720, . Air New Zealand (800-262-1234, ) flies from LAX to Rarotonga starting at $806 round-trip. Air Rarotonga (011-682-22888, ) offers round trips from Rarotonga to Aitutaki starting at $263.

Traders’ Ridge Resort

Yap

OK, SO IT’S NOT EXACTLY in the South Pacific, but Yap is worth crossing the equator for. This collection of more than 130 low-lying atolls pockmarking the North Pacific between Guam and the Philippines has a mere 3,000 annual visitors. (By comparison, neighboring Palau sees 90,000 tourists a year.) The lack of outsiders, combined with sporadic access to Internet and TV, makes Yap’s culture the most intact in Micronesia—no staged luaus with stuffed pigs here. And at Traders’ Ridge Resort, the native staff loves to teach guests about their traditions, like the national addiction to chewing betel nuts. Bartender James Funwog makes it easy by shaking up betel-nut martinis.

THE GOOD LIFE: Atop a ridge overlooking Chamorro Bay, in the quiet capital town of Colonia, the 22-room Traders’ Ridge was built to resemble the 19th-century clipper ships that came here to trade. Each airy room has rich wood floors, carved paneling, and private decks. Expect Yap-inspired spa treatments (turmeric is a favorite ingredient) and seafood often caught by the chef himself. And don’t miss the spicy tuna sashimi.

SPORTS ON-SITE: Hike miles and miles through breadfruit, noni, and monkey pod trees lining millennia-old stone pathways.

BEYOND THE SAND: Hop in a skiff for the half-hour ride to Mill Channel, where you can dive with giant manta rays. Be sure not to miss the dancing in the resort’s Ethnic Art Amphitheater. The dozen basic steps are arranged into an infinite variety of hopping combinations.

THE FINE PRINT: Doubles, $215, including airport transfers; 877-350-1300, . Continental Micronesia (800-525-0280, ) offers flights from LAX, via Guam, starting at $1,925.

Sinalei Reef Resort & Spa

Samoa

WHEN WORLD LEADERS LIKE Australian prime minister John Howard visited Samoa for the 2004 Pacific Islands Forum, they stayed at the Sinalei Reef Resort & Spa. The locally owned resort, set on 33 manicured acres on the southern coast of Upolu, has open-air rooms with native teak furniture, giving the place an off-the-beaten-track Samoan spin.

THE GOOD LIFE: Each fale has three folding cedar walls that can be closed for privacy or opened for a 180-degree garden or beachfront view. Sinalei completed the most luxurious of the resort’s 27 rooms—including the Honeymoon Villa, which has a private spa pool framed between a large deck and the beach—in August 2004.

SPORTS ON-SITE: Sinalei offers something most luxury resorts can’t: world-class surf. More than a half-dozen surf breaks, including hollow lefts like Siumu and Nuusafee, break within a 30-minute boat ride. Maninoa Surf Camp (011-61-2-9971-8624, ), right next door, will take you wherever the surf is best.

BEYOND THE SAND: Begin the day scanning the horizon for whales at the South Pacific’s first national park, O Le Pupu-Pue (translation: “From the Coast to the Mountaintop”). Then hike past an enormous swallow-filled lava tube and take a shower under the powerful cascade of Cedric Falls. Or head to Samoa Breweries, just outside Apia, for a taste of the island’s award-winning national suds.

THE FINE PRINT: Doubles from $239, including breakfast, airport transfers, and various activities; 011-685-25191, . Air New Zealand (800-262-1234, ) flies from L.A. to Apia, Samoa, starting at $848 round-trip.

Reflections on Rarotonga

Cook Islands

Reflections on Rarotonga

SAVAGE MEETS SUBLIME: Mirror image at Reflections on Rarotonga

UNTIL RECENTLY, RAROTONGA, a 26-square-mile volcanic cone in the South Pacific, was known as a prime offshore tax haven and money-laundering center. It’s also a good place to cleanse the soul, and Reflections on Rarotonga, the Cook Islands’ charter member of Small Elegant Hotels of the World, wants to heal you one massage at a time. Reflections’ sister hotel, Rumours of Romance, opened in Muri Beach last September, offering all the cush of Reflections plus indoor and outdoor waterfalls.

THE GOOD LIFE: Whole days can slip away in your 1,500-square-foot-plus “room”—complete with super-king four-poster bed—but the champagne brunch might coax you out. For a private alternative to the ocean, head for your six-foot-deep backyard plunge pool.

SPORTS ON-SITE: Grab a sea kayak and paddle for the outer reef, less than a half-mile offshore. Drop anchor, slip on your snorkeling gear, and find Nemo or his parrotfish brethren.

BEYOND THE SAND: After your subaquatic survey of the reef, get a gull’s-eye view with a 30-minute 国产吃瓜黑料 Flights Rarotonga ultralight or paragliding flight that—in the right wind—can take you around the entire island. Soaring across clear skies and over a vivid multicolor ocean begs the question “How many shades of blue are there?”

THE FINE PRINT: Doubles at Reflections on Rarotonga start at $350, including airport transfers; 011-682-23703, . Doubles at Rumours of Romance start at $595, including airport transfers; 011-682-23703, . Air New Zealand (800-262-1234, ) flies from LAX to Rarotonga starting at $806 round-trip.

Kia Ora Sauvage

Tuamotu Archipelago

SAUVAGE MEANS “WILD,” which is what you get at Kia Ora Sauvage, set on an 11-acre islet accessible only by boat, one hour away from the island of Rangiroa. The resort has no electricity and no phone—nothing other than a white, sandy, palm-tree-dotted beach, five rustic thatch-roofed bungalows, and an open-air dining room. If you want to eat fresh, speargun-armed staff members will buzz out in a fishing boat and return with dinner; think grouper or snapper. Later, the only distraction is a sky full of constellations.

THE GOOD LIFE: The five bungalows all face the coral-studded lagoon and are separated by sand and palms. Each is equipped with the basics: a large bed draped in mosquito netting, a bathroom with a hot shower and seashell-stringed curtain, and a sink shaped like a giant clam.

SPORTS ON-SITE: Before boarding the boat at Rangiroa, guests are given snorkeling gear so they can swim among the harmless blacktip reef sharks. Or try spearing a parrotfish.

BEYOND THE SAND: Most guests combine a visit to Kia Ora Sauvage with one at its sister hotel, Kia Ora, on Rangiroa, a world-class scuba operation.

THE FINE PRINT: Doubles from $400 (two-day minimum). The round-trip boat ride to Kia Ora Sauvage is $200 for two people (011-689-931-117, ). Air Tahiti Nui flies direct to Tahiti from both LAX (from $923) and New York (from $1,223; 877-824-4846, ). From there it’s a one-hour flight to Rangiroa on Air Tahiti (from $326; 800-346-2599, ).

Jean-Michel Cousteau Fiji Islands Resort

Fiji

LANGUID DAYS UNDER LEMON TREES at Jean-Michel Cousteau Fiji Islands Resort drip by with such tropical serenity that the universe could be on the verge of collapse and few surf-soaked guests would bother to stir. Can you blame them? They’re on Vanua Levu, Fiji’s second-largest island, snoozing on orange futons by the pool under the swish of paddle fans.

THE GOOD LIFE: Twenty-five bures with vesi-wood floors pepper the grounds under mango and palm trees. Inside each, a king bed, private bath, and writing table sit under vaulted, thatched ceilings. Leave the wood blinds open to feel the night breeze pour through the screens.

SPORTS ON-SITE: Some of the best snorkeling on the planet is right off Cousteau’s pier, where myriad soft corals wave in the currents and big guys like docile eagle rays cruise off the shelf. Or work your core with a morning yoga class taught just off the beach.

BEYOND THE SAND: Head for the secret sandy beach around the point from bure number 25 with a stubby of Fiji Bitter and melt in the waves while the sun sinks. L’Aventure, the resort’s 37-foot dive boat, takes guests to Namena Island, a marine reserve an hour by boat from Cousteau, where you’ll find wall dives with a rush-hour volume of barracudas, sharks, and corals. Or paddle a kayak half a mile out to Naviavia, Cousteau’s private island.

THE FINE PRINT: Doubles, $535–$1,950 (minimum one-week stay may be required), including all meals, most activities, and airport transfers; five-day packages of daily two-tank dives cost $512; 800-246-3454, . Air Pacific flies nonstop from LAX to Nadi starting at $900 (800-227-4446, ). From Nadi, Sun Air offers daily one-hour flights to Savusavu, on Vanua Levu, for $123 each way (800-294-4864, ).

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REEF MADNESS Mix your altruistic nature with your hedonistic urges. Help gather data assessing coral bleaching, growth, and reproductive cycles while scuba diving the soft corals at Rainbow Reef, off the Fijian island of Taveuni—all for only $1,795 for a seven-night package. Work with the nonprofit group Reef Check and stay at the oceanfront Garden Island Resort. The rooms are a bit motel-like, but the rate includes airfare from Los Angeles, two dives a day for five days, lodging—plus the front desk can organize horseback rides when you’re not “working.” Contact: Aqua-Trek, 800-541-4334, .

DEALS TO DIVE FOR Bilikiki Cruises Ltd. (800-663-5363, www.bilikiki.com) is offering a 16 percent discount on its all-inclusive, seven-day April scuba diving cruise in the Solomon Islands. For only $1,757 (normally about $2,100), live aboard a 20-passenger, 120-foot ship, which cruises Florida Island, the Russell Islands, and the Marovo Lagoon, stopping for dives at precipitous walls, WWII wrecks, and clusters of hard and soft corals.

Castaway Adentures

Explore

Kayaking for Calories

On Explorers’ Corner’s 13-day sea-kayaking trip through the Rangiroa atoll (200 miles north of Tahiti), you’ll live like a castaway and eat like a king. (Sample fare: poisson cru, fresh reef fish mixed with lime, onion, and coconut milk.) Feast away. You’ll need the calories as you sea- kayak among the Tuamotus’ 78 isolated atolls, camp on untouched sand, prowl the reefs like a shark, and bushwhack across uninhabited islands. Cost: $3,950. Contact: Explorers’ Corner, 510-559-8099, www.explorerscorner.com. Dates: April 12-25, July 19-August 2, October 18-31.


Savasana and Then Some

Indian ascetics may have invented yoga, but you won’t have to renounce a thing on this yoga-centric multisport trip to the Fijian island of Beqa. For ten days, stay steps from the beach in one of Lalati Resort’s five hutlike bures, with wraparound lanais, and wake up to “power” yoga classes with Rusty Wells, a popular San Francisco脨based teacher. Spend the rest of the day diving, snorkeling, river rafting, surfing, hiking, or kayaking; spend the evenings enjoying local traditions, such as watching skin sizzle at a Fijian fire-walking ceremony. Cost: $1,985. Contact: Zolo Trips, 800-657-2694, www.zolotrips.com. Dates: January 16-25.


Take Me Out to the Boneyard

Be the first to stalk little-plundered populations of bonefish in the remote Tuamotu Archipelago, which sprawls over 1,000 square miles of Pacific Ocean. The volcanic atolls off the Tuamotus are mostly uninhabited, so you’ll live on a 58-foot sailing catamaran for seven days and walk onto the flats with expert guides. The bonefishing may be catch-and-release, but the gourmet chef and his staff will serve up fresh-caught mahi mahi. Cost: $4,400. Contact: Orvis Travel, 800-547-4322, www.orvis.com/travel. Dates: January 25-February 1, February 22-March 1, March 1-8, March 15-22.

Castaway Adentures

Relax

Relax
HOME NOW When you’re swinging from a hammock and grilling shrimp on a private deck tucked into a forest of banyan trees and kentia palms, it’s hard to imagine life beyond Lord Howe Island. In 2002, the Arajilla Retreat renovated 12 rooms, turning them into sophisticated Asian-influenced suites, each with complimentary use of snorkeling gear, fishing tackle, and backpacks. Cost: Suites start at $145 per night. Contact: Arajilla Retreat, 011-61-2-6563-2002, .

THE NEW LAGOON One look at the island of Aitutaki’s lagoon—30 miles in circumference, 15 feet deep, and ringed by islets—and you’ll see why the designers of Pacific Resort Aitutaki placed this retreat on 17 beachside acres. Some 145 miles north of the Cook Islands, this cluster of 28 palm-roofed villas and bungalows, set in hibiscus gardens, just opened in October 2002. Cost: $350 per night. Contact: Pacific Resort Aitutaki, 011-68-2-20427, .

News
Free Flipper Help researchers observe 11 Pacific bottle-nosed dolphins at one-year-old Dolphins Pacific—the world’s largest natural habitat for dolphin research—on Ngeruktabel Island in Palau. These ocean mammals are free to roam a 200-million-gallon roped-off lagoon, while visitors swim and scuba dive to learn more about dolphin behavior and ways to protect them in the wild. Reach the lagoon via a five-minute boat journey from the town of Koror. Cost: $80 per swim, $120 per scuba dive. Contact: Dolphins Pacific, 011-680-488-8582, . Dates: year-round.

The Shipping News

Oceania personified: Micronesia’s Truck Lagoon

Cargo ships crisscross Oceania like 18-wheelers do American interstates, offering cheap access to the South Pacific’s island oases. Keep in mind, however, that these ships stay true to the spirit of adventure: Prices, boats, and itineraries often change.


The Marquesas: Twice a month, the 250-foot Taporo 4 makes a 15-day voyage to these craggy islands 800 miles northeast of Tahiti, stopping at seven atolls en route. Private cabins aren’t available, but there’s decent cafeteria food. Cost: round-trip fare, $450 for deck passage. Contact: 011-689-42-63-93.


The Tuamotus: To travel to these 80 small specks 200 miles north of Tahiti, track down the Mareva Nui in Papeete’s harbor. More primitive than the Taporo 4, this 180-foot freighter makes four-day round-trip excursions to Rangiroa and its immense lagoon. Cost: $139. Contact: 011-689-42-2553.


The Tokelaus: Every two months, a ship chartered by the Office for Tokelau Affairs makes the 800-mile, seven-to-eight-day round-trip voyage from Western Samoa north to this lonely atoll. The ship stops at each of the Tokelaus’ three reef-bound islands: Fakaofo, Nukunonu, and Atafu. Cost: Cabin fare runs about $200, deck fare about half that. Contact: To make reservations, write to the Office for Tokelau Affairs, Apia, Western Samoa. They’ll answer. Really.


Micronesia: The 300-foot Micro Glory, operated out of Pohnpei by the Federated States of Micronesia, travels southwest on an 11-day, 900-mile round-trip voyage to some of the most remote islands in the world—Mokil, Pingelap, Sapwuahfik, Nukuoro, and Kapingamarangi. Cost: about $250 for a cabin and all meals. Contact: Call 011-691-320-2235 or write to the Public Affairs Office, Pohnpei State Government, Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia.


The Solomon Islands: Try the four-day trip to Gizo, in the Western Provinces, about 200 miles northwest of Honiara, aboard the 200-foot Luminao. She makes 11 stops at tiny island villages and provides first-class cabins, a small refrigerator, a cold shower, and a toilet. No food is served, so stock up before you depart. Cost: $90 round-trip. Contact: Wings Shipping Co., P.O. Box 9, Honiara, Solomon Islands.

The post Castaway 国产吃瓜黑料s appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

We’ve learned a lot in a quarter-century of roaming the planet. This month, to kick off 国产吃瓜黑料‘s silver anniversary, we’ve chosen 25 bold, epic, soul-nourishing experiences that every true adventurer must seek out—from the relatively plush and classic to the cutting-edge and hard-core. All that’s left for you is the easy part:

How do you put this thing in reverse? Heavy traffic in Kaokoveld, Namibia

GET OUT THERE





Our resident gadabout’s cri de coeur to get you off your duff and out chasing your dreams.
BY TIM CAHILL
Follow in the Footsteps of Greatness, Make a First Ascent, Get Lost in Your Own Backyard


Live a South Seas Fantasy, Track Big Game on Safari, Scare Yourself Witless on a Class V River


See the World from Behind Bars, Journey to the Ends of the Earth, Paddle with the Whales


Free Your Soul on a Pilgrimage, Explore Majestic Canyons, Help Save an Endangered Species


Master the Art of the F-Stop, Ski Infinite Backcountry, Take an Epic Trek


Get Culture Shocked, Go Polar, Stay Alive!


Swim with Sharks, Pursue Lost Horizons, Behold the Wonders of the Cosmos


Jump Down the Food Chain, Gallop Through the Surf, Cast Away in Paradise, Break On Through to the Other Side

Exotic Places Made Me Do It

Meteora Monestery, Greece

“A SUBMERSIBLE VOYAGE under the North Pole?” The radio host was leafing through a copy of 国产吃瓜黑料, reading off destinations and activities in tones of rising incredulity. “Trekking with pygmies in the Central African Republic? Backpacking in Tasmania? Swimming with sharks in Costa Rica?”


Talk-show hosts, I’ve discovered, often think confrontational interviews are audience builders. I said that the magazine strives to put together the ultimate traveler’s dream catalog. It wasn’t all about diving with sharks.


“A dogsled expedition in Greenland?”


“For instance,” I said.


“My idea of a vacation,” the guy declared, “is a nice oceanfront resort, a beach chair, and a pi-a colada.”


“Mine, too,” I said. “For a day or two. Then I’d go bug spit. I’d feel like I was in prison. I’d want to do something.”


Who, the host insisted, wants to, say, trek across Death Valley? His listeners wanted to lie on the beach and drink sweet rum concoctions.


The urge to grab the guy by the collar and slap him until his ears rang was nearly overwhelming.


But I didn’t. “I think that’s a serious misconception about who listens to this show,” I replied. It was, I thought, a serious misconception about human beings altogether.


So I did my best to defend all of us who aren’t in our right minds. These—I said of the destinations and adventures mentioned—are dreams. Everybody has them, though they often come in clusters when we’re younger. A lot of us first aspired to far-ranging travel and exotic adventure early in our teens; these ambitions are, in fact, adolescent in nature, which I find an inspiring idea. Adolescence is the time in our lives when we are the most open to new ideas, the most idealistic. Thus, when we allow ourselves to imagine as we once did, we are not at all in our right minds. We are somewhere in a world of dream, and we know, with a sudden jarring clarity, that if we don’t go right now, we’re never going to do it. And we’ll be haunted by our unrealized dreams and know that we have sinned against ourselves gravely.


Or something like that. Who knows? I was just sitting around talking with some doofus on drive-time radio.


Then it was time to take phone calls. It would be satisfying to report that each and every caller agreed with me, that they excoriated the host for blatant imbecility, and that the host, convinced of my superior perspicacity, apologized then and there.


It didn’t happen quite like that. But many of the listeners did, in fact, reject the pi-a-colada paradigm. Several seemed positively gung ho about the idea of travel under stressful conditions in remote areas. It gave me hope that somebody might even call in and ask The Question—the one that anyone who’s been writing about travel for any length of time gets asked. And then someone did:


“Can I carry your bags?”


THE MAJORITY OF THE PEOPLE I meet and chat with have their own peculiar travel fantasy. The dream varies from individual to individual, but it almost never involves seven endless scorching days in a beach chair.


Sometimes, after public-speaking engagements, it is my pleasure to sit and sign books. I speak with people then, and often they tell me about these fantasies, sometimes in hushed voices, as if the information were embarrassing and someone might hear. I suspect they fear the scorn of people like the radio talk-show host. They imagine they will be thought immature. Adolescent.


That’s why the words “Let’s go!” are intrinsically courageous. It’s the decision to go that is, in itself, entirely intrepid. We know from the first step that travel is often a matter of confronting our fear of the unfamiliar and the unsettling—of the rooster’s head in the soup, of the raggedy edge of unfocused dread, of that cliff face that draws us willy-nilly to its lip and forces us to peer into the void.


I’m convinced that we all have the urge in some degree or another, even the least likely among us. And we’ve never needed to respect and reward that urge more than we do now. Consider the case of my literary agent, Barbara Lowenstein, a stylish New Yorker, a small woman, always perfectly coiffed, tough and straightforward in her business dealings, and a terror to any ma”tre d’ who would dare seat her at a less than optimal table. Still, every year for the last decade, she has taken a winter trip to this river in Patagonia, or that veld in Africa. She’s been in places where baboons pilfer your food and monkeys pee on your head.


This year, after the September 11 attacks, people were, initially, amazed that she was still going anywhere at all. “It’s Spain and Morocco,” Barbara told me in October. “Not my usual. But people still think I’m crazy to go.”


I spoke with her just before she left on her trip in late December. I asked if people still questioned her sanity.


“No,” she said. “New York seems to be getting back on track. People have stopped asking ‘Why?’ and have started asking ‘Where?'”


What follows is the best answer to the latter question we’ve ever compiled: a life list of destinations, of dreams that won’t die. Read it. Try to refrain from drooling.


Can I carry your bags?

It’s a Real, Real, Real, Real World

One advantage in this dicey new world: “国产吃瓜黑料 travel” is finally living up to its name. While it’s true that previously unimaginable roadblocks are now as common as Oldsmobiles outside a Lions Club luncheon, odds are you won’t run up against them. But in case you find yourself S.O.L. in Sulawesi, our quick fixes for your worst nightmares.


Dilemma: A Third World crossing guard won’t let you into the Fourth World nation through which your third-rate travel agent booked your flight home. Creative Solution: High time you learned the ancient art of bribery. Cash is good, but don’t bother if it’s less than a $50. Low on bills? Freak out so they’ll pay you just to leave. Eat a couple pages of your passport or develop a contagious itch.
Dilemma: You’re trying to look like everyone else buying yak butter at the market in Hostilistan, but your clothing, gear, and pearly-whites scream U-S-A! Creative Solution: Memorize “I am Canadian” in 20 languages. Here’s a start: Je suis canadien. Ich bin Kanadier. Soy candiense. Wo sher jianada ren. Ana Kanady…



Dilemma: Your guide seemed like such a stable fellow when he loaded the duffels into the Land Cruiser. But three days later, he’s foaming at the mouth and stealing your tent poles to build an altar to Zolac, the God of Dead Ecotourists. Creative Solution: Finally, all that Survivor tube time pays off. Size up your group for an impromptu insurrection: Identify anyone who’s a telemarketer or attorney. Offer him/her as a ritual sacrifice to Zolac. Run like hell.


Dilemma: All you needed to bring, your carefree island-hopping friends said, was a bikini bottom and a cash card. Two weeks later, one is full of sand, the other completely drained. Creative Solution: (1) Get to an Internet portal, auction the bikini bottom on eBay, invest proceeds in bargain-priced Enron stock, wait. (2) Using rusty Craftsman pliers you found on the beach, extract gold crowns from the teeth of your carefree island-hopping friends, sell to village black-market jeweler. (3) Bite the bullet and call Mom collect.


Dilemma: Revolutionaries are headed for your remote camp with less than neighborly intentions. Creative Solution: (1) Climb a cliff, spend night on portaledge (be sure to push suspected militants off the edge first), wait for Kyrgyz Army to save you. (2) Booby-trap your campsite. First, turn fire pit into flaming cauldron of hell by greasing surrounding uphill slope with copious amounts of Gu. Carve a figurine out of campfire log, leave it propped against tent with Leatherman blade stuck directly through its head. Finally, rig a tent-pole snare and trip wire to hurl your ultra-crusty SmartWools directly at encroachers.


Dilemma: The airport security guy is sizing you up with a leer that says only one thing: Strip search. Creative Solution: (1) Preempt the search and voluntarily get naked, then start humming “Dueling Banjos.” (2) Ask him if he understands the phrase “uncoverable oozing lesions.”(3) Snap your teeth, bark, and threaten to bite.


Dilemma: To all the other revelers, it’s just your average disco ball and smoke machine. But when it comes to public places, you’ve got pre-traumatic stress disorder. To you it’s a stun-grenade precursor to absolute mayhem. Creative Solution: Relax, already. Get your groove on. It’s likely all that screaming is a just an overzealous reaction to techno-punk. But if not, what better way to go out than in a sequined halter?

The Red Planet: California’s Death Valley

1. Follow in the Footsteps of Greatness
Tibet / Mallory and Irvine’s Everest
It’s everything but the disappearing act: Follow the route of doomed explorers George Mallory and Andrew Irvine from Lhasa to Rongbuk Monastery, the sacred gateway to Mount Everest. You’ll camp and hike in the spectacular Rongbuk Valley, with jaw-dropping views of the world’s highest peak, before trekking to 17,900-foot Advanced Base Camp, from which the intrepid mountaineers launched their fatal summit attempt in 1924. OUTFITTER: Geographic Expeditions, 800-777-8183, WHEN TO GO: May, June, October PRICE: $4,945 DIFFICULTY: Moderate

USA / Idaho / Biking the Lewis and Clark Trail
(NEW TRIP) Retrace a portion of Lewis and Clark’s historic route as you pedal 85 miles on the Forest Service roads of the Lolo Trail, which winds through Idaho’s remote Bitterroot Mountains. But what took the explorers eight days in 1805, and drove them to eat three of their horses, will take you only five: You’ll bike 20 miles per day, and you’ll dine on grilled salmon, chicken diablo, and chocolate fondue. At night around the campfire, your guides will double as history professors, discussing Lewis and Clark’s journey and their interactions with Chief Joseph and the Nez Perce. OUTFITTER: Western Spirit Cycling, 800-845-2453, WHEN TO GO: July-September PRICE: $895 DIFFICULTY: Moderate

South Pacific / In the Wake of the Bounty
Your 22-day cruise won’t involve a reenactment of Fletcher Christian’s legendary 1789 mutiny, but you will meet his family. After three days exploring the mysterious stone ruins of Easter Island, you’ll board a 168-passenger expedition cruise ship and motor 1,200 miles west to the tiny Pitcairn Islands, to which Christian eventually piloted the Bounty and where the 48 residents boast mutineer DNA. Continue with visits to a dozen more exotic Pacific islands: You’ll snorkel in the Marquesas, look for crested terns with the onboard ornithologist in the Tuamotus, and follow a dolphin escort into Bora Bora’s lagoon. OUTFITTER: Wilderness Travel, 800-368-2794, WHEN TO GO: March, April, October, November PRICE: $7,665 DIFFICULTY: Easy

TRIP ENHANCER
Apple iPod MP3 Player
The sleekest, best-designed, and priciest MP3 player going. Apple’s iPod ($399; ) quickly stores up to three decades’ worth of greatest hits (1,000 tunes) and can play them for nearly ten hours straight. Sufficient entertainment even for the longest transpacific flight.

2. Make a First Ascent
China / Into the Kax Tax
(New Trip) Last year, Colorado mountaineer Jon Meisler used a century-old map to rediscover a hidden rift valley in western China’s Xinjiang province that provided access to some 30 nameless peaks in the Kax Tax range. Most of the mountains allow for four- or five-day assaults over nontechnical terrain to 20,000-foot summits. This year’s monthlong guided trips include an acclimatization hike into valleys inhabited by wild yaks, blue sheep, and Tibetan brown bears. OUTFITTER: High Asia Exploratory Mountain Travel Company, 800-809-0034, WHEN TO GO: June, August PRICE: from $5,000 DIFFICULTY: Strenuous

Greenland / Gunnbj酶rn Fjeld and Beyond
Pioneer a route up a 10,000-foot peak on your 14-day expedition to eastern Greenland’s Watson Range. A Twin Otter loaded with ropes, skis, and frozen chicken will fly you to base camp about 225 miles south of Ittoqqortoormiit, on the eastern fringes of Greenland’s icecap. After warming up on a four-day climb to the summit of 12,139-foot Mount Gunnbj酶rn Fjeld, your group will decide which of the 50-odd surrounding mountains to climb. OUTFITTER: Alpine Ascents International, 206-378-1927, WHEN TO GO: June PRICE: $9,500 DIFFICULTY: Strenuous

Bolivia / Exploring Apolobamba
Spend ten to 13 days in northern Bolivia’s Apolobamba range, tackling the unclimbed south face of 18,553-foot Cuchillo or a virgin peak in the Katantica group. You’ll trek on llama trails beneath glacier-cloaked peaks and watch condors soar over your base camp before you start the dirty work of picking a peak and route to fit your abilities. OUTFITTER: The 国产吃瓜黑料 Climbing and Trekking Company of South America, 719-530-9053, WHEN TO GO: June PRICE: $1,600-$2,575 DIFFICULTY: Strenuous

3. Get Lost in Your Own Backyard
USA / Minnesota / Paddling the Voyageur International Route
In the 60 miles between your put-in and take-out in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, you’ll find little more than a chain of pine-fringed lakes connected by muddy portages—so stopping to buy Advil is not an option. But the untouched land-scape on this ten-day canoe trip, which follows an 18th-century fur-trading route on the Canada/Minnesota border, from Saganaga Lake to Crane Lake, will keep your mind off your aching shoulders. At nightly lakeshore camps, look for bald eagles and timber wolves, and listen for the call of the loon. OUTFITTER: Wilderness Outfitters, 800-777-8572, WHEN TO GO: May PRICE: $1,649 DIFFICULTY: Moderate

USA / Alaska / Rafting the Nigu River
(New Trip) Paddle a four-man raft for 70 miles and ten days down the lonely Nigu, and it’s likely you won’t see another two-legged soul. A plane will drop you in the middle of the Brooks Range, where you’ll paddle the Class II water through rolling carpets of rhododendrons and lupines. From your riverbank camps, watch vermilion skies as they illuminate bears, wolves, and herds of migrating caribou. OUTFITTER: Arctic Treks, 907-455-6502, WHEN TO GO: August PRICE: $3,150 (includes flights between the Brooks Range and Fairbanks) DIFFICULTY: Moderate

USA / California / Death Valley Hike
Step out of the daily grind and into the empty moonscape of Death Valley National Park. You’ll hike four to ten miles a day through serpentine slot canyons and over 100-foot-high sand dunes and white borax-crystal flats, camping out under surprisingly serene skies. Yellow panamint daisies, magenta beavertail cactus blossoms, soaring peregrine falcons, and red-tailed hawks will convince you that the area is far from dead. OUTFITTER: REI 国产吃瓜黑料s, 800-622-2236, WHEN TO GO: March, April PRICE: $895 DIFFICULTY: Moderate

Paradise on the rocks: Palau, South Pacific

4. Live a South Seas Fantasy
Micronesia / Chuuk, Palau, and Yap Snorkeling
Micronesia’s abundance of sea fans and staghorn corals makes for some of the world’s best snorkeling, never mind the manta rays floating between giant Napoleon wrasses and downed WWII Zeros. For 16 days you’ll stay at beachfront lodges on Chuuk, Palau, and Yap to explore the 82-degree seas in outrigger canoes and visit Jellyfish Lake, home to hundreds of the stingerless blobs. OUTFITTER: World Wildlife Fund, 888-993-8687, WHEN TO GO: March, April PRICE: $5,495 (includes round-trip airfare from Los Angeles) DIFFICULTY: Easy

Papua New Guinea / Exploratory Sea Kayaking
(New Trip) Volcanic walls and 100-foot waterfalls provide the backdrop for paddling inflatable kayaks 75 miles on this exploratory 13-day mission around the Tufi Peninsula and Trobriand Islands of southeastern New Guinea. Snorkel in 80-degree water teeming with leather sponges, sheets of table corals, and schools of Moorish idols. When the cicadas rattle, retire to a thatch-roofed guest house or pitch a tent right on the sand. OUTFITTER: Mountain Travel Sobek, 888-687-6235, WHEN TO GO: March, April, November PRICE: $3,190 DIFFICULTY: Moderate
Fiji / 国产吃瓜黑料 Sailing
(New Trip) The Fijian high chiefs keep the Lau Islands closed to tourists to preserve their wild blue waters and secret coves. Lucky for you, your guides have family ties. Spend four days with 40 others aboard a 145-foot schooner, the Tui Tai, sailing north from Savusavu. You’ll anchor off islands with newly built singletrack (bike rentals included), 900-foot cliffs to rappel, and a maze of waterways to explore by sea kayak. Before the waves rock you to sleep in a specially prepared bed on deck, look overboard for glowing squid eyes. OUTFITTER: Tui Tai 国产吃瓜黑料 Cruises, 011-679-66-1-500, WHEN TO GO: Year-round PRICE: $300 (three nights); $375 (four nights) DIFFICULTY: Moderate

5. Track Big Game on Safari
Botswana / Okavango Delta by Horseback
Go lens-to-snout with the wildest creatures on the wildest continent. On this eight-day safari you’ll spend five days cantering with herds of zebras, milling among feeding elephants, and getting close to the lions, cheetahs, and leopards that roam the marshy plains of Botswana’s Okavango Delta. Then it’s out of the saddle and into a Land Rover for three more game-packed days in nearby Moremi Reserve or Chobe National Park. Your digs are comfortable tented camps—which feature roomy canvas wall tents with beds and private viewing decks—and, in Chobe, a posh game lodge. OUTFITTER: International Ventures, 800-727-5475, WHEN TO GO: March—November PRICE: $1,975 DIFFICULTY: Moderate

Tanzania / Ngorongoro Nonstop
(New Trip) Consider it a survival-of-the-fittest safari—the fittest traveler, that is. On this 12-day romp through the Tanzanian outback, you’ll paddle among the hippos in Lake Manyara, rappel down the Rift Valley’s western escarpment, and mountain bike through the rolling foothills—braking for giraffes, zebras, and tree-climbing lions—to watch the sun set over the Ngorongoro Highlands. Next, hike the wildlife-filled Ngorongoro Crater (watch for rare black rhinos) and trek with buffalo, hyenas, and gazelles in the rainforested Empakai Crater. Need a breather? No worries. Nights are spent in cush game lodges and luxurious tented camps. OUTFITTER: Abercrombie & Kent, 800-323-7308, WHEN TO GO: January-March, June-August, October, December PRICE: $4,395 DIFFICULTY: Moderate

TRIP ENHANCER
Grundig ETravelerVII Shortwave Receiver
Emerging from a 20-day trek through the rainforest to discover that a military junta has closed all airports and invalidated all visas is enough to make you long for the PDA-size eTravelerVII radio ($130; 800-872-2228). With its ability to pick up BBC Worldwide’s shortwave signals almost anywhere, it could’ve tipped you off before things turned ugly.

Kenya / Big Five Bonanza
Timed to coincide with the great Serengeti migration, when millions of zebras and wildebeests move from Tanzania into southern Kenya, this 15-day hiking-and-driving safari puts you directly in the path of the Big Five (lions, leopards, elephants, cape buffalo, and rhino) in Nairobi and Lake Nakuru National Parks. Finish with five days in the Masai Mara, where the sheer number of species is downright dizzying. OUTFITTER: Journeys International, 800-255-8735, PRICE: $4,250 WHEN TO GO: August, October DIFFICULTY: Easy

6. Scare Yourself Witless on a Class V River
China / The Great Bend of the Yangtze
What happens when five times the water of the Grand Canyon squeezes through a gorge only half as wide? Twenty-five-foot monster waves, a roaring Class V rapid three-quarters of a mile long, and whirlpools big enough to swallow a van. On this eight-day trip, you’ll raft more than 100 miles on the Great Bend section of the Yangtze River in China’s Yunnan Province and discover canyon walls stretching upward for a mile, with the 17,000-foot Snow Dragon mountains towering overhead. OUTFITTER: Earth River Expeditions, 800-643-2784, WHEN TO GO: November, December PRICE: $4,300 DIFFICULTY: Strenuous

Canada / The Mighty Ram
Wondering why this six-day Ram River run was attempted by commercial rafters for the first time just last year? Consider what navigating the 60-mile menace, which flows through Alberta’s Ram River Canyon just north of Banff, entails: You’ll rappel down 100-foot waterfalls, maneuver around massive boulders, and shoot through rapids hemmed in by steep vertical ledges (beware Powerslide, a narrow, 35-foot drop). And you’ll do it all with an audience: Bighorn sheep—the Ram’s namesake—watch from the riverbank, while cougars watch them. OUTFITTER: ROAM Expeditions, 877-271-7626, PRICE: $1,795 WHEN TO GO: June DIFFICULTY: Strenuous

Chile / Rafting and Kayaking the Futaleuf煤
The Futaleuf煤 is revered for its unforgiving hydraulics, which can suck paddlers under like a giant Hoover. But if you’re of questionable sanity and want an even wilder experience, try riding sections of the turquoise maelstrom in an inflatable kayak. Guides will make sure you’re up on wave patterns, ferrying, and how to swim the rapids in the very likely case you get dumped. Of course, you can always stick to the six-man raft, where you feel the joy (and see pine-covered banks, 300-foot-high white canyon walls, and granite spires) with relatively little terror. OUTFITTER: Orange Torpedo Trips, 800-635-2925, PRICE: $3,000 WHEN TO GO: December DIFFICULTY: Strenuous

South-coast solitude: Australia’s Tasmania

7. See the World from Behind Bars
Morocco / High Atlas Traverse
(New Trip) Pedal from the colorful markets of Marrakech to the loftiest peaks in North Africa, the High Atlas Range. This 15-day exploratory ride takes you over a 10,404-foot pass, between 13,000-foot peaks, and through mountains still inhabited by the Berber tribes that have lived here for centuries. OUTFITTER: KE 国产吃瓜黑料 Travel, 800-497-9675, WHEN TO GO: November PRICE: $1,945 DIFFICUTLY: Strenuous

New Zealand / Cycling on the South Island
Nowhere else in the world do velvety roads wind by such idyllic scenery. Sandwiched between ice-capped peaks and jagged coastlines, you’ll pump up to six hours a day from the Tasman Sea to Queenstown, through old-growth forests, over a 3,000-foot pass, and past geysers and glaciers. OUTFITTER: Backroads, 800-462-2848, WHEN TO GO: November-March PRICE: $3,398 DIFFICULTY: Moderate

Canada / Coast Mountain Crossing
COAST MOUNTAIN CROSSING Ten days of wilderness singletrack—need we say more? Starting on smooth mining trails near Tyax Lake, you’ll crank up 6,500-foot ascents, into the heart of the Coast Range, before descending to the technical trails of British Columbia’s western rainforests. Thirty- to 40-mile days are punctuated by nights spent stargazing from wilderness camps or soaking in hot tubs at historic B&Bs. OUTFITTER: Rocky Mountain Cycle Tours, 800-661-2453, WHEN TO GO: September PRICE: $2,495 DIFFICULTY: Strenuous

TRIP ENHANCER
Garmin eTrex Vista GPS
Soggy maps proving difficult to decipher? Break out the eTrex Vista GPS ($375; 800-800-1020). Better screen resolution (288X160), a more accurate WAAS signal, and downloadable maps from MapSource or Garmin (sold separately) let you use your paper version as emergency Wet-Naps. Just don’t forget batteries.

8. Journey to the Ends of the Earth
Mongolia / Riding with the Eagle Hunters
Riding with the Eagle Hunters When Aralbai, your guide, honors you with a sheep’s ear hors d’oeuvre, don’t gag. You’re in Mongolia for 11 days to learn traditions of the Kazakh eagle hunters, named for the hooded golden eagles they carry on their arms. Ride horses with the hunters by day; by night, sleep in a mud-brick cabin, dance to the sounds of the morin khuur (a two-stringed fiddle), and sip vodka, which will make that ear slide down nicely. OUTFITTER: Boojum Expeditions, 800-287-0125, WHEN TO GO: November-January PRICE: $1,950 DIFFICULTY: Easy

Australia / Tasmania Trek
(New Trip) It’s easy to become disoriented in Tasmania’s Southwest National Park. The nearest settlement can be a week’s walk away, trails often morph into muddy mangrove-covered slopes, and most of your companions are wallabies. So be sure to grab your map before the Cessna abandons your group and its 40-pound backpacks of food and gear near Melaleuca Lagoon. From there it’s a ten-day, 55-mile hike along the South Coast Track, where you’ll bask on deserted beaches, scramble up 3,000-foot passes, wade across tea-tree-stained lagoons, and weave through towering celery-top pines. OUTFITTER: Wilderness Travel, 800-368-2794, WHEN TO GO: February 2003 PRICE: $2,495 DIFFICULTY: Strenuous

Mozambique / First Descent of the Lugenda River
(New Trip) The Yao of northern Mozambique have seldom seen foreigners and have certainly never seen your fancy fiberglass boat. This summer be the first to paddle kayaks down the Lugenda River. For two weeks and 700 miles you’ll float the copper flatwater past the Yao’s thatch-roofed huts, dense woodlands, iselbergs—gnarled rock spires poking out of the flat land—and around pods of hippos. Camp on islands scattered in the quarter-mile-wide river or along its banks under skies framed by ebony trees near the Niassa Reserve, home to 14,000 elephants. OUTFITTER: Explore, 888-596-6377, WHEN TO GO: June PRICE: $5,000-$7,000 DIFFICULTY: Strenuous

9. Paddle with the Whales
Argentina / On the Coast of Patagonia
Tourism is strictly regulated on the Argentine waters north of Patagonia’s Vald茅s Peninsula, where nearly a third of the world’s southern right whales breed. But you can skirt the rules and sea kayak with the 55-foot-long mammals by helping conduct a wildlife census. As you paddle between beach camps for ten days and a total of 60 miles, you’ll watch female whales care for their calves and surface within feet of your kayak, while the males slap their flukes to get their mates’ attention. You’ll help guides count giant petrels, black-browed albatrosses, and some 40 other bird species. OUTFITTER: Whitney & Smith Legendary Expeditions, 403-678-3052, WHEN TO GO: October, November PRICE: $3,250 DIFFICULTY: Moderate

Mexico / Circumnavigating Isla Carmen
(New Trip) Endangered blue whales more than five times as long as your kayak love to cruise past Isla Carmen in the Gulf of California looking for tasty crustaceans. Get close to the world’s largest animals and be among the first to circumnavigate Carmen by sea kayak, paddling between six and eight miles per day for nine days. Along the way you’ll also watch fin whales, snorkel with angelfish in 72-degree water, and search for rare blue-footed boobies. Spend nights camping in sheltered coves where volcanic rock juts into the sea. OUTFITTER: Sea Kayak 国产吃瓜黑料s, 800-616-1943, WHEN TO GO: April PRICE: $1,350 DIFFICULTY: Moderate

Norway / Paddling the Svalbard Archipelago
In July and August, go where the whales go: the Svalbard Archipelago, 600 miles northwest of mainland Norway. Here you’ll find 90- to 190-ton blues, 40-foot-long humpbacks, square-headed sperm whales, hundreds of walruses, auks, and kittiwakes—and 24-hour daylight to take it all in. Paddle a sea kayak ten miles a day for eight days through frigid 32-degree water along Svalbard’s western coastline, returning each night to cozy cabins (polar bears make camping inadvisable) and spicy bacalau stew aboard a former Norwegian trawler. OUTFITTER: Tofino Expeditions, 800-677-0877, WHEN TO GO: July, August PRICE: $8,000 (includes airfare from Troms酶, Norway) DIFFICULTY: Moderate

Step inside: another inviting nook off the Grand Canyon

10. Free Your Soul on a Pilgrimage
Tibet / To the Center of the Universe
May 26—the date Buddha was born, reached enlightenment, and died—is the day to visit Mount Kailas, a peak sacred to Buddhists, Jains, and Hindus. And Tibetan Buddhism expert Robert Thurman (yes, he’s Uma’s dad) is the man to go with. On this 28-day journey, you’ll circumambulate 22,027-foot Kailas. For an authentic experience, prostrate yourself as you go. OUTFITTER: Geographic Expeditions, 800-777-8183, WHEN TO GO: May PRICE: $8,085 DIFFICULTY: Strenuous

Spain / Biking El Camino de Santiago
Devout Christians have been walking the roads from the city of Burgos to the shrine of St. James, in the city of Santiago de Compostela, for more than a thousand years. Modern pilgrims can save their soles by making the 326-mile journey on a bike. You’ll ride on dirt roads and trails up to 60 miles per day for nine days, stopping to sleep in small hotels and to explore Romanesque churches in villages along the way. Follow ancient tradition and pick up a rock (of a size proportionate to your sins) on day six, and carry it 1,200 feet before ditching it at the highest point on the Camino: 4,891-foot Foncebad贸n Pass. What, after all, would a pilgrimage be without a little suffering? OUTFITTER: Easy Rider Tours, 800-488-8332, WHEN TO GO: May-July, September PRICE: $2,250 DIFFICULTY: Moderate
Peru / Sacred Sites of the Incas
In the tradition of their Incan ancestors, the Quechua people of southern Peru celebrate the June solstice at the foot of 21,067-foot Mount Ausungate, the spirit of animal fertility. Circumnavigate the holiest peak in the Cusco region on this 44-mile, high-altitude (12,000-foot-plus) trek, following ancient paths past grazing alpacas and Quechua villages. The 18-day trip also includes a four-day, 27-mile trek up the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. OUTFITTER: Southwind 国产吃瓜黑料s, 800-377-9463, WHEN TO GO: May-September PRICE: $3,675-$4,525 DIFFICULTY: Strenuous

TRIP ENHANCER
NEC Versa DayLite Notebook PC
Kayak, Tent, or African bus: The 3.3 pound Versa DayLite ($2,499; 888-632-8701) goes where you’d never dream of hauling heavier laptops, and goes for seven hours on its battery. But the screen is the star; its significantly heightened contrast means easy readability under the harsh glare of, say, the Saharan sun.

11. Explore Majestic Canyons
USA / Arizona / Padding and Hiking the Grand Canyon
Floating 235 miles through the 6,000-foot-deep Grand Canyon on its storied waters is a once-in-a-lifetime experience (unless you have an in with the permit office, which is doubtful). On this 13-day trip you’ll hit all the raging Class IV+ rapids and have ample time to hike and boulder in the side canyons, play under 125-foot waterfalls, explore Anasazi granaries, and swim in the calcium carbonate-tinted bright-blue pools at Havasu Creek. OUTFITTER: Outdoors Unlimited, 800-637-7238, WHEN TO GO: May, September PRICE: $2,795 DIFFICULTY: Moderate

Peru / Whitewater Rafting Colca Canyon
The reward for threading through 40 miles of SUV-size boulders on southern Peru’s twisting Class V Colca River—beyond the rush of making it out alive—is the rare view of soaring black condors against the canyon’s 11,000-foot walls. But don’t look up too much. The run demands deft maneuvering in paddle rafts. An added boon on this eight-day trip are the abundant natural springs. Soak in the hot ones; drink from the cold ones. OUTFITTER: Earth River Expeditions, 800-643-2784, WHEN TO GO: July PRICE: $2,900 DIFFICULTY: Strenuous

Mexico / Trekking in Copper Canyon
Hike through four biotic zones while dropping 6,000 feet from rim to floor in Chihuahua’s Copper Canyon. This ten-day trek starts on a cool plateau of ponderosa pine and Douglas fir. You’ll descend on paths used for centuries by the Tarahumara Indians, through pi帽on pine and juniper to reach arid slopes and agave cacti. Lower still, enter the subtropics, where parrots squawk in mango trees outside your tent. OUTFITTER: 国产吃瓜黑料s Abroad, 800-665-3998, WHEN TO GO: February-March, October-December PRICE: $1,590 DIFFICULTY: Moderate

12. Save an Endangered Species
Mongolia / In Search of the Snow Leopard
Journey Mongolian-style across the golden steppes and 12-mile-long sand dunes of the Gobi Desert as you help biologists find the nearly mythical snow leopard in its native habitat. You’ll sleep in yurts as you travel by camel, horse, and four-wheeler south from Ulan Bator for 11 days. Drink fermented mare’s milk with nomadic tribesmen before scouring the wild southeastern fringe of the Gobi, searching for malodorous leopard markings: The elusive cats spray the same spots for generations. OUTFITTER: Asia Transpacific Journeys, 800-642-2742, WHEN TO GO: September PRICE: $5,895 DIFFICULTY: Easy to moderate

U.S. Virgin Islands / Tracking Leatherback Turtles
Heroic beachcombing? Absolutely, at least along the southwest shore of St. Croix, where the Sandy Point National Wildlife Refuge hosts a slew of endangered leatherback turtles and one very successful conservation team. For ten days, live in airy beachside cottages and walk the two-mile white-sand shores, helping resident biologists measure nests and count hatchlings as the newborns struggle toward the warm Caribbean. OUTFITTER: Earthwatch Institute, 800-776-0188, WHEN TO GO: April-July PRICE: $1,895 DIFFICULTY: Moderate

Suriname / Paddling with Giant Otters
(New Trip) This former Dutch colony contains some of the most pristine tropical rainforest in the world and offers the best chance to see—and help save—some of the 3,000 or so endangered giant otters still left in the wild. For eight days, paddle in dugout canoes with biologists and natives in Kaburi Creek, a favored otter habitat in central Suriname (and home to kaleidoscopic macaws and parrots). Sleep in hammocks on the shore and canoe to “otter campsites” in this pilot project to count and study the friendly six-foot-long animals. OUTFITTER: Oceanic Society, 800-326-7491, WHEN TO GO: September PRICE: $2,390 (includes airfare from Miami) DIFFICULTY: Moderate

F-stop and go: fishing nets in Vietnam

13. Master the Art of the F-Stop
Cuba / Vision and Discover in Havana
Here’s your shot at playing globetrotting photojournalist. You’ll spend six mornings discussing theory, history, and technical concerns with your instructor, New York-based commercial and fine-art photographer Stacy Boge, at the Maine Photographic Workshops’ Cuba headquarters, formerly a 19th-century convent. In the afternoons she’ll set you loose to photograph historic forts, artisans at the craft market, and the wizened faces of Old Havana with a bilingual teaching assistant and guide. Lab crews develop your film nightly, so it’s ready for next-day critiques and slide shows. OUTFITTER: The Maine Photographic Workshops, 877-577-7700, WHEN TO GO: February, March PRICE: $1,495 DIFFICULTY: Easy

Vietnam and Laos / That Luang Festival
With photo opportunities that include sacred wats, limestone-spired islands, bustling markets, and numerous saffron-robed monks and nuns—plus acclaimed photographer Nevada Wier as your guide—you can’t help but take a few incredible shots. In Vietnam, you’ll sea kayak in Ha Long Bay and mingle with people of the Hmong and Dao hill tribes in the Tonkinese Alps; in Laos, you’ll cruise the Mekong River in a junk and watch a candlelight procession in Vientiane, the capital city, as thousands of Buddhists celebrate the annual That Luang Full Moon festival. OUTFITTER: Mountain Travel Sobek, 888-687-6235, WHEN TO GO: November PRICE: $4,400 DIFFICULTY: Easy
USA / Midway Atoll / Avian Images
The bird-to-human ratio on this U.S. naval base turned wildlife refuge—which lies 1,320 miles northwest of Honolulu—is an astonishing 8,000 to 1. Spend seven days with photography instructor Darrell Gulin and you’ll shoot black-footed albatross in the island’s lush interior one day and backward-flying red-tailed tropic birds on a beach the next. Your base: a comfy (really!) suite in the renovated naval officers’ quarters—Midway’s only accommodations. OUTFITTER: International Wildlife 国产吃瓜黑料s, 800-593-8881, WHEN TO GO: April-May PRICE: $3,295 DIFFICULTY: Easy

14. Ski Infinite Backcountry
USA / Wyoming / Teton Crest Traverse
It’s America’s Haute Route, cowboy style (no chalets). Hone your winter-camping skills after skinning 1,700 feet from Teton Pass to 9,100-foot Moose Creek Pass, with views into more than 400,000 acres of wilderness. Camp here for three nights, skiing the varied terrain of the Alaska Basin, before your 13-mile descent through Teton Canyon. OUTFITTER: Rendezvous Ski and Snowboard Tours, 877-754-4887, WHEN TO GO: April PRICE: $825 DIFFICULTY: Strenuous

Europe / The Continent’s Best Powder
Western Europe’s off-piste wonderland has a dirty little secret: unreliable snow. But Gary Ashurst—of La Grave, France, by way of Idaho—won’t tolerate it. Meet him and his Mercedes van in Geneva; he’ll take you to the best powder around—wherever that is at the moment. Staying in B&Bs or chalets, you’ll spend seven days carving the chutes of the Cerces, jump-turning down tight couloirs in the Dolomites, or reveling in another one of Gary’s always-snowy stashes. OUTFITTER: Global 国产吃瓜黑料s, 800-754-1199, WHEN TO GO: January-April PRICE: $1,600 DIFFICULTY: Strenuous

USA / Alaska / Peaks of the Chugach
(New Trip) Welcome to the middle of nowhere. After the plane lands, settle into your base-camp hut on Matanuska Glacier and take a lesson in glacier safety. Then spend ten days exploring every crevasse, serac, and untouched blanket of snow between you and your goal: the 10,000-foot summits of the Scandinavian Peaks. OUTFITTER: Colorado Mountain School, 888-267-7783, WHEN TO GO: April PRICE: $1,800 DIFFICULTY: Strenuous

TRIP ENHANCER
Leica Trinovid BCA Binoculars
Leica’s nine-ounce glasses ($429; 800-877-0155) are compact enough to slip elegantly into a pocket, but they offer 10X magnification coupled with superior optics that sharpen contrast on objects 1,000 feet away, all in a package that doesn’t scream “tourist.”

15. Take an Epic Trek
Nepal / Jugal Himal Exploratory
Get off the teahouse circuit (and, let’s hope, the path of Maoist insurgents) on this 23-day exploratory trek through the Jugal Mountains of Langtang National Park, about 75 miles west of Mount Everest. Starting in the Balephi Khola Valley, trek up to eight hours a day among rhododendrons and banana trees, following shepherd trails to two delphinium-fringed lakes at 17,000 feet. OUTFITTER: World Expeditions, 888-464-8735, WHEN TO GO: October-November PRICE: $3,120 DIFFICULTY: Strenuous

Bhutan / In the Shadow of the Goddess
Your ultimate destination is 23,997-foot Chomo Lhari, the “Mountain of the Goddess.” But, like life, this trek’s not about the destination, it’s about the journey: You’ll hike seven miles per day (average daily elevation gain: 2,000 feet) through western Bhutan’s Paro Valley on an ancient trading path that winds through thousand-year-old villages, fields of blue poppies, and pastures filled with grazing yaks. Camp in meadows and share the trail with caravans bringing salt, tea, and Chinese silk to Paro on this 70-mile, out-and-back route. OUTFITTER: Asia Transpacific Journeys, 800-642-2742, WHEN TO GO: March, September PRICE: $4,395 DIFFICULTY: Moderate

Russia / Hgih-Altitude Altai
Storybook adventure at its finest: Be on the lookout for wolves, lynx, eagles, and the rare snow leopard by day; by night camp at the base of 10,000-foot peaks named Beauty, Fairy Tale, and Dream. On this challenging 65-mile trek in the Altai Mountains, in one of the most remote regions of Siberia, you’ll cover eight to 12 miles per day, hiking through cedar-forested valleys along the roaring Chuya River and ascending to glacier-fed lakes, before heading back to civilization—and we mean civilization. The Altai has been inhabited for hundreds of thousands of years.OUTFITTER: Mir Corporation, 800-424-7289, WHEN TO GO: July-August PRICE: $2,395 DIFFICULTY: Strenuous

The dog days of Greenland

16. Get Culture Shocked
Central African Republic / Tracking with Pigmies
(New Trip) Put down your cell phone, pick up a spear, and spend five days in Dzanga-Ndoki National Park fully immersed in the Pygmy way of life. You’ll bushwhack through remote rainforests in the southwest Central African Republic, helping hunt for small antelope, track lowland gorillas and elephants, and collect medicinal herbs like Carcinia punctatam (it battles the runs). At night, retire to comfortable bungalows on stilts perched along the Sangha River, near the Pygmies’ village. OUTFITTER: Wilderness Travel, 800-368-2794, WHEN TO GO: November PRICE: $4,695 DIFFICULTY: Moderate

Ecuador / The Magic of the Shamans
See your troubles revealed in the entrails of dissected guinea pigs and enjoy other, equally drastic healing measures (like being thwapped by twigs) on this ten-day visit with Ecuadoran shamans. You’ll sleep in locals’ huts and travel by car, canoe, and foot to three spiritually distinct regions. Before heading into the Andes, visit the Amazon, where shamans venture to the underworld on the wings of ayahuasca, a natural hallucinogen—sorry, audience participation is discouraged. OUTFITTER: Myths and Mountains, 800-670-6984, WHEN TO GO: March, July PRICE: $1,895 DIFFICULTY: Moderate

Vietnam / Ethnic Explorer
Motorcycle into the hills of north Vietnam and meet the Flower Hmong in their rainbow head wraps or get lost in a chicken-filled market. Then park the bike for a three-day scramble up 10,312-foot Mount Fan Si Pan, with a local guide who smells his way up the route. OUTFITTER: Wild Card 国产吃瓜黑料s, 800-590-3776, WHEN TO GO: Year-round PRICE: From $1,600 DIFFICULTY: Moderate

17. Go Polar
Greenland / Dogsledding Across Polar Tundra
Travel the Arctic with the in crowd. Join explorer Paul Schurke on his annual Polar Inuit spring trip, accompanied by Inuit hunters who happen to be descendants of Americans Robert Peary and Matthew Henson, arguably the first men to reach the North Pole. You’ll snow camp in ten-degree temperatures for 14 days and dogsled the snowy alien landscape for 300 miles over sea ice on coastal fjords and Arctic tundra. OUTFITTER: Wintergreen Dogsled Lodge, 800-584-9425, WHEN TO GO: April PRICE: $6,000 (includes round-trip airfare from Resolute, Canada) DIFFICULTY: Moderate

Sweden and Norway / Reindeer Packing in the Arctic
Welcome to a slice of polar paradise: With domesticated reindeer to do the heavy lifting and carrying, indigenous Saami guides will lead you for four days and 35 miles through the alpine birch forests and tundra of Arctic Sweden until you reach the Tys Fjord at the Norwegian Sea. There you’ll swap hiking boots for sea kayaks and paddle 58 miles of Norway’s Salten Coast, exploring lush fjords, camping on beaches, and fishing for arctic trout. OUTFITTER: Crossing Latitudes, 800-572-8747, WHEN TO GO: August PRICE: $1,900 DIFFICULTY: Moderate

Antarctica / Scuba Diving Under Ice
You may have explored the wrecks off Palau and swum with whale sharks off South Africa, but until you’ve submerged yourself under the Antarctic ice pack, you haven’t really scuba dived. Journey on a Russian icebreaker to the Antarctic Peninsula and for 13 days don a drysuit, hood, and a freezeproof regulator, and plunge into a frigid world of surreal rewards. The diffuse light and 32-degree water are home to spindly pink starfish, sea hedgehogs, and sea butterflies. Just don’t let the ice, in infinite shades of blue, distract you from the roving leopard seals. OUTFITTER: Forum International, 800-252-4475, WHEN TO GO: February, March PRICE: $4,890-$6,340 DIFFICULTY: Strenuous

TRIP ENHANCER
Fossil Wrist PDA Watch
Don’t tote your PDA around the world, wear it. Fossil’s wristwatch ($145; 800-969-0900) uses an operating system developed in collaboration with Palm to let you zap 1,100 contacts with addresses or 800 appointment memos from your PDA into its stylish little self. Added bonus: it also tells time.

18. Stay Alive!
Peru / Learn to Thrive in the Amazon
Failing economy got you feeling the need to sharpen your survival skills? Let Peruvian survivalists show you how to stun fish, start a fire in the waterlogged forest, repel mosquitoes (by smearing yourself with squished termites), and treat ailments like a venomous snakebite. Eating juicy beetle grubs is optional on this seven-day trip in northeast Peru’s Tamshiyacu-Tahuayo Reserve, but once you’ve tried them, stomaching a bear market seems easy. OUTFITTER: Amazonia Expeditions, 800-262-9669, WHEN TO GO: Year-round PRICE: $1,295 DIFFICULTY: Easy

Costa Rica / Survival Trekking in the Osa Peninsula
Get a taste of Special Ops action when you spend ten days in the Costa Rican rainforest with former Special Forces veterans, who teach you survival basics and throw in a little fun to boot. Lessons in shelter building, foraging, and wilderness first aid are mixed with beach trekking, diving, and wildlife watching on the biodiverse Osa Peninsula. OUTFITTER: Specops, 800-713-2135, WHEN TO GO: April, July PRICE: $3,495 DIFFICULTY: Moderate

Namibia / Forage and Hunt with Nomads
The barren Namibian prairie may seem like a wasteland, but after six days with the nomadic Ju’hoansi bushmen, you’ll see it as a bountiful Eden. Learn to make arrow-tip tranquilizers used to stun and kill impala; help gather roots, wild fruits, and the sweet sap of the acacia tree. Back at your mobile camp, the tribesmen may treat you to an evening of music. OUTFITTER: Baobab Safari Co., 800-835-3692, WHEN TO GO: April-October PRICE: $3,100 DIFFICULTY: Easy

Silent as stone: Angkor ruins in Cambodia

19. Swim with Sharks
Costa Rica / Live-Aboard Off Cocos Island
Bring courage and an empty logbook. With ten days on the live-aboard Okeanos, you’ll need plenty of room to record all the scalloped hammerhead and reef sharks that swim by on nearly every dive. Dry out with an optional trekking excursion on lush, 18-square-mile Cocos. OUTFITTER: International 国产吃瓜黑料s Unlimited, 800-990-9738, WHEN TO GO: Year-round PRICE: $2,995 DIFFICULTY: Moderate

South Africa / The Big Five Dive
Even if you feel safe on the three days you’re inside a steel cage watching great whites, your ten free dives could be a little nerve-racking, and this is one time you won’t want to chum the water. On this 12-day, hotel-based trip on South Africa’s northeast coast, you’ll see ragged-tooth, hammerhead, and bull sharks in their natural habitat—aka hunting grounds. OUTFITTER: EcoVentures Nature Tours and Travel, 800-743-8352, WHEN TO GO: July, September PRICE: $3,900 DIFFICULTY: Moderate
Gal谩pagos Islands / Cruising on the Sky Dancer
(New Trip) The hardest part about your eight days on the Sky Dancer will be resurfacing—and not because the 24-person live-aboard is anything less than first-class. No, it’s that the white-tipped, whale, and Gal谩pagos sharks will have you jonesing for your scuba tank all hours of the day, as will the gigantic manta rays that swarm here in Darwin’s playhouse. OUTFITTER: Ecoventura, 305-262-6264, WHEN TO GO: Year-round PRICE: $2,895 DIFFICULTY: Easy

20. Pursue Lost Horizons
USA / Utah / Rock Art and Archaeology in the Escalante Outback
Archaeologist Don Keller, who’s scoured Escalante National Monument’s backcountry for the past decade, has uncovered numerous ancient petroglyphs, but many of his finds remain undocumented. Join Keller this spring, hiking for nine days, three of which are spent photographing and mapping 4,000-year-old Anasazi and Fremont rock-art panels. OUTFITTER: Southwest Ed-Ventures, 800-525-4456, WHEN TO GO: April PRICE: $1,250 DIFFICULTY: Moderate

USA / Hawaii / Multi-Island Hike
There’s a lot more to Hawaii than Sex Wax and surf gods: Poke around the Pu’u Loa Petroglyphs on the Big Island, taro terraces on Oahu (both of which have been around since a.d. 500), and the ancient Hawaiian heiau (temples) on Kauai and you’ll feel like a hand fresh off Captain Cook’s Endeavor. But fear not, this custom seven-day camping and hiking trip is flush with the hedonistic pleasures for which Hawaii is famous: soaking under tropical waterfalls, sunning on secluded white sand beaches, and snorkeling with dolphins and sea turtles. OUTFITTER: Hawaiian Islands Eco-Tours, 866-445-3624, WHEN TO GO: Year-round PRICE: $895 DIFFICULTY: Easy to moderate

Cambodia and Vietnam / Discover Ancient Ruins
Spend hours exploring the 12th-century temples of Angkor Thom, Angkor Wat, and Ta Prohm, the Hindu centerpieces of the Khmer kingdom, on this four-day trip to the Angkor ruins—the front end of an 11-day cycling tour through Vietnam. When the heat becomes unbearable, lounge by the pool at the Grand Hotel d’Angkor, a French colonial palace with all the touches of early-20th-century Indochina: wicker chairs, lazily swirling fans, and teak beds. OUTFITTER: Butterfield & Robinson, 800-678-1147, WHEN TO GO: October-April PRICE: $2,250 (Vietnam costs an additional $5,450) DIFFICULTY: Easy

TRIP ENHANCER
Olympus C-700 Digital Camera
This featherweight digicam ($699; 888-553-4448) has two megapixels’ resolution with a 10x optical zoom and a 27x digital zoom that outfocuses anything in its class. If you’re lost, use the images in the view screen as a visual breadcrumb trail.

21. Behold the Wonders of the Cosmos
Canada /Northern Lights
Nowhere else on the planet do the northern lights have more pizzazz than in Churchill, Manitoba, and this year, they’ll be at their best: Scientists are expecting great solar storms, meaning that for four nights you’ll likely see flaming oranges, streaks of deep blue, and patches of magenta over the early-spring subarctic skies. Days are spent dogsledding and watching for polar bears near your lodge in Churchill. OUTFITTER: Natural Habitat 国产吃瓜黑料s, 800-543-8917, WHEN TO GO: February, March PRICE: $2,795 DIFFICULTY: Easy

USA / Colorado / Anasazi Sun Calendars
(New Trip) Eight hundred years ago, the Anasazi hailed the winter solstice using rocks and shadow tricks. You can still watch the shadows dance, but only on December 22 will the sun be perfectly positioned to cast the dagger-shaped shadows onto the heart of spiral petroglyphs. From your B&B base camp in Cortez, Colorado, you’ll spend a week day hiking in Ute Mountain Tribal Park—home to more than 20,000 protected archaeological sites. OUTFITTER: Southwest Ed-Ventures, 800-525-4456, WHEN TO GO: December PRICE: $1,395 DIFFICULTY: Easy

Australia / Total Eclipse 国产吃瓜黑料
The Australian outback is your front-row seat for the 2002 total solar eclipse. You’ll be awed by the shimmering lights that dance on the edge of the darkened sun—a phenomenon caused by sunlight shining through the moon’s valleys. But the events leading up to the big show are nearly as spectacular: six days diving from a live-aboard in the Great Barrier Reef and three days of hiking in the Cape York rainforest. OUTFITTER: Outer Edge Expeditions, 800-322-5235, WHEN TO GO: December PRICE: $3,500 DIFFICULTY: Easy

Grin and bear it: an Alaskan grizzly’s smile, frozen on film

22. Jump Down the Food Chain
USA / Alaska / Grizzlies of Coastal Katmai
Your expedition leader, naturalist and photographer Matthias Breiter, will tell you to bring your good camera, and for good reason. The first day, you’ll see puffins, sea lions, and bald eagles while kayaking Kodiak Island’s jagged shore. On day two you’ll meet your base camp: a research tugboat christened The Grizzly Ship. And for the next three days, you’ll cruise the Katmai coast, where thousand-pound grizzlies dig for clams. The brave can venture ashore in a Zodiac. The foolish can snap close-ups. OUTFITTER: Natural Habitat 国产吃瓜黑料s, 800-543-8917, WHEN TO GO: June PRICE: $4,695 DIFFICULTY: Easy

Uganda / Primate Safari
You hear a wild mountain gorilla—the largest primate on earth—long before you see it: The territorial scream of the 500-pound beast is bone-chilling. After five days in plush safari camps while exploring chimp-thick Kibale and Queen Elizabeth National Parks, machete your way into the Impenetrable Forest of Bwindi National Park and spend two days tracking your huge, hairy distant cousins. OUTFITTER: Mountain Travel Sobek, 888-687-6235, WHEN TO GO: January-September PRICE: $5,150 DIFFICULTY: Moderate

Brazil / Pantanal Jaguars
Ride horseback, boat, and hike into the steamy Pantanal floodplain in southwest Brazil, home to the highest concentration of wildlife in South America, to find the largest jaguars in the world. For nine days, you’ll help count the stealthy cats with motion-triggered cameras and scat and paw-print surveys, and stay at a comfy research lodge. OUTFITTER: Earthwatch Institute, 800-776-0188, WHEN TO GO: February, March, July, August PRICE: $2,195 DIFFICULTY: Moderate

23. Gallop Through the Surf
USA / California / Redwood Coast Ride
Survey the Mendocino Coast from the back of a regal Arabian or Russian Orlov cross. You’ll gallop along windswept Ten Mile Beach, atop oceanside bluffs, and through dense redwood forests. Where else can you fill your canteen at a mineral spring by day and sip cabernet in hot tubs at an oceanfront hotel by night? Welcome to northern California. OUTFITTER: Equitours, 800-545-0019, WHEN TO GO: May-October PRICE: $1,995 DIFFICULTY: Moderate

Greece / Aegean Sea Trail Ride
Trot from inn to inn and taverna to taverna for six days and 90 miles around the Pelion peninsula, 200 miles north of Athens. You’ll stuff yourself silly with feta and phyllo and sip your share of ouzo at every stop, so be happy the sure-footed horses are accustomed to the rugged landscape. From Katigiorgis on the Pagasetic Gulf, cross 3,000-foot mountains on old mule trails, then descend to the Aegean Sea, where you’ll canter on the beaches, and plunge—with your horse—into the warm surf. OUTFITTER: Cross Country International, 800-828-8768, WHEN TO GO: April-May, October PRICE: $1,430 DIFFICULTY: Moderate

Venezuela / Galloping the Beaches of Macanao Peninsula
Ride, siesta, ride. Repeat. This will be your blissed-out routine for three days as you explore the pocket beaches, rocky points, and cactus forests of Isla Margarita, off the northern coast of Venezuela. On the island’s undeveloped Macanao Peninsula, gallop into the waves, camp on the beach, and afterward part ways with your beloved steed. For the last four days, fly to famous 3,212-foot Angel Falls on the mainland, and then on to the island of Los Roques to snorkel among exotic corals and rainbow parrotfish in the national park. OUTFITTER: Boojum Expeditions, 800-287-0125, WHEN TO GO: January, November, December PRICE: $2,175 DIFFICULTY: Easy

24. Cast Away in Paradise
USA / Idaho / The Middle Fork of the Salmon
Few fishing spots nourish the ego like the Middle Fork of the Salmon, where even beginners can catch (and release) 30 fish a day. Raft on Class III water for five days and 60 miles in the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness, fishing with guides from your boat and camping on sandbars—many near hot springs—at night. OUTFITTER: Middle Fork Wilderness OUTFITTERs, 800-726-0575, WHEN TO GO: June-September PRICE: $1,790 DIFFICULTY: Easy

Canada / The Miramichi
While 80 percent of North America’s Atlantic salmon spawn in the 55-degree waters of New Brunswick’s Northwest Miramichi River, they’re persnickety bastards when it comes to biting on flies. Spend five days outsmarting them on water near your farmhouse post—the Smoker Brook Lodge—using flies you tie each evening under the tutelage of master Jerome Molloy. OUTFITTER: Smoker Brook Lodge, 866-772-5666, WHEN TO GO: May-October PRICE: $1,500 DIFFICULTY: Easy

New Zealand / The Rangitikei
Fly-fishing indeed: Access the North Island’s Class I-III Rangitikei River by helicoptering to its headwaters, then pile into a three-man raft and spend five days casting for gluttonous 16-pound rainbows. Camp on the river’s grassy banks and hike to rich side veins where the “flies” trout prefer are plump field mice. OUTFITTER: Best of New Zealand Flyfishing, 800-528-6129, WHEN TO GO: October-May PRICE: $2,500 DIFFICULTY: Moderate

25. Break On Through to the Other Side
North Pole / Journey to the Bottom of the Sea
(New Trip) Your mission: to be the first team to reach the ocean floor at 0 degrees latitude, 0 degrees longitude, in two 18-ton submersibles. For seven days, your nuclear icebreaker slices through the Arctic Circle. Once at the pole, you’ll spend eight hours descending 14,500 feet. OUTFITTER: Quark and Deep Ocean Expeditions, 800-356-5699, WHEN TO GO: September 2003 PRICE: $65,950 DIFFICULTY: Moderate

The World / Mysteries of the Earth by Private Jet
The Jules Verne experience! Only, swap the French sidekick for four world-renowned scientists, the balloon for a deluxe 757, and 80 days for 25. Taking off from Miami, touch down first in Manaus, Brazil, then fly westward for a dance with Upolu Islanders in Samoa, whisk across the International Date Line (crikey, we’ve lost a day!) to dive the Great Barrier Reef, go on safari in Nepal’s Royal Chitwan National Park, hoof it in the Serengeti, the Seychelles, the Canary Islands, and…isn’t it about time for cocktails? OUTFITTER: American Museum of Natural History Discovery Tours, 800-462-8687, WHEN TO GO: March PRICE: $36,950 DIFFICULTY: Easy

Space / Suborbital Space Flight
(New Trip) Train at a custom-built, U.S.-based spaceport for four days, reviewing the details of your reusable launch vehicle (RLV) and perfecting simulated-zero-gravity back flips in the hull of a cargo plane that’s nose-diving from 35,000 feet. Then it’s off to suborbital space (that’s 62 miles up) for ten minutes of weightlessness with a nice view of your native planet. OUTFITTER: Space 国产吃瓜黑料s, 888-857-7223, WHEN TO GO: 2005, pending development of the RLV PRICE: $98,000 (includes leather flight jacket and space suit) DIFFICULTY: Moderate

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They’re still out there: the untrodden trail, the lost coast, the mountain vally from another century—some near, most far, all wide-open places waiting to expand your horizon and repair your fractured sense of time. Here’s our guide to 30 of the most amazing remote places on the planet. So clear your calendar, and drop us a line when you get back.

Live Vast

Author Ian Frazier explores what it means for something to be “far away.”

First tracks in the Australian outback.

I LIKE TO think that people I talk to have no idea how far away I am. Yes, I seem to be standing next to them at the bus stop and taking part in a conversation about the new commuter train and how it will cause real-estate values in our New Jersey suburb to rise; actually, however, in my mind I’m in eastern Montana, in the blankest part of the map, miles from anywhere. Often I pick out one remote place and carry it around as a secret destination to repair to inwardly if I can’t stand the ordinariness of the day. In certain jammed-up city situations, the mere thought of Dawes County, Nebraska (say), is soothing to me. When I let people glimpse this thought, the effect is a weird kind of geographic name-dropping snobbery: In midconversation, with no preamble, I’ll blurt out, “Well, I’ll be going to Dawes County soon. You never heard of it? It’s in western Nebraska鈥攁 great place鈥攁bout 36 hours of driving from here.”

FOR ME, REMOTENESS is everything. I usually want to get as far away as I can, no matter where I am. If I go to the mall, I park in the parking lot’s farthest corner, with no other cars for acres around. I sit in the back row of the balcony at lectures and I stand in the hardest-to-reach nook at cocktail parties. I love the back of the bus. I wish you were allowed to wait on the roof at airports, and could consult with the doctor not in his claustrophobic office but on the farthest edge of the hospital lawn. Once, in the editorial offices of a magazine in New York City, someone made a remark to me that I didn’t like, and instead of replying I left, picked up a travel bag at my apartment, took a subway to the George Washington Bridge, and began to hitchhike west. I was all the way to Ohio before I cooled down.
I understand that this is not the healthiest approach to life. Almost as soon as I actually go to the remote place I’ve been fantasizing about, of course I want to be somewhere else. It’s a crazy frame of mind, and not particularly fair to the places themselves. I’ve noticed, too, that the better-known remote places recognize my type, and protect themselves from the affliction we are. When in my early thirties I decided to move to Fiji (mainly because of its name, and how cool I thought “I’m moving to Fiji” sounded), I went to the Fijian consulate in Manhattan to make preliminary plans. A somber man in a dark suit took in my hippyish appearance, sat me down, and ran through a carefully practiced list of reasons why I should not go there. Clearly, discouraging destination-crazed people from visiting Fiji was a major part of his job; with me, he succeeded.

Every place is “far away” to somebody. When you come back from a broken-down country overseas, the average airport men’s room in America can look like an unreachable island of luxury and light. But thank the gods of geography for the idea of remoteness itself, and for places that are “far away” to almost everyone. The dark end of the subway platform, the last stop on the train, the town in the Alaskan bush with a population of 20, the research station you can only get to two months a year, the Outer Hebrides, Tierra del Fuego, Guam, finis terrae鈥攖hey’re an insignificant part of the earth’s surface, and we may never go to them, and if we do we probably won’t stay long. But their very existence aerates the imagination, like pinholes in the lid of a collecting jar. Circumstances enclose us all our lives; remote places are the perpetual promise of getting out and away.

: Falling off the Edge

A day’s walk into the Moroccan Desert, Sebastian Junger confronts a dizzying temptation.

Sticks and stones: an 11th-century mud-and-brick mosque in the Niger River trading port of Dj茅nn茅, Mali.

WHEN I WAS 19 YEARS OLD, I saw a Royal Air Maroc travel poster of nomads on camelback. They were coming off the desert in a group, and there was something about the dust and the sunlight and the expressions on their faces that grabbed me. I put the poster on the wall of my college dorm and after a year of looking at it, I bought a plane ticket to Morocco with my oldest friend, a woman named Sarah. She was considering a job in the Peace Corps there. We flew to Casablanca and then worked our way over the Atlas Mountains by bus. The weather was bitterly cold, and after a couple of weeks we decided to go as far south as the roads would take us—to a garrison town called Goulimine. Not only did it look like the edge of the world, but it was the jumping-off point for Moroccan troops heading south to fight the Polisario guerrillas in the Sahara. It was as far as I could imagine ever getting from anything I knew.


We arrived at dawn after an all-night bus ride. There were a lot of soldiers in the streets, and they stared at us as we walked by. Goulimine was not a tourist town. We walked down the dirt main street until we came to a cheap rooming house, and we ducked into the doorway and asked the owner how much it cost for the night. It was something like a dollar. While Sarah negotiated with the owner, I looked around the dark room and realized it was filled with men sitting on the floor, drinking tea and studying us. Something about it didn’t feel right. One of them caught my eye: a blond-haired kid in a djellaba who looked at me and slowly shook his head, a warning. He wasn’t Moroccan; he looked like a European expat who had gone completely native. I looked around the room one more time, grabbed Sarah by the arm, and pulled her out.


We left our bags at another rooming house and immediately decided to walk out into the desert. I don’t know why—the simple urge to keep going? The pull of 2,000 miles of emptiness to the south? We cleared the last mud houses and started out across the brush-covered hardpan that extended, almost featureless, to the horizon. We walked all afternoon like that, without talking, without direction. Nothing changed but the position of the sun, which slowly swung from east to west behind flat gray clouds. We were about to turn around, thinking we would get back to town just after dark, when we saw something in the distance: a tent, and camels. It took us a long time to reach it, and as we got close, two men stepped out and waved. We walked up cautiously and greeted them in the Islamic way, with our right hand at our chest. They had tea boiling over a twig fire and were talking in a language that was not Arabic. They wore blue cloth that stained their skin and wore knives on their belts and had a flintlock rifle leaning against the tent post. They were Tuareg. The only object of Western manufacture was a plastic jug used to carry water. They motioned for us to sit down, and Sarah and I glanced at each other and took a seat in the sand.


The tea was served with great ceremony, poured beautifully into cups out of a battered tin teapot. I spoke French and Sarah spoke a little Arabic, but our hosts didn’t seem to understand much of either. I pointed to Sarah and myself and said, “America.” They just shrugged, so I drew a map of North Africa in the sand and gestured where our country was. It meant nothing to them. One of them swept his hand to the south and clapped his chest. I nodded. They asked the word for Allah. “God,” I said, and the younger one—a piercingly handsome guy of about 35&3151;tried out a few prayers, using the word God instead of Allah, collapsing in laughter at the end.


By now it was almost dark, and Sarah and I faced a long walk back to town. They gestured that we were invited to stay for dinner and the night. The older man—more reserved than the other, possibly his servant—cooked a bowl of stew in a clay pot banked with embers. They served us food on tin plates. After dinner I gave them my Swiss Army knife, and they gave Sarah some handmade jewelry. We were about to go to sleep when the younger man indicated that he had something important to say. He and his companion had come north to sell their camels, he explained; then they would go back into the desert. Six months from now they would be back in this same spot. If we wanted to join them, he promised he would return us safely to Goulimine in mid-July. It was their invitation. It was our choice.


It was a staggering idea—almost too staggering to contemplate. We would be completely dependent on these people for the next six months. We would be living with nomads somewhere in the largest desert on earth; there would be no way to get help, no way to leave, no way to communicate with home. We had to trust these two men utterly. It was something I’d never done before.


We went to sleep that night rolled up in goatskins. Maybe I’d already made my decision, I don’t know, but the next morning I woke up before dawn and pulled on my boots and jacket and walked out onto the desert. I couldn’t decide which was more upsetting—the idea of vanishing into the desert, or the idea that I wasn’t the kind of person who could do that. Sarah had already told me that she wouldn’t go, but that if I decided to, she would reassure my parents that I was safe. I stood there in the wind watching the sunrise, and when the lower rim had left the horizon and I felt the full warmth of the sun on my face, I walked back to camp. I simply had my limits, I realized.


Just contemplating that choice had altered me forever. I had stood on the threshold of a completely alien world, and even though I’d lacked the courage to cross over, at least I knew it existed. That knowledge was strangely humbling. It was also strangely reassuring. It seemed like maybe the one sure refuge we all had in the face of whomever it was we were taught to become.

: She Left My Heart In Jarbidge

Joh Billman’s searches for matrimonial bliss in Nevada’s loneliest town.

Home of the man-eating devil: Jarbidge Mountains, Nevada.

I COME FROM A FAMILY of elopers. My parents ran off to Deadwood, South Dakota, when Deadwood was the quintessential ghost town. Grocery clerk as a witness, then off to the Old No. 10 Saloon to dance and drink until my mom had to go out on Main Street and hurl. My half-brother, Coe, is a biker-blacksmith who has eloped a handful of times in a half-dozen Western states. No penguin suit. No white cake. No beer cans tied to the bumper, rice spraying your face like sleet. Eloping is the wedding and honeymoon all in a single rhinestone-spangled road trip.


I wanted to elope where the cartography gets fuzzy, and there are plenty of options within driving distance of my small Wyoming town. The wedding photos in my mind had a forty-niner daguerreotype quality to them, love prospectors in the hard country. My plan featured Nevada. The state smells like opportunity, I believed; driving through the basin-and-range country, UFO whack-jobs on late-night talk radio, it’s nearly possible to get ahead of yourself, like outdriving your own headlights. I imagined my beloved and me somewhere downwind of Reno and Vegas; no Elvis Chapel, no casino reception. Specifically, we aimed for Jarbidge, which bills itself as the Most Remote Town in the Lower 48. A hundred miles north of Elko, half of that on dirt and gravel the size of baby heads, infamous for the Shovel Brigade—conspiracy-theory anti-gubment types who banded together to reopen a Forest Service road closed to protect the endangered bull trout.
Jarbidge. Just saying the name had begun to taste like champagne.


We tossed our backpacks and a cooler in the truck and drove toward Elko. I was palms-sweating nervous. Hilary had the paperwork in her lap as we drove, dotting i’s, crossing t’s.


No air-conditioning, windows down, we rambled north through the sublime overgrazed bombing-range sagebrush steppe into the cool mountain range we’d been chasing on the horizon and turned off on a dirt road toward baby-please-don’t-quit-me. The little four-cylinder engine wound, wind scouring the west side of everything with sand.


In Jarbidge we pitched camp along Bear Creek, walking distance to downtown. The sound of the creek would be romantic, I figured, but it only succeeded in keeping us up most of the night. The eve of the nuptials we hiked to the Red Dog Saloon for Angel Creek Amber Ales. I asked the barmaid about churches, small talk, figuring I’d warm up to full-blown questions of marriage. “We’ve got Preacher Bob,” she said. “He holds services over there.” She pointed to an old board-and-batten whitewashed community hall straight out of Unforgiven; the last bona fide church had burned down years ago.


That night, Hilary dreamt she was walking around Jarbidge and none of the people had faces. She woke in a sour mood. I slipped away for a run up the canyon past abandoned gold mines and a lone rattlesnake and came back with endorphins enough to get married on. After bathing in icy Bear Creek, I put on my best snap-button Western shirt; Hilary in a sundress, we strolled to town. Jarbidge is one street running north-south splitting a steep canyon. As we walked hand in hand, Hilary noticed a historic marker informing visitors that “Jarbidge” is Shoshone for “bad or evil place.”


Things went sort of downhill after that. The Nez Perc茅 and Shoshones believed a man-eating devil lived in this canyon and steered clear, never mind holding weddings here. Preacher Bob was nowhere to be found and Hilary announced that she refused to get married in a bad or evil place.


A midday window of sunlight from the slot in the clouds: high noon.


“Let’s go back to Wells,” I said. “We’ll get married in Wells.”


We drove a hundred-mile horseshoe out of Jarbidge Canyon and into southern Idaho, then Jackpot at the border and U.S. 93 south to Wells. I flipped through the Yellow Pages under “churches” and called them all. Every preacher in Wells was out—took it as a sign. Tying the knot in Nevada wasn’t meant to be. And buddy was it a quiet drive back to Wyoming, Buck Owens’s “Cryin’ Time” on the AM, Hilary as remote as Jarbidge.


Two months later we were married in Kemmerer, Wyoming, by a cowboy/hippy justice of the peace who peppered the ceremony with cheerful Shoshone legend. Hilary refuses to go anywhere near Nevada, but I’d like to go back and throw flies at the redband trout in Bear Creek, sit on the deck at the Red Dog, and sip a beer among the faceless residents. Pay homage to our first efforts at conjugation, punch the devil in the nose, and try the town again.

: High Lonesome

Finding deep solitude in the Himalaya’s busy Everest region, Ronald Kral discovers, is surprisingly easy.

A few steps off the trekking highway: a windswept view of 26,750-foot Cho Oyo.

TO: outsidemag.com // FROM: rkral@thesoloist.com // SUBJECT: A Himalayan New Year’s
SO THERE I WAS, CAMPED AT 18,000 FEET, up an unnamed peak way off the beaten base-camp paths here in the Himalayas. Was hoping to catch first light of the new year on Everest, which dominates the eastern skyline. Nice view: Everest in one direction, 26,750-foot Cho Oyu in the other. Shame about the blizzard.


Not that it was entirely unexpected. Yesterday morning I was sipping yak-butter tea at Gokyo Namaste Lodge, staring at the huge lenticular over Cho Oyu. “Don’t worry,” said the lodge owner. So out I set, backpack packed with tent, North Face expedition bag, Therm-a-Rest, food, med kit, etc., for a two-day trek to this perch: 360-degree views, unusually warm, skies afire, a high alpine lake—mostly frozen—all creaks and moans, air trapped under the ice.


During the night, snowstorm. Kept up for two days. Soon my tent was a snow cave, walls molded by my hands. Had to crawl in and out through a hole until the weather broke.


SUBJECT: How to disappear in the mountains
Oops. Sorry to leave you hanging. I’m writing from Kathmandu, an Internet cafe with power problems. Bear with.


Let me tell you about the trek: connecting moraines, scrambling, threading boulder-strewn hillsides. To my right, 700 feet straight down to the Ngozumba Glacier. To my left, landslides off the high ridgeline. I’m 200 miles from the nearest road. A trail not fit for goats; no one would even know where to start looking.


That’s the thing about this place. Step just days away from the Himalayan highways, both literal and figurative, and you disappear. Start walking like I did, and pretty soon you’re wrapped in the arms of pure solitude.


SUBJECT: What did you do today?
God, did I sleep well in my cozy little snow hole. No signs of AMS. Or frostbite. Finally, a sunrise; time to head down. Much snow, ice, I glissaded pell-mell to the shore of an alpine lake. Then up again over another ridge. Arduous, but not as bad as defrosting my shoelaces in the evening to get my boots off, then redefrosting them in the morning.


Day five. Provisions for four. I drank snowmelt, scavenged in my pack for ramen, seaweed, etc. Trashbags on my legs for warmth, repeatedly flexed my toes and fingers; it was way below zero. Reached a mantle high above the Ngozumba. A crack in the cliff, no end run possible. I had to make a leap of faith, edge to edge, a hundred feet of air beneath my feet—


SUBJECT: Survivor
Made it! (SORRY, damn outages.) More exposed scrambling. One slip up there and I’m paste. When I reached bare, flat ground at last, I knelt down and kissed it.


Day seven. Still had many ridges to cross; small, flat valleys. Food and fuel gone, but I hoped the lodge owner hadn’t organized a rescue; I was only supposed to be out for four days, max. Pitched camp in a cave, moon floating over Cho Oyu. Would have been more fun if it wasn’t minus 30. I burned almost everything—diary pages I started in Africa, two pairs of socks (they should have been burned!), a pair of pants. Next day, I came stumbling into the lodge, past gaping trekkers and a man on a cell phone saying, “Looks like he’s alive.”


I’m a fool, I know, but I love these solo Himalayan romps. Already logged more than 1,000 miles in Nepal, Pakistan, and India, mostly alone. Would I recommend it? Certainly, if you’re into prolonged self-punishment. For me, heaven on earth.


I’m only passing through Kathmandu. Already I feel the crush of humanity; can’t wait to get back out again. Maybe further north. I hear China’s beautiful this time of year.

: Maximum Dose

Roland Merullo fled to Micronesia in search of a new life. He found it – but it was not what he expected.

Metropolitan Micronesia: the bustling Truk atoll.

WHEN THE PEACE Corps informed me that I was being sent to Micronesia, I went straight to my atlas. After much searching and squinting I found a sprinkling of dots just north of the equator and 2,000 miles east of the Philippines. Finally I located the Truk islands, my soon-to-be home: 11 small grains of pepper on the map’s wide blue middle.


Almost immediately I constructed an imaginary Micronesia—beautiful island women, succulent fruit, warm trade winds, translucent seas. I would spend my mornings helping desperately poor islanders, my afternoons snorkeling in wild, unpolluted waters, my nights reading in my thatched hut, or making love. At 25, I had already spent years dreaming of an Eden free of the rush, spoilage, and obsession with money that I felt surrounded me. Now I was sure I’d found it.
After a long flight across the Pacific and a few weeks of training on Guam, it was a two-day sail to my island, a speck of sand called Murilo, in the Hall group, eight degrees north latitude. Finally, on a brilliant September afternoon, I climbed down the ladder of the field-trip ship and into the skiff that would take me to the atoll. Above hung an enormous sky burned white by the tropical sun. Ahead was a Robinson Crusoe颅like crescent of land fringed with palms and pandanus trees. On all sides, as far as I could see, the green Pacific sparkled and rolled. For a minute or two I was struck full in the chest by the wonderful mercilessness of the nonhuman world, the immensity. Salt spray flying up against my sunglasses, I sat amid an embarrassment of luggage, bearing big dreams.


Murilo was home to 200 people. Its summit stood six feet above sea level; you could walk the entire shoreline in 15 minutes. During the day, the heat was so intense that the Murilans sought shade whenever they could. But as soon as the sun set, bathing the cumulus clouds stacked on the horizon in scarlet and lavender, a sweet breeze rose off the water and blew until dawn. Yet it quickly became apparent to me that my visions of paradise had been absurd. The humidity curled up the edges of my notebook paper and glued my envelopes closed. Tiny flies swarmed my face and arms. The single females were all under the age of eight. The food—fresh fish of a hundred varieties, breadfruit, taro, coconuts, bananas, pumpkin, lobster, pig, dog, snails—while as tasty as I’d imagined, carried bacteria that plagued even the locals.


There was no mail. The only way on or off Murilo was the field-trip ship, which stopped by with supplies every three months. Worst of all, however, was the fact that I was completely superfluous on Murilo. The people were content—more content, by a good measure, than those I’d left behind. The women sang as they made rope from coconut-husk fibers. The men passed cigarettes around a circle, two puffs apiece, and carried buckets of fish over to a neighbor’s house after a lucky afternoon at sea. My elaborately detailedPeace Corps job—writing up the island laws into a kind of constitution—took an hour a month.


I filled the broiling, empty days by teaching myself to fish with a snorkel, a spear, and a slingshotlike loop of surgical tubing the locals called a Hawaiian sling. The waters around Murilo were full of sharks, nurse and black-tipped reef sharks, mostly, but tigers and hammerheads too, so the speared fish had to be killed immediately—by crushing the skulls between my back teeth. Every morning I returned to the sea, losing myself in schools of angelfish, surgeonfish, and barracuda, diving down after my speared lunch—living, for a few hours at least, like a full citizen of the natural world.


Despite the thrill of spearfishing, I lasted only five months, climbing back onto the field-trip ship with my idealism bruised and my body host to battalions of infections. The Murilans, friendly and hospitable as they were, simply didn’t need me. Still, when I stepped out of Logan Airport, after the 30-hour flight from Truk, I was carrying a fishing spear wrapped up in cardboard and tape. I keep it in my workshop now, a rusty reminder of the most remote place I’ve ever been. And sometimes, swimming in the waters off Cape Cod, I take a breath and dive, running my chest along the sandy bottom, imagining a solitary surgeonfish there, just ahead, just out of range.

: White on White

In Antarctica, visitors fall from the sky, discovers Mary Roach,. What they find there comes from both heaven and hell.

Cold, but windy: gliding above Port Lockroy, Antarctica.

THE INTERIOR OF ANTARCTICA is one of those rare places that look the same on a map as they do in real life: blank, vast, and entirely void of contours. These places attract me—polar ice sheets, Saharan wastes, the tundras of Greenland. Their beauty is somehow more forlorn and compelling for their utter unavailability to all but a persistent few. The fewer who’ve been there, the thinking goes, the greater the prize.


In the case of 76 degrees south, 156 degrees east, south-central Antarctica, the number couldn’t have been more than a dozen: the five members of The Antarctic Search for Meteorites team who spent a summer season there, the pilot who flew them in, and a handful of visitors, including myself. At first sighting, the place was just such a prize. “Meteorite City”—four canvas tents, seven Ski-Doos, and a sled packed with Top Ramen, salami, and prune-size shards of old shooting stars&3151;sat on a luminous pale-blue ice sheet whose surface dipped and rolled like a flash-frozen ocean. The wind had scoured away most of the snow, and carved the rest into sculptured banks of brilliant white, Styrofoam-hard sastrugi. Ribbons of snow-smoke woundpast my ankles. The ice was sequined with sun, and the sky was the kind of clear, deep, lit-up blue that you feel behind your eye sockets. It was the first day of my stay, and it felt like heaven.


Three days later, I wasn’t so sure. Heaven has a toilet and something good to eat. The uncomfortable realities of life in a tent at 30 below had begun to present themselves. Prime among them was a plastic bottle, labeled “P” for “pee”; it saved me from suiting up and crawling outside in the middle of the night. To keep its contents from freezing, I had to bring the bottle inside my sleeping bag, where it made friends with my contact-lens solution and the ten or 12 mini hand warmers with whom I also shared my bed. Otherwise I would have had a “P”opsicle, which could not be emptied out in the morning and which no one would want to thaw out over their camping stove for me.


Dinner was chicken patties with Tang sauce. Polarfleece became more familiar to me than my skin. Aside from Ski-Dooing back and forth on the ice searching for galactic rubble in 40-mph gales (constant, screaming wind is a necessary element of meteorite hunting because it exposes the elusive quarry) and reading in the 24-hour daylight, there was nothing to do.


By week’s end, it was okay to be leaving this beautiful place that I had dreamed of, staring at the white on the map and thinking, “I’m going to a place where no one ever goes.” Because now I knew why.

: In the Mountains of My Youth

Risk comes with the territory when trekking in Bolivia’s backcountry. But go with a posse of teenagers, as Joe Kane did, and the stakes get even higher.

Where few men dare to float: the sometimes fierce, sometimes meandering Tuichi River, Bolivia.

FOR QUALITY TROUBLE, give me South America. Whole countries get lost down there. (Ask ten people where Suriname is; only one will even know the continent.) Yes, you can get yourself in a good jam right here in El Norte, but there’s almost always a safety net. Cell phone, sat phone, GPS, radio: Help is an uplink away. Expensive help, but they take credit cards. Go remote down south, though, and six seconds of inattention will land your ass in a serious sling. Then what? Call the park rangers? The army? Sure. Quiz谩s, tal vez, de repente, as they say in Peru&3151;maybe, perhaps, we’ll get right on it. Ma帽ana posible.


I’ve visited the South American backcountry often enough to screw up with the sort of depth and regularity that is inconceivable without an expense account. In Yasun铆 National Park, in the Ecuadorian Amazon, I found myself thrashing through bush so thick I didn’t see the sky for three days. No maps. No food. No sense of direction. I was traveling with Huaorani Indians, whose jungle navigation skills are perhaps the finest in the Amazon—and they were lost. By the time we stumbled out, I was close to starvation.
Or rafting the Apur铆mac canyon, in the Peruvian Andes. The Apur铆mac is twice as deep as the Grand Canyon; our maps, made by the Instituto Geogr谩fico Militar, had big white spaces where the river was supposed to be. We certainly hadn’t expected to encounter Maoist guerrillas down there. But there they were, firing at us at dawn one morning. Cerebral edema at the source of the Amazon in the Andes? The medevac, if you’re lucky enough to have one, eats grass and wears a saddle.


After several close calls in South America, I did what any rational man would do: I went back with nine teenagers. I volunteer in a program that sends high school kids to Bolivia for six weeks every summer. Some are rich, some poor, some beamed in from Mars. One year, in one of those decisions that seems logical at the time but insane in retrospect, we took them on a backpacking trip way off the grid, from the Andean crest on an old Inca highway, then down into the Amazon basin. I worked sweep behind the only two girls. The trail was solid stone and slick as an ice rink. One girl wore Birkenstocks; at 16,000 feet she blew out an ankle. I emptied her pack into mine. The other girl got blisters and hurt her back. I took most of her stuff, too. My load now totaled about a hundred pounds. I kissed my knees good-bye.


We got blasted by snow, hail, rain, and wind until, late that first afternoon, we lost the rest of our group. Suddenly, characteristically, the Andes went from barren to so thickly forested you couldn’t step off the trail without a machete. The sun set. It got darker and colder. Only then did it occur to me that we had no food, water, or shelter and that if we did not reach our campsite we would spend the night standing up on the steep, narrow trail, alone, in the blackness and rain, hypothermic and hungry. We’d made mistakes; the bill had come due. But the girls soldiered on. They didn’t complain; they didn’t say a word.


Somehow we stumbled our way into camp, a barnyard I’d call fit for pigs except that I’ve met pigs who had it better. Two days later, when we reached an inn, I walked by the girls’ room and noticed that the stuff I’d been hauling included hardback books, jars of cosmetics, a copy of Clueless on videocassette. I stifled a scream.


Because by then we’d had a conversation. “It’s like there’s this whole other world out here,” said one. “I can go home, but nothing will ever look the same again.” Trite, perhaps, but for a 17-year-old girl who totes mud mask into the Bolivian backcountry, poignant. I knew what she was saying; I experienced the same feeling—like the rust was blasted off my soul—the first time I went south. Fifteen years later, I still do.

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The islands of the South Pacific may be mere specks of land in a vast expanse of open sea, but their attendant myths are larger than life—the Saran Wrap-clear lagoons, atolls ringed by teeming reefs, impenetrable jungle edging crescents of white sand. Set apart in their own tropical time warp, these isles are one of those rare cases where the reality actually matches the fantasy: In the Solomons you’ll find dive sites so plentiful and so rarely (if ever) explored that no one has bothered to name them; in Palau, the first kayak trips have barely begun along the nation’s island-clogged waterways; in Fiji, new sports-oriented resorts cater to divers, sailors, surfers, and assorted utopia-seekers. Pick your dot on the map, then follow our lead to the ultimate in island escapes.

Palau

Palau, in Micronesia, claims fame as one of the world’s finest dive spots—and as the world’s newest nation. The former U.N. Trust Territory marked its first year of independence in 1995. Roughly translated, this means more hotels will be paving Palauan shores and tropical forests in the very near future, so the time to visit is now. Most people go to Palau to dive their brains out; they don’t come away disappointed. The 300-plus-island nation sits 800 miles southwest of Guam and about 700 miles east of the Philippines, at the meeting point of three major ocean currents that nurture a feeding frenzy of marine life. Dive on Palau’s extensive barrier reef, and you might see 1,000-pound clams, anemones the size of basketballs, and fish of all kinds, from manta rays and whale sharks to surfboard-size wrasses. The largest island is 153-square-mile Babeldaob, the only place big enough for the international airport’s runways. But the minute island-capital of Koror, two miles southwest, supports more than two-thirds of Palau’s 15,000 population with its well-planned road system and central location. Koror links up to Babeldaob, Arakabesan, Ngercheu, Malakal, and several other islands via causeways and bridges that have all but replaced interisland commuting on outboards or canoes.


Palau’s fabled dive sites, like Blue Corner and the Ngemelis Wall (with visibility up to 150 feet), are at the southern end of the barrier reef, about an hour’s boat ride south of Koror. Hefty hawksbills lumber among the sea fans and tree corals of Ngemelis Wall, named “the world’s best wall dive” by Jacques Cousteau. The even more popular Blue Corner teems with reef sharks and schooling barracuda. As a new nation, Palau is starting to establish conservation programs for the dive industry, but dive boats still line up to anchor at these sites like planes landing at LAX. Some locals claim that Peliliu’s wrecks, about 45 minutes southwest by boat from Koror, are the best dives; others prefer the geologic formations of Siaes Tunnel, Blue Holes, and Chandelier Cave, all within an hour of Koror. You’re best off simply asking your divemaster to take you to sites offering optimum conditions and the fewest people.
If you want to learn the names of all the marine life, book your dives and snorkeling trips through Fish ‘N Fins (two-tank dives, $100, including lunch; 011-680-488-2637) at Palau Marina Hotel on Koror. Owner Francis Toribiong, the godfather of Palau diving, knows every olaumeyas and kesebekuu (sea anemone and moray eel). Or dive with Dexter Temengil at Palau Diving Center on Koror (two dives, $110; 680-488-2978), who’ll also take you to Jellyfish Lake ($40 per person), a short boat-ride away on Eil Malk Island. The marine lake is off-limits to divers (there are noxious bacterial gases at depths below 50 feet), but you’ll never get near the stuff snorkeling. Getting there is half the fun: you trek up a rocky cliff, dodging poisonous trees oozing black sap, then slip into ten inches of bug-covered silt and snake your way through a stand of slimy mangrove roots. Somewhere between the mangroves and the lake’s opposite shore, you’ll encounter the nonstinging Mastigias—first one, then ten, until, by the thousands, they’re rubbing up against you like purring kittens.
To log some quality topside time, spend at least an afternoon sea kayaking. The oft-photographed Rock Islands—those little green knobs scattered south of Koror—are minor players in the diving scene, but they’re prime waters for paddlers: you skim along beneath limestone ledges while Palauan bush warblers serenade you from the pandanus above, and plate corals and sponges whiz past below. 国产吃瓜黑料 Kayaking of Palau on Koror (rentals, $50-$70; one-day tours, $80; 680-488-1694) outfits day trips and guide-optional camping excursions geared for snorkeling, caving, birding, hiking, and diving. Hikers and fly-fishers should contact Lazarrenna Yosinao at Palau Island 国产吃瓜黑料s (day trips, $80; 680-488-1843) for a no-holds-barred trek to Babeldaob’s Ngatpang Waterfall, a mix of four-wheel-drive off-roading, jungle hiking, birding, and freshwater minicasting.
Favored divers’ digs include the laid-back bungalows at Carp Island Resort on Ngercheu, (doubles, $70-$100; 680-488-2978) and the 50-room Hotel Nikko Palau (doubles, $130-$170; 800-645-5687). On a gentle slope overlooking the Rock Islands next to 国产吃瓜黑料 Kayaking, it makes for a handy paddlers’ retreat. Arakabesan’s Sunrise Villa (doubles, $125; 680-488-4590) has 23 spacious rooms with refrigerators and outstanding views of the Rock Islands. Nearby, the full-service Palau Pacific Resort on Koror’s only beach (doubles, $225-$270; 800-327-8585) appeals to those who seek five-star frills like Jacuzzis and princely all-you-can-eat buffets. If you prefer a live-aboard dive boat, there are several. Book the Palau Aggressor II, a 16-passenger catamaran, through Live/Dive Pacific (seven-day package, $2,225; 800-344-5662). The Sun Dancer (one-week package, $2,000-$2,200; call Peter Hughes Diving, 800-932-6237), with eight posh double cabins, cruises the length of Palau’s reef. The smaller Ocean Hunter (one-week package, $2,000-$2,225; call See & Sea Travel, 800-348-9778) is a 60-foot yacht with three double cabins.
Getting There and Around:

Continental Micronesia (800-231-0856) flies from Los Angeles and San Francisco for around $1,750, with stopovers in Honolulu and Guam. In Koror, rent a car from Toyota Rent-A-Car ($75 per day; 011-680-488-2133).

The Solomon Islands

A dive briefing goes something like this: “We know this is a wall. The current will take you to a reef. We’re not sure what’s there. Have fun!” Whoopie! You drop down into warm blue water with 100-foot visibility, drift along, see a bunch of reef sharks and giant sea fans, whole families of parrotfish, crinoids in every color combo, a hammerhead, a weird ray, and a Spanish dancer. You surface with a fat grin on your face, look around, and then it hits you—except for the divers you’re with and a kid paddling by in a dugout canoe, there’s nobody around—not another boat for as far as you can see (the dive site doesn’t even have a name).
In decades past, only diehard wreck divers made the long haul to the Solomon Islands, 1,300 miles northeast of Australia. Iron Bottom Sound off the main island of Guadalcanal got its name from the sheer numbers of World War II warships, submarines, and fighter planes that haunt its depths. There was no dive operation on Guadalcanal until 1982, no live-aboard until 1988. Even today, sport diving remains in its infancy, despite numerous fringing reefs alive with uncounted coral and fish species (and at least five species of toothy sharks). Of the 922 islands in the archipelago, groups like the Russells and the Floridas opened their reefs to divers only within the past ten years, and the vast majority have yet to be explored.


A trip to the Solomons usually begins at Henderson Field Airport in Honiara on Guadalcanal, the most developed and the largest island at 2,965 square miles. Honiara, the nation’s capital, is a Quonset-hutted town (populated by about a tenth of the Solomons’ 300,000 citizens) surrounded by humid jungle and thatch-roofed villages. While not the most picturesque choice, a stay in Honiara makes good sense if climbing into the cockpit of a sunken B-17 bomber sounds like your idea of fun.
The Kitano Mendana (doubles, $75-$125; 011-677-20071) heads the list of Honiara’s hotels, not so much because of its Sheraton-style amenities, but because of its dearth of in-room mosquitoes. You can snorkel on Mendana Reef right in front of the resort (about a 20-minute swim in shallow water), and on-site Island Dive Services (one dive, $45; 677-22103) will take you to wrecks like the B-17 bomber with intact controls and machine guns. Or do the bushwalk-wade-swim to nearby Mataniko, a waterfall next to a stalagmite-filled cave swarming with bats and swallows.
But to really get away, head straight to Uepi, a tiny single-resort island and prime scuba spot off New Georgia in Western Province. Reached from Honiara via a 70-minute flight on Solomon Airlines (round-trip, $125; 677-20031), Uepi Island Resort (doubles, $100-$135, meals included; 011-61-77-75-1323) specializes in diving, boardsailing, and scenic beaches. The bungalow-style hotel overlooks coral-lined Marovo Lagoon, the world’s longest at 68 miles. Notable dives include the coral extravaganza at Landoro Gardens (more than 500 species, including gorgonian fans and comb coral) and the drift dive (about $40 per dive) among Maori wrasses at Uepi Point. Canoes are available at the resort for the trip up the Kolo River to several small villages, where you can watch weavers and wood carvers at work.
For birders, there’s Rennell Island, 130 miles south of Guadalcanal in Central Province. Its 427 square miles shelter shrikebills, fantails, pygmy ibises, and cormorants that feed on tilapia and giant eels. The birds congregate in Te’Nggano, the largest freshwater lake in the Pacific outside of New Zealand. Now under consideration as a World Heritage nature reserve (as is Marovo Lagoon), the area has no lodging facilities. To camp, you’ll need a village chief’s permission, best secured by a guide found through the Solomon Islands Tourist Authority on Honiara (677-22442).
For a closer encounter with the Solomons, consider a live-aboard dive boat. Bilikiki Cruises in Honiara operates the only two live-aboards in the Solomons (all-inclusive weekly rates, $1,750-$2,225; 800-663-5363). Both make seven- to 14-day runs to Marovo Lagoon, the Russells, and the Floridas. The 125-foot Spirit of Solomons takes up to 26 divers; the 125-foot Bilikiki, an old ferry turned luxury cruiser, holds up to 20 divers. With advance request, either boat can stow away boardsailing, canoeing, and fishing gear.
Getting There and Around:

For connecting flights from Fiji to Honiara (via Vanuatu) in the Solomons (there’s no direct service from the U.S.), book the $485 round-trip Discover Pacific Pass on Solomon Airlines (call Air Promotions Systems, 800-677-4277). The Discover Solomons Pass gets you four domestic flights for $250. Avis rents cars in Honiara ($307-$450 per week); Budget charges $253.

Fiji

In Fiji, choose your island according to your sport, then expect to empty your wallet. The ultimate Fijian idyll won’t come cheap, but the good news is that Fijian hotels tend to treat all travelers like royalty, no matter how wild-eyed or grungy.
The 330-island archipelago (population 785,000) lies 1,148 miles north of New Zealand. Of the three largest islands, 4,010-square-mile Viti Levu has the capital of Suva, the Nadi International Airport, and the bulk of the population. Legendary surfing awaits at tiny Tavarua off its western coast, while Vanua Levu (3,000 square miles), Taveuni (166 square miles), and smaller islands in the north have the least-traveled beaches and the best snorkeling and diving.


Of course, the only rationale surfers need to part with a year’s savings is a 25-second ride in a 15-foot tube—which is why Tavarua attracts even the most penurious of the breed. Reached from Nadi via a 45-minute drive plus half an hour in an outboard, the 30-acre island sits amid razor-sharp reefs, outside of which loom screaming left breaks accessible only by boat. Tavarua Island Resort (doubles, $150 per person, including lodging, meals, and transportation; 805-686-4551) caters to a maximum of 24 surfers with rustic bures (thatch-roofed huts), communal toilets, a family-style restaurant, and those all-important first-aid stations. Bring booties, boards, and your strongest leash, and prepare to meet a sea snake in its natural habitat. Glassiest conditions occur November to February.
You can also scuba dive off Tavarua, but if diving’s your main passion, book yourself into Cousteau Fiji Island Resort (doubles, $375-$475, including breakfast and all activities except diving; 800-268-7832) on Vanua Levu, Jean-Michel and partners’ new playground on Savusavu Bay where it meets the Koro Sea. The PADI dive and water-sports operation offers a full-on photo lab, along with crafts from sailboats to kayaks. On occasion, the reefmeister himself leads dives or even rainforest hikes to misting waterfalls.
If the resort’s 20 plush bures, each with floor-to-ceiling windows and well-stocked minibars, sound a tad decadent, do it in the name of science: Project Ocean Search, Jean-Michel’s biannual resort program on reef ecology, includes lectures, field trips, and underwater shooting with a Nikonos V ($6,200, all-inclusive with round-trip airfare from Los Angeles; 805-899-8899).
Divers who want to try their luck at saltwater fly-fishing should check out Matagi Island, a horseshoe-shaped sliver six miles from Taveuni’s northeast coast. Its eponymous 240-acre resort (doubles, $200-$340; 800-362-8244) houses guests in ten bures, or in a treehouse 30 feet off the ground. Mornings, two dive boats (two-tank dive, $85 per person) run to coral-covered drop-offs like Purple Wall and Golden Dream. Afternoons, you can fool around with Hobie Cats and sailboards or test the resort’s handmade flies on king mackerel and dogtooth tuna.
If you’d rather dive day and night, bunk on the resort’s Matagi Princess II, with air-conditioned staterooms and hot showers (seven nights, all-inclusive with round-trip airfare from Los Angeles, $3,500; 800-362-8244). The 12-passenger, 85-foot live-aboard cruises from Matagi to sites in the Somosomo Strait and the Ringgolds brimming with soft corals and tiger cowries.
Sailors can charter a bareboat through The Moorings (50-foot Beneteau, $590-$690 per day; 800-535-7289); a typical ten-day sail from its base on Malololailai Island ten miles west of Nadi includes a stop on Sawa-i-Lau to swim in the caves, a visit with Naviti Island’s female chief to trade for shells and carvings made by villagers, and an exploration of the freshwater pools and beachside waterfalls on Waya Island.
Finally, there’s the hell-you-only-live-once choice—a sojourn on 800-acre Kaimbu in north Fiji’s Lau group, where you can either ensconce yourself in a palace of a bure with 25-foot ceilings and 220-degree views or drop a slightly larger fortune and have the run of the island. Kaimbu Island Resort (all-inclusive doubles, $1,200 per night; entire island, $3,500; 800-473-0332) takes up to six guests and fronts the proverbial blue lagoon.
Getting There and Around:

Three airlines make the 11-hour trip from Los Angeles to Nadi International Airport: Qantas (800-227-4500), with nonstops on Tuesdays and Thursdays; Air Pacific (800-227-4446), with a Saturday nonstop; and Air New Zealand (800-262-1234), with four weekly departures via Honolulu. Round-trip airfares range from $1,100 to $1,500; the minimum stay is usually a week. Sunflower Airlines (011-679-723-016-408) flies from Nadi to most of Fiji’s smaller islands ($40-$110 one way). For car rental, call Avis ($309-$412 weekly; 800-331-1212) or Budget ($312; 800-527-0700)

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