Jairo21

Hey. I joined these forums specifically to ask this question: What is the most exotic place that one can go. I am adventurous, and am looking for something that will be an amazing experience. I am used to roughing it and while I love cities, this place has to be excluded from most of the world. Maybe someplace that you know, but would never go because it is dangerous. I want there to be a risk, I want it to be demanding, and I want it to be essentially the ultimate adventure before I settle down. Ideally, the only people around will be locals. No tourists or anything. It should be something that very few people have ever done. Any ideas?

tomfuller

Check out some of the places that Bear Grylls has gone and filmed by himself. http://beargrylls.com/
Make sure someone knows where you are going and when you expect to return. Have a rescue plan in place.

janisj

This board is very slow--there is much more activity on the specific region forums (see the 'change forum' pull down menu).

I'd re-post your questions on the Asia, Africa/Middle East, South America, and Australia/the Pacific boards.

qwovadis

www.huaorani.com Deep Amazon the original

"Headshrinkers" home of Tanstzas and Ayahuasca

Careful with them show respect and tip well.

They are always trying to get (a little) ahead...

qwovadis

Jívaro (Shuar) area in Ecuador.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shrunken_head

www.guanguiltagua.com [email protected]

best most knowledgeable guide down there from

recent personal experience.

kikiv

La Gran Sabana Venezuela, from there you can visit the Tepuys", Roraima, Angel Falls.
I have been there twice as my sister lived there for many years. This is a beautiful place that few people know exits. While there is some lodging and "tour guides" it is all very basic, rustic and wild.

I flew from Caracas to Cuidad Bolivar then flew on a small single engine plane directly to El Pauji. At the time there was a small dirt and rocky landing strip and nothing else.
You can also take a bus or fly to Santa Elena de Uairen and get a ride to El Puaji or elsewhere in the region.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Gran_Sabana

http://www.venezuelatuya.com/gransabana/indexeng.htmd

Jairo21

Thanks for the responses so far. South America seems to be the place on most peoples minds. Recommendations for Asia? I will also post this in the region specific boards.

Pete1222

Now that's a great question Jairo! I once spent 3 or 4 months hitch-hiking all over Southern & Eastern Africa----right up into Egypt. Quite often I was overwhelmed by both the Beauty and the Violence---Often on the same day...But Plenty of RISK; if that is ur #1 priority. Then, I once went to Asia for a month but stayed a year-----SouthEast Asia remains one of my most Fave spots; So much color & beauty.....Burma remains a Fave, and there is certainly Risk depending on how far off "the grid" you want to go. India will swallow up, if that's an area/culture you want to explore. Bangledesh is actually pretty interesting... (We're checking out Ecuador now---but never been there). Stay safe~~~

thursdaysd

See http://www.babeltravel.com/site/html...ons/ryp/dp.php

Jairo21

Thanks a lot Pete. I spent a little time in Ecuador and it was great. Make sure to go to the Galapagos. Will definitely look into those places.

spcfa

If you want something cool and adventurous with a little danger thrown in you could try a walking safari in Africa. Nothing like being on the ground with the wildlife to give you a feel for what our ancestors must've lived with day in and day out. I loved it, But I have a very adventurous and generally fearless girlfried who was scared to death to go out the second day. I'm glad I didn't listen to her and took that trip anyway!

suze

How about papua new guinea?

suze

<the only people around will be locals. No tourists or anything. It should be something that very few people have ever done>

Sorry but I think your idea is overly idealistic. That said just head into any country that is unstable, and under political and social unrest. That would be potentially dangerous and won't have many tourists wandering around.

Do you speak any foreign languages?

Fra_Diavolo

Second suze's rec for Papua New Guinea. I don't think there are any places wilder or more dangerous. I just read about someone who completed this trek http://www.kokodatrail.com.au/ -- but you could do it by yourself to make it even more perilous!

A few years back Lawrence Osborne published The Naked Tourist -- an account of his attempt to find a place where no one has seen a tourist. He finds it in PNG.

http://www.amazon.com/Naked-Tourist-...0942471&sr=8-1

JBX

Hiking in northern Iraq? Just make sure you know where the border is or you may find your 'vacation' turn into a very long stay .......
http://articles.latimes.com/2011/sep...ikers-20110926

dutyfree

Travel around India!

SiennaGarbo

Interesting question. I was chatting with a friend over dinner just this evening who was born in Sri Lanka, was adopted by Canadian parents who did development work, and has lived all over the world with them. Among many other remote places, they lived off the beaten track in Papua New Guinea for 4 years. Others on this board have suggested PNG and she tells me it's very lawless and wild and there were almost no expats and only the occasional adventure traveller passing through once or twice a year. She felt it was the most remote and dangerous of the places they lived.. However, the only place her father, who continues to do development work in remote and conflict areas, has fled from is Afghanistan. He just left there a few weeks ago deciding it is just too crazy and dangerous for him. A first is a couple of decades of remote development work. I've travelled in Southern Africa for 14 months off the beaten track as an adult single woman, in India for 6 months at 18, and in Guatemala during the height of the massacres at 17 and Nicaragua during the contra counter revolution - but I definitely won't be going to Afghanistan in the near future. I have a friend who recently worked in Sierra Leone with Doctors without Borders and he is also avoiding Afghanistan - as is my cousin who lived there from the time he was 5-12 while his father was working for the UN and speaks fluent Farsi. I guess it just depends how unusual and dangerous you would like it to be..... There are, of course, places that it's just not a good idea to visit unless you don't mind having a pretty good chance of coming home in a body bag.

SiennaGarbo

Correction - I meant to write "a first IN a couple of decades of development work", not "IS" in my last post.

Another idea. A friend from Chile who's spent a lot of time in Central American jungles just hiked for 3 weeks in the uninhabited dense jungle in the North east of Guatemala with a friend with similar skills from Mexico. Very challenging in terms of survival skills and they didn't encounter a living human soul.

Keep us posted, I'd love to hear about the adventure you choose.

Skiergirl

My mom knew a woman (who I met several times) who was kidnapped in PNG but survived, only to die falling down the stairs in her home. True story. PNG sounds like a nightmare, so maybe that's your dream trip!

melissadill

PNG Fantastic! traveled there from Bali via small expedition ship with Zegrahms Expeditions, all thru remote areas of Indonesia into PNG. Headhunters, the Men's Houses, etc. the whole nine yards! Port Moresby can be dangerous. Would love to return. Next on my bucket list is observing Mountain Gorillas in Uganda, just need to find a companion for this experience! As a single woman not so sure about going it alone!