Adventures tour to the ends of the Earth

Added: 10/23/2005

It is tempting to dream of an adventure tour to the most hidden corners of the earth, uncharted regions where time, for once, really does seem to have stood still; where real discoveries can be made; and where exploration is accomplished, not on an internet search engine, but the hard way: on foot, by mule, or in the company of native-speaking guides. Few such corners - remarkably - are beyond the reach of modern tourism, and below are a choice of some of the world's farthest-flung places and how, in most cases, you can go about reaching them

year's North Pole
For the ultimate in remote adventures travel, take a trip to the Last Degree: the North Geographic Pole. Pen Hadow of the Devon-based company Polar Travel can whisk you in and out in just three days. You arrive on the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen, the launch pad for many famous expeditions, and travel from there by 40-seater jet to "Borneo", a drifting ice base (journey time two hours 45 minutes). Then it's a helicopter ride (30-60 minutes) to the landing site, where you will be offered an iridium phone and the chance to call home to deliver the immortal line: "I'm calling from the North Pole." No adventures tour has previously offered the opportunity to experience the North Pole in a weekend.
There are no special fitness requirements and all ages are welcome, but you need the right clothing; Polar Travel provides the equipment. The three-night trip in April costs from £7,150, excluding joining flights. This adventures tour also includes longer expeditions, such as the Last Fifty Kilometres, where you can stagger over the frozen tundra to the Pole while pulling a sled of supplies. It will also take you to the South Geographic Pole - though you can reckon on spending £21,000 for that trek.
Outer Mongolia and Tibet
Go on an adventures tour to Mongolia and emulate Marco Polo, almost certainly the first European to traverse the Gobi Desert in the 13th century. Alternatively, follow in the footsteps of Genghis Khan, and his grandson Kubla, or gaze on the world's largest dinosaur graveyard in the low, brown hills of Ukhaa Tolgod. This adventures tour involves visits to the remains of Genghis Khan's old capital, Karakorum, several days' travel on horseback in the remote Altay mountains and Gobi Desert, nights spent in Mongol yurts, and visits to the nomadic Kazakh people of western Mongolia, who still use golden eagles for falconry. The cost is £3,340, including flights, transfers, accommodation and all meals.
Some companies organize an adventures tour including The Reindeer Herders of Hovsgol - visits with packhorse to some of the world's hardiest nomadic peoples and Riding with Eagles which involves riding the small, wiry Mongolian horse to explore the country's western margins. The trip follows paths taken by nomads when moving flocks and hunting with eagles or a four-day yak trek, camping with nomads in the Gobi and a visit to Karakorum. The tour costs from £1,620, including flights, transport,
You can be escorted on one of the world's ultimate treks - to Mount Kailash in Tibet. The tour operator claims that this adventures tour has no parallel in terms of spiritual importance, as the mountain is holy to Hindus, Buddhists, Jains and Bon Animists. After being helicoptered to a remote corner of western Nepal, you trek into Tibet, and then drive to Kailash. Then begins the three-day circumnavigation or "holy kora". Physical fitness is essential as this is a strenuous trek involving high altitudes - though yaks are available for the weaker of limb. The price is £3,000 fully inclusive.

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