8 Remote Wonders You Can Safely Explore

When you find yourself in the farthest corners of the world, the unexpected is always part of the adventure. A river might rise overnight in the jungle. A trek in the desert could become treacherous in a sandstorm. A rare bird or animal might make an appearance. But being further afield often increases the risk during emergencies—so it’s important to understand how you would get to the nearest medical facility in an emergency (and understand those facilities may not be what you are used to at home).

Most travel insurance policies include medical evacuation to the “nearest adequate” facility for emergency treatment, but what’s “adequate” is determined by the insurance provider (and may not be acceptable to you). Medjet is a top-of-the-line medical transport membership program that gets you moved to a hospital at home. If you are hospitalized while traveling (abroad or domestically) Medjet arranges and pays all costs for air medical transport to a hospital of your choice in your home country. You can also add security and crisis response benefits if you’re going someplace where safety is a concern. The company’s MedjetHorizon membership adds access to 24/7 expert security teams, with on-the-ground response and security extraction if necessary.

Traveling to remote places is incredibly rewarding but it does require extra preparation. With the right insurance and additional coverages like Medjet lined up, you’ll have the peace of mind to embrace the unknown—like these magnificently off-grid wonders.

Cerro Fitz Roy

Argentina

The jagged spires of Cerro Fitz Roy rise high above the Southern Patagonian Ice Field. This granite monolith is Patagonia’s most recognizable peak (thanks in part to its immortalization on the Patagonia company logo). It’s also among the most treacherous. Sudden storms sweep in without warning, thawing permafrost creates hazards from loose rocks, and steep ascents make the hike tough for anyone faint of heart. Winding trails circle the peak through remote glacial valleys, windy ridges, and diverse landscapes. This feels like an expedition at the end of the earth, whether you opt for a day hike or a multi-day through hike itinerary.

Semliki Safari Lodge

Uganda

Uganda’s Western Rift valley is home to Semliki, 200 square miles of the country’s oldest protected area, surrounded by a wilderness where rainforest and savannah meet. Semliki Safari Lodge blends into the wild thanks to the natural local materials that make up its open-air design, thatched roof glamping tents, and verandas with panoramic views across the horizon. Guests share the valley with monkeys, baboons, forest elephants, hyenas, and pygmy hippos. Hundreds of bird species fill the canopies. One of the reserve’s star species are its chimpanzees, which are less habituated than troops in the neighboring Kibale, Budongo, and Kyambura Gorge forests. Unlike the more crowded areas in Uganda, Semliki feels like a wild frontier of rainforest, dry savannah grasslands, and riparian woodlands, where you can look out towards the Rwenzori Mountains and even spot the Congo’s Blue Mountains on a clear day.

Ta Prohm

Cambodia

Few ruins in the world feel as haunted by nature as Ta Prohm. This sprawling Buddhist temple was built in 1186 as a dedication to the mother of Jayavarman VII, but today its stone corridors have been surrendered to the jungle. Roots of silk cotton and strangler fig trees snake over walls and weave through the temple’s loose heavy stones— some weighing more than a ton. The result is an otherworldly fight between architecture and nature so mesmerizing it served as the setting for the movie Lara Croft: Tomb Raider. Ta Prohm is part of the Angkor complex and was named a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1992. Most importantly, it stands as a reminder that nature can never be fully tamed.

Bertha’s Beach

Falkland Islands

On a lonely stretch of the Falklands called Bertha’s Beach, 300 miles east of the South American mainland, Gentoo penguins waddle year-round through the sand, joined seasonally by their Magellanic penguin cousins. South American terns, ruddy-headed geese, and endemic Falkland flightless steamer ducks all call Bertha’s Beach home, earning this area status as both a Ramsar Wetland and an Important Bird Area. It’s tough to picture today, but the island’s story as a travel destination began with disaster—specifically, the wreck of the 500-ton ship Bertha in 1892. The ship may be gone, but some of its cedar log cargo can still be found around the beach today.

Inishtrahull Lighthouse

Ireland

Ireland’s northernmost island is an uninhabited, treeless spec set in the rough and wild North Atlantic Ocean. Inishtrahull once supported a small but dedicated fishing community, which built the lighthouse in 1813. By 1911, the island’s population peaked at 80 residents, then fell back to just one soul in 1929: the lighthouse keeper. The 1950s brought a newer lighthouse with automation, marking the end of human civilization on Inishtrahull. Today, the island belongs to a variety of seabirds and seals. You can still see remains of civilization here in the form of stone cottages, an abandoned school, and of course, Ireland’s northernmost lighthouse, eight miles off the coast of Donegal.

World’s Loneliest Tree

New Zealand

On Campbell Island, gales rage more than 100 days a year and rain falls for 325 days annually, making it inhospitable for plenty of plant life. One lone Sitka spruce stands out in this subantarctic landscape over 400 miles from the South Island. The spruce, which is native to the northern hemisphere, was planted on New Zealand’s southernmost island over a century ago by then-governor Lord Ranfurly. Instead of growing into the classic conifer shape, the spruce has spread into the profile of a 30-foot cauliflower. (On the plus side, it’s grown up to ten times faster than it would under normal conditions.) There isn’t another tree for 170 miles, earning this botanical anomaly the title of “World’s Loneliest Tree.”

The Gates of Hell

Turkmenistan

Deep in the Karakum Desert in Turkmenistan, a 230-foot-wide crater has burned for over 50 years, its glow visible for miles. The so-called Gates of Hell opened during a Soviet drilling accident in 1971, which punctured an underground natural gas cavern. To stop a potential environmental disaster so close to the village of Darvaza, the Soviets set it ablaze with the expectation that it would burn out eventually. Instead, it’s still burning today, making it one of the world’s hottest, strangest eternal flames.

My Son Sanctuary

Vietnam

Tucked into the mountains of Quang Nam, My Son Sanctuary is a crumbling city of brick towers that once formed the religious and political core of the Cham civilization. From the 4th to 13th centuries, this was the heart of an Indian-Hindu kingdom. Today, My Son Sanctuary showcases its remains, including its 71 holy temples built over ten centuries. The Cham’s seamless, mortarless, well-preserved brickwork has survived 15 centuries later, baffling engineers and earning it a spot on the UNESCO World Heritage list since 1999. It’s a captivating time capsule of a unique, extinct culture.

Whichever adventure you choose, make sure you have a plan in place for getting to the nearest care in case of an emergency, and a path home should the worst happen!