Thrilling Adventure Destinations Off The Beaten Path

If you're looking for a mixture of adventure and tranquility you have found your destination! Palawan is full of amazing landscapes, beautiful beaches, and a vast marine life. If you travel to the Philippines, you must take the Tao Expeditions (5 days, 4 nights). OurAwesomePlanet.com explains, "Tao Philippines Expedition is a social enterprise founded by Eddie Agamos Brock and Jack Foottit that immerses participants in the authentic Filipino island life while, at the same time, helping the remote island communities of Northern Palawan."  Don't pass up this trip of a lifetime!  Check out this amazing island with your significant other, go with a group of friends, or join other people from all over the word and explore together.

Are you a curious traveler? If you answered yes, Lake Atitlan, Guatemala is the perfect destination for you. Take a tour around the beautiful lake Atitlan. Climb Volcano Atitlan, and Volcano San Pedro. Hike through the Onion Fields and take pictures of the amazing scenery. Visit the towns surrounding Lake Atitlan for unlimited experiences, providing you with both relaxing and partying atmospheres.

Moab, Utah is the home of Arches National Park. If you're a scenery lover you are sure to love Moab. Bring your camera, the red rock landscape in Arches National Park is stunning, it will have you feeling like you are in another world. Take a hike, camp out, bike ride around, backpack and rock climb your way through one of the most amazing parks you will ever experience. After your visit to Arches, go out and explore the town. There are many cultural sites to visit, as well as wildlife to explore, and sports to experience (mountain biking, rafting, hiking etc.). When you're done for the day, relax with an evening of wine tasting.

Located on the Great Plains, Black Hills is home of Black hills National Forest. From a distance the hills actually appear black, hence the name "Black hills." Check out this spot for a vast amount of wilderness animals and adventures! View the canyons, go hiking to streams and even swim in one of the azure lakes. *Trails for Hiking: Deerfield Trail, Mount Roosevelt, Iron Creek, Iron Mountain, Osprey Trail.

Home of the the Grand Canyon and the Grand Canyon National Park. The winter is the best time to visit if you're someone who would rather less congestion and quieter trails. Walk along the rim of the canyon, there is a chance you will see elk and ravens. Take a hike up the Grand Canyon, go stargazing,and hiking. Ride around on a jeep tour and look at the red rock canyons. Also, check out the Yavapai Museum of Geology and view the canyon from inside.

Want to escape the winter (if it's actually cold where you are) and visit an interesting, lesser-known place where it's 80F these days? Ho Chi Minh City, also known as Saigon, in Vietnam is a good off the beaten path destination. This is not what you'd expect from a city in a Communist country. Clubs are actually open until 4-5 in the morning. The design of the buildings and the way of life is sort of a compromise between American and Chinese impact. The Reunification Palace is a must-see because of its historical significance. It's the Berlin Wall of Vietnam. It marked end to the war between the North and the South with a North Vietnamese tank crashing the gates on April 30th, 1975. To get a feeling of what it's really like to live in the city as a local, go to District 1, the city's downtown. There are plenty of entertainment opportunities as well: Dam Sen, Suoi Tien and Dai Nam are the three complexes with zoos, sceneries, and water and non-water games. Go on a tour trough the Mekong Delta, a vast maze of rivers, passing by rice paddies and houseboats.

This is the place for gorilla trekking. The 160-square-kilometers area in the northern part of Rwanda is the oldest national park in Africa. The park is home to Mountain Gorilla –the park is one of two places where you can see them face-to-face – as well as golden monkeys, Spotted Hyena, buffaloes, elephants, black-fronted duiker, and bushbuck. You can see the gorillas chew on bamboo shoots and they can be spotted all year round. An estimated 350 mountain gorillas live in the moist forested slopes. The best time to go is between December and February because it doesn't rain as much.

This is a Buddhist kingdom in the Himalayas. Monasteries, fortresses, subtropical plains, steep mountains and valleys – it has it all. The city is one of the most captivating places to visit and see how much it has and still is changing. For example, car traffic was not common at all a few years ago. The constant evident differences between old and new in this small city are what make it so interesting. A popular destination with tourists is the Phajodhing. The hike to get there is amazing as you pass by forests and valets. It's also a great place for picture and for a breathtaking view of the surrounding mountains.

This is the driest place on Earth; except maybe this year. The Atacama Desert is covered with pink flowers that were able to grow because of the crazy amount on rainfall there. The Arica, Chile has the record for the longest dry streak –173 months without a drop. But the El Nino weather phenomenon did spare the region and it brought 0.96 inches of rain in one day in some parts. This is just another reason to visit this unusual place that is going through an even more unusual transformation.

The city is just 50 miles from Bangkok. The best known tourist attraction is the ruins of Wat Si Sanphet, the centerpiece of Ayutthaya's old royal city. The Ayutthaya period is looked on by many as the time when much of what is now thought of as "Thai style" was developed. The city is the old Thai capital, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This ruined city in Asia is one of the continent's most remarkable. Being there is like traveling back in time. Visit the Wat Ratchaburana which King Boromracha II (1424-48) had built in memory of his elder brothers Ay and Yi, who were killed in a duel over the succession to the throne. Many of the columns and walls are exceptionally well preserved. On the other side of town, you can find the Wat Yai Chai Mongkol where monks of a particularly strict order trained in Ceylon still live there.