July 9, 2008

Extreme tourism

Trekking to Kathmandu or visiting the slums of Kolkata are no longer exotic enough it seems. Today’s trophy tourists want to tick off ever more extreme locations on their global adventures

Dexter Pletts with an eagle in Mongolia — Fourteen-year-old Dexter Pletts with a golden eagle in Mongolia. Dexter's father arranged an extreme holiday there because he was worried about the amount of time Dexter was spending on computer games Photograph: Tony Pletts

Staying with the Kazak eagle hunter in Mongolia — The Pletts family travelled independently and stayed with Kazak-speaking eagle hunters in the remote mountains of Mongolia Photograph: Tony Pletts

Dexter Plett with a local family — Dexter Pletts with a local family. He now wants to visit North Korea Photograph: Tony Pletts

A cruise ship in Antarctica — A cruise ship in the pristine wilderness of Antarctica, where demand for trips is so high there are waiting lists for 2010/11 Photograph: Paul Ooman/Getty

Tourists explore the beach in Antarctica from which the explorer Ernest Shackleton left Elephant Island for South Georgia Island — Tourists explore the beach in Antarctica from which the explorer Ernest Shackleton left Elephant Island for South Georgia Island Photograph: Frans Lanting/Corbis

Tourists watch gentoo penguins on Deception Island, Antarctica — Gentoo penguins on Deception Island, Antarctica. Environmentalists have called for a cap on the number of ships that can sail into Antarctic waters Photograph: Ralph Lee Hopkins/National Geographic/Getty

Tribal Wives: Yvonne Power in traditional Himba dress with women from the Himba Tribe in Namibia — The BBC series Tribal Wives looks at individuals' search for meaning in their lives by visiting remote peoples. Yvonne Power, from Blackpool, spent a month with the Himba tribe in Namibia Photograph: BBC

A canyon in Oman — Other people find themselves in their 'dreamscapes', such as Oman’s grand canyon Photograph: Lorentz Gullachsen/Getty

A Virgin spacecraft, the next giant leap for mankind under a plan unveiled by Virgin boss Sir Richard Branson — The final frontier: the ultimate destination for the trophy tourist may be reached in the next couple of years on Virgin’s Galactic spacecraft, the world's first commercial spaceline. The cost? A mere $200,000 Photograph: Start Creative/PA

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