Have you been to the wild, remote jungles of northern Thailand recently? No? That’s a bit of a surprise, because everybody else has. They’re positively swarming – not with wildlife but with tourists, intent on having a real adventure somewhere completely unspoilt by other tourists.

How about the Inca Trail in Peru?

Surely only the hardiest of pioneers tackle this journey to the lost ruins of Machu Picchu? Er... no. The number of walkers is strictly limited by the government, which sounds good until you realise that it’s strictly limited to 500 people a day: not exactly “out there”.

The red centre of Australia? Teeming with backpackers in dodgy 10th-hand station wagons. The foothills of the Himalayas? Packed with chemists from Cheam. You get the idea. Breaking new ground is not as easy as it once was.

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But the world’s a big place: surely there must be some corners that haven’t yet been colonised by the very people you’ve travelled halfway across it to get away from? Happily, yes. Here’s where the real pioneers are going in 2009.

CHINA
Yunnan Remote travel can get a bit macho at times – all that swaggering about with oversized kitbags – but here’s a trip with a feminist edge to it. The Moso people of Lake Lugu, in northern Yunnan, are matriarchal, with extended families living together under a female head of the house, property descending through the female line, and informal marriages in which the husband is seldom invited to live in his wife’s home. They speak their own language, wear their own colourful dress and practise their own religion.

It’s a remarkable way of life, and on a 14-day trip with World Expeditions (020 8545 9030, www.worldexpeditions.co.uk) you’ll get to observe it at close quarters, staying at the villagers’ homesteads, sharing meals and indulging in the odd glass ofsulima, their fiery local brew.

To make things still more attractive, the Moso happen to live in one of the most beautiful areas of China. Lugu’s forested shores sit under snowcapped peaks and alongside fertile valleys, the sort of epic landscape that inspired generations of traditional Chinese painters. The trip takes in plenty of the scenery, with walks in the hills, journeys into Sichuan, and visits to the neighbouring Pumi, Yi and Tibetan minorities. It costs £1,520, including accommodation, meals and transport, but not flights; World Expeditions can book them for about £700.

NICARAGUA
The Corn Islands Trailblazing isn’t just about discovering inaccessible mountains and deserts. There’s no earthly reason why you shouldn’t trailblaze to a rather gorgeous beach. Somewhere like the Corn Islands, perhaps, a pair of dinky little dots 40 miles off the Nicaraguan coast, with all the white sand and chilled-out vibe of the Caribbean, but without the hype and development.

The snorkelling’s fabulous, with visibility up to 100ft on the shallow reefs, where you’ll see sharks, rays and parrotfish. The fishing’s superb too, and you can order lobster at £5 a go. The locals are mainly descended from pirates (the English names are a giveaway), but they’re lazily friendly these days. Accommodation is in cute thatched cabanas – but where the Caribbean equivalent might advertise its cutting-edge design and fancy spa, these boast about having their own electricity supply. You’ll have to watch out for the hermit crabs on your way home (they do tend to swarm on moonlit nights), and there is the odd wolf spider around – but that’s the price of getting back to nature.

Overall, it’s completely idyllic, as long as you don’t want luxury or anything done in a hurry. Journey Latin America (020 8747 8315, www.journeylatinamerica.co.uk ) will get you there on a 10-day trip to Nicaragua: in case your pioneering side is feeling a little guilty at all this indolence, they also throw in three days on the mainland exploring the remote, dense rainforest of the San Juan River, where you’ll find howler monkeys, giant anteaters, jaguars, crocs and toucans, but almost no tourists. It costs £835, including all transfers, accommodation and most meals; flights are extra, from about £615.

INDIA
Satpura National Park While the 4WD-borne hordes rev their way across Ranthambore, dead set on hunting down a hapless tiger to be photographed, here’s a very different sort of Indian safari. Aside from being little known and less visited, Satpura, in Madhya Pradesh, is the one reserve in India where you’re allowed to explore on foot, as well as by canoe or elephant.

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