You can delve deeper into an unfamiliar culture when you're able to gain access to places, events, and people that are normally off-limits. Below are 50 examples of such extraordinary opportunities worldwide, ranging in price from $100 to $70,000. Because of the nature of these experiences, they are of course subject to change and even cancellation. Most cannot be booked à la carte but only as part of a larger itinerary. This list is not exhaustive, either: The very act of publicizing some rare opportunities offered by the most well-connected travel firms would burn the bridges that make them possible. (Note that prices quoted are estimates for two people.)

Click here for an introduction to the Fabulous 50

Audio Slideshow: Associate Editor Brook Wilkinson gets down to earth harvesting rice in Bali

Last year's list: Check out 2005's Fabulous 50 for more travel ideas

Africa
Cameroon
King and (Many) Queens (Local Traditions)
Meet one of Africa's last kings, Fon Ndofoa Zofa III, the leader of the Babungo, in his ancient palace. After living in the capital, Yaounde, Fon Ndofoa returned to his highlands kingdom upon his father's death. He inherited 72 wives from his father (he has 5 of his own) and now has a total of 506 children. You'll also tour the palace's museum of masks with the curator. Cost: $800. Source: Cherri Briggs, Explore, Steamboat Springs, Colorado (888-596-6377; info@exploreafrica.net; exploreafrica.net).

Egypt
Enter a Luxor Legend (History)
Go inside Nefertari's Tomb. Cost: $4,250. Source: James R. Berkeley, Destinations & Adventures International, Los Angeles (800-659-4599; jberkeley@daitravel.com; daitravel.com).

First Company Town (History)
Enter the village that for 20 years housed the 20,000 workers who built the Pyramids at Giza—an excavation site discovered in 1990 and not normally open to visitors. With dig leader and Harvard associate Mark Lehner, whose Giza Field School teaches Egyptians techniques for uncovering their cultural treasures, you'll see the bakery, copper works, and fishery that have been unearthed, as well as evidence that some of the workers were not slaves but skilled craftsmen who ate beef, drank beer, and underwent medical operations. Cost: $10,000, half as a donation. Source: James R. Berkeley (see Egypt).

Gabon
Meet a Park Pioneer (Wildlife)
Be the personal guest of Lee White, director of the Gabon Wildlife Conservation Society, for three days in Ivindo National Park. White was instrumental in creating Gabon's 13 national parks in 2003, thus conserving over ten percent of the country. Visit Langoué Bai—a natural clearing frequented by rare species such as forest elephants and bongo antelopes—and learn what measures are being taken to protect the animals that remain. You'll spend two nights at a simple tented camp built for researchers, the third on viewing platforms overlooking the Bai. Cost: $20,000, including accommodations. Source: Cherri Briggs (see Cameroon).