map completion (help)
This should help
According to that, Ascalon has 176 areas. My game is saying I have 176/177.
Map completition and explorer achievement are two different things. You can have 100% world completition and still be missing areas, like you say you have 176/177 in ascalon. Those areas usually hide secret caves or mini dungeons and stuff. To find out which area you are missing look at your map and see if there are any grey areas, then look to the map on the wiki and see if that grey area is normal or there is a named area there. Each one of these 177 areas have a specific name.
My guess would be you missed this wonderful place
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Vexa%27s_Lab