Rickshaw around Melaka, Malaysia
Ride a rickshaw around the rosy red walls of the Portuguese fortress of A’Famosa, then head down famous Jonkers Street into the old town for sizzling, spicy satay.
One of Asia’s wealthiest ancient trading ports, Melaka startles travellers with its vibrant Indian, Chinese and Malay culture played out against an historical backdrop of Portuguese, Dutch and British architecture.
At Melaka’s summertime night markets, travellers score bargains, locals sing karaoke and the ‘lok lok’ cafés do a bustling trade serving spicy Chinese satay that is cooked ‘fondue-style’ at your own table.

 

Candlelight & lobsters on Serendipity Beach, Cambodia
Famous for its empty beaches, clear blue bays and warm Cambodian hospitality, Serendipity Beach rivals Thai favourites as one of the best tropical beach destinations in South-East Asia.
Located in laid-back Sihanoukville, you’ll find no high-rises casting shadows on the shore, just a string of breezy bungalows spread out along a brilliant arc of white sand.
By day, snorkellers laze in deckchairs at the water’s edge, but come sunset, the beach is seductively adorned with small candle-lit tables for romantic lobster dinners by the sea.

 

Get lost in Lijiang, China
Joyously losing themselves in Lijiang’s crazy maze of narrow flagstone alleys, couples climb to sunny rooftop terraces at dawn to sip steaming mugs of rosebud tea and watch the morning sun send shimmers across the towering Jade Dragon Snow Mountains.
Located at the foothills of the Tibetan plateau on China’s south-western fringe, Lijiang is a culturally vibrant, magnificently preserved stone city that throngs with Naxi dancers, flamboyant Tibetan shoppers and orderly Chinese tour groups.
Wandering past ancient water wells teaming with tangerine carp, travellers duck into local dumpling dens and share oversized bottles of chilled Tsingtao beer, while plotting trekking adventures to nearby Tiger Leaping Gorge - one of the world’s deepest.

 

Pilgrimage to the Perfume Pagoda, Vietnam
Join Vietnamese pilgrims in search of wealth, offspring and a happy marriage as they journey by bus, rowboat and scenic foot trail to the Perfume Pagoda, found deep inside the Mountain of the Fragrant Traces.
Eerily lit by flickering candles, the darkened recesses of this massive 2000-year-old limestone cave may lie just a daytrip from Hanoi, but for those seeking to connect more deeply with the pulse of this fascinating country, this enchanting journey is physically, spiritually and visually tantalising.

 

Go wild in Royal Chitwan National Park, Nepal
Hire your own personal guide and head out on elephant-back on a tiger-spotting safari for two. A must-visit destination for 19th-century British hunters, Royal Chitwan National Park is today a sanctuary for rhinos, royal Bengal tigers, and over 40 other species of mammals from sloth bears, leopards, and the world’s largest wild cow, to the rare Gharial crocodile.
For animal spotting in Asia, this is as good as it gets, and your stay at Chitwan can be as luxurious as it might have been for early British royalty, with a night at Tiger Tops Jungle Lodge starting at around $400. More affordable abodes are on offer too, as are plenty of suitably colonial gin and tonics served on the banks of the Rapti River at sunset.

 

Make your own Lao lunch
Little-visited Laos is a country with culinary secrets to share and those seduced by favourites like ‘tam maak hung’ or spicy papaya salad, can learn to make their own lunch at Joy’s Restaurant in Luang Prabang.
Simply choose a couple of dishes from the restaurant’s extensive menu, then head into the kitchen and for the cost of your meal, chef Nouanta Xayabuasy will teach you to cook. Afterwards, order ice-cold pineapple shakes and sit in the sunny courtyard to share your meal.
UNESCO once hailed Luang Prabang as the best-preserved city in South-East Asia, and with 32 magnificent Buddhist Wats juxtaposed against a classic French Colonial waterfront, this graceful destination guarantees a deeply relaxing stay.

 

Sunset dolphin-spotting at Kratie, Cambodia
A blood red Cambodian sun sets over the murky Mekong River at Kratie, where the world’s last large population of Irrawaddy River dolphins fishes for dinner.
For a couple of Aussie dollars, travellers can board a longtail boat and float silently amongst these elusive, highly endangered freshwater dolphins as they stealthily surface for air and retreat to the depths.
In the last 30 years, Kratie’s dolphin numbers have dangerously dwindled from 1000 to around 80. Your tourist dollars buy far more than an amazing wilderness experience; they also help reduce the local community’s dependence on the commercial fishing that robs dolphins of their dinner.

 

Sink Lao-Lao in Vang Vieng
Serious culture-junkies be warned: Vang Vieng, Laos is a haven for fun where bikini-clad beauties tube the Song River, stopping off to sink shots of fiery lao-lao whisky between flying fox rides.
Set against a remarkable backdrop of limestone cliffs, caves and caverns, Vang Vieng is famous for its turquoise streams and adventurous caving trips. Yet travellers are more likely to be found stretched out in the shade of riverside bamboo shacks, dangling their toes and oversized bottles of Bia Lao in the Song River as Bob Marley wails across the water.

 

Sleep on stilts in the Andaman Sea, Thailand
Take a longtail journey across the expansive blue-green waters of Phang-Nga Bay to your waterfront room at Ko Panyi stilt village and spend a night sleeping over the sea.
Surrounded by hundreds of tiny limestone islands rising abruptly out of the bay, Ko Panyi stilt village provides an oasis for around 2000 Thai Muslim fishing families.
A haphazard labyrinth of cloistered corridors and rickety wooden walkways links homes, shops, restaurants, a school and the village’s stunning gilded mosque. A night spent here offers an unaffected and intensely intimate glimpse of traditional Thai life and some spectacular bedroom views of verdant limestone peaks swamped by a pea green sea.

 

Dance the night away in Shangri-La, China
Join hands with the colourful, pink scarfed Tibetans who dance nightly beneath the stars in mystical Shangri-La. A truly Tibetan land flourishes throughout Zhongdian’s cobble-stoned old town where Ganden Sumtseling Gompa - the most resplendent Buddhist monastery in China’s south-west – stands guard over the town.
In Shangri-La, Tibetan language dominates conversations on the streets and chunky yak butter tea is served up for breakfast with steamed, flat baba breads and fresh honey. If your plans don’t include a visit to the real deal, Zhongdian offers travellers the chance to immerse themselves in authentic Tibetan culture.

from issue: Spring/Summer 07