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Love the idea of a remote liveaboard dive adventure where you can truly get away from it all, but don’t quite have the sea legs? Avillion Layang Layang is an isolated diver’s paradise unlike any other. Laying Layang Island was used by the Malaysian military as a naval base back in the 1980s and has since been transformed into a dive resort, spectacularly positioned on 13 coral reefs that rise two kilometres from the floor of the South China Sea.
The 20-metre-deep lagoon – 300 kilometres northwest of Kota Kinabalu in Sabah – is teeming with seahorses, dolphins, hammerheads and manta rays, and even attracts the occasional whale shark and orca. The airstrip dominates the island and the time you’re on it is the only period during which you’re likely to be dry (aside from when you’re sleeping).
region: Asia
Get Nerdy about Noodles in Japan
Get ready to redefine the phrase ‘experience your food’ at Shin-Yokohama Ramen Museum, a noodle-based theme park. Honouring one of Japan’s national dishes – it was, in fact, appropriated from a Chinese meal – this museum boasts rides, shops, tastings and historical information completely devoted to the soupy goodness that is ramen.
Take a stroll through the refashioned dagashi-ya (old-fashioned sweet shops) or challenge a friend on the 30-metre slot-car racetrack. While you’re there, be sure to get slurping, since a whole swathe of varieties is being dished up.
Trek to Tiger’s Nest
It’s one of the most thigh-burning climbs to a temple you will ever endure, but Bhutan’s Tiger’s Nest Monastery (Paro Taktsang) is worth the effort. Perched on a cliff face 600 metres above the valley floor, the Tiger’s Nest is the kind of traveller’s eye-candy your body will forgive you for. After you’ve finished the trek, follow in the footsteps of Guru Padmasambhava (the founder of Tibetan Buddhism) and meditate. Legend has it he meditated for three years, three months, three weeks, three days and three hours, but he also purportedly reached the monastery by catching a tigeress there.
Zip-line to Lobster Lovin’ Island
Imagine a land completely surrounded by succulent lobsters? Such a place actually exists and it’s called Panjang Island.
But the most fascinating feature of this rocky outcrop, which juts out from the ocean about 100 metres offshore of Yogyakarta, is not the delicious bounty roaming near its base but the unusual mode of transport the lobster catchers use to get there. Hooked up to a series of ropes and pulleys is a rickety cage that fishermen clamber into before hauling themselves across the churning sea.
If you’re plucky enough, slip some cash to the owner, jump on board and hurtle over massive waves smashing into the rocks below. Be sure to wait around to see the trappers return, and if the sight of fresh seafood gets your stomach rumbling, swap some rupiah for a feed then chill out on nearby Timang Beach.
Decorated Death in the Londa Burial Caves
The Toraja ethnic group of South Sulawesi has some of the most elaborate death customs in the world, and the Londa burial caves, the region’s oldest, provide the best opportunity to encounter these fascinating traditions up close. After an expensive, intricate funeral – held months or even years after death – the deceased’s coffin is either laid in a stone cavern or hung on a cliff face. Upon approaching the caves, visitors can observe the hanging coffins and tau tau (carved wooden effigies of the dead) tucked into crevices in the cliffs.
At the entrance, be sure to buy a lantern since there’s no lighting inside, and negotiate with a tour guide for the best deal. Inside, the cavern extends for hundreds of metres, and the low ceilings can make it difficult to navigate. Watch your step – there may be a centuries-old skeleton underfoot.
Underground epic in Hang Son Doong
Imagine a cave so big it could house an entire New York City block of 40-storey skyscrapers; a subterranean system so vast it creates its own weather system and is home to a micro-ecosystem of lakes, rivers and concealed jungle. First explored in 2009 and later officially declared the largest cave in the world, Hang Son Doong in Phong Nha Ke Bang National Park, north-central Vietnam, is a geological marvel only recently opened to the public.
Join a seven-day expedition led by experts from the British Cave Research Association and be one of the first to discover the secrets of this fascinating network of limestone chambers, karst pinnacles, stalagmites and stalactites. Wade through thigh-deep water by torchlight, examine 350-million-year-old fossils and keep your eyes peeled for white spiders and shrimp. A Boeing 747 could comfortably fly through the largest cavern but you’ll make the trek on foot with a team of porters and guides, who will take you to places that experience less foot traffic than Mount Everest.
Pack a punch at a Muay Thai camp
There’s no better way to get close to the action of Thailand’s national sport than by training with a Muay Thai master. Poptheeratham Muay Thai Camp in Bangkok is owned and run by legendary fighter Samart Payakaroon, one of the sport’s best combatants of all time. Famed for his extraordinary ability to avoid being hit, and packing power beyond his light frame, Samart was so good he switched to boxing when no one would fight him. With movie-star looks that survived more than 170 fights, Samart turned to acting and music after retiring, becoming one of the more famous men in Thailand.
When we asked him what it was that makes a great fighter, he smiled and patted his chest: “Without heart you have nothing.” Seize the opportunity to learn from a legend, jump onto the mat, pull on your gloves and discover how to jab, kick and clinch like a true warrior.
Adventure into a Rock Forest
The pinnacles of World Heritage-listed Mulu National Park have to be seen to be believed. Imagine sword-like blades of eroded limestone piercing from the verdant forest floor. The pinnacles cling to the side of Gunung Api (Fire Mountain) on Malaysian Borneo, with some reaching heights of up to 50 metres. You can witness this peculiar landscape on a strenuous three-day trek departing from Mulu National Park headquarters.
Feel great, do good in Laos
It’s true – in one part of the building you can give blood and in the other you can get pummelled into submission during a traditional Laos massage. Granted, the surrounds at the Red Cross Spa in Luang Prabang aren’t all rich silks and wafting incense like you might find at one of the ritzier hotels in the city, but the rooms – each with several beds separated by curtains for privacy – have undergone a reno and are bright and clean.
The quality of the massage is completely dependent on the person who’s assigned to dig their elbows into your sore spots, but at about US$6 for an hour-long treatment (admission to the sauna costs less than US$2) there’s not a lot to complain about. All proceeds go to Red Cross projects in some of the poorest parts of Laos, so you’re doing good while feeling great.
Zip-line Thrills in Cebu City
Zip-lines aren’t particularly novel in South-East Asia, but there’s one a little different from all the rest. SkyExperience Adventure in Cebu City links two buildings – the one you jump off is 150 metres above the ground – via a 75-metre highwire. It takes just eight seconds to fly through the air to your destination, but then you also need to be winched back to the starting point. For extra thrills, take the plunge at night or hanging by your feet.
