Winter Escapes

The 21 most quirky, brilliant and unique trips Asia has to offer

8. Take a dip in some healing hot springs, Beppu, Japan

Japan’s buzzing metropolises, such as Tokyo, are always well worth a visit, but if you’re looking to relax after a busy festive period, and start 2009 completely refreshed, you’re probably better off heading to one of the numerous natural hot springs (onsen).

Beppu, in Oita Prefecture on Kyushu Island, is home to the best, which produces more hot spring water than any other resort in the country. Spread over eight thermal districts, there is an unrivalled range of baths to be enjoyed, including ordinary hot water baths, mud baths, sand baths and steam baths – different minerals provide different health benefits, but all will calm your body and mind.

If you’re all soaked out, take a tour of the ‘Hells of Beppu’, nine spectacular boiling springs (a collection of hot multi-coloured lakes, geysers and bubbling pools of mud) that are a result of volcanic activity in the area. Or if that doesn’t take your fancy, you could always take a spin around the bizarre sex museum. No, really.

Flights to Oita, Beppu’s nearest airport, connect via Tokyo (prices from 4,140RMB). From there, shuttle buses (110RMB) take 40 minutes to make their run to Beppu. Alternatively, you can fly to Tokyo from 1,240RMB and take a train.

9. Join a Muay Thai training camp, Thailand

Muay Thai, or Thai boxing, is Thailand’s national sport. An ancient form of combat used on the battlefield, it is as practical as it is deadly. Practitioners are taught to turn every part of their body into a weapon.

To keep your body and mind in working order, make the pilgrimage to Fairtex Bangplee training camp, a mere 20-minute drive from Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport. Fairtex (www.muaythaifairtex.com ), Thailand’s most famous Muay Thai brand, has several branches worldwide and is known for churning out a remarkable number of champions – as well as being luxurious and pricey compared to other camps.

However, starting at just 7,700 baht (1,500RMB) for a week-long package that includes twice-daily training, meals and accommodation, it is a lot cheaper than staying at a luxury resort. The daily itinerary consists of two three-hour sessions. Students wake up at 6am and warm up with a run, followed by bag work, and then hitting pads with the trainer. If students are confident, they can move on to rounds of sparring with the fighters in the ring.

After eating a healthy breakfast together, everyone is free to rest or sightsee – although you’re probably better off getting some shut-eye to help your body recover before the next session starts at 3pm. If there ever was a cure for the mundane woes and stresses of over-caffeinated city slickers – and a way to expend your wrath in a relatively wholesome way – it’s stepping in to a ring and hitting something as hard as you can.

Air China flies direct to Suvarnabhumi Airport from 2,250RMB. Egypt Air currently has deals from 1,520RMB.

10. Monkey around the mangroves, Langkawi, Malaysia

Tanjung Rhu Resort is one of the world’s top places for rest and relaxation. But it’s not just a powder-white beach leading into a crystal-clear sea. Tanjung Rhu (www.tanjungrhu.com.my ) also offers guests the chance to explore the biological paradise around them courtesy of in-house naturalist, Zoher.

His daily trips (a maximum of six people) spot various birds, lizards, monkeys, otters, eagles and all manner of other wildlife that live in and around the millennia-old mangroves of Langkawi island. There is also a walk around a natural mangrove island where thousands of species of insect, flora, fauna and fungi thrive.

And after a long day of getting close to nature, treat yourself to a beachfront barbecue with butler service as the night falls, the insects start to sing and the dotted lights of the southern Thai islands twinkle in the distance.

Flights from Beijing to Langkawi via Kuala Lumpur start from 2,620RMB on Malaysia Airlines.

11. Be the one and only tourist in Pyongyang, North Korea

Recent speculation about the health of Kim Jong Il has given Beijing’s legion of North Korea-watchers plenty to talk about. However, despite the various claims and counterclaims, one strange fact about the place can be confirmed: the entire country closes to tourists ever year from December 15 to January 15 (for no given reason).

Bad news for those who were dreaming of a Pyongyang Christmas, but very handy if you want to be 2009’s first visitor to North Korea – go as soon as the bamboo curtain is drawn aside once more and you’ll be the sole resident of Pyongyang’s hotels. Sure, it’s a cold place in winter, but blue skies abound, and, as long as you wrap up warmly, there’s much to enjoy.

Warm yourself up with some late-night soju-fuelled karaoke at the Diplomatic Club or get the blood flowing by firing off a few rounds at the Pyongyang shooting range.

Walking on the frozen Taedong River, ice skating with the locals in one of Pyongyang’s many parks, and watching the warm-ups for events to celebrate Kim Jong Il’s birthday on February 16 are just some of the other things only available to the hardy few who dare to take the 90-minute Air Koryo flight.

Getting to North Korea is a real hassle so get Beijing’s Koryo Tours (www.koryogroup.com / info@koryogroup.com) to arrange everything from flights to accommodation.

Located in a small mountainous village in Taipei County, Pingshi is an idyllic place beloved by hikers most of the year, but on the 15th day of the first lunar month, thousands of people descend upon it in order to celebrate the Lantern Festival (www.pingshi.tpc.gov.tw ).

The town’s streets are crammed with food stalls, paper and toy lantern vendors, firecracker shops and carnival-style games. Revellers make paper lanterns, which they mark in black or red ink with their wishes and names, before lighting a fire underneath to send them up in to the air. 

Every 15 minutes, thousands of lanterns are simultaneously launched like glowing, miniature hot air balloons into the pitch black sky. The higher it flies, the more successful your career and fortune will be. So don’t mess it up. The festival is free but the lanterns cost around 50RMB, which includes markers or paint to write with and a flaming tray to launch the lantern. Sparklers can also be added for an additional fee.

Air China flies direct to Taipei’s Taoyuan International Airport with round-trip prices starting from 4,800RMB. Then take the MRT to Taipei Zoo Station and hop onto special bus 16 Taipei Keyun to Pingshi.