Winter Escapes

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

Winter in Beijing with freezing sub-zero temperatures, blasting Siberian winds is a tough place to endure. So as Spring Festival looms, we've picked out the 21best winter escapes in Asia - from sitting in a Jacuzzi on a Bali balcony to diving off a decommissioned oil rig and visiting the 'door to hell' in Turkmenistan. Have a great holiday and Happy Year of the Ox.

1. Relax on a world-class beach, Nha Trang, Vietnam

Summertime temperatures and blissful serenity await those who visit this 7km stretch of palm tree-lined, white, powdery sand beaches on the east coast of central Vietnam. It’s best to go now before all the fancy five-star hotels are completed.

Stake out comfy beds beneath thatched umbrellas (30RMB/day) on the beach behind Louisiane Brewhouse & Restaurant (www.louisianebrewhouse.com.vn ), arguably the quietest and cleanest beach area in Nha Trang.

The touts and vendors are kept away by the restaurant’s staff, and beachgoers can enjoy food and drinks, along with massages, manicures and hair braiding, from the Brewhouse’s Relax Club (36RMB/one-hour body massage; 16RMB/manicure; from 50RMB/braiding). Thrill-seekers can go parasailing, jet-skiing and water-skiing (from 100RMB).

For the most accomodation, stay at the Six Senses Hideaway Ninh Vay Bay (www.sixsenses.com ). Located on a secluded bay, the hotel's 58 villas all have their own private pool (from 950USD per villa). Dining options include a wine cave or a deserted beach with your own personal chef.

Vietnam Airlines (www.vietnamairlines.com ) offers daily flights from Beijing to Nha Trang with a connection through Hanoi (from 2,300RMB). From the airport, take a taxi or hotel shuttle to the beach, which is about 36km away. 

2. Peer in to a forgotten past, Bhutan

Bhutan is a country quite unlike any other. Landlocked in the north by Tibet, and in the south by India, it is widely recognized as the last surviving Buddhist Himalayan Kingdom.

Having existed in self-imposed isolation for most of the twentieth century, it only opened its borders to visitors in the 1970s, and still limits the number of travellers allowed in each year. In an increasingly interconnected and modernised era, a visit to one of the most isolated places in the world provides a wonderful insight in to life in the Himalayas as it was, and continues to be.

If you’re going to make the journey, do it in style – Amankora’s fantastic series of luxury lodges ( www.amanresorts.com ), scattered throughout Bhutan’s main western and central valleys, provides visitors unique access to the country’s pristine Himalayan landscapes, and cultural, social and spiritual traditions. Amankora will book all flights and take care of visas on behalf of its guests.

Amankora will book all flights and take care of visas for its guests. If you don't stay with Aman, be aware that only Druk Air is allowed to fly in to the country, which means you need to transit at Bangkok from where it operates. 

Air China flies direct to Bangkok from 2,260RMB. The Druk Air flight to Bhutan will then set you back 3,350RMB. You need to get a tricky visa, so it's best to contact tour operators approved by the Tourism Council of Bhutan  (www.tourism.gov.bt/bhutan/tour-operators ).

3. Dive off an oil rig, Borneo

Off Mabul island, to the north-east coast of Borneo, the Seaventures Dive Resort (+60 8826 1669 / www.seaventuresdive.com ) is the world’s only oil rig hotel; a bizarre slice of industrial chic.

The turquoise waters below the rig offer some of the best diving around: reefs teeming with sharks, turtles and swarms of barracuda. For a very reasonable 190 USD/night for a room, it’s all-inclusive, with boat transfers to the oil rig, three daily buffets, karaoke and games in the evenings, and endless opportunities to sit on the rig’s expansive decks and ponder. But the main reason to head here is for the incredible array of life below the surface.

There are two daily boat dives to nearby Sipadan island, one to Mabul or Kapalai island, and visitors can dive around the rig whenever they want. If you’ve never dived, or want to improve your skills, both beginner and advanced Padi courses are available. Seaventures also organises tours to nearby beauty spots such as Mount Kinabalu, the Balung River and Sepilok, home of the orangutans.

Malaysia Airlines flies to Tawau Airport via Kuala Lumpur with prices starting from 3,020RMB . On arrival, hop on a bus to Semporna where boats to the rigs await. 

4. Feed Siberian tigers, Harbin

When people think of Harbin, the ice festival is always the first thing that springs to mind. But there’s more to this Russian-influenced city than just ice ice baby. If you’re looking for a bit more gore with your goulash, a trip to Harbin’s Siberian Tiger Park ( www.dongbeihu.net.cn ) shouldn’t be missed.

As well as taking a bus tour through the sanctuary (65RMB), visitors are actively encouraged to feed the tigers, picking from a menu that includes live chickens (40RMB each), goats (600RMB) and cows (1,500RMB). The chickens are dangled over the tigers’ pit, one leg roped to a stick, while the goats and cows are, rather unceremoniously, dumped among the pack and devoured.

Also, since you’ve endured the 13-hour train ride (prices from 460RMB for a soft sleeper) to Harbin, you might as well stop by Zhaolin Park for the Ice Lantern Festival (8625 0068). Running through January till mid-February, the frosty landscape featuring giant sculptures of castles, the Great Wall and even a Buddha carved from huge slabs of ice are a dazzling sight to behold. It’s best to go at night when the whole thing is like Disneyland on acid.

If trains aren’t for you, flights to Harbin start from 170RMB. From there, the easiest way to get to the Siberian Tiger Park and the Ice Lantern Festival is by taxi.

5. Camp next to ‘the door to hell’, Darvaza, Turkmenistan

While most people seek out some sand for their January break it’s usually in the form of a beach, not a desert. Also, generally speaking, the site of an industrial accident isn’t usually considered to be a prime tourist attraction.

Nevertheless, the Darvaza gas crater, situated in the middle of Turkmenistan’s Karakum Desert, confounds all expectations. A three-hour 4x4 drive in to what is quite literally the centre of the most sparsely populated part of this sparsely populated country involves a significant trip off-road, across red sand dunes, before concluding with the final rise and you looking down in to the gaping maw of what has been described as the mouth of hell – an enormous fiery pit around 100m in diameter and 30m deep, which was accidentally formed by Soviet energy prospectors in the 1970s when a drilling rig collapsed into an underground cavern filled with natural gas.

Flames leap forth from every point on the crater, burning off the natural gas buried just below the surface of the sands, an inexhaustible supply that will keep this crater on the map for thousands of years. Be warned that there are no safety barriers and the best you can hope for if you fall in is to hit your head on the way down, but it is hard to resist getting close to the edge and feeling the raw heat being emitted from below.

Camping next to the crater is recommended, but be warned that’ll be extremely cold in winter; having said that, the nearer you pitch your tent to the crater, the warmer you will be.

Air Turkmenistan flies direct to Ashgabat every Tuesday and Thursday.

6. Detox in style at The Sanctuary, Thailand

Go to Thailand and choose colonic irrigation over partying? That might sound crazy, but after a stay at The Sanctuary on Koh Phangan in southern Thailand, your mind, body and possibly even your soul will thank you.

The Sanctuary (www.thesanctuarythailand.com ), which lives up to its name and is set on its own beach, is famous for detoxing. After a winter of comfort eating in Beijing, sign up for the ‘fruit fast’ programme. A nine-night package including a daily spa treatment and yoga class, accommodation and fasting programme costs 5,500RMB.

Be prepared to spend your time downing clay shakes, fruit juices and numerous weird and wonderful herbs, as well as sweating out toxins in yoga classes and a lovely spa, where treatments are included in the price. It does attract the beautiful people – the place is usually full of gorgeous Californians talking loudly about chakras – but it attracts plenty of regular folk too; don’t be surprised to come across seemingly normal lads on a mission to lose weight, or becoming obsessed with their colonics.

Ah yes, the colonics. Wimp out and decline if you want – the jury is still out on how beneficial the process really is – but, after seeing how healthy everyone who does get up close and personal with a hose looks, you’ll be tempted to sign up.

Fly to Ko Samui via Bangkok (Thai Airways from 3,110RMB) before getting on the Thong Nai Pan ferry at Mae Nam pier, which leads straight to The Sanctuary at Haad Tien.

7. Float down the Ganges at dawn, Varanasi, India

Travel to India’s eternal city, Varanasi. Depart by taxi before sunrise and board one of the many rowboats waiting along the river Ganges.

Embark on an hour-long, surreal, misty boat ride down the holy river flanked by numerous temples. Watch religious pilgrims on the ghats (steps along the river’s banks) immerse themselves in the water and pray to release their souls from the cycle of rebirth, a daily practice that has been repeated for centuries.

You may also see bodies being cremated on funeral pyres. This Hindu holy city also has intriguing temples and narrow alleyways lined with little shops selling local specialities including silk saris. An interesting side trip to Sarnath, an ancient city now in ruins where Buddha gave his first sermon, is an easy, six-mile journey from Varanasi by taxi.

You can fly to Varanasi with Air China (via Delhi) from 4,230RMB.