Places in the countryside in Asia

Angkaul Beach is so new on the travel map that neither locals nor travellers have figured it out yet. It is still just a sleepy fisher village among coconut palms and a beautiful natural coast line only broken by more coconut palms. The beach isn't particularly mind blowing, just a narrow strip of sand mixed with grass, sea weed and garbage from the ocean, but it is pretty idyllic and tranquil with locals drying starfishes in the sun and cheeky kids playing in the water. There is no official accommodation yet but one entrepreneur lady has put up the first beach cafe consisting of a few hammocks and a menu offering coconuts and sea food.

Tonlé Sap is the biggest lake in Southeast Asia and is famous among biologists for its unusual river flow that changes direction twice a year. The rest of us, who don't have the time to sit down on the shore and wait until the water drains out or flows back, will have to settle with the equally unusual life on the lake. Floating villages like Chong Kneas of both Khmer, Cham and ethnic Vietnamese descent are spread out along the edge of the lake and can be visited on a boat trip. Beside the floating homes, there are a school (with basketball court), church, temple... and yes, tourist traps disguised as restaurants and crocodile farms. Don't mind the floating sellers with pet snakes, they are just a part the experience.

As you slowly wind your way up from Dili into the hilly backcountry, the scenery turns lush and the air cool. 11 km from Maubisse, a rocky unsealed road snakes off the potholed main road and leads to the little village of Hatubuilico at the foot of Mt. Ramelau (2,963 m). Round wooden houses with thatched roofs are now dotting the sloping fields as you keep going into valley after valley until you get clear views of Ramelau's naked peak. Trek to the top (if you have warm clothes with you) and just enjoy the views before the clouds come rolling in.

Most travellers associate Bali with endless terraces of vibrant green rice paddies. And yes, they do exist, and the little settlement of Jatiluwih up in the mountains is one good place to see them. The terraces are cut out from the lower slopes of Mt. Batukau like huge steps and seem to continue all the way down to the sea. When the rice stands tall and dense it is like a soft carpet of psychedelic green covering the hills with small islands of palms sticking up here and there. The mountain road that leads to Jatiluwih winds its way through villages and cuts through rice fields before the scenery suddenly opens up and offers some of the best panoramic views of rice fields in Bali.

If you take an hour motorbike ride east of Borobudur, you will find the small village of Selogroyo, nestled into the foothills of Mt. Merapi. The village is a very basic small farming community that has created a masterpiece of art out of the terraced valley that sits below the village. There are footpaths that wind through this beautiful valley. The villagers are friendly and will take you up through the valley. A temple lies in the back of the valley, after a very long set of stairs. It is the perfect way to spend an afternoon.

Tired of the crowds on Bali and the Gilis? This quiet corner of Lombok might just be for you then. The sand may not be white, but the beaches are generally free of other travellers, and the water is just as warm as elsewhere. With a backdrop of volcanic mountains, its palm-fringed shores facing the Gili islands, Tanjung is surrounded by rice fields rather than souvenir shops and nightclubs. Still, there is plenty here to keep visitors busy. For those in search of active pursuits, there are several nearby peaks to scale, including Mt Rinjani (3,726 m), the waterfalls at Gangga and the neighbouring Segara Anak Lake. If that is too strenuous, bike rides through the rice paddies and local villages provide a more relaxing way of soaking up the atmosphere. For those wishing to dive, the Gili islands are but a short boat ride away.

Located halfway down the obscure dirt track that links the Suusamyr Valley with Kochkor town, the village of Kyzyl Oi, though in the middle of nowhere, has been blessed by surroundings so majestic they will likely make even seasoned Central Asia travellers stop and stare. The trip here is worth it for the drive alone which, if coming from Suusamyr, takes you along a narrow track hacked into the wall of an immense canyon with throthy white waters crashing against the rocks ten meters below. On the main street of the village itself is a tiny guest house. They have a few beds and can organise guides to nearby herders' yurt encampments in the mountains. They are also happy to give directions to those keen to trek on their own to the yurts, the nearest of which are three to four hours away.

Sary Moghul village is less visited than its neighbour Sary Tash, which lies 30 km away on the Pamir Highway connecting Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. However, the detour here rarely disappoints. The area offers spectacular views of year-round snowy mountains, including Lenin Peak (7,134 m), Kyrgyzstan's second highest and the world's easiest mountain to scale over 7,000 metres. You can trek to the top of Lenin Peak with no actual climbing or need for ropes, the only problems being altitude sickness and very unpredictable weather. Even if you're not a mountaineer, Sary Moghul is well worth a visit in itself. The people here are very strict Muslims. Unusual for Kyrgyzstan, when the call to prayer begins, you will see even young children in the streets drop to their knees to prostrate themselves. People observe Ramadan strictly even when it falls in summer, depriving themselves of food and water all day while they work in the fields in blistering heat. There are plenty of trekking opportunities to lakes, yak herders' yurt encampments and mud-built farmsteads in the surrounding mountains.

This valley, ringed by gargantuan, lusciously green mountains, has everything most people are looking for in a trip to Kyrgyzstan: spectacular scenery, lots of yurts inhabited by hospitable horse and sheep herders and - wait for it - almost weekly games of Ulak, the traditional Kyrgyz horseback sport where everyone competes for a goat carcass. Don't think half-hearted 5-man games put on by agencies especially for tourists, think utter mayhem with fifty yurt-dwelling herders coming together from all over the valley most Saturdays, racing up and down a boulder-strewn mountainside and wrestling one another on horseback for the goat carcass. Suusamyr is one of the least visited parts of Kyrgyzstan, possibly because of the lack of tourist facilities or any public transport coming here from anywhere else. Two roads lead in - the jaw-droppingly scenic one to Kyzyl Oi, passable only by hitchhiking or hiring a private vehicle, and another one that branches off the main Bishkek - Osh road. Irregular shared taxis come to Suusamyr from the town of Kara Balta about an hour by bus from Bishkek.

A little trading town made from bamboo and concrete on the bank of the river Ou. No attraction stands out, but a stroll through the little market or along the river will make time pass. Crossing the suspension bridge brings you to the Khamu village of Ban Nam Tum. Most travellers stay only one night in Muang Khua on their way to/from northwest Vietnam (especially Dien Bien Phu). The Lao/Vietnamese border at Tay Trang is only 75 km away, but seventy-five rough kilometers through amazing mountain hills.