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Thailand’s largest island may be famed for its blue skies and white-sand beaches, but an emerging dining scene led by creative chefs is putting its restaurants on the global map.

“Your lips are turning blue,” said the Kiwi pilot, shouting over the roaring chopper. “That’s the first sign of altitude sickness.” If the blades are turned off, the helicopter won’t start again in the thin, dry air.

Surrounded by alleys of old car parts and streets stained with motor oil, Bangkok’s Yaowarat plays host to Chinese opera, a cultural event that reaches back to Thailand’s ties to the Middle Kingdom.

Hiding just a few kilometers outside of China’s capital is one of the most beautiful rural libraries in Asia, a treasure best found by motorcycle.

The 800 tropical islands that make up the Mergui Archipelago were once an unexplored frontier for intrepid divers looking for adventure.

The biggest fish on the planet, genial monsters of the deep blue sea lazing in cool open waters – and, to a very special few, whale sharks are dive buddies.

As one of the few Asian countries with a long history of skiing, the slopes of Japan have options for both families and adrenaline junkies.

Few experiences match that roaring between the thighs and the singular sense of freedom in the jungle footpaths and winding alleys of the Southeast Asian countryside by motorcycle. For the sheer thrill of open-road exploration there is nowhere quite like Laos.

There are a lot of reasons to travel by private jet, but it’s the unique experiences, the once-in-a-lifetime journeys, that draw discerning travelers yearning for luxury and seclusion.

Baikal is the deepest and purest lake on the planet, a frozen sea in the heart of Siberia and an adventurer’s icy paradise of driving, helicopters, and dog sleds. From the Old Believers to the Buryat bone crushers, its shores and islands are sacred to those who call Baikal home.

Flying over vast, rolling steppe for three and a half hours without seeing anything so much as a village, let alone a city, is a powerful reminder that Mongolia is the most sparsely populated country on the planet.

They have shorter trunks, rounder faces, longer tails, and smaller tusks than their Asian cousins, but what really sets the Borneo pygmy elephant apart  from the herd – apart from a reputation for friendliness – is no one is really sure how it got there.