Spend the winter in Asia
10 Asian Countries to visit when its cold at home
Are you the kind of person who wants to experience a different holiday celebration? Do you want to skip the annual snowball fights and snowman making? Do want to ditch the cold weather and stick to the warm weather for this season? If your answer is yes to these three questions, perhaps you’re interested in looking for countries that has a warm weather despite of the fact that it’s already winter season in your country.
Cambodia
One of the most interesting facts about Cambodia is that this country never had a McDonald’s store. If you’re a person who wants to challenge yourself not to purchase a McDonald’s meal, maybe this place is meant for you. Cambodia has its own places where you can just chill all day without thinking of what holiday gloves you should wear to keep your hands from freezing because of the cold weather.
Since the weather in Cambodia is neither too sunny nor too cold, it could provide the perfect holiday experience for you and your family. If you miss the heat of the sun, Lonely Beach and Coconut Beach are two of the must-see places since these two are perfect spots to view bio-luminescent plankton. If you want to see one of the Seven Wonders of the World, you can visit Angkor Wat which is a definite must visit on a holiday.
Indonesia
Aside from Bali, which is one of the most famous tourist spots in this country, there are still unpopular sites that you can visit throughout your stay. The bustling town of Yogyakarta is the perfect base for exploring Indonesia’s famous temples.
After you’ve engaged yourself with the temples that serve as the treasures of the country, you can finally set your foot to their paradise. For the underwater enthusiasts, Raja Ampat which means “The Four Kings” is the best fit for you. This pristine paradise surrounds the four main islands of Waigeo, Batanta, Salawati, and Misool.
Laos
Though this is a little-known country, you still can’t deny the fact that you can still experience the best holiday once you started traveling in this country. Since Laos is best known for being home to some of Southeast Asia’s most spectacular waterfalls, you can visit Bolaven Plateau in the southern part of Laos.
Vientiane is a good place to chill out for travelers weary of the hectic pace of other Asian cities. It is more laid-back than the other cities in Laos. Wat Si Muang is one of Vientiane’s popular tourist destinations which is revered as the ‘mother temple’ of Vientiane. It is said that if you pray for something here and simultaneously make a promise, your wish will be granted, providing you return and fulfill your promise.
Malaysia
Who wouldn’t think of the Petronas Twin Towers if someone will mention Malaysia? But aside from this world’s tallest twin buildings; there are still a lot of famous places that you would love to visit. There is a place where you can see fireflies, if you haven’t seen one, the view would definitely leave you with awe.
These flashing fireflies can be found in Kampung Kuantan. They light up as one. Tens of thousands of fireflies will blink in perfect unison for minutes, sometimes hours, at a time. Known as “synchronicity,” it is a somewhat mysterious phenomenon.
When you’re in Malaysia, it’s a must to ride in a North Borneo Railway. Travelers can enjoy Asian and Continental cuisine meals as they journey in one of five restored carriages. You can have the chance to meet the locals of the place if you’ll take this railway but the train only runs on Wednesday and Saturday.
Myanmar
This country was also known as Burma is also the largest country in mainland Southeast Asia. Before delving to the tourist destination of this country, let’s find out first why does this country have two names? Are you allowed to use Burma and Myanmar interchangeably? Yes, you can. If Burmese people are writing for publication, they use ‘Myanmar’, but speaking they use ‘Burma’.
Bagan in central Burma is one of the world’s greatest archeological sites. You have an option on how to tour the place. But, the best thing to explore it is by riding the hot air balloon. The ballooning season is short: from late October to mid-March, when the winds are calmer. The experience of flying in a hot air balloon can be magical.
Philippines
If there is a place you would want to visit for a holiday vacation, you would like to choose the country whose citizens observe the world’s longest Christmas season. This country is full ofan incredible chain of exotic tropical islands in the Pacific that has stunningly white, pink, or even black beaches.
If you’re a kind of traveler who enjoys history, there are a lot of tourist destinations where you can explore. There are two of the famous ruins in the country. These are Corregidor which is known as “the Rock” and the Lacson Mansion which is called as the “Taj Mahal of Negros”. Aside from the fact that these sites are being considered as ruins, these places were also destroyed because of World War II.
As the country that has a history of Roman Catholicism, Philippines has a lot of oldest churches that can amaze the tourists. Expect to see different kinds of holiday decorations in most of the places you’ll going to visit.
Singapore
The name of this country was from the word Singapura which means “The Lion’s City” though there was never a lion in this country. The Merlion has been one of the popular tourist spot of this country but aside from that, they have the Singapore Flyer, the world’s largest giant observation wheel. The view that you could see encompasses not only the Singapore skyline but reaches to the Spice Islands of Indonesia and Malaysia’s Straits of Johor.
Despite of the fact that they are one of the smallest countries in the world, Singapore still keeps on innovating. But, there is a place in this country which is called Kampong Lorong Buangkok, the last surviving kampong on mainland Singapore. You will be able to experience Singapore’s humble beginnings.
If you’re the kind of tourists who like arts and murals, you can visit the Arab Street or popularly known as the Haji Lane, Singapore’s longtime creative hub. Arab Street—surrounded by brightly colored fabrics and textiles, hand-knotted Persian rugs and aromatic Arab teas—is Singapore’s Muslim quarter.
Thailand
Thailand is where you’ll find both the smallest and the largest creatures—the smallest mammal in the world, the bumblebee bat and the largest fish, the whale shark. Other than these facts, Thailand also has their Elephant Conservation Centre, where you watch the elephants bathing and tourists could take an elephant ride, too.
In Buriram, there is a key location called Phanom Rung Historical Park or Prasat Hin Phanon Rung, Thailand. It has many important archaeological sites, which are located at the top of an extinguished volcano 350 meters above sea level.
Timor-leste
If you want to have a holiday vacation that is too laid back, Timor-Leste is probably the perfect place for you to travel. If you’re a type of person who likes hiking and stargazing at the same time, Mt. Ramelau is the location you might want to include in your next itinerary. It is revered by the Timorese as shown by its local name Tatamailau, which means grandfather of all.
The travel just to get to the top is quite hard but once you’ve reached the top, everything seems to be paid off because of the view that awaits you. During the night time, you can take the opportunity to go stargazing together with your family and friends. The travel in this country might be very laid back but at least you had the chance to stay away from the tiring urban life.
Vietnam
Alongside the fact that this country is also home to the world’s largest cave, Hang Son Doong, there are still hidden gems that this country could offer. They have the Imperial Tomb of Khai Dinh which took 11 years to build from the year 1920 to the year 1931. This tomb has been declared the most majestic imperial tomb of throughout Vietnam.
One of the world’s best caving destinations can also be found in Vietnam, Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park. The cave park is a dramatic karst mountain formation and the most popular destination within the park is the Paradise Cave.
While almost half of the people around the globe are celebrating their holiday in the coldest temperature, the people in the Southeast Asian countries would like to keep their holidays warm and chill at the same time. Even without the presence of snow and ice-formed places suited for skating and skiing, it’s no doubt that you would still enjoy your stay in these beautiful countries.
There are still a lot of things that you can do and places that you can go in these countries, all you have to do is to do a little research about it. We have many underrated places in the world that needed to be discovered only if we’ll not settle for the popular ones.
Author bio: Donna Estrada is an editor for Scoopfed and a graduate of Bachelor of Arts in Journalism. She’s a millennial, a local traveler and wanderlust.
If you like this please share and pin for future reference
