Staying as a guest of a community can be a highly rewarding experience, adding real meaning to a holiday and creating opportunities for a genuine cultural exchange leaving all parties wiser and more enlightened to cultural differences. Koh Yao Yai...

Thailand's cultural and social roots are firmly set in the countryside, in fact, when Mahatma Gandhi said of his home country "... the real India is in the villages". He could just as easily have been referring to Thailand, a country whose political and cultural birth was in the "million rice fields" of the ancient Lanna Thai Kingdom.

Cambodia's famous Angkor Wat is only one of many ancient temples scattered around this captivating country. The best possible way to explore them, and the rural countryside, villages, rice fields and forests is to ride a mountain bike, following back roads, tracks and trails where few tourists venture.

Sail through the stunning islands of the Komodo National Park aboard the Ambasi, a boutique, traditional-style, Pinisi sailing boat that is available for private charter for groups of up to 8 passengers.