3. Myanmar
15 days from £3,095pp
Back in 2012 the release of Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest was the cue for the country, long shrouded in mystery, to inch open its doors to a trickle of tourists.
Nowadays there’s a flood of visitors streaming to Burma (as it was formerly known) to sail along the fabled Irrawaddy River and wonder at the sight of the multitude of gilded temples and monasteries of Bagan.
But canny travellers should go off the beaten track to the little visited far south of the country for its deserted beaches by the Andaman Sea and historic Mawlamyine, the former old colonial capital of British Burma.
OUR TIP: Hop aboard a longtail boat to Inle Lake and its waterborne community. Watch out for the iconic sight of the lake’s leg-rowing fishermen – steering their boats with one leg wrapped around the oar.