Southeast Asia rewards a journey written in chapters rather than a single stop. Within a short flight of one another lie the temples of Angkor, the monastery town of Luang Prabang on the Mekong, the Andaman coast of Thailand, the granite bays of Vietnam’s south-central coast and the coral islands of the Philippines. The art is in the sequence: temples in the cool, dry months, then a coast whose season suits the dates.
In Thailand we begin at Phuket, where Amanpuri, the first Aman, opened in 1988 above Pansea Beach, and Keemala sets thirty-eight pool villas in the rainforest above Kamala.
For Cambodia, Siem Reap is the gateway to Angkor, and Amansara keeps twenty-four suites in a 1960s royal guesthouse a few minutes from the temple gates. In Laos, Luang Prabang holds Amantaka, set in colonial buildings at the centre of the UNESCO-listed town.
Our Vietnam guide opens the south-central coast. At Ninh Thuan, Amanoi stands inside Nui Chua National Park above Vinh Hy Bay. Across the water from Nha Trang, Ninh Van Bay is reached only by boat, and Six Senses Ninh Van Bay keeps sixty-two pool villas around it.
In the Philippines, Pamalican is a private island in the Sulu Sea, home to Amanpulo and reached by its own airstrip. For Bali, Java, the Anambas and the dive islands of North Sulawesi, see our Indonesia guide and the North Sulawesi dive journey; for spa and healing weeks across the region, our Wellness Retreats collection.
