Exotic Horizons: Bali To Bangkok

Arrive in Bali and settle in with a private transfer straight from the airport to your hotel, where three nights of 5-star accommodation in Nusa Dua set an unhurried tone before the cruise begins.

Valentine’s Day in Bali. The temples of Tanah Lot at sunset, where the 16th-century sea temple sits on a rock formation just offshore and the light at dusk turns the whole scene gold, is one of the most photographed moments in Bali and the right way to spend this particular evening. Ubud, 45 minutes north of Nusa Dua, gives the day its cultural depth: the Sacred Monkey Forest, the Ubud Palace, the Tegallalang rice terraces and the best art galleries on the island are all within the Ubud district.

A final Bali day before embarkation tomorrow. The Uluwatu Temple on the southwestern tip of the Bukit Peninsula, perched 70 metres above the Indian Ocean on a limestone cliff, gives the finest clifftop view in Bali and hosts the Kecak fire dance at sunset. The beaches of Seminyak and Canggu to the north of Nusa Dua, with their surf breaks and beach clubs, give the afternoon a completely different character from the temple circuit.

A private transfer carries you from hotel to port. Seven Seas Explorer departs Bali (Benoa) at 4:00 PM.

Surabaya, 11:00 AM to 8:00 PM. Indonesia’s second city and the capital of East Java, Surabaya has a layered colonial and maritime heritage that the Arab quarter, the Dutch city centre and the Chinese kampung all express in different registers. The House of Sampoerna, the colonial-era cigarette factory now housing a museum of Dutch colonial history, is the finest single cultural visit in the city. The Taman Bungkul city park and the evening street food market that surrounds it give the late afternoon its local character before the evening departure.

Semarang, 8:30 AM to 5:30 PM. The gateway to two of the most significant ancient monuments in Asia. Borobudur, 75 kilometres south, is the largest Buddhist temple in the world, its 2,672 relief panels and 504 Buddha statues arranged across nine stacked platforms at the centre of a 9th-century mandala. Prambanan, 40 kilometres southeast of Borobudur, is the largest Hindu temple complex in Indonesia, its three central towers dedicated to Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva rising 47 metres above the Prambanan Plain. Both are UNESCO World Heritage Sites and together represent the peak of two great Asian religious architectural traditions on a single day.

Jakarta, 10:00 AM to 4:30 PM – time enough to sample the scale and energy of one of Southeast Asia’s great cities.

Kuala Lumpur (Port Klang), 1:00 PM to 9:00 PM, opens up the city’s skyline and street food scene, with departure not until after dark.

Arrive Singapore at 11:30 AM for the first of two days, docked overnight – plenty of time to take in the city by day and by night.

A second full day in Singapore before the 4:00 PM departure. The National Gallery Singapore’s collection of Southeast Asian modern art, the Peranakan Museum in Armenian Street, the Tiong Bahru neighbourhood’s Art Deco shophouses and the Southern Ridges forest walk give four entirely different versions of the city. The Marina Bay Sands SkyPark observation deck, open to non-hotel guests in the morning, gives the finest elevated view of the city and the Strait of Singapore below.

Kota Kinabalu, 1:00 PM to 9:00 PM. The capital of Malaysian Sabah with Mount Kinabalu, the highest peak in Southeast Asia at 4,095 metres, visible on clear evenings from the waterfront. The Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park, five islands accessible by short boat ride from the city, gives excellent snorkelling. The Filipino Night Market along the waterfront from late afternoon, selling the freshest seafood in Sabah at outdoor tables facing the sunset over the South China Sea, is the finest single evening experience in Kota Kinabalu.

A full day ashore in Brunei’s port of Muara, 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM, gateway to Bandar Seri Begawan’s gilded mosques.

An early arrival at Phu My, 7:00 AM to 4:00 PM, gives a long day to explore Ho Chi Minh City.

Cruising the Gulf of Thailand.

Arrive Bangkok (Laem Chabang) at 7:00 AM, marking the end of the cruise. A private transfer carries you from port to your Bangkok hotel for two nights of 5-star accommodation.

Two nights at a 5-star hotel in Bangkok give the city the time it deserves. The Grand Palace complex, including Wat Phra Kaew with the Emerald Buddha, and the adjacent Wat Pho with its 46-metre reclining Buddha, represent the spiritual and artistic heart of the Thai capital. The Chao Phraya river express boat gives the finest and most atmospheric way to move between the riverside temples. The Yaowarat Road Chinatown night market, operating from early evening, is the most vivid single street food experience in Bangkok and the Mandarin Oriental’s Authors’ Lounge, where Somerset Maugham and Noel Coward held court in the 1930s, is worth the afternoon tea.

A final Bangkok morning before the private transfer to the airport. Nineteen nights have covered Bali’s temple coast, Java’s ancient monuments, Singapore’s skyline, Borneo, Brunei’s gilded capital, Ho Chi Minh City and four days in Bangkok. The journey ends here, though Bangkok rarely feels like an ending.