Our favourite places in Malaysia

Fringing the edge of Kowloon and radiating northwards into mainland China, the New Territories are a place for long bike rides through country parks, kayaking along craggy coastlines, and visiting clan villages dating back to the Qing and Ming dynasties.

If you’re looking for nostalgic Hong Kong — the gritty, neon-lit street-food markets of post-war photograhs, or perhaps the saturated cityscapes of 1990s Hong Kong as envisioned by Wong Kar-wai — Kowloon is where you’ll find it (or remnants of it, at least).

Picture that iconic skyline: bristling with skyscrapers; backed by green mountains; the waters of Victoria Harbour glittering just below. You’re picturing Hong Kong Island.

With its hodgepodge of Buddhist heritage, fishing villages, high-rise shopping centres and theme parks, Hong Kong’s largest island is a patchwork of a place — but one that’s worth exploring.

Part of one of Southeast Asia’s largest remaining wilderness areas, the densely forested Southern Cardamom Mountains are a refuge for Asian elephants, pileated gibbons, clouded leopards and countless species as yet unknown to science.

Forget jostling with sharp-elbowed crowds to get that perfect sunrise snap of Angkor Wat. What if you could explore 800-year-old cave temples with only silver langur, barking deer and pileated gibbons for company?

A visit to Mondulkiri is about feeling as far away from civilisation as it’s possible to be, sleeping in rainforest huts surrounded by the hoots of yellow-cheeked crested gibbons and trekking through jungle to meet rescued elephants.

Covering most of Preah Vihear Province in the remote northern plains, Kulen Promtep is a haven for rare birds, and one of the few remaining places to see the endangered giant ibis — Cambodia’s national bird.

A tatty yet alluring colonial town on the Mekong River, not far from the Laos border, Kratie is one of a handful of places left in the world to spot the endangered Irrawaddy Dolphin.

Koh Russey, also known as Bamboo Island, is so small that you can cross it in under ten minutes, and so idyllic that it feels like a cliché brought to life.

The second largest of Cambodia’s islands, Koh Rong is a proper tropical paradise: think white sand, luminous turquoise waters, and chilled-out, palm-shaded beach bars.

Think barefoot luxury on a tropical desert island and it’s unlikely Cambodia will spring to mind, but if anywhere’s likely to change that – it's the unspoilt gem of Koh Krabey.