Thailand
Ban Rak Thai
A misty lake surrounded by tea terraces and the red lanterns of a forgotten army.
Red lanterns line the waterfront. Oolong steams in clay cups, and Mandarin hangs in the air alongside Shan and Thai. Ban Rak Thai — the Village of Loving Thailand — sits on a misty highland lake in Mae Hong Son Province, founded by Chinese Nationalist soldiers who never went home.
Ban Rak Thai owes its existence to Kuomintang 93rd Division soldiers who crossed from Yunnan after the Communist victory in China. Like Mae Salong to the east, the village keeps a Yunnanese identity — but its lakeside setting, higher altitude and smaller scale make it more intimate. The slopes around grow oolong and Assam tea, and lakeside pavilions pour formal tastings over the water. In the cool season the morning mist fills the valley until only the red lanterns and the smell of braised pork cut through the haze. Restored Chinese-style guesthouses take overnight guests.
Couple
The misty lake, tea pavilions and lantern-lit Chinese guesthouses make one of the north's most atmospheric romantic stays — the isolation amplifies it.
Friends
The forgotten-army story, the tastings and the Mae Hong Son road trip give a group both narrative and adventure, and the village explores fully in a day.
- Kuomintang soldiers settled this valley after fleeing Yunnan — their descendants farm oolong around the lake.
- Red Chinese lanterns line the waterfront, and Mandarin is spoken alongside Thai and Shan.
- Lakeside tea pavilions pour formal oolong tastings over the water and terraced hills.
- Restored Chinese-style guesthouses make an overnight in one of Thailand's most unusual villages.
Yunnan pork knuckle with soft mantou beside the village lake.
Locally grown oolong poured in a lake-facing Ban Rak Thai tea house.
Ouray
United States
Hot springs steaming beneath ice-climbing walls in a box canyon called the Switzerland of America.
Bodega Colomé
Argentina
Vineyards past three thousand metres, with a James Turrell light museum on the valley floor.
Scanno
Italy
A mountain village above a heart-shaped lake, where women still wear traditional dress on feast days.
Lampedusa
Italy
Closer to Africa than Sicily, a wind-scoured island hiding a Caribbean-white beach.
Sangkhlaburi
Thailand
Monks walk barefoot across a hand-built wooden bridge disappearing into thick morning fog.
Amphawa
Thailand
Wooden rowboats grilling prawns on the water while fireflies pulse in the cork trees.
Ko Lao Liang
Thailand
Twin limestone towers sheer out of the Andaman, guarded for their swiftlet nests.
Railay
Thailand
A peninsula walled off from the world by sheer limestone cliffs and emerald tides.