What’s Booking: Bhutan, Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia

Claire Schoeder is seeing increased inquiries for the lesser-traveled Southeast Asia destinations of Bhutan, Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia. “A lot of clients are looking to go somewhere that not everybody has been,” said Schoeder, a travel advisor for Century Travel in Atlanta.

Coverage in such publications as Travel + Leisure and Conde Nast Traveler has helped spur interest in these destinations, she said. “Those particular magazines mention them as good places to go before they become overly touristic.”

Schoeder said the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan, with its monasteries tucked into mountains, has been receiving a lot of press. “I’ve sent one couple there,” she said, “and then had requests for next year.”

Myanmar, or Burma, meanwhile, is also receiving its fair share of attention with the lifting of sanctions. In particular, Schoeder said she’s been getting inquiries for Belmond’s Road to Mandalay, a luxury riverboat that plies the waters of the Ayeyarwady River on three- to 11-night itineraries. “I’m getting more inquiries because travelers want to go before it becomes a more reachable and popular place to go,” she said.

Schoeder also recently booked clients looking for an intensive cultural experience on a Southeast Asia itinerary that incorporated destinations in Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam.  She worked with the Virtuoso On-Site Trails of Indochina when designing the itinerary.

Highlights in Cambodia included a visit to the Angkor Archeological Park, a World Heritage site whose jewel is the Temple of Angkor Wat, which houses the remains of the Khmer Empire from the 9^th to 15^th centuries. “I had them booked with a scholar, not just a regular tour guide, who has been studying there for a number of years,” Schoeder said.

The itinerary, which took the better part of a year to arrange, incorporated lesser-known Cambodian destinations such as Chong Kneas, with its floating villages and markets.

In Laos, the couple visited Laotian villages, which are often hidden behind thick foliage. “If you’re just driving through you don’t see a whole lot,” Schoeder said.

Clients’ stay in Thailand was anything but traditional. “I had them be elephant owners to a day, where they bathed their elephants and learned to manage them.” They also went on a street food tour in Bangkok.