Meg CandyIf you need deserted landscapes and few vacationers, opt for a country that doesn’t even touch the ocean. Still, island-hopping is the first pastime in the dramatic, twisting Mekong River, which is where Si Phan Don, or 4,000 Islands, exists. It’s mellow and off the tourist trail, which means a little less than luxurious lodgings, but when you’re a couple who loves that sort of thing, you’ll thrive exploring the islands. There, you can try out new meals, ride bicycles via banana timber and coconut palms, wander through Khymer temples, and find the right jungle-y place to observe the sunset.
Island Camping
Rufus Creek Trail meanders by way of a selection of forest types, crosses streams, skirts wetlands, and offers great views of the sandstone cliffs widespread to Lookout Mountain. These 25-foot falls have been integral to Osceola’s founding in 1886, once supporting a mill and a brewery. If you visit at dusk, you’ll see LED lights setting the water ablaze with different colors. Meander additional south along the Potato River to see the fast-flowing, 50-foot-wide cascades of Upson Falls, situated in Upson Town Park.
Echo Lake Seashore
Stay at a boutique-like hotel or Airbnb and don’t miss out on opportunities to get out on the sea, through yacht, catamaran, and even UberBoat. The Great Barrier Reef is being destroyed, so there’s no time like now to go experience all the splendor that remains—and it’s plenty. It’s actually wild how gorgeous the islands of the Maldives truly are. It’s one of those cases the place photographs don’t really do it justice—the Indian Ocean waters are that spectacular and brilliantly colored.
