Cambodia

Most people come to Cambodia for Angkor and leave annoyed they underestimated it — hundreds of temples, days of them, best at sunrise. Beyond Siem Reap, Phnom Penh confronts the Khmer Rouge years honestly, and the south coast hides quiet islands. It's cheap, the welcome is warm, and the dry season is the time to go.

The shape of the trip is simple: fly into Siem Reap, buy a multi-day Angkor pass, and hire a tuk-tuk driver who becomes your dawn alarm clock. Temple mornings, pool afternoons — the heat decides that schedule for you. Then a bus or short flight to Phnom Penh for a day of hard history at S-21 and the Killing Fields, with Battambang or the coast if you have a second week. Daily costs are among the lowest anywhere in Asia.

Outside Angkor and the coast the sights are thin — for most people this is a one-week country, and the hot season from March to May is punishing. Sihanoukville has been wrecked by casino development; skip the town and go straight to the islands. Roads are rough, hustle around the temples is persistent, and the food, while good, doesn't reach Thai or Vietnamese heights. But Angkor absorbs every cliché thrown at it and still over-delivers.