These six transformative trips will enrich your mind and body

Much-needed time out is even better in an exotic location. If you’re in need of some cup-filling, you can’t go wrong with these revitalising journeys.

Bhutan’s beauty through a lens

• Start Paro, Bhutan
• Finish Paro, Bhutan
• Duration 11 days

Mountain serenity at Como Uma Para.

For COMO Hotels and Resorts, the surrounding destination is an important part of the offering. Como Journeys offers guests ways to make more meaningful connection with place.

On the forthcoming A Himalayan Photography Journey, for instance, you can explore Bhutan at a purposeful pace with renowned film photographer Michael Turek. The journey runs from October 28 to November 9 this year.

Across 11-days, Turek guides you through Paro, Thimphu, Punakha, Phobjikha and Bumthang valleys on excursions out of your five-star lodgings, during which you can capture pictures of memorable moments on film cameras under Turek’s expert guidance.

Stay for four nights at Uma Paro and two nights at Uma Punakha, and two nights apiece at Gangtey Lodge, Phobjikha and two nights at Bumthang Homestay.

Como Journeys offers an ongoing suite of itineraries across various styles of endeavour: active, adventure, creative, culinary and wellness. See comohotels.com

Wide awakening in Japan

• Start Tokushima City, Shikoku
• Finish Tokushima City, Shikoku
• Duration Six days

Shikoku has a pilgrimage dedicated to spiritual figurehead Kukai, which journeys through its four provinces.

Remember treasure hunts? On Walk Japan’s self-guided walking tours, it’s a bit like that. You’re supplied with the inspiration, the support and the map and, in return, inner awareness, wellbeing and a unique cultural experience are the prizes found along the way.

Walk Japan hosts 35 treks across lesser trodden regions of Japan including Self-Guided Kiso Wayfarer and Self-Guided Kumano Wayfarer, but it’s the Self-Guided Shikoku Wayfarer, following Shikoku Island’s Pacific Coast, on which you combine body, mind and spirit.

Shikoku, the smallest of Japan’s four main islands, has a pilgrimage dedicated to Kukai, or Kobo Daishi (774–835), one of Japan’s important spiritual figures. The famous trail, which journeys through Shikoku’s four provinces, was established in his memory and links 88 numbered temples, representing various aspects of the Buddhist notion of awakening. The whole pilgrimage takes up to two months.

Many of the temples on Shikoku are in rural areas.Credit: Walk Japan

Walk Japan’s Shikoku Wayfarer is a six-day route in Tokushima, starting and finishing in that city’s intriguing capital.

Whether walking alone or in a group – Walk Japan will accommodate, though single spots are limited – you will join pilgrims, colloquially known as O-henro-san and identified by their distinctive white clothing, sedge hat and wooden staff. Whether you dress the same or not, or walk for pious reasons or other, you’ll receive a warm welcome.

Walk Japan combines travelling on foot with some vehicle support and walk days can be shortened or lengthened, with less arduous routes an option via the supplied, detailed and easily followed instructions on how to join and leave the tour.

Baggage is transferred between accommodation, which is mostly in Japanese-style hotels, family-run inns and temple lodgings, many with shoji doors and tatami mat flooring.

Onsen feature throughout as a reward after the day’s walking and to add energy before the next. Your accommodation hosts provide home-cooked local cuisine.

Logistics taken care of, you’re free to immerse in the beauty of Shikoku and the pilgrimage route.

You will walk alongside rivers, paddy fields, plum orchards, market gardens and centuries-old camphor and gingko trees. Passing through quiet residential suburbs and forests, you visit each temple, pay respects and collect a stamp in your pilgrimage booklet.

Each temple is unique, with symbols and ornamentation telling its part of the pilgrimage story. Each pilgrim’s journey is unique – you may not come away with enlightenment but you will likely be changed for the better. See walkjapan.com

Be your best self in the Maldives

• Start Maldives
• Finish Maldives
• Duration five to 10 days

JA Manafaru has launched a suite of wellness packages.

Dip your toes into fine white sand, crystal clear water and wellness at JA Manafaru, which has just launched a suite of wellness retreat packages.

The JA Signature Culinary Retreat builds on the Wellness Your Way menus introduced at the romantic resort in the far north of the Maldives late last year.

These are separate and comprehensive menus for vegan, vegetarian, dairy-free, gluten-free and low-carb eating across all five restaurants at the property.

Start the JA Signature Culinary Retreat with epigenetic testing conducted by a physician, before menu planning based on the results, and culinary classes that teach how to incorporate this into life away from the resort. Spa treatments and “daily rituals” accompany the nutritional journey.

But importantly, this, and other wellness retreat programs at JA Manafaru have been designed to integrate into a Maldives holiday rather than take it over, so it’s a case of sun, sand, sea and a better me. See jaresorts.com

Indigenous art to rock your world

• Start Laura, Far North Queensland
• Finish Laura, Far North Queensland
• Duration Two days

One of Australia’s most significant collections of Indigenous rock art … Jarramali Rock Art Tours.Credit: Tourism Tropical North Queensland

One of the world’s most significant rock art collections lies in Quinkan Country, so called after the mythical Quinkan figures that feature in the remarkable prehistoric images found there. Jarramali Rock Art Tours’ Jarramali Experience takes you to the heart of it to see the art and learn about its cultural meaning.

Find your way to the small town of Laura, around 300 kilometres from Cairns on the Cape York Peninsula, and join a 4WD tag-along tour (in your own four-wheel drive) or join Jarramali’s tour.

Drive an hour to Jarramali Camp, where you hike cliffs to incredible rock art sites that in addition to the privilege of viewing the works there, afford remarkable views of the remote landscape and its wildlife.

Your local Kuku-yalanji guide offers yarns of life on Country, inviting you to sample native bush tucker along the way.

In the evening, dine by the fire at Jarramali campground and wake to the morning bird chorus and a hot breakfast.

The next day, visit more rock art sites and cool off in remote waterholes. There’s a one-night option as well. See jarramalirockarttours.com.au

Angkor by design

• Start Angkor, Cambodia
• Finish Angkor, Cambodia
• Duration Flexible

Immerse yourself in the region’s rich history with an Angkor by Vespa excursion at the Raffles Hotel d’Angkor.

The historic, luxurious Raffles Grand Hotel d’Angkor in Cambodia sits close by Angkor Wat and other ancient Khmer archeological sites.

To help guests make the most of its box-seat position, the hotel has introduced a series of exclusive curated journeys, offering immersion in the region’s rich culture and history.

The itineraries include the Bespoke Temple Dinner, which is a chance to dine within the ancient temple complex by flaming torchlight. The meal served is inspired by the hotel’s original 1936 menu, which was first delivered in this historic setting.

The program also includes the Lost Civilisations of Angkor by Vespa excursion, an off-the-beaten-track ride on the back of a motorbike through the Angkor Archeological Park. It begins at dawn to watch the sunrise at Angkor Wat, followed by a Raffles breakfast picnic at the edge of the temple complex before a tour of highlights and lesser-known architectural relics.

The Khmer Culinary Discovery is a nighttime tour of Siem Reap’s best-loved restaurants and The Siem Reap Art Tour is a foray into the community of artists and ateliers in Siem Reap.

Other experiences cover subjects such as photography, yoga and colonial architecture. See raffles.com/siem-reap