Travel: 4 ways to get your adrenaline fix in Asia

There are plenty of reasons to travel. Some do it for food, some for culture. Many are curious about the world and then there are those who take vacations to places far away from where they live and work as a way to cut off and recharge. Post-pandemic the endurance athlete traveller entered the scene, participating in marathons and triathlons in all corners of the world. Last year, a new kind of traveller emerged—one who travelled to sleep. This year is seeing the numbers of active holiday seekers jump significantly. Here are places close to home, in Asia, that are likely to be popular among the fit and active folks.

PARAGLIDING IN BALI

Bali is great for all travellers, ranging from the beach bum and content creators to yoga enthusiasts and thrill seekers chasing adventure sports thanks to its stunning geographical diversity, warm weather, great beaches and beautiful terrain. And all without gobbling up your credit card limit. Quick to catch on to trends, the Indonesian island already has padel and pickleball retreats that personalise your stay and activities based on your skill level.

It is also a paradise for those seeking to indulge in surfing, kite surfing, snorkelling and open water diving. However, my pick in Bali is paragliding. This isn’t a tandem flight experience—where you are tethered to a pilot—we are talking about but flying solo. You are the pilot.

Most of the local paragliding clubs and schools are in Uluwatu and Nusa Dua as most of the flying happens in those parts of the island thanks to the cliffs and ridges running along the sea. Paragliding is thrilling and calming at the same time. The thrill of flying on your own without any engine, feeling the air hit your face, is unmatchable. There is a sense of calm that comes from removing yourself from the noise and crowds and enjoying a bird’s-eye view of everything that normally surrounds you at ground level. As with any adventure sport, there are risks. While I have only suffered bruises and almost flown into trees during take-off, I have a few friends who have broken a foot while landing.

Visa: Indian passport holders can get visa on arrival in Indonesia.

Flight: Air India flies direct to Denpasar from New Delhi and IndiGo from Bengaluru.

MOUNTAIN BIKING IN CHIANG MAI

Massages, mango sticky rice and chilled Chang at the beach is what most of us associate with Thailand. The active kind opt for Muay Thai lessons in Phuket or one of the many fitness retreats that every city, town and island in the South-East Asian country seems to offer. I headed to the hills of Chiang Mai in the north instead. There are plenty of hiking trails, mountain biking courses and dedicated motocross tracks for petrolheads. I signed up for a mountain biking day trip at the hostel.

I picked the intermediate difficulty thinking beginner would be too easy. That was a mistake. The mountain biking routes run through the jungles and are pretty technical. Not only are the mountain bikes different from road bikes but they also require different handling skills.

Going uphill is manageable but strenuous. Bingeing the night before doesn’t help. Going downhill on a twisting muddy trail is a skill that requires mastering and full concentration. Surprised by the speed, I often hit the brakes too hard, locking the wheels and skidding.

Some sections were too steep for me and I had to walk down with the cycle. The milder slopes and straighter sections were fun. Two hours flew by before I knew it.

By the end of it, I had skidded a fair bit but never once fallen. That ignominy was suffered on the flat road on my way back to the car while I was distracted.

Visa: Indian passport holders do not need a visa for short stay and tourism.

Flight: Fly direct to Bangkok and travel to Chiang Mai by train, bus or plane.

SURFING IN SRI LANKA

There are plenty of reasons to love Sri Lanka: clean, safe and welcoming. It’s easy to reach and affordable. The highlight of adventure tourism in Sri Lanka, unarguably, is road-tripping through the entire island nation in a self-driven autorickshaw, but surfing comes a close second. There is good surf to be found along the entire coastline depending on the time of the year. Hiriketiya, Mirissa, Ahangama and Hikkaduwa have ideal surfing conditions from November to April while Arugam Bay picks up from May to October.

Hiriketiya, especially around Doc’s Bay, is a good spot to park yourself at, given the number of good accommodation, food and drink options and its proximity to the beach. There are plenty of surfing schools if you need to learn and all of them also rent surfboards if all you want to do is shred the waves.

Mirissa, just a few kilometres away, also has good waves and is packed with surf shops. It’s best to enquire at a few shops and find a deal that works best for you. I have surfed a few times but I still ended up drinking sea water in ways I know not, whenever I was washed out by “seemingly” menacing waves that everyone with above average skills was happily shredding all the way to the beach.

Visa: Indian passport holders need an Electronic Travel Authorisation.

Flight: Direct flights to Colombo from multiple cities. Bus or taxi to Hiriketiya.

SKIING IN JAPAN & SOUTH KOREA

While everyone talks about the Alpine ski resorts in Switzerland, France, Austria and Italy or the exorbitantly priced slopes in the US, some of the best powder in the world is found in northern Japan’s Hokkaido province. In Sapporo, I met snowboarders making day trips to the slopes as recently as the first week of April. While the ski resorts in Niseko, Rusutsu and Furano can be convenient but pricey, there are options to stay in hostels or budget hotels in nearby towns and do day trips to the slopes. Sapporo Teine is easily accessible by train from Sapporo.

In South Korea, Pyeongchang is an excellent place for winter sports not least because it hosted the Winter Olympics in 2018. An hour away from Seoul, it is easily accessible by public transport and is a lovely ski resort town with resorts, hotels and hostels at various price points.

I tried learning skiing from YouTube videos and friends. All I succeeded in doing was to learn silly ways to land on my butt. The quickest way to learn is to hire an instructor. Your time on the slopes will be spent enjoying the thrill of hitting high speeds and enjoying apres ski pints and parties. Warm back up with a bowl of ramen and a soak in an onsen.

Visa: Required for both Japan and South Korea.

Flight: Direct flights to Tokyo from New Delhi and Mumbai. Then a plane, bullet train or overnight ferry to Sapporo.

Direct flight to Seoul from New Delhi. Then public transport or private taxi to Pyeongchang.

Shrenik Avlani is a writer and editor and the co-author of The Shivfit Way, a book on functional fitness.