Sustainable travel company Intrepid Travel has been operating small group adventures to Asia for 22 years and knows the continent—and its quirks—inside and out. Here’s what they list as the Top 10 Unforgettable Asian travel experiences:

1– Tuck into Tarantulas in Cambodia. A popular, protein-filled snack, eating tarantulas became common during shortages. Now they’re a roadside treat—for those who dare.

2– Get hyper-colored at India’s Holi Festival, a swirling mass of revelers showering each other with vibrant, colored powder in celebration of the arrival of the harvest season.

3– Meet the “Man of the Forest” in Borneo. Watching an orangutan swing from the trees in unbridled joy is one of life’s simple pleasures.

4– Celebrate two humps at the Pushkar Camel Fair in India. Snake charmers, acrobats, magicians, musicians, mystics and travelers appear for the annual five-day event where camels are dressed up, traded and raced. Timing depends on lunar cycles.

5– Experience the Eighth Wonder of the World in the Philippines. Remarkable feats of engineering, the verdant Banaue Rice Terraces were carved into the mountains by hand more than 2,000 years ago by the indigenous people of Ifugao.

6– “Float” in a sea of volcanoes in Indonesia. While many tourists head to the popular Bali beach spots, Indonesia’s volcanic lakes and seabeds are a rewarding find.

7– Get Spiritual in Varanasi. Witnessing an evening Aarti ceremony on banks of the River Ganges is life-affirming, with incense and chants filling the air.

8– Trek to the Tiger’s Nest in Bhutan. Perched on a Himalayan cliff, Tiger’s Nest Monastery is a transcendental trip.

9– Get “stuck” during Thaipusam in Malaysia. This annual Hindu festival sees brave worshippers and devotees take elaborate sacrificial measures, including impaling themselves with hooks and metal skewers. Some would say the climb of 272 steep stairs up to Batu Caves is torturous enough, but there’s comfort in the form of a colossal, golden statue of Lord Murugan who looks on with pride.

10– Go nomadic in Mongolia. Spending an overnight in an environmentally-friendly tentlike ger allows travelers to experience how the native people lived for eons.

Intrepid Travel, 866-360-1151, www.intrepidtravel.com