Mainland Southeast Asia was once a place of great conflict. For a long time, venturing beyond Thailand was, at best, inadvisable. Those days are in the past, now, and much of Southeast Asia’s mainland is one big tourist destination, the kind favored by budget travelers. This region is ripe for exploration, but it is hard to keep pace with the breakneck speed of development. What was once a quiet beach in the middle of nowhere might now be overrun by of scads of the overweight upper class taking a break from a nearby casino. Phuket and Nha Trang are resort destinations for upscale and budget travelers alike. But, myself, and many others are asking, “What’s left to explore?”

Here are the best of the “little knowns” for Mainland Southeast Asia:

All of Laos is still relatively unspoiled, or is it unjaded by mass tourism. Vientiane has got to be one of the most laid back and enjoyable places in all of Asia. It is the capital of Laos, but does not seem to take that title to seriously. It has a small townish feel. Perhaps that is because most of it can be explored on foot, and, though there are nightclubs, the best place to swill a beverage is outdoors, along the Mekong. Vientiane never seems crowded or hurried. Despite the small town feel, there are temples, architecture, cafes (Laos used to be a French colony), and friendly locals, and plenty else to see and do.

Battambang seems to be little more than a stopping off point on the road through Cambodia. However, this stopping off point is home to some of Cambodia’s most interesting sights. The large, strange, mysterious statues that stand in town make this seem like an offbeat truck stop. These are actually statues of important figures in Cambodian history and mythology. Also, seeing the bats take off in unison from Wat Baydamram is reason enough to make the trip from Phnom Penh.

Dalat is Vietnam’s mountain town. The small city is home to coffee plantations and scenic roads waiting for tourists on motorcycles to travel over them

And then there is Thailand, long a tourist hub. Bangkok itself is not a secret destination, but some of the areas in it are. A mere hour by long-tail boat will bring you past the city, past the heavily traveled waters and into another dimension where buildings are replaced by pagodas, fruit plantations and wooden houses. A trip to the inner recesses of Bangkok’s Khlongs (narrow canals) is as sublime as it gets in Southeast Asia.