It may depart from Bali, but this holiday takes in some of Asia’s wildest wonders

We travel across the Java Sea by Zodiac, then it’s an hour by four-wheel-drive, a trudge across fields of volcanic ash, and then the clincher – 250 vertical steps to the top of East Java’s brooding Mount Bromo. As we steady our shaking legs to peer into its swirling depths, there’s a rumble, a burst of sulphur and the heavens open.

Water cascades down our rain jackets, filling pockets and pelting our faces as we make a slow retreat on this darkening mountain, a pony with a neon-pink tail, spooked by thunderclaps, dancing beside us.

Weeks later these events keep replaying in my mind, joining others just as bizarre: a proboscis monkey doggedly dog-paddling in croc-infested waters; an elated water-buffalo “jockey” dancing in mud; a village bride anointing our foreheads in oil; the huge butterfly that perches on an expedition leader’s sunglasses, a whale shark performing a ballet below us.

We share these and more other-worldly moments with just 17 others, discovering extraordinary nature aboard a Borneo & Beyond cruise through Indonesia. The 12-day Pearl Expeditions’ cruise on the boutique Paspaley Pearl – built in 2021 but then refitted for its inaugural expedition cruise in 2025 – marries heart-stirring adventure with on-board luxury, filling a maximum of 30 guests with adrenaline one minute, finest wagyu and wines the next.

Yet, it also leaves plenty of time to stare at sunset seas, spot soaring seabirds or read in the sun.

Small (53.5 metres or 175 feet), but perfectly formed: the three-deck white Paspaley Pearl, with its polished timber handrails and blue and red trim, doesn’t disappoint on this overcast afternoon in Bali’s Benoa Harbour. After meeting our fellow passengers on the top deck for drinks and canapes we head to our Horizon Suite cabin, home for the next 12 days. While light and roomy at 20 square metres, it’s still a master in space-saving design.

A king bed is high enough to store bags underneath and is flanked by slim wardrobes and bedside tables with self-closing drawers. There’s more storage above the bed, adjustable reading lights, digital TV, pull-out pegs behind the door for jackets or snorkel gear, a desk, fridge, and floor-to-ceiling glass doors leading to a wide balcony with two chairs and a panoramic view.

The marble bathroom has a rain shower with a window to the sea and a pull-out clothesline, (something we’re grateful for later), Aesop products, bathrobes, hairdryer, and strap shelving, which means toiletries are never in danger of falling in rough weather.

A blast of a horn – a small boat has ventured too close to us –