Hot Escapes: Volcano Destinations Around the World

Up in the Clouds, Costa Rica
She kept us guessing like beautiful, alluring women the world over. We aren't referring to the fairer sex, but to Poás Volcano in Costa Rica. The 8, 884-feet high temperamental spit-fire is located in Central Valley near the Pacific Coast and is the country's most popular destination. We'd been looking forward to some histrionics, but what we saw was a cameo of peace–the 1.6 km-wide crater, smothered in clouds and vapour. To see this, one of Costa Rica's four most active volcanoes, tourists trudge up through a cloud forest. Shades of green swirled around us as we kept an eye out for Costa Rica's unusual wildlife–the colourful, hook-beaked toucan bird, the majestic harpy eagle and the howler monkey with its excruciatingly loud call... We sauntered up another trail hewn through a cloud forest that pulsed with unseen life, to see the second crater. Brimming withblue-green water, the second crater was dormant, but again, layered in clouds and mist!

Violent Birth, Greece
It isn't easy to live on a volcanic island and not seek divine intervention in case of a fiery emergency. The island of Santorini in the azure Aegean Sea has 365 churches, some say 400; more than one for every day of the year! The Santorini archipelago (part of the Cyclades group of islands) currently comprises one large island and two smaller outcrops. It was at one time, however, a soaring mountain that rose out of the sea like a gigantic breaching whale. In 1600 BC, all hell broke loose when the volcano erupted, resulting in a tsunami that circled the globe twice over. The core of the volcano collapsed on itself, creating the landmass we see today. It last burped in 1950. The best way to see this rocky island, capped with icing sugar homes in the Cycladic style, is from the water, which is what we did... Head for the main island–Thira, where precariously balanced hilltop villages like Oia and Fira charm tourists with their winding streets that open onto bewitching views of the blue Aegean. Sip coffee at a café, hewn into a crevasse of volcanic rock, shop at a boutique studded with 21st century baubles or relax on a champagne-coloured beach. The lady will not erupt again!

Sacred and Iconic, Japan
Mt Fuji, iconic, magnificent... almost a picture postcard cliché! Its chiselled conical shape has been captured in paintings, photographs, verse and song. This mountain, it is believed, is where Japan's ancient Shinto gods reside; devotees have been taking the ancient pilgrim route to reach the country's highest summit and pay homage. The 3, 776 meter-high, dormant, but moody mountain volcano also beckons hikers. The ascent takes about eight hours. Hikers and pilgrims, usually accompanied by a trekking guide, stay at a mountain lodge and wake up at the crack of dawn to catch the sun's rays, which dribble their warmth on the snow-capped peak. Cameras click almost in unison as people are bound by a sense of awe. Part of the descent can be covered by bus. At the foothill, people unwind and uncoil tensed muscles in the hot spring baths where the pilgrim's spiritual high is muted by the purely sensual relief afforded by the swirling warmth of the waters.

Heaven in the Devil's Backyard, Taiwan
Biblical in its beauty–it was like witnessing hell fires, first hand. Smoke and vapour curled upwards and over our heads from the 4,000 sq-meter boiling, burbling lake of sulphurous water–hot as the devil's breath! We were in the geothermal valley of Beitou, on the northern outskirts of Taipei in Taiwan. Encircled by the Chingshan Peaks, Beitou's fertile and lush expanse clings to the foot of the Yangmingshan National Park. The Ketagalan, indigenous people who once lived here, called this heaving expanse of green-coloured water 'Hell's Valley'. In fact, the green-coloured hot springs have only been found in Beitou and Akita, Japan. It was during Taiwan's occupation by Japan, between 1895 and 1945, that Beitou's present avatar as a hot-springs getaway took shape as the homesick Japanese tried to recreate here, the magic of their onsens (hot springs) back home. For a while, Beitou became a kind of lonely-hearts club, a place where singles came to look for a mate. During World War II, kamikaze pilots on suicidal missions would also fly down to Beitou looking for rest and recreation. Today, a clutch of hot-spring spas have emerged in Beitou, but at the top of the heap is the Relais & Châteaux luxury spa resort Villa 32, where Japanese style minimalism is raised to luxe levels. It is a hot springs nirvana with views of Satan's backyard!

Smouldering Temptress, Italy
Naples is like a stepchild in the swaggering Italian family of great cities–Rome, Venice, Florence that are an eyeful. Yet Naples has a certain undeniable faded beauty and some of the best views of Mt Vesuvius. Like its home Naples, Mt Vesuvius also has the reputation for being unruly at times–it burped powerfully in 79 AD and wiped away the ancient Roman city of Pompeii in one lethal blast. Said to be the most dangerous lady on the block, Mt Vesuvius blows her top every 20 years. However, perhaps the volcano is calming down for she last lost her cool, way back in 1944. Yet, it is safe to climb this impertinent mountain. Buses trundle up to 1, 000 m, but one must climb the last 200 m to the top. It's very chilly up there, near the cone of the crater. Here, you may not see much action, no bubbling, no foaming; just sulphur gasses wafting upward like the volcano is enjoying a smoke! The view from across the Bay of Naples is the best, by our book–Mt Vesuvius volcano rises in the distance–mysterious, alluring, inaccessible... sometimes rakishly wearing a cap of clouds.