Wat Phra Singh in Chiang Mai is one of the biggest Buddhist temples in the city and houses the Phra Buddha Sihing, an important Buddha statue. In the Wat compound there are famous Buddhist quotes and sayings attached to trees throughout the garden, which makes for an enlightened walk around the Wat. I like reading […]
Buu Long Pagoda – A beautiful Buddhist temple hidden away in Ho Chi Minh City
Ho Chi Minh City has a wide variety of monuments representing different religions spread out across the city. Most visitors will be content to see those around District 1 and District 5. If you have a bit more time on your hand then a visit to the Buu Long Pagoda (Chùa Bửu Long) will take […]
Cholon Wanders – Visiting Saigon’s historic Chinatown district
For visitors to Saigon the most popular sites are in a compact area around District 1 and 3. If you have time though I recommend making a visit to Cholon, which is the old Chinatown area, most of which lies in District 5. Cholon used to be a city in itself until it was merged […]
In Pictures: A day on Inle Lake – Myanmar
My trip to Myanmar (Burma) was already off to a flying start, with highlights such as the Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon and cycling around the temples of Bagan. I had heard much of these places so I was prepared to be wowed (which I was). What I didn’t figure on was how much of a […]
The temples of Bagan – Myanmar
After visiting the incredible Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon I was wondering if anything could top that in Myanmar? It didn’t take long to find out, with my next stop at Bagan. [Temples on the Bagan Plain] Ancient Bagan Bagan is the site of a ruined city in central Myanmar that was a powerful capital nearly […]
Shwedagon Pagoda – The cure for temple fatigue
[Shwedagon Pagoda (Paya), Yangon – Myanmar] Visitors to Europe would be familiar with the phenomenon of being cathedralled out. This is when you visit lots of cathedrals in a short space of time, to the point that you tire of even the grandest of cathedrals. The same happens with the temples of Asia. To be […]
Chichen Itza is wonderful, but should it be a new 7 wonder of the world?
Being based in Playa del Carmen has been ideal for visiting the highlights of the Yucatan Peninsula. One sight that has been high on my visit list is Chichen Itza. Not counting Luxor Las Vegas or the Louvre Pyramid, this was the first time I have seen a pyramid. The Chichen Itza archaeological site contains […]
The Bangkok 9 Wats in One Day Challenge
Bangkok’s reputation as a traffic clogged megalopolis overshadows the fact that Bangkok has more temples than any capital in Southeast Asia. Bangkok is the seat of Thai Buddhism, and the grandest wats in Thailand are in the capital. A popular way to visit the wats is to visit 9 temples in one day. In Thai […]
Prambanan – the largest Hindu temple site in Indonesia
Prambanan is a complex of Hindu temples near Yogyakarta in central Java. It is the largest Hindu remnant in Java and it is billed as “the Tallest and Most Beautiful, Largest Hindus Temple in the World”. While I haven’t been to enough Hindu temples to vouch for it’s most beautiful claim, it certainly is grand […]
Borobudur: The biggest Buddhist temple in the world
Borobudur Temple is the largest Buddhist temple in the world, which is impressive considering that it’s not in a Buddhist country but in Central Java, Indonesia. [Borobudur Temple] It’s a temple that ranks with Cambodia’s Angkor Wat and Myanmar’s Bagan as one of the great religious monuments of Southeast Asia. What is more remarkable is […]
