Goa Gajah

Patirtaan Pond

The road from Ubud snakes through the sweltering jungle. Tropical flora flickers past your eyes as your car tunnels through the humidity. The sun splinters through the canopy and makes tiger stripes of shadow on the tarmac. Your driver is a little skittish. He has been informed by his boss that the police have set […]

Tōdai-ji

Daibutsuden

Arriving by train in the small, but pretty Japanese city of Nara, you begin your walk toward the verdant green hilltop you see in the distance. Passing by quaint little pickle shops and stores selling local items, you make a beeline for the trees that lie ahead of you. Your path begins to take an […]

Vat Xieng Thong

Vat Xieng THONG sIM

Your rusty rental bicycle creaks and complains under the cranking of your feet on the pedals. Powerful sunshine beats down on your neck in the humid Laotian afternoon. As your bike strains to move along the pitted road, you sweat out the laab and sticky rice that you ate for lunch at the roadside café. […]

Chinese Buddhist Temples 101

Ruigang Pagoda, Suzhou

While Chinese temples do vary, many tend to maintain a basic formula in regard to their layout. The iconography is always in-keeping with the traditional style and the same figures can usually be found in each of the halls. The generic temple is the main style that you find throughout China and in other countries […]

Wat Arun

Wat Arun

The boat steadily chugs along the Chao Phraya River while you cling to the handrail to counteract the rocking and reeling. It noisily shudders along the ancient waterway that acts as the main artery of Bangkok. The sputtering engine wheezes its way through the black water past swimming boys that seem not to care about […]