Tagged: temples & shrines

4 Aug, 2012

Luang Prabang, UNESCO World Heritage centre

While some people decide to skip Vientiene or/and Vang Vieng, noone visits Laos without stopping by the charming little town of Luang Prabang. The entire peninsula surrounded by Mekong and the Nam Khan is UNESCO protected along with its numerous Wats and French colonial buildings. Traveling in Luang Prabang isn’t about trying to visit all the attraction. It’s about enjoying the laid-back traveling life. The heat probabbly also has something to do with it too though. We spent all and all about 5 days or so in the city itself. First day we rented a bike and went around the...

South East Asia / Thailand

22 Jun, 2012

Bangkok – heart of South East Asia

Bangkok is probably the most visited backpackers hub when coming to South-East Asia. I’ve visited Bangkok around 7-8 years ago (roughly) and it still wows me after all these years. The people are still extremely friend, the food cheap and the tuk-tuk drivers still try to rip tourists off. However, eventhough I visited Bangkok some years ago, I didn’t exactly go sightseeing and find out what it actually had to offer besides the obvious nightlife around Khaosan road. Heck it was one of my first “backpacking” trips. The main reason I come here was to celebrate Songkran, Thai new year....

Asia / Japan

13 Apr, 2012

Koya-san, Unesco monastary complex

Koya-san was another suggestion from my fellow traveler. I was a bit sceptical about visiting this place since it was yet another buddhistic destination, the monastic complex of Koya-san. To be honest, there isn’t much I can actually say about Koya-san since I just followed along and I’m not exactly a Buddhist. But I did enjoy this little trip to Koya-san. It was snowing when we arrived near Koya town, which made the whole experience just more magical than it is. The path towards the monastary ran through the buddhist cementary. This little hike itself was actually the best part...

Asia / Japan

8 Apr, 2012

Osaka and Nara

Osaka Osaka is only a short 1-hour ride away from Kyoto. For the average backpacker there isn’t that much of value here. The most famous attraction is the Osaka aquiarium and I haven’t even visited it myself. But next in line (and free) is the Dotombori. This is a huge plaza/shopping area with tons of shops and restaurants. There is tons of different thing to try and eat in only a few blocks. A dear friend of mine gave me a fair warning before I came here. The good thing about the huge commercial places is that each and one...

Asia / Japan

1 Apr, 2012

Travel back to Ancient Japan – Kyoto

While Tokyo is all about modern day consumerism and commercialisation, Kyoto is the place to be to go back to ancient times and discover the historical story behind the country. Kyoto used to be the country’s capital before Tokyo, meaning many of its important imperial buildings were located here and are pretty much still in tact for tourism. Including tons and I mean TONS of temples and shrines. Kiyomizu-dera According to sources: the story behind the love stone is that there are these 2 stones within a certain distance of eachother. You start at one stone and close you eyes...