The temples of Angkor

Cambodia is truly the temple capital of Asia. 

Angkor Wat, the biggest temple on the site, is the biggest religious building in the world. Angkor Thom was the biggest Asian metropolis in the 13th century. Ta Prohm is ovverrun with trees (and Chinese people!). Bayon boasts 216 enormous smiling faces and it's decorated with vivid images of 12th century Cambodia. 

An amazing expression of Khmer art, god-kings who wanted temple after temple, Buddhism and Hinduism mixed together where the old and the new traditions mix enough to drag people out of bed to watch the sunrise as well as having the locals shouting "2 for 1 dollaaaah" for anything you look at.

Here's some pictures of the 400+ I took in the 2days experience... Also, it looks so much better in real life.

Sabaidee from Luang Prabang

We are currently in Luang Prabang. A Unesco heritage site with 33 Buddhist temples, French bakeries, waterfalls, a cracking night market and 2 river sides.

The main temple is the Phu Si: standing on a hill 100mt-tall, with its many Buddhas is a good spot for a view over the rivers.

The other temples are a golden gems, with colourful murals and stunning statues. Here's a few selection:

 Lao cuisine is not the most famous of South East Asia but, with Luang Prabang being high on the tourist hit list, some riverside restaurant have really stepped up their game and this is what I got for lunch today. Don't ask what it was ... But it was delicious!

Wat Pro: Buddha in Bangkok

 One of the biggest temples in Bangkok is Wat Pho.

Its most famous feature is the Reclining Buddha: 46mts long and 15mts high, this pose signifies the Buddha's passing into nirvana and it is a very impressing (and shining) statue.

Inside the structure there are 108 monk bowls. For less than 50p you can buy some very small coins to be dropped in the bowl for good luck. All you hear in that side of the room is the 'ching ching ching' of the monies being dropped... So I had to do it too :-)

Me and the husband in the temple

Aside from the reclining Buddha, there are many more rooms and small the temples. The one that impressed me the most is the one with rows of Buddhas in their meditation pose, all in shiny gold colour.

Outside the Way, there are the ever-present street food vendors. I love being in Asia for the fact you can get really cheap and nice fruit you would not be able to afford in Europe. The lady here is selling sliced mango, watermelon, pineapple, papaya and a local apple. Mango definitely gets my vote!

We briefly stopped also at the Royal Palace but the queue was long and the ticket pricey so we just walked around the gardens. The Thai King has his own ATM and noney changer in that area :-)

Tired and hungry, we made our way back to Khao Sarn Road (the backpacker area of Bangkok). We stopped at a local side street café to get some food. Pork noodle soup and duck with rice went down a treat - though I think we were being served Chinese food, not Thai :-)

Island hopping and dolphins ahoy!

Amazing day in Panglao island, Philippines.

Early start at 6am to get out on the water on time to see the dolphins: I have seen dolphins before, but this was incredible! There were big families swimming all around, big spinner dolphins jumping out of the water and swimming very fast! (they like it around here as there's a lot of tuna in the water - clever!)

The second stop was Balicasan Island... An amazing spot of beach where we could relax, have a mango juice (or a coffee since it was only 9am!) and a bit of snorkelling.

The local guide took us to "turtle point" and before you know it we spotted 6/7 turtles - or it might have been the same one getting around ahah. There was just 4 of us swimming in the water, the visibility was so clear and it was so amazing to see the turtles coming up to get some air, diving back down again and having their own cleaner fish. Wish I had an underwater camera cause the view was unforgettable!

Happy on the boat!

Balicasag Island

The beach on Balicasag

The last and third stop was at Virgin island, now known as "la isola di Francesco" in honour of St Padre Pio di Pietralcina. The Philippines is mainly a Catholic country so the whole island was dotted with statues and signs of devotion. The most spectacular sight however was the beach... I don't think I have even seen a place with water this beautiful!

Virgin Island

The other beach on Virgin Island

Posted via Blogaway