Southeast Asia Travel News

The Rangri Dambulla Cave Temple – to give it the full name – is located in the area of north-central Sri Lanka known as the ‘Cultural Triangle’ due to its proliferation of spectacular ancient sites such as the nearby, UNESCO-listed rock fortress of Sigiriya, and also World Heritage-listed ancient cities of Polonnaruwa and Anuradhapura. The series of 5 shallow, principal…

We have covered this topic in earlier posts but, with several Southeast Asian sites having been added to UNESCO’s list in recent times, here’s a brief update of Cambodia World Heritage Sites, as well as some of the candidates on its Tentative List. Current Sites Considering the wealth of unique archaeological and historical sites across the kingdom we can’t help…

As you’ll discover on our Beyond Angkor tour there are myriad, spectacular, lesser-known Angkor temples (as well as pre-Angkor) lying the length and breadth of Cambodia just waiting to be explored. Of course, iconic Angkor Wat, Bayon’s mysterious carved faces and the roots and creepers of atmospheric, jungle-clad Ta Prom are justifiably world-famous but some of these remoter and far…

A Borobudur sunrise visit is definitely going to be one of the undeniable highlights of any Java, or for that matter, Indonesia tour. Certainly, a world-renowned site but just to remind you; UNESCO World Heritage Borobudur is a 9th-10th century Mahayana Buddhist Temple situated around 40 kilometres northwest of Yogyakarta City. A sunrise entrance pass costs extra so keep visitor…

We’re delighted to see Cambodia gain a 3rd UNESCO World Heritage Site, after Angkor and Preah Vihear, with the granting of such status to the ruined 6th and 7th century Khmer capital at Sambor Prei Kuk.   These picturesque ruined temples, scattered through forest north of Kompong Thom in central Cambodia, represent the remains of the royal capital, Ishnapura, of…

Today we’ll mostly be posting boat photos! The spectacular limestone scenery of Vietnam’s UNESCO-listed Trang An in Ninh Binh Province. The spectacular region certainly lives up to its name  – ‘Halong in the paddy-fields’ – but unluckily the weather was a bit overcast on the day we visited so our photos conspicuously fail to do justice to the landscapes. With…

Prasart Ta Prom, at UNESCO World Heritage-listed Angkor. Cambodia’s famous, so-called, ‘Tomb Raider Temple’ with its giant trees and sprawling roots is certainly one of the vast Angkor complex’s most famous and photogenic sites and so consequently, it does see a lot of visitors and in the high season particularly can get rather busy. A regular, classic itinerary would have…

Can’t go wrong really with giant roots and towering trees, mysterious carvings and jungle-clad ruins so here’s another selection of photos of Preah Khan and Ta Prom temples in Cambodia’s World Heritage Angkor temple complex, taken on our recent Cambodia Overland small group tour. Preah Khan, as with the more high profile Ta Prom, is a late 12th-century Buddhist temple…

A bit rushed today so minimal text, (you’ll be glad to hear), and a few photos we came across in a far corner of our hard drive – kind of a computer equivalent of down the back of the sofa we guess. These are some of our favourite Apsaras of UNESCO World Heritage Angkor Wat carvings at with an estimated…

With its enticing and plentiful riverside cafes and excellent (and cheap) beer UNESCO World Heritage, Luang Prabang has to be one of the prime non-beach spots for sundowners in this part of the world so without for ado here’s a small selection of photos of sunset over the Mekong at Luang Prabang. So without further to-do here are a few…

Following on from our recent aerial pix of Penang’s George Town post here’s a few shots of some of the lovingly restored buildings of UNESCO-listed Chinatown Penang (Pinang) at street level. First up – the 19th-century Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion in Leith Street is probably the most iconic of George Town’s Chinese heritage buildings and certainly one of the most…

Ta Keo Temple at Angkor – often overlooked and never gets too many stars in the guide book ratings yet it is a very impressive monument and one that you can generally visit without fighting your way through noisy crowds of Koreans for a pleasant change.  (Or Chinese, French, Russians whatever – don’t mean to be rude about Koreans in…

Another of Yunnan’s UNESCO World Heritage Sites, the Shilin Stone Forest lies in the Shilin Yi Autonomous County some 2 hours drive from the provincial capital, Kunming City. Formerly the bed of a shallow sea, over hundreds of millions of years the sandstone and limestone rocks have been carved by the wind and the rain to form this spectacular labyrinth…

And here’s a photo of the famous ‘Japanese Bridge’ at Hoi An – for no reason other than we haven’t posted a Vietnam pic for a while! The 16th or 17th-century bridge is known as the ‘Japanese Bridge’ since it connected the Vietnamese Town with the enclave of Japanese traders and merchants on the other bank of the river. Hoi…