GreaterGo

Wat Phou reveals its true beauty and history for those who make time to visit.

Kathmandu Durbar Square is the heart of Kathmandu. Its importance is comparable to that of Tiananmen Square to Beijing and Red Square to Moscow. It features a variety of temples built by Newar artists. It is also surrounded by magnificent palaces and museums. 

Shwedagon Pagoda is the most sacred place in Yangon and where the Burmese people take pride the most. Legend has it that the pagoda enshrines the relics of four Buddhas, namely the staff of Kakusandha, the water filter of Koṇāgamana, a piece of the robe of Kassapa, and eight strands of hair from the head of Gautama.  The Shwedagon Pagoda today stands close to 110m, covering in hundreds of gold plates. The top of the stupa is encrusted with 4,531 diamonds. The largest of which is a 72 carat diamond. There are hundreds of colourful temples, stupas and statues in the pagoda for your exploration.

Mandalay Hill, around 240m tall, is located in the northeast of the city centre. Your trip around Mandalay may start by climbing up and viewing the scenery of the city atop the hill. There are four entrances on Mandalay Hill. The southern approach to Mandalay Hill has two giant chinthes guarding. The chinthes are lion-like creatures often seen at the entrances of pagodas and temples in Myanmar. 

It is not rare to see that unique candi bentar (a classical Balinese split gateway entrance) on friends’ check-in photos of Bali on social media. The entrance belongs to the Besakih Temple. The photo of a person standing on the passage in the middle of it is just spectacular. No wonder it has become a “site of pilgrimage” of photography for tourists worldwide.

Regarded as one of the peaceful cities in Asia – Ulaanbaatar may be the last surviving city from nomadic civilizations transforming into a modern city. A few temples and gers (Mongolian yurt) is what the city was made up way back in 1778; now with a population of around 1.6 million, it is the political, commercial and cultural hub of Mongolia.