Tag: architecture
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From Gong and Drum Awakening to Sunset at Luang Prabang’s Wat Wisunarat
Our home away from home in Luang Prabang, Laos sat opposite from the city’s oldest operating temple, Wat Wisunarat (also spelled Vat Visounnarath). The temple was built in the early 1500s. Known for its quiet lanes and thirty temples, Luang Prabang feels authentically Asian. Monks of all ages, clad in saffron-colored robes, pound the pavement…
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Twinkle, Twinkle Wat Xieng Thong – Luang Prabang, Laos
In the late afternoon sunlight, the small shrine’s mosaic-adorned walls shimmered like precious gems. As I shifted my footing and perspective — moving only mere inches at a time — different vignettes were illuminated by the vibrant rays. This Buddhist shrine, on which the cut glass portrays Buddhist imagery, is one of twenty structures in…
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A Return to Angkor: The Tree-Adorned Temple of Ta Prohm
Regarded as one of Angkor’s most atmospheric temples, Ta Prohm is perhaps best known as the location in which the movie Tomb Raider was filmed (admittedly, I have not seen it). The circa 12th century temple’s gnarly, towering trees are at times indistinguishable from the stone walls, pillars, and foundations that they are devouring. And the setting…
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A Return to Angkor: Exploring Breathtaking Bayon Temple
As you wander through Bayon Temple’s wedding cake-like levels, it’s likely you’ll feel as though you’re being watched — and indeed you are — by the 216 immense faces that adorn the 54 towers of this Angkorian jewel. Built in the late 12th century, Bayon was established as the temple for King Jayavarman VII. It is…
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Photo du Jour: An Imperial City Destroyed By War – Hué, Vietnam
Many of the walls of Hué’s Imperial Enclosure and Forbidden Purple City bear the scars of war from decades past. There are walls devoured by mortar rounds and brick façades pock-marked by bullets.
