Java

Built in honour of its namesake Saraswati, the Hindu goddess of knowledge, music, art, wisdom and learning, Pura Taman Saraswati is a graceful water temple nestled in the heart of downtown Ubud. This sacred site blends spiritual reverence with classical Balinese aesthetics, offering a peaceful retreat just steps away from the town’s busy centre.

Nestled in the eastern highlands of Bali, in the quiet village of Ababi at the foot of Mount Agung, Tirta Gangga is a royal water palace steeped in beauty and spiritual reverence. Commissioned by the last Raja of Karangasem in 1946, this sacred estate pays homage to Balinese Hindu devotion. Its name, meaning “blessed water from the Ganges,” reflects its role as both a royal retreat and a site for spiritual purification and ceremonial bathing.

The temples atop Fansipan Mountain form part of the Sun World Fansipan Legend spiritual complex, a remarkable network of religious structures built to honour Vietnam’s deep-rooted Buddhist traditions. Perched at over 3000 meters above sea level, this complex has transformed the “Roof of Indochina” from a rugged trekking destination into a place of pilgrimage.

Bảo Lạc Town, near Vietnam’s northern border with China, hides a blood-soaked past beneath its calm surface. For centuries, this rugged land was home to fiercely independent Tày, Nùng, Hmong, and Dao tribes who lived and died resisting Vietnamese and Chinese domination. Imperial forces repeatedly tried to crush their autonomy, but the mountains ran red as rebellion flared again and again.

Across Bali, Bedogol refers to the guardian statues that flank the entrances of temples and family compounds, the silent watchers carved in stone. Positioned in pairs on either side of a gateway, they serve as spiritual protectors, anchoring the threshold between the ordinary world and sacred ground.

Puri Langon is a privately owned royal compound located in central Ubud. It is the personal residence of Tjokorda Ngurah Suyadnya, better known as Cok Wah, a respected figure in the Ubud royal family. Though it remains a functioning private home, Puri Langon is open to the public free of charge, offering rare access to a lived-in royal space that continues to serve spiritual and cultural functions within the community.

A living, breathing time capsule, Hà Nội Old Quarter is a tapestry woven from centuries of colonial exploitation, Confucian rituals, dynastic collapses and wartime destruction. Despite relentless modernisation and gentrification, the Old Quarter remains defiantly alive. It preserves not just Hà Nội’s heritage but the very essence of Vietnam’s ability to adapt and endure.

Batara Kala, in Balinese mythology, is the monstrous deity of time, destruction and the underworld. He's a god born not from light but from the uncontrolled lust of the supreme god Shiva (Siwa). In one chilling version of his origin, Batara Kala is conceived during a moment of cosmic imbalance, when Shiva’s spilled seed, filled with uncontrollable rage and passion, falls to earth and takes form.

Tucked away on Sóc Sơn Mountain, roughly 30km's north of Hanoi, Thành Chương’s Viet Palace is far more than a museum or art gallery, it is a cultural time capsule and a living work of art, meticulously crafted by the celebrated contemporary Vietnamese painter Thành Chương.

Tucked high in the Hoàng Liên Son Mountains of northwestern Vietnam, Sapa’s history predates the modern tourism boom by centuries. Archaeological discoveries suggest that humans have inhabited this rugged region for thousands of years. Stone tools, ceramic fragments and burial items uncovered in the Muong Hoa Valley point to a Neolithic culture that once thrived along the riverbanks. These finds, some dating back 3000 years, are among the earliest signs of life in Vietnam’s m

The Dutch first reached Bali in 1597 while scouting new ground for conquest and profit. They left without drawing blood but they didn’t leave without a decision. Bali had been marked. For the next two centuries, the island remained untouched, not because the Dutch had lost interest, but because they were waiting for the moment it would be worth the slaughter. It wasn’t peace. It was a pause before an extermination. When they returned, the rivers would turn red.

The Ho Chi Minh Museum in Hanoi is more than a museum, it is a shrine to revolution, memory and sacrifice, standing as one of Vietnam’s most important monuments. It honours the man known as “Uncle Ho” while also serving as a vast archive of the struggles that shaped modern Vietnam, a place where personal biography and national trauma merge into a single, powerful narrative.

Overlooking the vast and turbulent Indian Ocean on Bali’s Bukit Peninsula, Uluwatu Temple (or Pura Luhur Uluwatu) perches 70 metres above the waves, a landmark of both awe and solemnity. Archaeological evidence shows its origins date back to the 9th century, based on an ancient split gateway bearing a chronogram marking 886 .AD, confirming its megalithic roots as one of the island’s oldest sacred sites

Gunung Kawi Sebatu is one of Bali’s lesser visited yet most serene temple complexes, nestled in the forested highlands of Sebatu village. Established during the 11th century, its origin is tied to the ruthless reign of King Mayadenawa, a figure known in Balinese lore for defying the gods. The temple is dedicated to Vishnu, the Hindu preserver deity and features crystal-clear spring pools, manicured gardens and a peaceful atmosphere that belies the legend tied to its sacred wa

In the shadowed heart of Ubud stands Pura Dalem, a temple steeped in ancient power and shadowed secrets. One of the area’s most formidable sacred sites, it pulses at the centre of the local spiritual life, a place where worship, dark rituals and otherworldly performances unfold. Its moss clad stone carvings depict guardian spirits and fearsome deities, whispering of life, death and the unseen forces that linger at the edge of perception.

In the heart of Batuan village stands Pura Puseh Desa Batuan, one of Bali’s oldest and most spiritually charged temples. Founded in 1020 AD and recorded in Balinese historical texts for over a millennium, it is rooted in something far older, believed to have been built atop a megalithic stone circle, echoing the ancient power of Stonehenge, where ancestral rites were once performed.

Garuda, the colossal bird being of Hindu myth, soars through Balinese religious imagination not as a gentle guardian but as a relentless force cutting across the realms of gods, demons and mortals. His wings are said to darken the sky when spread, the violent wind from their beat capable of stripping the leaves from the forests.

In the architectural language of Balinese temples, Bhoma statues are not merely decorative but play a protective and symbolic role. Bhoma is derived from the ancient Sanskrit word bhūma, meaning “Earth” and is considered a guardian spirit linked to fertility, the forest and subterranean realms. Usually mounted above temple gates or embedded within sacred water features, these fierce, leaf entwined figures serve as guardians of spiritual boundaries,

In the moss veiled temples of Bali, Ganesha is far more than a familiar Hindu icon, he is a living force who moves between light and shadow. Though his roots lie in Indian Hinduism, Bali’s Ganesha (also known as Batara Gana) has taken on new dimensions, shaped by animist spirits, local rituals and the Balinese understanding of cosmic balance.

Hanuman, the fierce Monkey King, prowls through the shadowed corners of Balinese myth, a figure both revered and feared. Far beyond a mere symbol of strength, he embodies a primal force, wild, untamed and relentless in his pursuit of justice. In Bali’s ancient Hindu-Buddhist tapestry, Hanuman’s presence evokes a raw energy, one that bridges the mortal world with darker realms where gods and demons wage eternal war.