At the confluence of the Li and Taohua Rivers, Elephant Trunk Hill stands as a silent guardian of Guilin, a natural sculpture shaped by time and legend. Said to be the petrified form of a celestial elephant struck down by the Heavenly Emperor, it blurs the boundary between myth and geology. For over a thousand years, poets and monks have carved their reverence into its stone, honouring its enduring spirit of wisdom and compassion.

Marked by the presence royal ashes, Wat Suan Dok was established in the 14th century on the grounds of a royal garden. Its tranquil exterior belies over six centuries of sacred history. Whitewashed chedis catch the northern Thai sunlight, standing as symbols of devotion, mortality and remembrance. Surrounding the central chedi, royal mausoleums enshrine Chiang Mai’s rulers, underscoring the temple’s role as a spiritual bridge between the living and the departed.

High on the slopes of Mount Batukaru, Pura Luhur Batukaru is a sacred temple dedicated to Mahadeva, Bali’s fierce and protective God of nature. Moss covered meru towers rise above sacred springs and the air seems charged with centuries of devotion. The temple bears the memory of a violent battle that once shook its grounds, while legends of unseen guardians and lingering spirits continue to echo through its courtyards, giving Batukaru an enduring aura of mystery and sacred po

Floating within the ruins of Klungkung Palace, Bale Kambang rises like a defiant island, a silent witness to centuries of ambition, devotion and blood soaked politics. Built when Bali’s unified kingdom splintered into warring courts, it is more than a royal relic, a fusion of power, spirituality and symbolic mastery. Its ceiling murals depict kings and gods walking the line between the mortal and the divine, while the surrounding waters reflect the cosmic ocean and the fragil

Hidden deep within the forest, the Tiger Cave Temple was founded in 1975 by a devoted monk seeking refuge from the world’s distractions. Drawn to the untouched serenity of the jungle, he discovered a secluded sanctuary where the whispers of the trees and the stillness of the air created the perfect environment for deep meditation. Amid shadowed caves and quiet trails, the temple rose as a place where nature, legend and spiritual devotion converge.

Shrouded in mist and legend, West Lake stretches like liquid silver across Hangzhou, a place that has inspired poets, Emperors and travellers for centuries. What began as a humble lagoon more than 1800 years ago was transformed by human hands into a shimmering masterpiece. Today, as a UNESCO World Heritage site, the lake’s serene surface hides centuries of ambition, artistry and whispered secrets.

Commissioned under King Saen Muangma in the late 14th century, this ancient royal monastery stands among Chiang Mai’s most venerated temples. Originally envisioned as a monumental reliquary to honour and enshrine the ashes of his father, King Ku Na, it was to rise as a symbol of royal devotion and divine aspiration. Yet destiny had other plans.

Long ago, the land where Wat MingMuang now stands was a vast, fertile swamp, alive with dense reeds and winding waterways. Hidden within this wild sanctuary, majestic elephants roamed freely, revered as sacred symbols of power, wisdom and royalty. Amid this untamed beauty, the temple’s foundations were laid, a place where human devotion met the quiet majesty of nature, shrouded in the whispers of centuries past.

Dating back to 208 BC, Co Loa Citadel rose as the heart of the ancient Au Lac kingdom under the legendary King An Duong Vuong. Legend tells of a mighty crossbow and protective magic, yet even these could not save the kingdom from betrayal and ruin, a story of power, ambition and ghosts that still linger over the northern plains.

Regarded as one of Vietnam’s most iconic architectural treasures, the One Pillar Pagoda rises like a solitary lotus from the water. Built in 1049 AD by Emperor Lý Thái Tông and dedicated to Quan Âm, the Bodhisattva of Compassion, the shrine has long drawn worshippers seeking fertility, health and divine favour, its slender silhouette a silent witness to a millennium of faith and history.

Founded in 1070 AD under Emperor Lý Thánh Tông, the Temple of Literature honours Confucius and his disciples, its courtyards, banyan trees and lotus ponds echoing centuries of scholarly pursuit. Later home to Vietnam’s first university, it carries the weight of history and the whispered presence of generations of students, a place where wisdom feels alive, shadowed by the spirits of those who once walked its paths.

Rising from the legacy of the Gelgel kingdom and the distant glory of the Majapahit Empire, Klungkung Palace was built in 1686 as the proud heart of a fractured Bali. For centuries it stood as a symbol of royal prestige, until 1908, when Dutch fire and a blood soaked Puputan reduced its grandeur to ruin, leaving only whispers of power, betrayal and the ghosts of a kingdom that refused to kneel.

Agung Padangtegal Temple is one of the primary temples located within the Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary in Ubud, Bali. Established in the late 14th century, the temple serves as a key spiritual site for the local community, dedicated primarily to the worship of Hindu deities and various ancestral spirits. It is considered the main temple of the forest complex and plays a central role in religious ceremonies.

Pura Penataran Sasih, founded in 1266 AD, was once the state temple of the Pejeng kingdom. Set in the fertile Petauan River valley, it reflects Bali’s ancient ties between ritual and agriculture. At its centre lies the Moon of Pejeng, a 2000 year old bronze drum and the largest single-cast of its kind in the world.

Carved into a rugged cliff above the sacred Pakerisan River, this ancient hermitage and unique archaeological site offers a rare glimpse into Bali’s pre Hindu past. Hidden from view, it shelters mysterious megaliths, silent echoes of a time long before Hindu-Buddhist influence shaped the island.

Rising from the heart of Ubud, Gunung Lebah Temple was founded in the 8th century by the Indian priest Rsi Markandeya as a sanctuary for meditation and spiritual retreat. Nestled at the confluence of the Wos and Pakerisan rivers, where their waters merge to form the sacred Campuhan, the site hums with serene energy, surrounded by forests rich with medicinal plants believed to heal both body and soul.

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.

Dating back to 1297, Chiang Mai’s oldest standing temple, Wat Chiang Man, was originally founded by King Mengrai as a royal encampment during the construction of his new capital. As the first temple within the city walls, it soon became a central hub for the emerging Lanna Kingdom, hosting religious ceremonies, political gatherings and significant social events, intertwining both spiritual devotion and civic life at the heart of the city.

Located at the base of Mount Shaoshi in Henan Province, the Pagoda Forest at Shaolin Temple is a sacred necropolis within the broader monastery complex. With its origins tracing back to 618 AD during the Tang Dynasty, the forest is home to over 240 stone and brick pagodas, each serving as a tomb or memorial for esteemed monks, abbots and martial art masters.

Shaped by both chance and design, one of Bali’s most unexpected natural wonders is Kanto Lampo Waterfall. Unlike the island’s ancient cascades that have poured down jungle cliffs for centuries, this waterfall is a relatively recent creation. In the early 2010s, adjustments to a local irrigation system redirected water across a rocky cliffside and over time the flow carved its way over volcanic stone, giving rise to the unique cascade we see today.