The origins of Pura Besakih are veiled in ancient legend, its story whispered through centuries beyond recorded memory. For more than a thousand years, this sprawling temple complex has stood as the spiritual heart and the “Mother Temple” of the whole island. Perched nearly a kilometre above the sea, on the jagged southwestern flank of Mount Agung, it commands a breathtaking view and an air of sacred power.

The great city of Angkor Thom isn’t just a ruin, it’s a palimpsest of power, religion, blood and time. It’s where Hindu deities once danced with Buddhist ideals and where a king tried to become a god in the eyes of the world. Carved into the Cambodian jungle in 1181AD by the empire’s most ambitious rule King Jayavarman VII, this immense stone citadel rose as the crowning capital of the ancient Khmer Empire.