6 essays tagged “temples”.
Kyoto, Japan
Kyoto has a famous-temples problem: there are too many famous temples in a small city, and the day-tripper bus from Osaka delivers tens of thousands of visitors to half a dozen of them daily. The other temples — and the famous ones at 6 a.m. — are still entirely yours.
August 23, 2024
Chiang Mai, Thailand
Chiang Mai is what Bangkok was, possibly, before the expressways. A small grid of moated streets, three hundred temples within walking distance, the smell of charcoal and lemongrass in the evenings. It also has the best curry noodles in Thailand.
January 30, 2024
Ubud, Indonesia
Bali is several different islands depending on where you stay. The Bali of crowded south-coast resort beaches is real. So is the rice-terraced Ubud Bali. So is the surf-village Bali of the east. The trick is to pick the one you actually want.
July 18, 2023
Paro, Bhutan
Bhutan is the only country I have visited that requires a daily Sustainable Development Fee (now US$100/day) and a state-licensed itinerary. The cost is the point. The kingdom uses tourism to fund its national health and education systems, and to keep the country from being overrun. It works.
May 28, 2022
Kathmandu, Nepal
Kathmandu is two cities — the dusty, traffic-choked, modern capital, and the medieval Newari city of pagoda temples, hidden courtyards, and 1500-year-old shrines. The second city is the one to come for.
March 12, 2022
Luang Prabang, Laos
Luang Prabang is small. The entire peninsula between the Mekong and the Nam Khan rivers can be walked in 20 minutes. It is also one of the most preserved colonial-and-monastic towns in Southeast Asia, and the dawn alms procession remains, for now, an unforced daily ritual.
August 14, 2021