Yeh Pulu Ruins are famous for their relief in the neighboring village of Buduru near Ubud. Everything is said to be around the 14th century before this area of Bali was Hinduized.
Relief famous for Ye Pur is about 25 meters wide. Ancient mythology is depicted as a relief motif. There are statues of Ganesh, but was it added after Hinduism came in?
Yeh Pulu Temple in Bali
Yeh Pulu tours
There are many tours available to visit Yeh Pulu. Many of them also visit Goa Gajah and/or Gunung Kawi.
Have you ever dreamed of close viewing of Mt. Everest? If you take a helicopter tour from Kathmandu, you can reach to Mt. Everest and land on Everest base camp.
There are several tour companies operating Everest helicopter tours. Most of them are shared flights, but some are private.
Of course, the price of the tour is not cheap but it can be one of your unforgettable memories.
Most popular Everest helicopter ride tour
The most popular Everest helicopter ride tour is “Everest base camp helicopter landing group flight tour with breakfast at Everest“. This tour is conducted everyday. If there is no flight due to bad weather, there is a full refund. Hotel pick-up from major hotels in Kathmandu is provided, so you don’t need to go to the airport by yourself.
Note: this flight requires minimum of 5 passengers.
Halong Bay is located in northern Vietnam, about 170 km away from the capital Hanoi. There are about 1,600 islands creating a magnificent view.
Although public transport such as bus is available from Hanoi to visit Halong Bay, it is recommended to join in a tour departing from Hanoi.
Halong Bay tours
There are so many tours available for Halong Bay from day-tours to multi-day tours. It is recommended to take 2 or 3 day tours so that you can sleep on the boat and enjoy Halong Bay fully.
Mỹ Sơn or My Son in English is a group of abandoned Hindu temples found in Quảng Nam province of central Vietnam. It is considered to be built by Cham people that once had a dynasty here.
My Son is accessible by tours from Hoi An or Da Nang. Several tours depart daily. Or you can just use car transport from Hoi An/Da Nang to My Son.
Banteay Srei is a Hindu temple located in the northeast of Angkor Wat, dedicated to Shiva and Vishnu. Banteay is a fort and Srei is a woman, which together means “a woman’s fort.” It began construction in 967 during the reign of King Rajendravarman and was said to have been completed at the time of his son, Jayavarman V.
Banteay Srei is a beautifully carved temple made of laterite and red sandstone, one of the small Angkor archaeological sites that you should definitely visit.
The statue of the goddess of the Orient, called Mona Lisa, is particularly famous in the picture on the right, and there is an anecdote that André Malraux was fascinated by the statue and stolen and arrested in 1923.
Recommended Banteay Srei Tours
Detail of Banteay Srei
Banteay Srei is surrounded by an outer wall and has an entrance to the east. When you pass through the gate, you will find the approach to the approach. In the photo below, the water on both sides of the approach is not a pond, but a puddle formed during the rainy season. Behind the approach, there are no intimidating temples like Bayon or Angkor Wat.
Follow the approach and pass through the gate of the first wall, there is a moat, and a bridge filled with soil leads to the second wall and its gate. The center of Banteay Srei is, as you can see, very small. But there is a surprising sculpture hidden in this.
Banteay Srei
When you pass through the tower gate on the third wall, it is finally the core. Exit to the front room of the Banteay Srei Central Shrine. Click on the photo below to see a super-detailed enlarged photo. Please take a closer look at the relief of Shiva God dancing in the central gable part. Reliefs are also applied to the left and right gables respectively. Please note that the image is about 8.5 mega.
Banteay Srei temple front room
As you can see, Banteay Srei has many beautiful reliefs depicting Hindu legends in the gable area. The photo below shows a scene from Ramayana, depicting three competing monkey brothers.
Competing Monkey relief of Banteay Srei
At the heart of Banteay Srei is a relief and a statue of a goddess around the tower of the Central Shrine. The photo below shows the west side of the Central Shrine. The photos are slightly distorted because multiple photos were combined into one. Click to display a super-resolution enlarged photo. Please note that there is more than 13 mega. There are several devata (goddesses), so please watch.
Beng Mealea is a Hindu Temple located about 60 kilometers from Siem Reap. The jungle covers over a 1-square kilometer area of the Beng Mealea temple.
It is said that Beng Mealea Temple was built around the end of the 11th century before Angkor Wat, but there is no inscription and details are unknown. With very little restoration, you can walk through mysterious archeological sites with a sense of adventure. There mey be no great sculpture, but it’s a great way to immerse yourself in beautiful archeological sites.
From Siam Reap, it is not easy to reach Beng Mealea by public transport. It is highly recommended to visit Beng Mealea by joining in a tour.
Several tours are conducted for Beng Mealea from Siam Reap. There are also some Beng Mealea and Koh Ker tours.
There are tours that visit only Beng Mealea in half day, or 2-3 days adventure tours, or tours combining Beng Mealea with other places such as Angkor Wat, Banteay Srei, Koh Ker and other destinations. Some tours listed on Viator/Trip Advisor are shown below. For all available Beng Mealea tours, follow this link.
The best time in a day to see Angkor Wat is at sunrise. Sunrise tours from Siam Reap provide you with the magnificent view of Angkor Wat in twilight and sunrise, if there is no cloud. Hotel pick up is provided, though you have to wake up quite early to see Angkor Wat in the light of sunrise.
