Must-see attractions in Southeast Asia

  • Female Visiting the Cloister with Large Group of Seated Buddha Images in Wat Pho or Temple of the Reclining Buddha, Bangkok Old City, Thailand, ( Self Portrait )

    Wat Pho

    Ko Ratanakosin & Thonburi

    Wat Pho is our absolute favorite among Bangkok's biggest sights. In fact, the compound incorporates a host of superlatives: the city's largest reclining…

  • Grand palace, Wat pra kaew with blue sky, bangkok, Thailand

    Grand Palace

    Ko Ratanakosin & Thonburi

    The Grand Palace (Phra Borom Maharatchawang) is a former royal residence in Bangkok that was consecrated in 1782. Today, it’s only used on ceremonial…

  • Wat Arun temple in Bangkok during sunset.

    Wat Arun

    Ko Ratanakosin & Thonburi

    Wat Arun is the missile-shaped temple that rises from the Chao Phraya River's banks. Known as Temple of Dawn, it was named after the Indian god of dawn,…

  • Wat Phra Kaew Bangkok Thailand

    Wat Phra Kaew

    Ko Ratanakosin & Thonburi

    Architecturally fantastic, the Wat Phra Kaew temple complex is also the spiritual core of Thai Buddhism and the monarchy, symbolically united in what is…

  • Boats at Phong Nha Ke Bang National Park.

    Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park

    North-Central Vietnam

    Designated a Unesco World Heritage Site in 2003, the remarkable Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park contains the oldest karst mountains in Asia, formed…

  • Jade Emperor Pagoda in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam is one of the major tourists sights.
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    Jade Emperor Pagoda

    Ho Chi Minh City

    Built in 1909 in honour of the supreme Taoist god (the Jade Emperor or King of Heaven, Ngoc Hoang), this is one of the most atmospheric temples in Ho Chi…

  • Fighter planes outside War Remnants Museum.

    War Remnants Museum

    Ho Chi Minh City

    To understand the US invasion of Vietnam, and contextualize its devastating impact on the country's civilians, this remarkable and deeply moving museum is…

  • Hang Son Doong cave in the heart of the Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park in Vietnam.

    Hang Son Doong

    Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park

    Hang Son Doong (Mountain River Cave), located in the heart of Phong Nha-Kẻ Bàng National Park, is known as the world's largest cave, and is one of the…

  • hue, vietnam. 12th june, 2023: views of thien mu pagoda in hue city, vietnam
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dong khan tomb, historical, citadel, huong

    Thien Mu Pagoda

    Hue

    Built on a small hill overlooking the Song Huong (Perfume River), 4km southwest of the Citadel, this seven-storey pagoda is an icon of Vietnam and as…

  • Wat Saket, The Golden Mount Temple, Bangkok, Thailand.

    Golden Mount

    Banglamphu

    Even if you're wát-ed out, you should tackle the brisk ascent to the Golden Mount. Serpentine steps wind through an artificial hill shaded by gnarled…

  • Tourists on sun loungers on Nha Trang's Municipal Beach.

    Nha Trang Beach

    Nha Trang

    Forming a magnificent sweeping arc, Nha Trang's 6km-long golden-sand beach is the city's trump card. Sections are roped off and designated for safe…

  • Interior of the Temple of Literature, known locally as Van Mieu, home to the shrine to Confucius named Van Mieu.

    Temple of Literature

    Hanoi

    Set amidst landscaped grounds near the centre of Hanoi, the Temple of Literature honours Vietnam's finest scholars, and also offers visitors a chance to…

  • Swan boats, Lumphini Park, Bangkok, Thailand

    Lumphini Park

    Bangkok

    Named after the Buddha’s birthplace in Nepal (Lumbini), Lumphini Park is central Bangkok’s largest and most popular park. Its 58 hectares are home to an…

  • Tu Lan Cave.

    Tu Lan Cave

    Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park

    The Tu Lan cave system comprises of more than 20 wet and dry caves, which are thought to be between three and five million years old. Huge caverns,…

  • Unoccupied beach at the Lan Ha Bay in Vietnam

    Lan Ha Bay

    Cat Ba Island

    Lying to the south of Halong Bay off the north-eastern coast of Vietnam, the 300-or-so karst islands and limestone outcrops of Lan Ha are just as…

  • Paradise Cave,Vietnam.

    Paradise Cave

    Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park

    Surrounded by forested karst peaks, this staggering cave system in Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park extends for 31km, though most people only visit the…

  • Bai Sao Beach, Phu Quoc Island, Vietnam.

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    Sao Beach

    Phu Quoc Island

    With picture-perfect white sand, the delightful curve of beautiful Sao Beach bends out alongside a sea of mineral-water clarity just a few kilometres from…

  • Dragon bridge in Da Nang, Vietnam.

    Dragon Bridge

    Danang

    This wonderfully wacky bridge takes the form of a ginormous, colour-changing dragon, weaving its way across the Han River. If that wasn't attention…

  • Saigon Notre-Dame Cathedral Basilica on blue sky background in Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam.
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    Notre Dame Cathedral

    Ho Chi Minh City

    Built between 1877 and 1883, Notre Dame Cathedral enlivens the heart of Ho Chi Minh City's government quarter, facing Ð Dong Khoi. A red-brick, neo…

  • Hon Son Island

    Mekong Delta

    Hon Son, also known after its main village of Lai Son, is a solitary and beautiful mountain island about 50km southwest of Rach Gia on the southern shores…

  • Battlebox

    Colonial District, the Quays & Marina Bay

    Take a tour through the Battlebox Museum, the former command post of the British during WWII, and get lost in the eerie and deathly quiet 26-room…

  • Nam Nao National Park

    Khon Kaen Province

    Unheralded Nam Nao National Park is one of Thailand's most wildlife-rich parks, although its remote location means it never gets busy. Good visibility and…

  • 500px Photo ID: 133312595 - Established in 1976, the Metropolitan Museum of Manila is the first Philippine art institution to offer a bilingual and pedagogical program. It is partially subsidized by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP or the Central Bank of the Philippines). In 1979 the 'Met' was incorporated into a foundation known as the Metropolitan Museum of Manila Foundation, Inc. officially changing the status of the Museum to an independent, private, nonsectarian, non-political and non-profit cultural foundation...The Museum is responsible for the conservation of some of the country's national treasures. The basement gallery showcases pre-Hispanic gold and pottery artifacts--proof of a flourishing pre-colonial Filipino society actively engaged in international trade and showcasing hallmarks of Filipino art and culture from the 8th to 13th centuries.

    Metropolitan Museum of Manila

    Manila

    The 'Met' is a world-class gallery tracing the evolution of Filipino art from the early 20th century to the present. Virtually all great Filipino painters…

  • The reflection of Shwedagon Pagoda, Myanmar

    Shwedagon Paya

    Yangon

    One of Buddhism's most sacred sites, the 326ft zedi (stupa) here is adorned with 27 metric tons of gold leaf, along with thousands of diamonds and other…

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Stone heads, Bayon.

    Bayon

    Temples of Angkor

    At the heart of Angkor Thom is the 12th-century Bayon, the mesmerising, if slightly mind-bending, state temple of Jayavarman VII. It epitomises the…

  • Vat Phou or Wat Phu in Champasak, Southern Laos.

    Wat Phu Champasak

    Southern Laos

    Bucolic Wat Phu sits in graceful decrepitude, and while it lacks the arresting enormity of Angkor in Cambodia, given its few visitors and more dramatic…

  • Prambanan Temple

    Central Java

    Comprising the remains of some 244 temples, World Heritage–listed Prambanan is Indonesia's largest Hindu site and one of Southeast Asia's major…

  • jambi, September-2018,View of Candi Muara Jambi complex on a cloudy day. Candi Muara Jambi is a Buddhist temple complex located in Jambi province - indonesia

    Muara Jambi

    Sumatra

    This scattering of ruined and partially restored temples is the most important Hindu-Buddhist site in Sumatra. The temples are believed to mark the…

  • Morning in Borobudur Temple

    Borobudur Temple

    Borobudur

    Dating from the 8th and 9th centuries, and built from two million blocks of stone, Borobudur is the world's largest Buddhist temple and one of Indonesia's…

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Asia, Cambodia, Siem Reap, South-East Asia, aged, architecture, architecture and art, art, built structure, carving, close-up, culture, day, female likeness, focus on foreground, history, horizontal, human representation, no people, old, outdoors, past, sculpture, statue, wall
Bas-relief detail, Banteay Srei.

    Banteay Srei

    Cambodia

    Considered by many to be the jewel in the crown of Angkorian art, Banteay Srei is cut from stone of a pinkish hue and includes some of the finest stone…

  • Photographs of inmates at Security Prison 21, Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum.

    Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum

    Phnom Penh

    In 1975 Tuol Svay Prey High School was taken over by Pol Pot’s security forces and turned into a prison known as Security Prison 21 (S-21); it soon became…

  • A tree growing through the temple Beng Mealea in Angkor Wat.
500px Photo ID: 155059645
Angkor Wat, Cambodia, Beng Mealea, temple, ruins, rubble, decay, tree, Nikon, travel, travel photography, adventure, amazing, blocks, Siem Reap, SE Asia

    Beng Mealea

    Temples of Angkor

    A spectacular sight to behold, Beng Mealea, located about 68km northeast of Siem Reap, is one of the most mysterious temples at Angkor, as nature has well…

  • Banteay Chhmar castle cambodia; Shutterstock ID 709420321; your: Sloane Tucker; gl: 65050; netsuite: Online Editorial; full: POI
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    Banteay Chhmar

    Northwestern Cambodia

    Beautiful, peaceful and covered in astonishingly intricate bas-reliefs, Banteay Chhmar is one of the most impressive temple complexes beyond the Angkor…

  • Taken in Angkor Wat in Cambodia.

    Angkor Wat

    Temples of Angkor

    The traveller's first glimpse of Angkor Wat, the ultimate expression of Khmer genius, is matched by only a few select spots on earth. Built by Suryavarman…

  • Dwarapala guardian statue at Donopratono gate of the Kraton Ngayogyakarta Hadiningrat, the palace of the Yogyakarta Sultanate, Central Java, Indonesia, January 14, 2018

    Kraton

    Yogyakarta

    Beside the southern alun-alun (main square), Yogya's enormous kraton (palace) is the cultural and political heart of this fascinating city. Effectively a…

  • View over the moat of Mandalay Palace to Mandalay Hill with its many temples; Shutterstock ID 241383850; your: Sloane Tucker; gl: 65050; netsuite: Online Editorial; full: POI
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    Mandalay Hill

    Mandalay

    To get a sense of Mandalay’s pancake-flat sprawl, climb the 760ft hill that breaks it. The walk up covered stairways on the hill's southern slope is a…

  • Po Nagar Cham Towers.

    Po Nagar Cham Towers

    Nha Trang

    Built between the 7th and 12th centuries, these impressive Cham towers are still actively used for worship by Cham, Chinese and Vietnamese Buddhists…

  • July 8, 2015: Reunification Palace (Ngo Viet Thu) was the home and workplace of the President of South Vietnam during the Vietnam War.
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    Reunification Palace

    Ho Chi Minh City

    Surrounded by royal palm trees, the dissonant 1960s architecture of this landmark government building and the eerie ambience of its deserted halls make it…

  • Flocks of nesting pelicans, comorants, and herons crowd the canopies of submered trees at Prek Toal Bird Sanctuary on Tongle Sap lake.

    Prek Toal Bird Sanctuary

    Cambodia

    Prek Toal is one of three biospheres on the Tonlé Sap lake, and this stunning bird sanctuary makes it the most worthwhile and straightforward of the three…

  • Overgrown temple of Ta Prohm.

    Ta Prohm

    Temples of Angkor

    The so-called 'Tomb Raider Temple', Ta Prohm is cloaked in dappled shadow, its crumbling towers and walls locked in the slow muscular embrace of vast root…

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