For more than a week, the Southeast Asian neighbors have been locked in a standoff that the Cambodian Foreign Minister has called an "imminent state of war." But what about? Some kind of temple? Exactly.
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by pbb
Can't afford a European vacation this summer? Do what our contributor Claire Duffett did: Explore Southeast Asia instead.
A 20-minute ferry ride up the Chao Phraya River from downtown Bangkok, you'll find a boatload of temples in the Phra Nakorn district. Motoring upriver, there's the old capital on the left bank and on the right bank, the wats and temples inside The Royal Palace, built in 1782. Each building vies for the title of the most ornate, gold-encrusted, bejeweled homage to the man formerly known as Siddhartha Gautama.
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by ced138
Employees at a shrine in Thiruvananthapuram, India will no longer be forced to work in their underwear thanks to their local Human Rights Commission. The shrine workers collect donations of cash, precious metals and gems at a temple dedicated to Ayyappa, a local deity. But after a spate of thefts at the shrine five years ago, police officials and temple bigwigs began forcing the shrine staff to wear a uniform that consists of nothing but a cotton wrap around their waists.
Temple workers were also subjected to strip searches before going home each day to ensure that they weren't hiding cash in their underwear. Unsurprisingly, the staff found this treatment incredibly degrading and they complained to the local government.
After hearing the case, the Kerala State Human Rights Commission sided with a union representing the temple employees and ruled that they must be allowed to come to work fully clothed again. Officials at the shrine said they would agree to end strip searches and get rid of the skimpy theft-prevention "uniforms." Temple authorities are now thinking about installing surveillance cameras at the shrine--now that their staff will be wearing pants again.
Related Stories:
· Shrine Workers May Keep Their Underwear on [Reuters]
· India Travel coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo: Reuters]
When your city is the namesake of an environmental protection and emissions control agreement, taking steps to save the planet must come naturally. The temples of Kyoto have become hypersensitive to global warming and have introduced some neat ways to reduce their energy use.
The Kodaiji Temple, for example, installed solar panels to store electricity which runs the night-time illumination. Other temples have replaced night lights with energy-efficient LED lamps. And Tenryuji Temple near Arashiyama in Kyoto has been clever enough to open earlier during summer so people can look around the temple longer using natural light.
Reduced lighting bills at these beautiful Japanese temples is a good start, but it's probably the lighting at those ever-luminous love hotels that they need to turn down a bit.
Related Stories:
· Kyoto Temples Taking Action to Save Energy [Daily Yomiuri]
· Kyoto Travel coverage [Jaunted]
· Green Travel coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo: EugeniusD80]
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by amandak
Embedded Travel Guides: We are searching the world for folks who can take you on a field trip of their "backyard." When we find these folks, we then stealthy embed them into their local travel scene and ask them to be our eyes and ears out in the field.
We are expecting the same sort of grainy video, choppy sentences and snapshot photos that you are use to seeing from other sorts of embeds. At the end of the day we should be left with a backyard travel guidebook like no other.
Our man in Osaka is AJ McGuire, and, wow, does he have stories to tell.
"If I have to see one more safety-orange painted torii gate..." I hear that muttered pretty often, always after one of my friends has finished playing tour guide to parents, family friends or whoever else comes blowing into town with a list of Must See's that reads like a religious pilgrimage.
Sure, descriptions of things more than two hundred years old are often the only accurate things in the average guidebook. (Don't believe me? Hit the bookstore and check out the restaurant recommendations for your hometown.) The area around Osaka has its share of great sights to see. But, and let me put this in bold because its important, there are better ways to spend your vacation than hunting down every temple, shrine or battlefield in your guidebook.
Still, you should get some culture: Here's how to do it right.
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by Judson
If you're looking for a soulful cultural experience in South Korea, you can now try staying in a temple with Buddhist monks. According to a recent Go World story, the temple stay program in Korea isn't a long-standing tradition. Quite the opposite: It just sprang up during the 2002 World Cup season when accommodation was in short supply, and grew from there.
These days there are 43 temples participating in the coordinated program and you can learn traditional crafts like making prayer-beads or lotus lanterns. You'll get fed a lot of mild-tasting vegetarian food, drink tea with monks and even meditate, all of which makes for a different kind of holiday, but probably a good contrast to bustling capital Seoul. And you never know when prayer-bead-making skills will come in handy in life.
Related Stories:
· Temple stays: Korea's Buddhist Retreat Centers [Go World]
· Temple stay Korea [Official Site]
· I Like My Korea Bubbly [Jaunted]
[Photo: Photocapy]
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by djk
We will fail to pass on the distinguished scenery of the ancient city to future generations.Enough said. Just don't expect to see flashing Coca Cola signs or any of the Tokyo lights we love so much if you head to Kyoto's most prized sights. Arigatou.
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