Jaunted

Angkor Wat / Temples / History Travel / Religious Travel / → All Tags

Would You Be More Likely to Visit Angkor Wat if it was Illuminated At Night?

The 12th century temple complex known as Angkor Wat is by far the most popular tourist site in Cambodia, drawing a million travelers a year to walk among its austere columns and soaring spires, many of which are overgrown with tree roots that resemble the tentacles of an octopus. Hoping to wring a few more dollars out of tourists - and enhance the visitor experience, of course - the government recently announced that it is considering installing artificial lighting throughout the ancient city so the temples can be open at night. The AP points out that visitors are typically ushered out of the area at sunset, and the new lighting will enable the park to stay open as late as 8:30 p.m.

more ›

Temples / Angkor Wat Travel Guide / Public Transportation / → All Tags

Wats Up: There and Away

This week, we're all about Angkor.

There are plenty of options for traveling to and from Siem Reap. Most visitors arrive from either Bangkok or Phnom Penh. Each city provides hourly buses, daily boats and endless share taxis. Several airlines fly into Angkor's entry point daily, too. But every mode of transportation has its pros and cons.

more ›

Temples / Angkor Wat Travel Guide / → All Tags

Wats Up: Facing the Poor

This week, we're all about Angkor.

Be prepared. Visitors to Angkor are confronted with great beauty and terrible ugliness. Indifference toward poverty occurs everywhere, but the contrast is even more stark in a city surrounded by a great world wonder and filled with foreign-owned, five-star resorts.

The ultimate irony of Angkor is that a thousand years ago, poor Khmers built the great temples they were never allowed to enter, and today they are essentially left out of Angkor's lucrative tourism industry.

more ›

Temples / Angkor Wat Travel Guide / → All Tags

Wats Up: Assault Tactics

This week, we're all about Angkor.

The strategy for visiting the temples of Angkor comes down to this: Divide and conquer. Paying a thorough visit to each and every temple can take weeks, with dozens of structures within the main complex and dozens of other outliers dotted up to a two-hour drive from Angkor Wat.

Tackle the temples by breaking the area into regions, and hire a tuk tuk to take you to the temples in that area. For those with only one day to visit, after a morning at Angkor Wat, here's a breakdown of the highlights.

more ›

Temples / Angkor Wat Travel Guide / → All Tags

Wats Up: Get Schooled on Angkor

This week, we're all about Angkor.

We're the kind of travelers who are loathe to admit we're tourists, but in the end, it's all semantics. When visiting Angkor Wat, Southeast Asia's tourism capital, it's better to embrace the moniker.

After purchasing the obligatory fanny pack, we suggest hiring a guide. No, really: It's impossible to fully understand the history and significance of the area's many ruins without one.

more ›

Temples / Southeast Asia Travel / World Heritage Sites / Culture / UNESCO / → All Tags

Thailand and Cambodia Talk It Out in China

On the list of people we're glad we're not--after Bristol Palin and Guy Ritchie, natch--comes Thai premier Somchai Wongsawat. The masochist voluntarily agreed to lead Thailand amid unprecedented government protests.

If the burning streets of Bangkok aren't enough to worry about, now the guy has to deal with a potential war with neighboring Cambodia. Last week, fighting erupted along the countries' border over this UNESCO World Heritage temple that both claim to own.

Now, Somchai will again sit down with Hun Sen, Cambodia's 20-plus-year strongman prime minister, for another attempt at a truce. Both men headed to Beijing today for the talks. Looks like hosting bilateral talks is China's way of reminding the world its post-Olympics city still exists.

Related Stories:
· Somchai and Hun Sen Meet in China [Bangkok Post]
· What Are Thailand and Cambodia Fighting About? [Jaunted]

[Photo: daylife.com]

Temples / Angkor Wat Travel Guide / → All Tags

Wats Up: Intro to Angkor

This summer, Cambodia enthusiast Tim Patterson shared his favorite spots in the country--but skipped Angkor Wat. The ancient temples overshadow Cambodia's many other assets, he argued.

True enough, but Angkor is world-renowned because it's pretty freaking incredible. Khmers have good reason to be proud of this heritage, and this week, we're laying out a guide to help you navigate the impressive and overwhelming network of temple ruins.

more ›

Temples / Southeast Asia Travel / World Heritage Sites / Culture / UNESCO / → All Tags

Temple Troubles: Thailand and Cambodia Fight On

It was back in July that we first mentioned the temple trouble between Thailand and Cambodia as they fought over the newly UNESCO Heritage-listed Preah Vihear temple on their disputed border. And we thought it'd all be over soon and we could put this place back on our want-to-visit list.

Not so. Since then, there have been more protests and even a short skirmish between Thai and Cambodian soldiers that left three people injured. Landmines have also caused a few injuries.

This week, the two sides finally sat down for a chat again. But the only result seems to be that Cambodia has told Thailand it has to get its troops out, and the Thais have said they're staying there to do more mine clearance work. Which means that planning a visit to the gorgeous Preah Vihear will have to stay on our "postponed" list.

Related Stories:
· Cambodia, Thailand Resume Talks on Border Spat [AFP, via Google]
· What Are Thailand and Cambodia Fighting About? [Jaunted]
· Cambodia Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Mofaitsontdm]

Temples / Southeast Asia Travel / Google Maps / World Heritage Sites / Culture / UNESCO / → All Tags

What Are Thailand and Cambodia Fighting About?

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.

more ›

Southest Asia Travel / Southeast Asia Field Trip / Temples / → All Tags

SEA Field Trip: Bangkok's Temples Say Wat?

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.

more ›

India Travel / Temples / Crime / Shrines / Nudity / → All Tags

Strip Searches and Skimpy Uniforms Banned at Indian Shrine

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]

Temples / Environment / Japan Travel / Green Travel / → All Tags

Japanese Temples Do Their Bit

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]