I approached Tonsai Beach on a colorful longtail boat. This was the only way to reach the famous climbing paradise in Thailand. The turquoise blue sea sloshed noisily under the long boat. Only the sound of the boat engine destroyed the idyll as we approached the empty beach. I had heard many tonsai stories: incomparable […]
Southeast Asia’s largest Buddhist temple Borobudur is not a legendary figure from mythology but the largest Buddhist temple complex in Southeast Asia (Mahayana Buddhism). It is located near the volcano Merapi on the Indonesian island of Java. It was built during the Sailendra Dynasty (760-860, Sailendra means “ruler of the mountains”). The building is considered […]
A haven of security and capitalism – that’s the best way to describe Singapore. In the beginning of June I arrived at the modern city state. It was humid and hot. The modern architecture and the orderly bustle stood in stark contrast to the chaotic, homely and Hindu Bali. Singapore is multicultural, yet spirituality and religiosity […]
Who would have thought that Lombok is so different from Bali. On Bali I was accompanied every day by hundreds of temples made of black volcanic rock. This was rarely on my visit of Lombok. Numerous mosque characterize the island image. Yet tourism is not suffering. Numerous resorts are located along the white sandy beaches. […]
Pulau Dewata Bali is rightly called the “island of the gods” or the 1000 temples. Every second building is a temple or shrine and the Hindu culture permeates the everyday life of the inhabitants. Every morning, the scent of incense flows through the narrow streets and at every door and every shrine are small offerings […]
