Does God every lie awake at night wondering if there is a Bono?
The seat of power in northern Thailand moved to Wiang Kum Kam in 1292. Wat That Kaow is one of a dozen or so temples from that era until the 1600s.
Also in Wiang Kum Kam, Wat Chang Kham. Almost none of the temples in the area get visitors.
Wat Phan Tao in Chiang Mai has probably the nicest setting of all the old city temples, with gardens, a pond and even rice growing.
I passed many hours in the gardens of Wat Chiang Man, Chiang Mai. It has a good compliment of squirrels in the trees and a grilled everything vendor out the front.
Taiwan's most historical city and temples are down in Tainan. In the modern capital of Taipei, calm oasis of peace are found in a great number of temples as well.
In the pretty little mountain town of Jiji, the flattened remains of the Wuchan Temple, felled by Taiwan's 921 earthquake.
Another view of the Wuchan Temple. It is incredible how intact the temple is.
Alishan Shouzhen Temple, the largest in the Alishan mountains area of Taiwan.
Set on a peaceful stream, Wat To Phae is a Mon style Buddhist temple near the town of Khun Yuam, a town with a sothern Chinese immigrant history and links to WWII Japanese troops....in Thailand!
Wat Chong Kham and Wat Chong Klang are two Burmese temples from the 1800s on Nong Chong Kham lake, in the sleepy Thai hill town of Mae Hong Son.
Dating to 1319, around the time of the founding of Chiang Saen, Thailand, Wat Pa Sak is also known as 'The Teak Forest Monastery' from teak trees which still stand along the city walls.
Sala Kekou is a wonderland of Buddhist statues and imagery in Nong Khai, north-east Thailand.
Started
by Khmer King Jayavarman V (AD 968–1001)
during the late 10th century and fi nished
by his successor King Suriyavarman I (AD
1002–49), this Hindu-Mahayana Buddhist
temple
I set out in search of Khmer temples, which I never found. Instead, Wat Pa Maha Chedi Kaew "million bottle temple", built in the mid 80s by monks who tired of seeing llitter everywhere.
Hassan II Mosque, Rabat, Morocco, is the biggest in Africa, 7th biggest in the world, and has the second tallest minaret in the world. Pretty impressive inside, too.
In a country with no shortage of breahtaking sights, Amritsar's Golden Temple shimmering at night is up there with the best.
Known as Harmandir Sahib (or Sacred Audience) it is the holiest place of Sikhism.
Built by Akbar in 1571, the Jama Masjid (mosque) in Fatehpur Sikri is one of the largest in India.
Inside the Jama Masjid, in Fatehpur Sikir, India, the tomb of Mughal general and governor Shaikh Alauddin Chisti, also known as Islam Khan.
Originally called 'Masjid e Jahan Numa' (mosque commanding the view of the world') 5000 workers under Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan built Delhi's Jama Masjid between 1650 and 1656.
Eye-cacthing stained glass window in Felsenkirche Lutheran Church, in the quirky Namibian town of Luderitz, founded by Germans in 1908.
With lush lawns and its sandstone spire, the 1907 Lutheran Christuskirche in Windhoek seems out of place in Namibia.
A large Catholic church in a small town near the Chocolate Hills, Bohol, Philippines.
Burma has a number of holy and spectacular hill-top temples. Mount Popa/Popa Taung Kalat rises impossibly from the central plains.
Thousands of ancient temples dot the plains around Bagan, Burma, built when the Mon kingdom was at it zenith from the 11th century.
Amongst the biggest in Bagan is the Ananda Pahto paya, built in 1105 AD during the reign of King Kyansittha.
In 1996, Burma attracted few visitors, despite its cultural and historic wealth. The treasures of the ancient Mon kingdoms of Bagan could be enjoyed in peace and solitude.
Many of the Bagan structures are only known by a number, their sponsors and names long forgotten.
Tourism boomed in Burma in the 2010s, but with covid and a return to brutality, empty fields around these magical places will sadly prevail.
A young vendor runs along the entrance to Cambodia's Angkor Wat.
One of the best Khmer temples near Phnom Penh, Phnom Chisor commands excellent views of the flat Cambodian landscape. And has a cool door.
Many tourists avoid Cambodia during the wet season, but you won't get views of the Bayon like this in the dry season.
Lolei (893) is part of the Rolous group of temples to the south of Siem Reap, which has some of Cambodia's oldest Khmer temples.