Once war-torn, now sublime, Vietnam is long, lovely and languorous.
10 of the best UNESCO sites in Asia
21.07.2023 - 08:29 / roughguides.com / In Asia
From spectacular temples to awe-inspiring natural wonders, the world’s largest continent is home to UNESCO sites aplenty. Its sheer size makes it exceptionally diverse – culturally, ethnically and in terms of its natural environment.
From Russia’s subarctic areas to the equatorial south, Asia is home to unique geographical features, while over millennia thousands of civilisations have left their mark on the peoples and cultures of the continent.
Here are some of Asia’s most impressive UNESCO sites, both natural and man-made.
Located in the Cordillera region of Northern Luzon, these spectacular rice terraces were carved into the mountainside over 2000 years ago by the Ifugao people. The stone and mud terraces feature complicated engineering systems that harvest water from the mountaintops.
Knowledge of the rice terraces has been passed down from generation to generation for centuries, and to this day rice deities are placed in the fields to fend off malignant spirits.
© R.M. Nunes/Shutterstock
One of Southeast Asia’s most important archaeological sites, Angkor Archaeological Park comprises innumerable temples, hydraulic systems and communication routes of the different capitals of the Khmer Empire from the ninth to the fifteenth centuries.
The most notable temple complex of all is Angkor Wat, said to be the world’s largest religious monument that dates back to the early twelfth century.
Lying deep in the forest of Siem Reap province, it was built with sandstone blocks quarried from the holy mountain of Phnom Kulen, and transported here by raft along the Siem Reap River.
The emerald green waters of the Gulf of Tonkin in north-eastern Vietnam are sprinkled with awe-inspiring limestone formations covered by rainforest.
Legend says that when the country had to fight against invaders a dragon descended to the sea (Ha Long translates as “descending dragon”) and scattered emeralds from its mouth to form a defensive wall. Over thousands of years the wall crumbled and turned into the majestic pillars of different shapes and sizes that we see today.
Comprising 1600 islands and islets, most of which are uninhabited, the karst landforms are characterised by coastal erosional features including grottoes and arches.
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On the eastern fringes of Russia lies the Kamchatka Peninsula, home to an exceptionally high density of active volcanoes. Its location between the Pacific Ocean and a sprawling landmass make it rich in wildlife and natural features including a coastline, lakes and rivers that harbour the largest diversity of salmonoid fish in the world.
The fish attract scores of birds including the white tailed eagle, peregrine falcon and the Stellar’s Sea Eagle, while sea otters and brown bears are abundant too.
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