TRAVELING ALL AROUND SOUTHEAST ASIA (1)

Southeast Asia (or Southeastern Asia) is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India and north of Australia.
Southeast Asia consists of two geographic regions: the Asian mainland (aka. Indochina), and island arcs and archipelagoes to the east and southeast. The mainland section consists of Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam and Peninsular Malaysia while the maritime section consists of Brunei, East Malaysia, East Timor, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, and Singapore.

Definitions of "Southeast Asia" vary, but most definitions include the area represented by the countries:Brunei,Burma (Myanmar),Cambodia, East Timor, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam.

TRAVEL ALL AROUND SOUTHEAST ASIA

Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Myanmar , and all of the other countries in southeast asia are very fascinating. The cultures are very rich. We will see Indianized kingdom statue , placed in Thailand area, Myanmar, and the biggest statue that is placed in Indonesia, Borobudur.

This is the Central chedi of Wat Phra Borom That Chaiya in Srivijaya style in Chaiya, Surat Thani province, Thailand. Chaiya is one of the oldest cities of Thailand. The name might be derived from its original Malay name "Cahaya" (means 'light', 'gleam', or 'glow').
However some scholars identify Chai-ya came from Sri-vi-ja-ya. It was a regional capital in the Srivijaya kingdom of the 5th to 13th century - some historians even claim that it was the capital for the kingdom for some time, but this is largely disputed.

Religions and peoples are diverse in Southeast Asia and not one country is homogeneous. In the world's most populous Muslim nation, Indonesia, Hinduism is dominant on islands such as Bali. Christianity also predominates in Philipines, New Guinea and Timor. Pockets of Hindu population can also be found around Southeast Asia in Singapore, Malaysia etc. Garuda, the phoenix who is the mount (vahanam) of Vishnu, is a national symbol in both Thailand and Indonesia. Balinese Hinduism is somewhat different from Hinduism practiced elsewhere, as Animism and local culture is incorporated into it.Cambodia still involves today in pratice Hindism for mixture toward the excessity Buddhism disciple of the numerous special occasion, wornship and belief with the root of previous powerful Khmer Empire. In Vietnam, Mahayana Buddhism is practiced, which is influenced by native animism but with strong emphasis on Ancestor Worship.
This complexity mixture of the culture and religion has naturaly created a lot of beautiful tradition that is worth to share. Later, every details of Indonesian culture, Thailand traveling destinations, Malay, Vietnam, Philipines, and the others will be presented, with pleasure.

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THE BEAUTY OF ASIA

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent. With approximation of 4 billion people, it obviously hosts more than 50 % of the human population in this world. Asia in Greek mythology was a daughter of Oceanus and Tethys, the wife of the Titan Iapetus, and mother of Atlas, Prometheus, Epimetheus and Menoetius. ( picture from : http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7f/Location_Asia.svg)

T.R. Reid said that the term "Asia" is originally a concept exclusively of Western civilization. The peoples of ancient Asia (Chinese, Japanese, Indians, Persians, Arabs etc.) never conceived the idea of Asia, simply because they did not see themselves collectively. In their perspective, they were vastly varied civilizations, contrary to ancient European belief.

The history of Asia can be seen as the distinct histories of several peripheral coastal regions : East Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia and the Middle East. There are more than 40 countries listed within the boundary of Asia with more than 600 languages are spoken in Indonesia, more than 800 languages spoken in India and more than 100 are spoken in the Philippines. China, Japan, and also Korea have many languages and dialects in different provinces. Not only the countries and languages, but also religions and cultures in Asia are very interesting. Almost all Asian religions have philosophical character and Asian philosophical traditions cover a large spectrum of philosophical thoughts and writings. Indian philosophy includes Hindu philosophy and Buddhist philosophy . They include elements of nonmaterial pursuits, whereas another school of thought from India, Carvaka, preached the enjoyment of material world. Christianity is also present in most Asian countries. These are all the reason to come to ASIA. Feel the the difference of the atmosphere within every place and every nature, and touch the beauty of the Eastern culture in every place visited in Indonesia, India, Thailand, Japan , Korea, and many others. Visit Asia!
( map source : https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/reference_maps/pdf/asia.pdf )