Afternoon Prayers at Longshan Temple

Some of my best travel experiences have been completely unexpected experiences where I’ve ended up in an amazing place by complete chance, mostly due to my terrible sense of direction.

After spending over a week in Taipei, I’d seen everything I wanted to and so decided to go to the nearest subway station and pick a random stop to get off at to see what I could find. Having not yet visited a temple in Asia, I decided to go with Longshan Temple and hope there was actually a temple close to the station…

Fortunately it was right by the station. Unlike most of Taipei, there were quaint cobbled streets lining the crowded and chaotic roads. As you head towards the temple elderly street vendors call out to passersby trying to convince them to buy an assortment of fruits, flowers, incense sticks and prayer beads.

Longshan temple, taipei

Seeing a temple for the very first time was an experience that I’ll never forget.

As soon as you enter the temple to your immediate right is the waterfall and cleaning pool – where visitors can spend some time metaphorically cleansing their body and mind before entering to pray.

longshan tample, taipei

Longshan temple is the only temple in Taiwan that features bronze columns in the design as well as sparkling iridescent red and golden ones. Throughout the temple there are intricately carved stone sculptures and the roofs of the temple are decorated with vivid scenes involving dragons and phoenixes.

longshan temple, taipei

In the main square huge golden incense pots send up columns of smoke into the air. All around the square I observed worshippers clutching at prayer beads, some praying and chanting, whilst others lit their incense sticks before placing them into the golden pots. Longshan temple, taipei

As I walked around, taking photos and soaking up the atmosphere I noticed that a crowd was gathering and lining up. At first I didn’t know what was going on but then everyone started to take part in the afternoon prayer service.

After realising what was happening I walked around taking video and recording the amazing sounds of hundreds of people chanting in unison. It was one of those really intense moments where I just stood there and thought… Wow, I am so far from home right now…

I took a video of my walk around the temple and the atmosphere during prayer time. The video is quite long so if you don’t have time to watch it all then skip to the five minute mark, where all the exciting stuff happens.

Have you ever picked a place at random to visit without knowing anything about it, and how did it work out?

Comments

Here’s why your next trip should be to Antarctica

It sounds crazy, right? Traveling to Antarctica. But thousands of lucky people do it every year, and you can be one of them. If you’ve always wanted to see giant icebergs, cute penguins, and some of the most incredible wildlife and scenery in the world, you should be looking into Antarctica Cruises 2018. Here are some reasons why your next trip should be to Antarctica: Office-free You won’t find any offices in Antarctica. And you probably won’t be keeping in touch with your boss or colleagues. If you’re ready for a much-needed break, and want to completely switch off, Antarctica is the place to go. You’ll see the most incredible views of your life, without a skyscraper to be seen. An escape from tourists If you’ve been to any top travel destination lately, you’ll know how annoying it can be to show up and realise that hundreds or thousands of other tourists are in the exact same place, elbowing each other out of the way. When you visit Antarctica, the only other tourists you’ll

One Year Until Winter Olympics: Rejoice Curling Fans Around The World

It seemed like just yesterday that I was receiving above my Olympic fever, Commonwealth Games hysteria, and X-Games nausea, but now the Winter Olympics 2012 are much less than a 12 months away and Vancouver is gearing up, and I’m loading up on my Dramamine to handle it all. Of course, the clever traveler would head now before rates skyrocket submit-games to consider benefit of the somewhat affordable lift tickets at Whistler — the site of upcoming year’s downhill skiing competitions — for $89 or do some cross-nation skiing in Whistler Olympic Park for a mere $20. Or my favourite ski-town sport: aggressive hot tub lounging.

5 Tiny Restaurants That Are a Big Deal

Whether the aim is to boost buzz with sold-out nights or to make fine dining more intimate, tiny restaurants are a big thing. Buenos Aires Argentine chef Isidoro Dil- lon and partner Vanessa Bell keep the monthly location of their Bread & Butter supper club a secret – previous pop-ups have included a Palermo warehouse and antique stores – until guests contact them through Instagram. Dillon, who made a name for himself with his Nordic restaurant, Söder, serves his signature Scandinavian-accented cuisine in the 15-seat pop-up, where offerings may include trout with miso carrots, or duck with beets, morels, and truffle milk. Bread & Butter’s confit artichoke with smoked sorrel hollandaise sauce. Chicago Oriole isn’t just small, it’s well concealed. The 28- seat hideaway is accessed by a freight elevator off an alley-like West Loop lane. Worth the trek, chef Noah Sandoval’s fare spans 16 courses that draw on the flavors of Italy, Latin America, and beyond in di

Among My Souvenirs

Search This Blog