Once covered by the jungle and rarely visit the temple area of Angkor is now part of the beaten track in Southeast Asia, but for a good reason. These magnificent temples were once the centre of the mighty Khmer kingdom (ninth century to the fifteenth century A.D.) and the main temple Angkor Wat is considered the world's largest religious complex. Remember to read up on Hindu mythology to get a chance to understand its outstanding bas-reliefs or just be impressed by the grand scale. Split your explore time equally between the big ones (Angkor Wat, Ta Prohm, and Bayon) and the minor ones (Preah Khan, Neak Pean, and Preah Ko) which lack in scale but wins in tranquillity. If your time permits add some site that are a drive out of the way, like Kbal Spean and Beng Mealea.

Petra will no doubt be one of the highlights of any trip to Jordan, maybe even the reason to come here in the first place. Spectacular imposing tombs carved right out the rock face dating back to the civilisation of the Nabataeans about 2000 years ago. Winding narrow canyons leads into the area and magnificent views over the desert and tombs will reward you from the top of the surround the mountains. Petra is taken right out of Indiana Jones, literately. But all this "amazingness" attracts a fair share of, let's face it, annoying fellow visitors. By arriving early, leaving late and general doing the sights in a non-obvious direction not only will you catch the best light, but you will also pretty much get the place to yourself. Off-the-beaten-track places not to be missed are the monastery Al-Deir with its many view points, the view point above the Treasury and the winding canyon trek through Wadi Muthlim (see photo gallery).

Huge stone jars, some up to 3 meters high, are spread out over large area. They are believed to be old burial jars for an ancient lost civilisation 2000 years ago, but nobody knows for sure. They are cluster in many groups, but only three are safe to visit. Other areas are still unsafe due to UXO (unexploded ordnance) from the Vietnam War (it's sadly one of the most heavily bombed places on earth). Group 1, as the biggest site is called, contains more than 250 jars. This is truly a unique site.

This temple site is one of the most magnificent on the globe. Build over a period of 230 years about 900 years ago the Bagan's kings managed to build as many as 4400 temples on the flat plain where the Irrawaddy River makes a bend. Today the temples show centuries of neglect and decline, which just add to the mystery of the place. All temples are different and many are open, so it's possible to explore the inside passageways with old Buddhist murals and huge Buddha statues. Do the sight seeing by horse cart and climb one of the less famous but tallish temples at dusk for the mandatory sunset viewing. It's one of those settings that give sunset viewing its reputation.

Besides being a huge rock on a flat plateau, it's also the place for the ruins of the spectacular Lion Fortress build on the summit by King Kasyapa in the end of fifth century. After the fall of the kingdom the rock fortress turned into a Buddhist monastery and later totally forgotten until rediscovered in the mid nineteenth century. Halfway up, there are some 1500 years old rare rock paintings showing a couple of fairly sexy ladies. Maybe it was more a penthouse than a fortress for king Kasyapa.

This set of marvellous ruins of an ancient city is the icon of Syria. The place started out as an oasis town in the desert, but became a mandatory stop on the flourishing silk route. The city grew rich and powerful and even managed to become a "free city" within the Roman Empire. Then queen Zenobia came to power and rebelled against Rome. She managed to beat up some Roman forces and invade the whole of Syria, Palestine and Egypt, before the glorious days were over and in 271 AD Palmyra was again under Roman control. Even today it's easy to image how impressive the city must have been for visitors. In typical Syrian style the site is informal with no entrance (except for the temple of Bel), fences or explanations but it only adds to the magic of the place.

Nemrut is a mountain in eastern Turkey. So far nothing special, but in the first century B.C. king Antiochus build something mind blowing on the dusty summit. Huge statues (8-9m) of himself and a number of Greek, Armenian and Persian gods, and to top it of, an artificial peak of stone rubbles which is believed to be his tomb (but nobody knows). Today the statues are broken into pieces that are scattered on the mountain top, but the giant heads are still gazing proudly over the plateau below.