Prasat Sikhoraphum is a well-preserved Khmer temple complex located in the district of the same name in Surin Province, northeastern Thailand, approximately 30 to 35 kilometers east of Surin town. Built primarily during the 11th or 12th century as a Hindu sanctuary, it reflects the architectural and religious influence of the Khmer Empire that once extended into this region.
Historians often associate its construction with the reign of a Khmer king such as Suryavarman I, Udayadityavarman II, or Suryavarman II, though the precise ruler remains uncertain, with stylistic evidence pointing toward an earlier period in some analyses.
The temple was originally dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva, evident in its carvings and overall design. It features a distinctive quincunx layout of five brick prangs, or towers, arranged on a single square laterite platform, with the central prang rising about 32 meters high and the four smaller ones surrounding it. This arrangement is relatively uncommon in Thailand but ...
The Mausoleum of Khoja Daniyar sits on a quiet hillside along the northeastern edge of ancient Afrasiab in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, overlooking the Siab River.
This long, low building crowned with five simple domes houses an extraordinary sarcophagus nearly eighteen meters in length, draped in green velvet embroidered with verses from the Quran. Local tradition holds that the remains of the biblical prophet Daniel rest here, a figure known in the region as Daniyar or Khoja Daniyar.
Daniel was a Jewish prophet of the sixth century BC who served in the courts of Babylonian and Persian kings. Famous for interpreting dreams and surviving a night in a den of lions, he is revered across Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
Though he is not named in the Quran, Islamic tradition regards him as one of the righteous prophets sent to the Children of Israel. Muslims, Christians, and Jews all visit this site, each praying according to their own custom, making it a rare place of shared devotion.
According to the ...
Samarkand ranks among the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Central Asia, with evidence of settlement in the Zerafshan River valley stretching back more than two and a half millennia. Known in antiquity as Maracanda, it served as the capital of Sogdiana and was captured by Alexander the Great in 329 BC.
Over the following centuries it passed under successive Iranian, Turkic, and Arab rule, flourishing as a major Silk Road trading and craft center. In 1220 Genghis Khan’s Mongol armies destroyed much of the city.
After a period of recovery it rose to its greatest prominence when Timur, known in the West as Tamerlane, chose it as the capital of his vast empire in the late fourteenth century. Under the Timurid dynasty, especially during the reign of Timur’s grandson Ulugh Beg, Samarkand became a brilliant hub of architecture, science, and Islamic learning.
The city later declined, was absorbed into the Khanate of Bukhara, and stood largely deserted for decades in the eighteenth century ...
The railway network of Uzbekistan traces its roots to the late nineteenth century when the Russian Empire built the Trans-Caspian line across the region. During the Soviet period the system expanded into a dense network of broad-gauge tracks that linked industrial centers and agricultural zones.
After independence the country began modernizing its rails, focusing first on passenger comfort and then on speed. The breakthrough came in 2011 with the introduction of the Afrosiyob high-speed trains built by Spain’s Talgo.
These Spanish trainsets cut the Tashkent to Samarkand journey from more than four hours to roughly two hours and soon extended service to Bukhara. In 2026 Uzbekistan Railways added a new generation of Korean-built trains that pushed the high-speed corridor farther west to Khiva, completing a continuous modern spine across the heart of the country.
The route from Bukhara to Samarkand follows the upgraded high-speed line that runs roughly two hundred twenty kilometers across the open ...
