Visit the Ryoan-ji zen garden

Visit the iconic Zen Buddhist temple in Kyoto, known for its top two floors completely covered in gold leaf and surrounded by beautiful gardens

Visit Kyoto, Japan's former imperial capital. Explore the Fushimi Inari Shrine (famous for its thousands of vermilion torii gates), see the golden Kinkaku-ji temple (a Zen Buddhist pavilion covered in gold leaf), stroll through the historic Gion district (known for geisha culture and traditional machiya houses), and admire the rock garden at Ryoan-ji (a UNESCO World Heritage site).

Endless vermilion torii gates in Kyoto.

The shining prince and the women of the Heian court; the first novel, written by a woman around 1010.

Visit Okunoin, the largest cemetery in Japan located at Mount Koya, with over 200,000 tombstones and the mausoleum of Kobo Daishi

Visit the ancient Buddhist monastery of Takht-i-Bahi in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. This well-preserved UNESCO World Heritage site, dating from the 1st century CE, features a main stupa, monastic cells, and meditation courtyards perched on a hilltop with sweeping views of the surrounding valley. Explore the intricate stone carvings and imagine the lives of monks who once studied here.

Visit the iconic Itsukushima Shrine, a UNESCO World Heritage site known for its floating torii gate on Miyajima Island in Japan

Visit Himeji Castle, a UNESCO World Heritage site and one of Japan's most iconic and well-preserved feudal castles