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The jackfruit (<i>Artocarpus heterophyllus</i>), also known as jack tree, fenne, jakfruit, or sometimes simply jack or jak, is a species of tree in the fig, mulberry, and breadfruit family (Moraceae) native to southwest India.<br/><br/> The jackfruit tree is well suited to tropical lowlands, and its fruit is the largest tree-borne fruit, reaching as much as 35 kg (80 lb) in weight, 90 cm (35 in) in length, and 50 cm (20 in) in diameter. A mature jackfruit tree can produce about 100 to 200 fruits in a year. The jackfruit is a multiple fruit, composed of hundreds to thousands of individual flowers, and it is the fleshy petals that are eaten.<br/><br/> The jackfruit tree is a widely cultivated and popular food item throughout the tropical regions of the world. Jackfruit is the national fruit of Bangladesh
About 12 km (7½ miles) south of Phnom Penh lie the infamous Killing Fields of Choeung Ek. Here victims of the Khmer Rouge, including many from Tuol Sleng, were taken for execution and burial in mass graves. Many of these have now been exhumed, and a stupa-shaped mausoleum has been erected to their memory.
Bananas have been around a long time, at least in the Old World of Asia, Africa and Europe. Quite where they originated remains uncertain. Some authorities favour West Africa, since the name 'banana' is believed to have come from Guinea, via Spanish and Portuguese. In all probability, though, bananas - and their equally useful green cousins, plantains - originated in Asia, possibly in the Middle East.<br/><br/> Certainly bananas are noted with approval in early Greek, Latin and Arab literature, and the name plantain is believed to derive from the Latin planta, 'a spreading sucker or shoot'. Alexander the Great saw - and no doubt tasted - bananas on his expedition to India in the third century BCE, and they are mentioned in Chinese lists of Tang Dynasty exotica as pleasant fruits of nan-yang, or Southeast Asia, more than thirteen hundred years ago.
Siyah Kalem or 'Black Pen' is the name given to the 15th century school of painting attributed to Mehmed Siyah Kalem. Nothing is known of his life, but his work indicates that he was of Central Asian Turkic origin, and thoroughly familiar with camp and military life. The paintings appear in the 'Conqueror’s Albums', so named because two portraits of Sultan Mehmed II the Conqueror are present in one of them.<br/><br/> The albums are made up of miniatures taken from manuscripts of the 14th, 15th, and early 16th centuries, and one series of paintings is inscribed 'work of Master Muḥammad Siyah Kalem'. Something of the style and techniques of Chinese paintings is apparent in these, and an acquaintance with Buddhist art, particularly in the depictions of grotesque demonic figures.
In Laos, the Awk Phansaa (Awk Watsa, full moon) Festival celebrates the end of the three-month rains retreat. Monks are allowed to leave the monasteries to travel and are presented with robes, alms bowls and other requisites of the renunciative life.<br/><br/> On the eve of Awk Phansaa many people fashion small banana-leaf boats carrying candles, incense and other offerings, and float them in rivers, a custom known as Lai Hua Fai, similar to Loy Krathong in Thailand.<br/><br/> A second festival held in association with Awk Phansaa is Bun Nam (water festival). Boat races (suang heua) are commonly held in towns located on rivers, such as Vientiane, Luang Prabang and Savannakhet.
Funan, Phù Nam in Vietnamese, Fúnán in pinyin, was the Chinese name for an ancient kingdom located around the Mekong Delta of southern Vietnam.<br/><br/> The name is found in Chinese historical texts describing the kingdom, and its most extensive descriptions are largely based on the report of two Chinese diplomats representing the Wu Kingdom of Nanjing who sojourned in Funan in the mid-3rd century A.D.; however, the name 'Funan' is not found in any texts of local origin, and it is not known what name the people of Funan gave to their country.<br/><br/> What is known about Funan is from Chinese and Cham sources dating from the 3rd to 6th centuries and from archaeological excavations. From the side of archeology, we know that Funan must have been a powerful trading state, as evidenced by the discovery of Roman, Chinese, and Indian goods during excavations at the ancient trading depot of Oc Eo (Vietnamese: Óc Eo) in southern Vietnam.<br/><br/> Excavations at Angkor Borei in southern Cambodia have likewise delivered evidence of an important settlement. Since Oc Eo was linked to a port on the coast and to Angkor Borei by a system of canals, it is possible that all of these locations together constituted the heartland of Funan.
Flowers, banana trunk, banana leaves, sparklers and wire used to build a krathong, Chiang Mai, Northern Thailand.<br/><br/> Loy Krathong is held annually on the full moon night of the 12th month in the traditional Thai lunar calendar. In northern Thailand this coincides with the Lanna festival known as Yi Peng.<br/><br/> King Mengrai founded the city of Chiang Mai (meaning 'new city') in 1296, and it succeeded Chiang Rai as capital of the Lanna kingdom.<br/><br/> Chiang Mai sometimes written as 'Chiengmai' or 'Chiangmai', is the largest and most culturally significant city in northern Thailand.
Loy Krathong is held annually on the full moon night of the 12th month in the traditional Thai lunar calendar. In northern Thailand this coincides with the Lanna festival known as Yi Peng.<br/><br/> King Mengrai founded the city of Chiang Mai (meaning 'new city') in 1296, and it succeeded Chiang Rai as capital of the Lanna kingdom.<br/><br/> Chiang Mai sometimes written as 'Chiengmai' or 'Chiangmai', is the largest and most culturally significant city in northern Thailand.
Loy Krathong is held annually on the full moon night of the 12th month in the traditional Thai lunar calendar. In northern Thailand this coincides with the Lanna festival known as Yi Peng.<br/><br/> King Mengrai founded the city of Chiang Mai (meaning 'new city') in 1296, and it succeeded Chiang Rai as capital of the Lanna kingdom.<br/><br/> Chiang Mai sometimes written as 'Chiengmai' or 'Chiangmai', is the largest and most culturally significant city in northern Thailand.
Than Bokkharani National Park is located in Krabi Province about 45 kilometers (28 miles) northwest of Krabi Town. The park covers an area of 121 square kilometers (47 square miles) and is characterized by a series of limestone outcrops, evergreen rainforest, mangrove forest, peat swamp, and many islands. There are also numerous caves and cave complexes with some spectacular stalagmites and stalactites.<br/><br/> Than Bokkharani centers on two well known caves, Tham Lot and Tham Phi Hua, situated in an area of great tranquility and natural beauty, with surrounding streams, cascades and still, silent pools.<br/><br/> Tham Lot is a cave complex of winding passages filled with both stalactites and stalagmites that can best be reached by boat from Ao Luk’s Bho Tho pier. Nearby Tham Hua Kalok is similarly reached by boat from the Bho Tho pier, and is best known for the ancient cave paintings – some authorities consider they may be more than two millennia old – that feature in places on the cave walls. In all, there are around 70 petroglyphs or cave paintings, portraying ancient peoples and animals.<br/><br/> Other well-known caves in the area’s limestone mountains include Tham Sa Yuan Thong, which features a natural spring, Tham Phet or ‘diamond cave’ which derives its name from the shimmering rock walls, and Tham Song Phi Nong, which was found to contain skeletal remains of human beings, ancient pottery, bronze tools and earrings.<br/><br/> As well as caves, the park is a great place to explore mangrove swamps by boat – they are virtually impassable on foot, except in places where a boardwalk has been constructed. The park headquarters is set amidst a series of small streams and dark green pools, and is a popular picnic spot; it’s also possible to camp here by arrangement with the park authorities.