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Mũi Né is a coastal fishing town in the Bình Thuận Province of Vietnam. The town, with approximately 25,000 residents is a ward of the city of Phan Thiết. Mui Ne and the other wards of Phan Thiet that stretch along the coast for approximately 50 kilometers have been transformed into a resort destination since the mid 1990s, when many visited the area to view the solar eclipse of October 24, 1995. Most notably, tourism has developed in the area from the city center to Mũi Né, which has more than a hundred beach resorts, as well as restaurants, bars, shops and cafes.

 

Mũi Né ward has two beaches; Ganh Beach and Suoi Nuoc Beach, both with a number of resorts and a few shops and restaurants. But the most highly developed area is Rang Beach in Ham Tien ward, which extends west of Mui Ne. Strong sea breezes make all three beaches very popular for kitesurfing and windsurfing. The tourist season is from December to April The average temperature is 27 °C, and the climate is hot and dry much of the year.

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Mui Ne is a traditional fishing town in Binh Thuan Province that became a ward of the City of Phan Thiet in 1999. The name Mui Ne is often erroneously used as the general name for the main resort area in Phan Thiet along Mui Ne Bay, 220 km northeast of Ho Chi Minh City (South Vietnam).

 

Mui Ne is a coastal fishing community in Bình Thuận Province which is part of the South Central Coast of Vietnam. The town, with approximately 25,000 residents is a ward of the city of Phan Thiết. Mui Ne and the other wards of Phan Thiet that stretch along the coast for approximately 50 km have been transformed into a resort destination since the mid 1990s, when many discovered the area during the solar eclipse of October 24, 1995. Most notably, tourism has developed in the area from the city center of Phan Thiet to Mui Ne, including Phu Hai and Ham Tien wards along Phan Thiet Bay. The dense resort area along Phan Thiet Bay and beyond now boasts over two hundred beach resorts and hotels, as well as guest houses, backpacker hostels, restaurants, bars, shops and cafes.

 

In 2018 the Prime Minister approved the master plan to develop Mui Ne (Binh Thuan) as a National Tourist Site with a size of around 14,760 ha by 2025, with an orientation towards 2030.

 

An area of 1,000 ha has been defined as a core area for the establishment and development of functional areas for the tourism sector. Mui Ne National Tourism Site will be developed in an environmentally responsible way with a focus on protecting existing natural resources and environments, landscapes, and in particular the ecosystem in the Bau Trang tourist area (White Sand Dunes) as well as the sand dunes along the sea shore.

 

UNDERSTAND

Northeast of Phan Thiet the coastal road climbs over the slope of a Cham tower-topped hill and descends into the long, sandy crescent of Mui Ne Bay. The formerly little-inhabited beach southwest of the historic fishing village of Mui Ne proper has seen some serious development in the last 15 years. Now it is a 15 km long strip of resorts that line up like pearls on Nguyen Dinh Chieu Street, shaded by coconut palms. The main resort strip lies between the addresses of 2 and 98 Nguyen Dinh Chieu and is called Ham Tien. Like Mui Ne it is now a ward of the city of Phan Thiet which stretches over 50 km of coastline to the south and to the west of the original city center of Phan Thiet.

 

At the shoreline, nature moves the sand around, much to the dismay of some developers. Beach sand tends to migrate up and down the coast seasonally, leaving some (but not all) spots with just a concrete breakwater rather than sandy beach. There is always a good sandy beach somewhere along this 15 km beach. Accommodations at higher addresses tend to be smaller and less expensive, somewhat removed from the main tourist section and more mixed in with local life. If a sandy beach is important to you, some research is called for before booking in the area, especially after the tropical storm season. This research is important as without the beach there is little for non-kite-surfers to do in Mui Ne.

 

Quite a few bargain and "backpacker" hotels have popped up on the inland side of the road, across from the shoreline resorts. If you stay on the inland side, you will need to pass though one of the resorts to reach the beach, which might or might not result in some hassle from the guards. The resorts jealously guard their lounge chairs and palapas, though the beach itself is open to everyone.

 

Mui Ne Bay has become very popular with Russian tourists. Major Russian tour operators who bring busloads of tourists to Ham Tien and Mui Ne from the airports in Cam Ranh and Ho Chi Minh City have bought up several hotels along the main road and fill them year-round with Russian charter tour groups. English and Russian menus are common in most restaurants, and many stores and hotels are advertising and catering specifically to the Russian-speaking tourists, especially along the lowered numbered area of the strip on Nguyen Dinh Chieu Street which some guidebooks have rebaptised "Little Moscow."

 

GET IN

BY BUS

Most overseas visitors reach Ham Tien and Mui Ne via "open tour" buses that run between Ho Chi Minh City and Nha Trang. Most depart from Ho Chi Minh City between 07:30 and 09:00 (07:30 for Sinh Cafe's air conditioned bus) and arrive at Ham Tien and Mui Ne at about 13:00. In the opposite direction, buses typically depart from Mui Ne and Ham Tien around either 14:00 or 02:00 and arrive in Ho Chi Minh City approximately five hours later. Joe's Cafe is a good place to catch an outgoing night bus as it offers full service all night and you never know how late the bus will be. Outside Ho Chi Minh City, the coach will stop at a petrol station with a large shop and stalls selling snacks, drinks, and fruit.

 

The buses stop in the heart of the tourist strip in Ham Tien, so there is no need to take a taxi. The cost is about 105,000 dong each way, and tickets are sold all over the tourist districts of both Ho Chi Minh City and Nha Trang. If you are traveling to Ho Chi Minh City from Mui Ne and Ham Tien, you will most likely be put on an already full bus traveling from Nha Trang. As you are not assigned a seat, you may not be able to sit with any traveling companions, and at some of the less scrupulous travel agents you may not even get a real seat. You might get a mat at the back of the bus with four other people.

 

Public buses from both destinations also travel to the Mui Ne area, though finding the departure stations and figuring out the schedule is difficult for visitors. It's not worth the trouble unless you have a strong need to depart at a different time of day other than when the open tour bus leaves. Travel agencies play dumb because they don't earn anything from helping you find a public bus. The main bus station in Phan Thiet is at Từ Văn Tư, Phú Trinh and a taxi from there to the tourist strip can cost more than your bus ticket from HCMC!

 

BY TRAIN

A train runs daily from Ho Chi Minh City to Phan Thiet, departing around 06:30 and arriving five hours later. The return trip leaves Phan Thiet around 13:30. The cost is quite modest at around 60,000 dong per person each way (similar to the bus). The train station in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon Railway Station) is in District 3, about 3 km from the centre. The railway station in Phan Thiet is about 5 km (80,000 dong taxi ride) from the beginning of the Ham Tien resort strip, and taxis are abundant to take you there. The railway also sometimes runs a mid-sized bus from the station to Mui Ne for 25,000 dong per person. Tickets are sold on the train, though the announcement might be made in Vietnamese only, and you need to watch carefully for the ticket sellers to pass by.

 

The train has regular carriages operated by the state railways, and sometimes other carriages booked and operated by private companies. The latter have somewhat larger seats for a higher price, but fall short of luxury. The regular carriages are a bit cramped for the Western-sized body. When the train is not full, railway staff usually packs everyone into one carriage, leaving another one empty, and then run a side business selling "upgrades" to the quiet, empty carriage. The entire train will be jammed on holidays.

 

Overall, the train is probably less comfortable and convenient than the open-tour bus, though it has some advantages. You get a better view of the countryside and avoid the endless honking of horns and lunatic driving of the bus drivers.

 

BY TAXI

You might consider coming to Mui Ne from Saigon by taxi, instead of open bus. The departure times of the open buses might not suit your schedule. They are also slow sometimes, because the driver makes stops at rather bad restaurants where he receives commission. The ride by taxi takes 4-5 hours, depending on road conditions, and will cost US$70-100, depending on your ability to bargain. Talk to taxi drivers in the airport to get best prices.

 

Fare from Tan Son Nhut Airport to Mui Ne by SATSCO is US$100/trip.

 

GET AROUND

You can't get lost in Mui Ne and Ham Tien, since the whole place consists of one long strip along a main street, Nguyen Dinh Chieu. Motorbike taxis are present everywhere and their drivers will bug you each time you leave the hotel or walk along the road. Along the tourist strip it is much cheaper to stop a xe om as long as you know how to bargain. It can be hard for Western tourists to get appropriate prices (10,000-15,000 dong is more than enough to pay for a ride from one place to another along the main strip). Taxis are also abundant, with fares slightly higher than Ho Chi Minh City, but still reasonable (starting at around 20,000 dong).

 

You can rent motorbikes and bicycles at many resorts and tour agencies. Since traffic is light, motorbikes or bicycles are a pleasant way to explore the surroundings. Motorbikes cost anywhere from 60,000-150,000 dong per day depending on how late in the day you start, how many hours you need, and age/type of motorbike (automatics can cost 230,000 dong). The locals say it's getting harder to rent because of bike thefts and police driving license enforcement. Your hotel might rent to you, which may be a bit more convenient since they already have your passport. Western tourists should avoid taking a rented motorbike to the White Sand Dunes if you are not in the possession of a Vietnamese driver's license. The Mui Ne police is known for stopping all motorbikes on the road leading to Bau Trang (White Lake) and collect at least 1 million dong from any foreigner not able to provide at least an international driver's license.

 

Be careful when riding a bike in Ham Tien and Mui Ne. Traffic is light, especially during the summer months, but nobody pays any attention to traffic rules. For example, it's common to see Vietnamese riders turning left from the right lane. Also, Vietnamese riders don't stop or even look when entering the main road from secondary one. The increase in big motor coaches shuttling Russain tourists in and out of Ham Tien and the uncontrolled jeeps used to bring hundreds of tourists to the White Sand Dunes every day contribute to increased risks for motorbikes and pedestrians along Nguyen Dinh Chieu Street in particular. Traffic fatalities are not uncommon. Rumors are that up to 30 people die every month in accidents. If you plan to ride a bike here, investment in medical insurance, if you can get it, is a wise move.

 

Even-numbered addresses are on the sea side of the street, and odd numbers on the inland side. Even and odd addresses are not aligned, thus 39 on the odd side can be several hundred metres from 40 on the even side.

 

SEE

CHAM TOWER

The Poshanu Cham Tower in Phu Hai ward (Thap Po Sah Inu) is a derelict remainder of the ancient Cham culture that was built in the 8th century. It is still in use for religious and social gatherings by the local Cham population, especially during the annual Kate festival.

Fish Sauce Plants, where the famous nuoc mam (fish sauce) is produced. Big jars harbour the concoction that, after months in the blazing sun, is sold all over Vietnam to add some spice to the food.

The famous Red Sand Dunes (Doi Cat), on the main coastal road a short distance north of the fishing town at the north end of Mui Ne Bay, about 10 km from the main resort strip. The whole region is fairly sandy, with orange sand threatening to blow onto the coastal road in some spots. The dunes that visitors visit are about 50 ha (1/2 km²) of open sand on a hillside with ten-meter undulations, staffed by dusty children with plastic slides, who will offer instruction and assistance if you want to slide on the sand. Caution is recommended since a number of tourists have lost money, cameras or cell phones in the sand or through theft and pick-pocketing on the dunes. The sand dunes offer nice views of the sea coast to the north. On the opposite side of the road are a series of small cafes (illegally built but tolerated by the local police), where you can park your vehicle for a small fee if you ride there on your own. Most day tours sold by local tour operators include a stop at the dunes. The trip by taxi from the main resort strip in Ham Tien is about 170,000 dong each way, and less by xe om. It is reachable by bicycle in 30-45 minutes, passing the Fairy Stream on the way. From the resorts on Malibu Beach (Ganh Beach) it is just a short 5 to 10 minute walk to the bottom of the dunes.

Mui Ne Market (Chợ Mũi Né) and fishing harbor (Lang chai Mui Ne). If you are staying on the resort strip in Ham Tien or Phu Hai wards, don't miss out to visit this once quiet "fishing village" but nowadays bustling town, at the northeast end of Mui Ne Bay. The coastal road leads straight into the town (with a left turn required at the first red light to continue up the coast). If you arrive during the dry "winter" season, don't miss the harbor overlook at the entrance to Mui Ne with a splendid view of hundreds of colorful fishing boats moored in the bay. The boats move to the other side of the "Shelter Cape" (English translation of "Mui Ne") during the monsoon season from May through October, when the wind direction changes from mainly northeast to mainly southwest. Further along into town, just off the main road, there is a colorful local market. If you take your transport just down to the water, you will reach the fishing harbor, where you can purchase fresh seafood (if you have any means to cook it) or purchase steamed crabs, shellfish, etc. to eat on the spot from local vendors. Walking along the beach, you'll pass by fishermen sorting out their catch, ship-wharves and, at the southern end of town, a section where clams have been rid of their shells for many years, so the sand on the beach is by now substituted with littered shells. Be prepared to encounter piles and stretches of rubbish on the beach.

The Fairy Stream (Suoi Tien) is a little creek that winds its way through bamboo forests, boulders and the dunes behind the village, in parts resembling a miniature version of the Grand Canyon. Local children will want to accompany you to show you the way (and of course earn a dollar or so), but since you're just following the stream, there's little need. For the most part, the stream is about ankle-deep and no more than knee-deep even at its deepest. It is sandy with few stones and can be walked comfortably barefooted. You can climb up the red sand hills overlooking the river valley and even walk there parallel to the river, however, the sand may be hot on a sunny day, so bring some footwear. Walking upstream for about 20 minutes, you will reach a small waterfall into at most waist-deep water, great to take a refreshing bath before heading back. To reach the stream, head along the main road towards the east until you cross a small bridge. The stream is underneath, you will see a sign pointing towards a path to the left, go that way to reach an easy place to enter the stream. By bicycle it's about 15 minutes from the main resort strip and shouldn't be more than 20,000 dong by xe om. You can enter somewhere along the beach or at the bridge where you will be charged 10,000 dong for entry (although entrance is officially free) and 5,000 dong for motorcycle parking.

The White Sand Dunes are approximately 45 km away from the Ham Tien tourist strip to the northeast, and some 24 km from the Red Sand Dunes and nearby resorts on the east side of the Mui Ne peninsula (GPS 11.068254 108.428513). Trips are offered by any tourist agency along the resort stretch for 4x4 or quad drives, as well as by some resorts with their own vehicles. While too far away for a bicycle trip especially in summer, a motorbike trip can bring you there. Make sure to bring an international driver's licence if you do not own a Vietnamese one (driving without Vietnamese driver's license is illegal in Vietnam), the local police is well-known for stopping foreigners on motorbikes on their way to and from the White Sand Dunes and extort a fine (up to 1 million dong) or sometimes even confiscate the motorbike. Entrance is a 10,000 dong fee.

 

DO

KITE SURFING

Kitesurfing is offered by many outfitters and hotels. Kite surfing instruction is available, starting at US$60/hour, beginners package of 7 lessons start at US$350. From November till March you generally will have strong winds every day. The Winds in Mui Ne emerge by thermal movements, after the shores got warmed by the sun. You will have perfect wind everyday from 11:00 until the late evening. Gusty winds are seldom. With strong winds, the sometimes choppy waves can be as high as 4 m and more. The water is free of rocks, which makes it relatively safe to kite. However in the peak season there up to 300 kiters in the water at the same time. Beginners and Students, who mainly practice close to the beach front makes things a bit more dangerous. So watch out for other kitersurfers and swimmers and control the speed, in particularly because swimmers are difficult to see when waves are high. Accidents between kitesurfers or between kitesurfers and Swimmers happen from time to time and medical facilities are limited in terms of their equipment and abilities.

 

There are several kitesurfing schools along the beach, which all employ beach boys who will help you to start and launch the kite. It is widely common to tip the beach boys with US$1/day. If you bring your own equipment and don't want to carry it from and to your hotel every day, you can store it at one of the kitesurfing schools for US$20/week or US$60/month, including usage of their compressors and shower facilities.

 

If you are a beginner but already can practice independent without an instructor, you might avoid the area around Sunshine Beach Hotel/Sankara/Wax, because there are too many kite surfers and swimmers which may lead to accidents, particularly if you can not fully control the kite. Try the western part of beach front around the Kitesurfing School Windchimes. There are less kiters in this area and you can practice without bringing you and others into danger.

 

There is a place called "wave spot" or "Malibu beach" (10.92676, 108.29500). It is suitable only for intermediate/advanced kiters, but its much less crowded there.

 

OTHERS

All-terrain vehicle. You can ride one on white sand dunes.

Cooking classes, 400,000 dong/hr. If you want to learn to cook Vietnamese food, check cooking classes near C2SKY kitesurfing school (opposite Kim Shop). You will learn to cook pancakes, Pho Bo soup, shrimp salad and fresh spring rolls. All ingredients are ready, you'll just mix them under supervision of Vietnamese cook.

Day tours, US$10-13. Travel agents and restaurants abound with day tour offerings. The standard half day tour takes in the fishing village, fairy stream, and the red and while sand dunes. Tours normally start at either 17:00 or 14:30 so you can watch the sunrise/sunset over the sand dunes.

Balloon riding, ☏ +841208536828, ✉ booking@vietnamballoons.com. 05:00-08:00. Mui Ne is the only place in Vietnam where you can fly hot air balloons. A balloon company has European management, balloons, and pilots. Most flights take place over white sand dunes. When the winds in dunes are too strong, flights take place from Phan Thiet city centre. (updated Jan 2018 | edit)

Sailing, 108 Huynh Thuc Khang. Manta Sail Training Centre was newly founded in 2010 and water sport has been gaining popularity since then. Classes are available at US$50/hour for individuals with certified international and local instructors. The sailing area is safe, quiet, with no swimmers and only a few advanced kitesurfers. edit

Surfing. Sometimes you get good waves in mornings of windy season. Lessons, day trips and rentals are available, don't hesitate to ask around. While Mui Ne is not the best destination for surfing, it can be good place to give it a try.

Swimming. The sea is wonderfully warm, but it can be quite rough, with large waves and a strong rip tide. When the tide is in, there is not much of a beach to speak of. When wind is blowing it can be quite chilly to even think of swimming. The area between kilometre markers 11 and 13 has the largest stretch of enduring sandy beach. Since large waves normally emerge after 11:00 you might prefer to swim in the early morning hours, when the water is flat and free of Kitesurfers. Most mid-range and top-end resorts have swimming pools for their guests. Some are open for day users starting at 80,000 dong per day. But you can always behave as guest from this hotel and buy a few drinks for these 80,000 dong.

Water sports. Most outfitters offer a host of water sports including kayaking, paddle surfing, and jet ski rental.

Windsurfing. If you like to do some windsurfing, go to eastern part of Mui Ne. Starting from Hai Au resort, there are some hotels that are offering good place to water start, rent or store your gear.

 

BUY

Along the Mui Ne strip are several small nameless shops; all selling the same sundries and souvenirs. You can find packaged snacks (Oreos, cakes, biscuits, ice cream, etc.), liquor, clothing, and souvenirs.

 

Anything beyond very basic necessities should be brought with you. There is a small pharmacy, but it would be wise to bring your own first aid kit.

 

Standard souvenirs offered include wooden and lacquered bowls, wooden statues, snake whiskey, and pearl necklaces. Compared with Ho Chi Minh City, souvenirs are almost five times more expensive in Mui Ne. The same small wooden bowl selling for US$3 in HCMC is US$14 in Mui Ne.

 

Several travel agencies along the strip also double as used book stores. Most have a few shelves of English books, along with a small selection in German and French. Books cost 80,000-100,000 dong and most shops will give a 50% discount if you trade in a book.

 

Coop Mart, Phan Thiet (corner of Nguyen Tat Thanh and Tran Hung Dao), ☏ +84 62 3835440, +84 62 3835455. 08:00-21:30. A large, Western-style grocery store that also sells books, jewellery and necessities.

 

EAT

Every resort area in Ham Tien and Mui Ne is surrounded by restaurants specializing in seafood. The food is invariably fresh, well-prepared, and served in friendly and interesting surroundings. By all means get out of your hotel and try one of the local restaurants. The best restaurants are a motorbike ride away, found outside of the tourist/resort district on the ocean.

1 Bo Ke Street (Go to the fishing village past the Tien Dat Hotel until you see many small cafes near seashore). This is a street full of local cafes that serve BBQ seafood. Prices are very cheap and choice is wide. Scallops with onion and garlic sauce are must-to-have here. If you're a fussy about hygiene, don't bother coming here. edit

Joe's (The Art Cafe), 86 Nguyen Dinh Chieu St, Ham Tien (Across from Shades Resort), ☏ +84 62 374 3447. 24 hr daily. Joe's is the only place open 24/7 in Mui Ne. It's a cosy old farmhouse cafe offering Western fare. A Canadian developed the menu, and the pancakes with maple syrup (50,000 dong including coffee) are great. The sandwiches with home cut fries and salad (60,000 dong) are also recommended. Two movies are shown each evening in the pillow-filled loft. Free Wi-fi, exhibits and live performances. A great place to have your bus pick you up at 02:00 when you head out and great for a chill spot for after party breakfast or a romantic glass of wine. A 24-hr supermarket is part of the complex. Joe is on the strip, offering now even accommodation. Drinks 10,000 - 60,000 dong, meals 50,000 - 120,000 dong. edit

Lâm Tòng, 92 Nguyễn Đinh Chiêu (Right on the beach next to Jibes under some shady palms), ☏ +84 62 384 7598. You can even sit at tables in the sand. There's a little hut with hammocks strung. Try one of the pancakes (bánh xèo) with condensed milk (sữa đặc), the fried fish with lemon, and the chicken fried in fish sauce. edit

2 Pho Bo and sandwiches, Bo Ke St (Go past Bo Ke St in the direction of Pogo Bar, small pavilion on the right). The only place to have food at night (since Joe's doesn't serve food at night anymore). They serve nice sandwiches with chicken and scrambled eggs (30,000 dong). Also you can have pho bo here. edit

3 Santimatti Pizzeria, 83 Nguyen Dinh Chieu St. Classic Italian cuisine. Place is nice looking, with a good atmosphere. Locals and long stayers enjoy a 10% discount with membership card. Owner is on-site, so expect good service. edit

4 Sindbad Kebap, Nguyen Dinh Chieu (opposite Pogo Bar). Good beef/chicken/veggie kebabs, shawarma and tsatsiki. edit

Smoky House, 125 Nguyen Dinh Chieu St. Offers large, high-quality meals, and offers all customers free ice cream. edit

Snow Restaurant, Club and Sushi Bar, 109 Nguyen Dinh Chieu St. 10:00-02:00. Famous for its cool air-conditioned hall that is unique in Mui Ne. European, Japanese, Russian and Vietnamese cuisines, including exotic dishes such as filet of crocodile. Lounge still open after 22:00, cinema-sessions in the evening. Free Wi-Fi, free pool, and free transfer by Taxi Mai Linh to the restaurant and back to hotel. edit

The Terrace Restaurant, 21 Nguyen Dinh Chieu St (in front of Anantara Resort), ☏ +84 62 3741293, ✉ admin@herbalhotelmuinevietnam.com. 08:00-23:00. The restaurant's first floor is fully air conditioned and the terrace on the upper floor is an open concept with a a nice view. It serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. The restaurant specializes in sushi, fresh seafood and Vietnamese food and the bar serves beer, wine and cocktails. US$3-15. (updated Jul 2016

 

DRINK

Deja Vu Restaurant and Shisha Bar, 21 Nguyen Dinh Chieu (Opposite Anantara Resort), ☏ +84 62 374 1160, +84 913327232, ✉ dejavuvn@gmail.com. 11:00 - 24:00. Family restaurant focused on good food and entertainment for all the ages. Daily live music, cozy garden with kids area. Seafood, European food, Vietnamese food, kids menu, exotic food, cocktails, shisha- culture show "Folklore night" (show + dinner) every W 20:00. Exotic food show every F 19:00. edit

DJ Station (El Vagabundo), 120C Nguyen Dinh Chieu (300 m to the right when facing Sinh Cafe). 09:00-03:00. Ocean view terrace area, dining area and large dance floor. Happy hour 18:00-21:00 means selected cocktails are 30,000 dong, and regular priced cocktails are all buy-one-get-one-free. It's a popular backpacker place and usually very crowded weekends. edit

Pogo Bar, 138 Nguyen Dinh Chieu. Popular place once, but you can still expect surfers and expats. Cocktails and buckets are cheap, but not tasty. edit

Mooney's Irish Bar, 121 Nguyễn Đình Chiểu, Phường Hàm Tiến, Thành phố Phan Thiết, Bình Thuận, Vietnam (almost opposite Joe's Cafe), ☏ +84 91 402 65 96. 18:00-02:00. A small establishment run by a genuine Irishman (which marks it out from many 'Irish' pubs in Asia), an affable chap form just outside Dublin. There's a pool table, but the best thing to do is order a beer and have a chat with Liam. (updated Jul 2018 | edit)

The Crown and Anchor, 117c Nguyen Dinh Chieu, Ham Tien Phan Thiet (about 2 minutes from Mooney's Irish Bar.). 16:00-23:45. A new establishment that promises a lot. Great design, long bar, games room with pool, darts and table football. Brian from the English Midlands and Adele from Kyrgyzstan are the friendly hosts. Live sports and Sunday Roasts are popular features. (updated Jul 2018 | edit)

Old Fashioned Bar, 151 Nguyễn Đình Chiểu, Phường Hàm Tiến, Thành phố Phan Thiết, Bình Thuận, ☏ +84 368 307 432. 08:00-03:00. Classic bar. Large territory: bar, hookah, restaurant area, cinema, air-conditioned room of a coffee shop, rooftop. European cuisine. Live music. The largest bar in Muine with the largest selection of coffee, tea, alcohol, cocktails and services. Located near the BOKE site.

 

SLEEP

Mui Ne and Ham Tien have over 200 accommodations to choose from, in every price category (US$5-200), along the main ocean strip of Nguyen Dinh Chieu, Huynh Thuc Khang ("HTK"). Small guest houses, family-run beach hotels and some big luxury resorts can also be found east of the town center of Mui Ne proper, along the road leading to the Red Sand Dunes, where Ganh Beach offers long sandy beaches and excellent kite-surfing on the east side of the Mui Ne peninsula.

 

Accommodations at higher addresses of Nguyen Dinh Chieu towards HTK and Mui Ne ward tend to be smaller and less expensive, somewhat removed from the main tourist section in Ham Tien and more mixed in more with local life. If a sandy beach is important to you, some research is called for before booking in that area. Many "beach side" resorts are actually against a sloping cement wall that leads into the sea. The sand itself migrates up and down the long coast seasonally leaving some areas with expansive beaches and others with little at any given time.

 

A few budget hotels have popped up on the inland side of the road, across from the beach side resorts. If you stay on the inland side, you will need to pass though one of the resorts to reach the beach, which might or might not result in some hassle from the guards. The resorts jealously guard their lounge chairs and palapas, though the beach itself is open to everyone. If all else fails, you can always access a nice sandy stretch of beach via the Wax Bar at 68 Nguyen Dinh Chieu.

 

Remember that during Tet (Vietnamese New Year), hotels and resorts are booked way in advance.

 

BUDGET

Go past the Pogo Bar in the direction of the fishing village to find the best budget hotels (as low as US$5 a day for adouble room with air-con).

 

Bao Trang, Nguyen Dinh Chieu (Turn right when exiting from Sinh Cafe). Small bungalows with a beach frontage. From US$10. edit

Guest House 20, 20 Nguyen Dinh Chieu, ☏ +84 62 374 1440, ✉ guesthouse20@yahoo.com.vn. Very nice guest house on main strip without beach access. Also organise tours and transport for you. Very friendly staff, family-owned and operated. From US$15. (updated Mar 2015 | edit)

Hon Di Bungalows, 70 Nguyen Dinh Chieu, ☏ +84 62 847 014, ✉ hdhongdi@yahoo.com. Has simple but nice bungalows with fan and attached bath. There is a shady courtyard strung with hammocks, and four of the bungalows are directly facing the beachfront. A small restaurant and Internet access cater to your needs. US$10-12. edit

Keng Guesthouse, 185 Nguyen Dinh Chieu (About 100 m east of Phuoc Thien Pagoda), ☏ +84 62 374 3312, ✉ yongkeng999@yahoo.com. Simple, clean guest house with all the usual facilities on the quiet end of the main strip. About 15 min walk to the bar and restaurant area. Friendly English speaking owner. Dorm 100,000 dong, rooms from 160,000 dong. edit

Lan Anh, Huynh Tân Phát (Coming from Phan Thiet, turn left when entering the village, in the corner where there's a business called Nhà Tho). Local guesthouse in the village, a couple of kilometres from the resorts and beaches, but close to shops, market and street food stalls. Perfect for experiencing local life. Owner family can barely understand English but are nice. Room with 2 double beds, fan, fridge, toilet, and TV. Free Wi-Fi. 150,000 dong. edit

Mai Am Guesthouse, 148 Nguyen Dinh Chieu. Beachfront bungalows with air-con, working shower, mosquito net, and nothing more. Clean pool. Beach seating with chairs and mats, although some of furniture is falling apart. Can hear next door bar till 03:00 nightly which may bother some. Also, they have monkey cages in the courtyard for some reason. US$10-15. edit

Thien Son, 102 Nguyen Dinh Chieu, ☏ +84 62 384 7187, +84 91 861 0727. Guest house just down the road from Joe's cafe with clean, large rooms. Can get breakfast for about US$1. Very friendly people, though English is limited. Also organises tours to sand dunes (depends on size of group, but from US$4-9) as well as buses to Saigon and Nha Trang. From US$12. edit

1 Nam Chau Boutique Resort - Mui Ne Passion ((Formerly Nam Chau Resort)), Khu phố 5, Mũi Né (Coming from the Red Sand Dunes go down the hill towards the town of Mui Ne, the resort lies right after the Pandanus Resort on the left hand side of the road (ca. 600 m from the dunes). Coming from the town center of Mui Ne (Mui ne market or Fishing Village) turn left at the red light (in front of Blue Shell Resort), continue for about 200 m (entrance after Malibu Resort on the right hand side).), ☏ +84 252 3849 323, ✉ sales@namchauresort.com. Rustic beach resort with 48 rooms offering free WiFi, refrigerators, and TVs with cable channels in a 3-ha tropical garden on the beach in Mui Ne. Inexpensive restaurant, beach bar organising disco parties on weekends. Swimming pool, ongoing activities including kite-boarding and SUP. From US$11 for shared accommodations. Dormitories in cottages, private bungalows available.

 

MID-RANGE

Ngoc Suong Marina Hotel, Nguyen Dinh Chieu (Across the road from TM Brothers Cafe, beside Tien Dat Resort). On the beach, with an excellent swimming pool. Rooms have mosquito nets, air-con, satellite TV, and en suite bath. US$40 including breakfast. edit

Novela Muine Resort & Spa, 96A Nguyễn Đình Chiểu, Hàm Tiến, Phan Thiết (In the center of Muine Resort), ☏ +84623743456, ✉ sales@novelaresort.com. US$50 including breakfast.

 

SPLURGE

2 Anantara Mui Ne Resort, Mui Ne Beach, KM10 Ham Tien Ward, Phan Thiet City, ☏ +84 62 374 1888, ✉ muine@anantara.com. The resort includes 89 rooms, suites and pool villas designed according to Vietnamese tradition. US$105. (updated Jan 2017)

3 Blue Ocean Resort, 54 Nguyen Dinh Chieu, ☏ +84 62 3847 322. Has various rooms and bungalows. Only metres from many of the kite surfing schools, particularly Windchimes, which is directly outside the property. 2,770,000 - 8,100,000 dong. (updated Mar 2016 | edit)

Cham Villas Boutique Luxury Resort, 32 Nguyen Dinh Chieu. Has 6 villas with beach front view and 12 villas with garden view. Each villa has a king size bed, bathtub overlooking a small private garden, and a large private patio with comfortable club chairs and a day bed. edit

Grace Boutique Resort, 144A Nguyen Dinh Chieu. Has the look of a Mediterranean villa. There are only 14 rooms, all with sea views. Well-trained staff, a beautiful garden, and a charming pool. Rates include daily breakfasts. Discounts are offered during the low season and for long-term stays. It is advisable to book well ahead during the holidays. edit

4 Pandanus Resort, Block 5, Mui Ne (The average driving time from the center or airport in Ho Chi Minh City to the resort is approximately four hours. Can be reached in 20 mins by car via main road Vo Nguyen Giap from Phan Thiet city center (25 km). At the roundabout below the Red Sand Dunes turn right. The resort is the second on the left (ca. 150 m). Coming from Ham Tien and the Mui Ne fishing village take Huynh Tan Phat at the red light to another red light in from of Blue Shell Resort. Turn left, the resort will be on the right hand side after approx. 400 m.), ☏ +84 252 3849 849, ✉ pandanus@pandanusresort.com. Check-in: 14:00, check-out: 12:00 noon. 134 renovated rooms including 24 bungalows with outdoor bathtub in a relaxing beachside environment: 10 ha of lush tropical gardens within walking distance of the Red Sand Dunes. Phan Thiet's largest free-form swimming pool, 2 restaurants, 3 bars incl. lounge with live entertainment, two live bands, spa (indoor and outdoor). Weekly seafood BBQ buffets by the pool, All Inclusive package, weddings, special events, team building, tours and excursions, transfer service. Complimentary bicycle rental. Daily complimentary walking tour of Mui Ne fishing town, free shuttle service to Mui Ne, Fairy Stream and Ham Tien tourist strip. Jet Ski, surfboards, kiteboarding nearby. US$60-310 including Mui Ne's biggest breakfast buffet (based on room type and number of guests). Group discounts, All Inclusive package, honeymoon packages and special event rates available.. (updated Dec 2017 | edit)

5 The Sailing Bay Beach Resort, 107 Ho Xuan Huong St, ☏ +84 8 6282 4567, ✉ resorts@thesailingbay.com. 192 rooms with sea views, all-day restaurant, open-air beach club, a grand ballroom that accommodates 400 guests and a fully equipped board meeting room for 40 guests. On-site water sports facility with a professional international team managing board sailing, kite surfing and other activities. US$100-644 including breakfast (low-season). edit

Shades Resort, 98A Nguyen Dinh Chieu (Across from Joe's Cafe). Has 8 studios/apartments with kitchens, Jacuzzi or rainshower, preloaded computers, 42 inch flatscreen TVs and a lovely view. The site includes a swimming pool and a bar with Bon Cafe coffees made with fresh milk from Dalat. Rate includes daily breakfast, bottled water, and laundry service. US$45-200. edit

The Cliff Resort, 5, Phu Hai Ward, Phan Thiet, Binh Thuan (Along the Nguyễn Thông road to Mũi Né), ☏ +84 252 3719 111 (HCMC), +84 24 3936 5065 (Hanoi), ✉ reservation@thecliffresort.com.vn. Check-out: 12:00. A resort complex that has many different room designs in different prices, the more big and beautiful they are, the more expensive they are. All guests can enjoy the big pool in the middle and can have access to the Mui Ne beach. The location is near Phan Thiet. US$100-500.

 

WIKI VOYAGE

04/05/2023. London, United Kingdom. John Kerry speaks to Lord Ahmad and Anne-Marie Trevelyan at the Small Island Developing States Coronation Event. Picture by Lauren Hurley / DHSC

Watch the full 5 minute movie on YouTube

Ski road trip in March 2013 to Fernie, British Columbia, Canada, film run time 5:00 minutes

Hand developed Kodak Ektachrome 100D 16mm film, hand split into D8

Bolex P1 D8 Reflex Zoom Dual 8mm motion film camera

Som Berthiot Pan-Cinor f1.9 8-42mm zoom lens

Developed in Tetenal E-6 Kit, hand split with scissors from 16mm

Telecine off Majestic D8 3 Blade Projector @ 18fps

1080p HD 30fps video recording with Olympus PEN E-PM1

Leica Summicron M DR f2 50mm lens and Lumix M / MFT adapter

----

"Ghettocine Road Trip - The Movie" coming soon - stay tuned!

Memories of earlier in the season; looking at the development of the rhododendron buds

 

Town Hall Square (Vienna)

The inner part of the town square

Street sign town square

The Town Hall Square is located in the first District of Vienna, Inner City. It is named after the erected here (new) Vienna City Hall. Due to its size, design and architecture of the buildings bordering the square it is considered one of the most important places in the center of Vienna.

History

Vienna City Hall , View from 1891

In the area of today's town square was once the Josefstädterstraße Glacis, held as a free field of fire meadows before the walls of Vienna, and later the parade and parade ground of the Imperial Army. During the construction of the Ringstrasse from 1858 this military site remained untouched for some time until the army after long efforts of Mayor Cajetan Felder had abstained and the expansion of the city funds could develop a Baulinienplan (building line plan) for the area. During this time, other locations were considered for the Hall.

Now the Town Hall Square, the largest square in the recessed ring road zone was provided. The northern and southern part of the square shaped city gardener Rudolf Siebeck 1872/1873 as City Hall Park, the central square of the axis Town Hall-Burgtheater, was kept free. 1873, the foundation was laid for the construction of the New Town Hall. 1874, work began on the Town Hall at the former Franzensring opposite the Burgtheater and the south of the square adjacent parliament building (north side front: Town Square 6). From 1877 to the new main building of the University of Vienna (southern side front: Town Square 5 ) built. Are installed on the three sides of the square five blocks with nine home numbers (No. 1 to No. 9), the fourth side is bordered by the ring.

In course of time the name of the place changed four times. In 1870 he was created as Town Hall Square, renamed in 1907 after the incumbent Christian Social mayor in Dr.-Karl -Lueger -Platz. The dominant Red Vienna since 1919, this appeared to be inappropriate, as Lueger in Vienna had prevented the universal and equal male suffrage, in 1907 introduced at state level. Therefore, the of a private committee donated Luegerdenkmal under the rule of mayor Karl Seitz was not, as intended by the Committee, in the town square erected but built in 1926 on a previously unnamed square corner Wollzeile/Stubenring and this place in the same year Dr.-Karl-Lueger-Platz named. The town square was returned to its original name . In 1938, the place was again renewed to Adolf Hitler Platz, what was reversed in 1945.

Christmas Market at City Hall

The large space between City Hall and the Burgtheater was used by all the rulers for political rallies. Since 1921, with its current form dates back to 1929 and was interrupted from 1933 to 1945, it is the traditional final rally of the Vienna SPÖ Maiaufmarsches (May-Procession) on 1 In May at the Town Hall Square. In addition, the space is exploited for most of the year for cultural and social events. The most important of them since 1975, the Christmas market in November and December, the Vienna Ice Dream in January and February, the opening of the Vienna Festival in May and open-air cinema screenings with classical music in July and August. The Life Ball at Vienna City Hall refers also to the town square. Traditionally, a since 1959 every year from one of the states erected large Christmas tree as a gift to the federal capital.

Location and characteristics

The Town Hall Square is located between the extended Grillparzerstraße to the north, the University Ring to the east, the extended Stadiongasse in the south and the extended Reichsratsstrasse in the West. Except the ring on which there are no buildings on this street, bear the buildings that are on the place in the wake of these streets, house numbers of the town square. Stadiongasse and Grillparzerstraße end before the court, the Reichsratsstrasse is interrupted by the court.

About two- thirds of the space area of 40,000 m² are taken from the City Hall park, which is divided by a blocked to traffic, very wide access road between the Burgtheater and the Rathaus, which offers space for events, into a northern and southern half. The town square is lined by some of the most important monumental Ringstrassen-Zone in historicist style. In the square itself is a large number of monuments and statues. Thus, the town square is one of the most representative places in Vienna.

The tram lines 1 and D operate on the ring road and have at the City Hall Square opposite the Burg Theatre and at the corner of Parliament stops. Coming from the south and from the ring turning, operates tram line 2 on the southern edge of the town square to Stadiongasse. The individual passes through traffic heading north on the eastern edge of the square on the ring road in the opposite direction behind the Town Hall on the two-line (Zweierlinie). Cycling trails pass off on the ring road and at the Grillparzerstraße and Stadiongasse. Behind the town hall runs the subway line U2 to the City Hall with the subway station as shuttle to City Hall and City Hall Square.

Building

City hall

The central building in the middle of the west side of the town square is the City Hall, built in 1873-1883 by Friedrich von Schmidt, New Town Hall, Town Hall called only since about 1970. The powerful, dominating the square building was designed by the Dutch Gothic models. It should express the political power of the strengthened bourgeosie against the monarch and the aristocracy.

The City Council has at the Town Hall no main entrance or direct access to the arcade court, they are located on the side fronts of Felderstraße and Lichtenfelsgasse, another entrance is at the rear front at the Friedrich-Schmidt-Platz. The town hall itself is essentially the so-called People's Hall on the ground floor of the town hall via a staircase outdoors is accessible (inputs centered under the town hall tower and left and right). The People's Hall is occasionally used for exhibitions. The outlet is located at the corner of Felderstraße to City Hall basement.

Arcade, Town Hall Square 2-4

Foyer with ceiling painting Apotheosis of Vindobona, Town Hall Square 4

No. 2, 3 and 4: Arcade Shops

The block north of City Hall was built in 1880-1883 by Franz von Neumann. Plan requirement was to equip the buildings (such as on the west side of the Imperial Parliament Street, in the course of which they are) at the town square with arcades. Held in the old German style, houses have remarkable corner projections made ​​with domes. At the central projection there are respectively balconies on herma. The attic floor is decorated with stucco relief female figures. The rib-vaulted arcades are painted with grotesques by Franz and Carl Jobst and equipped with cast iron lanterns. Particularly important are the foyers on No. 4 (and at the back of the block on the Ebendorferstraße 4). Frieze reliefs show the allegories of commerce, the arts and commerce. A large ceiling painting depicts the apotheosis of Vindobona. Lanterns and railings are made of wrought iron.

No. 5: University of Vienna, Main Building

Town Hall Square and front side of the university 's main building in 1900

The Town Hall Square side facing the front of the main university building today (2007 )

On the north side of the town square is the front side of the main building of the University of Vienna. The main work of the late phase of the strict historicism was built in 1873-1884 by Heinrich von Ferstel. The 29-axle side facade is broken repeatedly by risalits as well as by half and full columns. Statues of Anton Schmidgruber and Franz Koch standing in relation to the philosophical faculty. The building has no open entrance here .

No. 6: Parliament

On the south side of the town square is the side front of the parliament building, which was built as Reichsratsgebäude for Cisleithania. It is the most important work of the architect Theophil von Hansen, the latter founded 1871-1883 by ancient Greek models. At the Town Hall Square, the Parliament has a covered side entrance, originally a carriage way.

No. 7, 8 and 9 houses with arcades

Dome on the corner risalt, Town Hall Square 7

South of the Town Hall is located one block of houses with arcades, built 1877/1878 of City Hall architect Friedrich von Schmidt and Franz Neumann in old German forms. These were the first houses with arcades of City Hall district. Dominant are domes on corner risalit and central dome, bay windows, balconies, putti frieze and statues of Venus and Mars on the facade. In the rib-vaulted arcades are embedded gates with half column portals and acroterion figures. The lobbies are decorated with stucco ceilings, among other rich and grotesque painting. At No. 8 is located under the arcades the in City Hall circles famous café and pastry shop Sluka.

City Hall Park

At the request of Mayor Felder the City Hall Park was created as a complementary recreation area in the Ring Road zone. It is a strictly historicist Park, which was created as the city park of city gardener Rudolf Siebeck. The green area is north and south of a link road from the Burgtheater on the Ring to the City Hall laid out, which extends space-like in front of City Hall. In each of the two parts is a Rondeau Park with fountains, which are intended to highlight the two Viennese spring water lines and were financed by the builder Antonio Gabrielli.

Orientation plan

Under the old trees of the park there are five trees that are designated as natural monuments in Vienna. A lime in the southern part of the park was planted on the occasion of the 50th anniversary jubilee of Emperor Franz Joseph I in 1898, an oak tree, also in the southern part of the park in 1906 for the then incumbent mayor Karl Lueger. Winding paths lead through the two parts of the park. The garden fence is original historicist. In the northern part of the park is a large children's play area. A 1890 in the southern part of the park built weather house, destroyed during the Second World War, was renewed in 1955 with mosaics of Mary Biljan-Bilger. The modern toilet facilities were designed by Luigi Blau.

Monuments

Waldmüllerdenkmal (Monument) by Josef Engelhart, 1913

The Town Hall Square is home of a number of monuments, they are described here from the ring road starting.

(Locked) Access from the Burgtheater to City Hall

At the beginning of this approach is, turning off the ring road, left the monument to Theodor Körner, mayor, then President of the Second Republic, by Hilde Uray, bronze statue, 1963,

right of the monument to Karl Seitz, first head of state of the First Republic, then mayor in Red Vienna, by Gottfried Buchberger, bronze statue, 1962.

Directly between the two parts of the park in 1902 eight stone monuments of significant figures in the history of Vienna were placed four at each park side facing each other. They had been established in 1867 on the balustrades of the former Elizabeth Bridge over the river (Wienfluss) on Karlsplatz. When in 1897 the bridge was demolished in this area because of the light rail construction and the resulting vaulting of the Wienfluss, the eight monuments first have been put along the then still in the incision extending new light rail line on the Karlsplatz, where they but heavily by the soot of steam locomotives polluted monuments were popularly called eight chimney sweepers. Therefore, they were transferred to the town square later:

left ( south side):

Margrave Henry II Jasomirgott from the House of Babenberg, by Franz Melnitzky

Duke Rudolf the founder of the House of Habsburg, of Josef Gasser

Ernst Rüdiger von Starhemberg, defender of Vienna (second Turkish siege), by Johann Baptist Fessler

Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach, Baroque architect, Josef Cesar

right (north side):

Duke Leopold the Glorious from the House of Babenberg, by Johann Preleuthner

Niklas Graf Salm, defender of Vienna (first siege of Vienna), by Matthias Purkartshofer

Archbishop Charles Leopold of Kollonitsch, spiritual leader of Vienna (second Turkish siege), Vincenz Pilz

Joseph of Sonnenfels, judicial and administrative reformer of Maria Theresa, by Hanns Gasser (replaced in the Nazi era in 1939 by a statue of the composer Christoph Willibald Gluck, re-erected after 1945)

Next to the town hall (tower), outside of the southern part of the park: replica of the Vienna City Hall man at the top of City Hall tower in scale 1: 1, by Fritz Tiefenthaler, 1985

Southern part of the city hall park (towards Parliament)

At the corner of Park Ring/Parliament, addressed to the ring: Karl Renner, the first Chancellor of the First and first president of the Second Republic, portrait head of Alfred Hrdlicka on monument structure of Josef Krawina, 1965-1967

Josef Popper-Lynkeus, social ethicist, stone bust of Hugo Taglang, 1926. As artists and represented were Jews , the bust was removed in the Nazi regime in 1938, restored in 1951 according to the plaster model.

Johann Strauss (father ) and Joseph Lanner, statues of Franz Seifert, 1905, Art Nouveau, the bronze sculptures stand in front of a curved wall with marble reliefs of ball scenes and a poem by Edward von Bauernfeld. This concept and the architecture created Robert Oerley .

Northern part of the city hall park (towards the University)

Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller, marble monument of Josef Engelhart, 1913 , Art Nouveau

Ernst Mach, physicist, of Heinz Peteri, 1926

Adolf Schärf, vice chancellor, then president of the Second Republic, bronze bust of Alfred Hrdlicka, 1985

The most recent monument in the park, built in 1993, commemorates the wartime destruction of Vienna in 1945 and was by Hubert Wilfan under the title Yesterday - Today created from stone.

de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rathausplatz_(Wien)#Geschichte

Conexus Arts Centre

Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada

Toyo View 45F Large Format 4"x5" monorail view camera - bag bellows, Yankee fresnel ground glass

Nikkor SW 75mm f4.5 lens in Copal #0 shutter (~20mm effective vs 35mm film)

tilt and swing for selective focus, front rise

Kodak TMax 400 ISO B&W sheet film exposed at f16 for 1/160 sec

stand developed in BTZS tube using 1.25ml of PQ Universal at 1:128 16 C. for 1 hour without agitation

Ilfostop at 1:19, Rapid fixer at 1:4 for 5 minutes, Ilford Washaid in rinse

Epson Perfection 4490 at 4800 dpi 48 bit

Scanned in two halves and stitched with MS Image Composition Editor

Minolta dynax 3 + LCA + Fisheye 2 + Fuji Neopan 1600 + Home developed

...Belmore Basin, Wollongong.

 

Holga 120WPC, Fomapan 200, stand developed in Adonal(1:100).

We are developing a public makerspace in Tam High School’s state-of-the-art woodshop, to create cool objects -- and grow a community of makers, students and teachers in South Marin.

 

Here are some of the artworks we are creating in Geo Monley’s woodworking workshop, called ‘You Can Build It’. With his help, I am building a ‘maker art cart’ to showcase the work of our students -- and Howard Rheingold is making a triangular table for our Pataphysical Studios.

 

This week, I used the laser cutter to make characters for our City of the Future course. In this ‘maker art’ class, lower and middle school students will build a futuristic home with a cardboard ‘wonderbox’ and animated characters such as these. They will bring these wood and acrylic figures to life with lights, sounds and motion, using simple electronics.

 

Geo showed off ‘Maker Field’, the animatronic city his high school students are building with his help. Here’s their work in progress, which now features a variety of buildings (including ‘Trump Towers’ and a 5V power plant), as well as a robot car powered with Arduino.

 

These projects are good examples of what we could support with more maker programs for adults and teens in this new Tam High makerspace. More on this later.

 

View more photos of our Tam High makerspace: www.flickr.com/photos/fabola/albums/72157660433218276

 

Learn more about our City of the Future course: fabriceflorin.com/2016/02/23/city-of-the-future/

 

Learn more about our Maker Art courses:

fabriceflorin.com/2016/02/14/teaching-maker-art/

 

Learn more about Geo's technical courses at Tam High: www.marinlearn.com/index.cfm?method=ClassListing.ClassLis...

Taken yesterday using rerolled 120 film, inside a 1960 Kodak box camera.

Kodak Brownie Flash III box camera

Yellow filter toggled on

Foma Fomapan Creative 200 film (rolled onto 620 spindles).

Developed in R09

Digitally scanned film with Epson Perfection V500.

Bali is an island and province of Indonesia. The province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller neighbouring islands, notably Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan, and Nusa Ceningan. It is located at the westernmost end of the Lesser Sunda Islands, between Java to the west and Lombok to the east. Its capital of Denpasar is located at the southern part of the island.

 

With a population of 3,890,757 in the 2010 census, and 4,225,000 as of January 2014, the island is home to most of Indonesia's Hindu minority. According to the 2010 Census, 83.5% of Bali's population adhered to Balinese Hinduism, followed by 13.4% Muslim, Christianity at 2.5%, and Buddhism 0.5%.

 

Bali is a popular tourist destination, which has seen a significant rise in numbers since the 1980s. It is renowned for its highly developed arts, including traditional and modern dance, sculpture, painting, leather, metalworking, and music. The Indonesian International Film Festival is held every year in Bali.

 

Bali is part of the Coral Triangle, the area with the highest biodiversity of marine species. In this area alone over 500 reef building coral species can be found. For comparison, this is about 7 times as many as in the entire Caribbean. There is a wide range of dive sites with high quality reefs, all with their own specific attractions. Many sites can have strong currents and swell, so diving without a knowledgeable guide is inadvisable. Most recently, Bali was the host of the 2011 ASEAN Summit, 2013 APEC and Miss World 2013.

 

HISTORY

ANCIENT

Bali was inhabited around 2000 BC by Austronesian people who migrated originally from Southeast Asia and Oceania through Maritime Southeast Asia. Culturally and linguistically, the Balinese are closely related to the people of the Indonesian archipelago, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Oceania. Stone tools dating from this time have been found near the village of Cekik in the island's west.

 

In ancient Bali, nine Hindu sects existed, namely Pasupata, Bhairawa, Siwa Shidanta, Waisnawa, Bodha, Brahma, Resi, Sora and Ganapatya. Each sect revered a specific deity as its personal Godhead.

 

Inscriptions from 896 and 911 don't mention a king, until 914, when Sri Kesarivarma is mentioned. They also reveal an independent Bali, with a distinct dialect, where Buddhism and Sivaism were practiced simultaneously. Mpu Sindok's great granddaughter, Mahendradatta (Gunapriyadharmapatni), married the Bali king Udayana Warmadewa (Dharmodayanavarmadeva) around 989, giving birth to Airlangga around 1001. This marriage also brought more Hinduism and Javanese culture to Bali. Princess Sakalendukirana appeared in 1098. Suradhipa reigned from 1115 to 1119, and Jayasakti from 1146 until 1150. Jayapangus appears on inscriptions between 1178 and 1181, while Adikuntiketana and his son Paramesvara in 1204.

 

Balinese culture was strongly influenced by Indian, Chinese, and particularly Hindu culture, beginning around the 1st century AD. The name Bali dwipa ("Bali island") has been discovered from various inscriptions, including the Blanjong pillar inscription written by Sri Kesari Warmadewa in 914 AD and mentioning "Walidwipa". It was during this time that the people developed their complex irrigation system subak to grow rice in wet-field cultivation. Some religious and cultural traditions still practised today can be traced to this period.

 

The Hindu Majapahit Empire (1293–1520 AD) on eastern Java founded a Balinese colony in 1343. The uncle of Hayam Wuruk is mentioned in the charters of 1384-86. A mass Javanese emigration occurred in the next century.

 

PORTUGUESE CONTACTS

The first known European contact with Bali is thought to have been made in 1512, when a Portuguese expedition led by Antonio Abreu and Francisco Serrão sighted its northern shores. It was the first expedition of a series of bi-annual fleets to the Moluccas, that throughout the 16th century usually traveled along the coasts of the Sunda Islands. Bali was also mapped in 1512, in the chart of Francisco Rodrigues, aboard the expedition. In 1585, a ship foundered off the Bukit Peninsula and left a few Portuguese in the service of Dewa Agung.

 

DUTCH EAST INDIA

In 1597 the Dutch explorer Cornelis de Houtman arrived at Bali, and the Dutch East India Company was established in 1602. The Dutch government expanded its control across the Indonesian archipelago during the second half of the 19th century (see Dutch East Indies). Dutch political and economic control over Bali began in the 1840s on the island's north coast, when the Dutch pitted various competing Balinese realms against each other. In the late 1890s, struggles between Balinese kingdoms in the island's south were exploited by the Dutch to increase their control.

 

In June 1860 the famous Welsh naturalist, Alfred Russel Wallace, travelled to Bali from Singapore, landing at Buleleng on the northcoast of the island. Wallace's trip to Bali was instrumental in helping him devise his Wallace Line theory. The Wallace Line is a faunal boundary that runs through the strait between Bali and Lombok. It has been found to be a boundary between species of Asiatic origin in the east and a mixture of Australian and Asian species to the west. In his travel memoir The Malay Archipelago, Wallace wrote of his experience in Bali:

 

I was both astonished and delighted; for as my visit to Java was some years later, I had never beheld so beautiful and well-cultivated a district out of Europe. A slightly undulating plain extends from the seacoast about ten or twelve miles inland, where it is bounded by a fine range of wooded and cultivated hills. Houses and villages, marked out by dense clumps of coconut palms, tamarind and other fruit trees, are dotted about in every direction; while between them extend luxurious rice-grounds, watered by an elaborate system of irrigation that would be the pride of the best cultivated parts of Europe.

 

The Dutch mounted large naval and ground assaults at the Sanur region in 1906 and were met by the thousands of members of the royal family and their followers who fought against the superior Dutch force in a suicidal puputan defensive assault rather than face the humiliation of surrender. Despite Dutch demands for surrender, an estimated 200 Balinese marched to their death against the invaders. In the Dutch intervention in Bali, a similar massacre occurred in the face of a Dutch assault in Klungkung.

 

AFTERWARD THE DUTCH GOVERNORS

exercised administrative control over the island, but local control over religion and culture generally remained intact. Dutch rule over Bali came later and was never as well established as in other parts of Indonesia such as Java and Maluku.

 

n the 1930s, anthropologists Margaret Mead and Gregory Bateson, artists Miguel Covarrubias and Walter Spies, and musicologist Colin McPhee all spent time here. Their accounts of the island and its peoples created a western image of Bali as "an enchanted land of aesthetes at peace with themselves and nature." Western tourists began to visit the island.

 

Imperial Japan occupied Bali during World War II. It was not originally a target in their Netherlands East Indies Campaign, but as the airfields on Borneo were inoperative due to heavy rains, the Imperial Japanese Army decided to occupy Bali, which did not suffer from comparable weather. The island had no regular Royal Netherlands East Indies Army (KNIL) troops. There was only a Native Auxiliary Corps Prajoda (Korps Prajoda) consisting of about 600 native soldiers and several Dutch KNIL officers under command of KNIL Lieutenant Colonel W.P. Roodenburg. On 19 February 1942 the Japanese forces landed near the town of Senoer [Senur]. The island was quickly captured.

 

During the Japanese occupation, a Balinese military officer, Gusti Ngurah Rai, formed a Balinese 'freedom army'. The harshness of war requisitions made Japanese rule more resented than Dutch rule. Following Japan's Pacific surrender in August 1945, the Dutch returned to Indonesia, including Bali, to reinstate their pre-war colonial administration. This was resisted by the Balinese rebels, who now used recovered Japanese weapons. On 20 November 1946, the Battle of Marga was fought in Tabanan in central Bali. Colonel I Gusti Ngurah Rai, by then 29 years old, finally rallied his forces in east Bali at Marga Rana, where they made a suicide attack on the heavily armed Dutch. The Balinese battalion was entirely wiped out, breaking the last thread of Balinese military resistance.

 

INDIPENDENCE FROM THE DUTCH

In 1946, the Dutch constituted Bali as one of the 13 administrative districts of the newly proclaimed State of East Indonesia, a rival state to the Republic of Indonesia, which was proclaimed and headed by Sukarno and Hatta. Bali was included in the "Republic of the United States of Indonesia" when the Netherlands recognised Indonesian independence on 29 December 1949.

 

CONTEMPORARY

The 1963 eruption of Mount Agung killed thousands, created economic havoc and forced many displaced Balinese to be transmigrated to other parts of Indonesia. Mirroring the widening of social divisions across Indonesia in the 1950s and early 1960s, Bali saw conflict between supporters of the traditional caste system, and those rejecting this system. Politically, the opposition was represented by supporters of the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) and the Indonesian Nationalist Party (PNI), with tensions and ill-feeling further increased by the PKI's land reform programs. An attempted coup in Jakarta was put down by forces led by General Suharto.

 

The army became the dominant power as it instigated a violent anti-communist purge, in which the army blamed the PKI for the coup. Most estimates suggest that at least 500,000 people were killed across Indonesia, with an estimated 80,000 killed in Bali, equivalent to 5% of the island's population. With no Islamic forces involved as in Java and Sumatra, upper-caste PNI landlords led the extermination of PKI members.

 

As a result of the 1965/66 upheavals, Suharto was able to manoeuvre Sukarno out of the presidency. His "New Order" government reestablished relations with western countries. The pre-War Bali as "paradise" was revived in a modern form. The resulting large growth in tourism has led to a dramatic increase in Balinese standards of living and significant foreign exchange earned for the country. A bombing in 2002 by militant Islamists in the tourist area of Kuta killed 202 people, mostly foreigners. This attack, and another in 2005, severely reduced tourism, producing much economic hardship to the island.

 

GEOGRAPHY

The island of Bali lies 3.2 km east of Java, and is approximately 8 degrees south of the equator. Bali and Java are separated by the Bali Strait. East to west, the island is approximately 153 km wide and spans approximately 112 km north to south; administratively it covers 5,780 km2, or 5,577 km2 without Nusa Penida District, its population density is roughly 750 people/km2.

 

Bali's central mountains include several peaks over 3,000 metres in elevation. The highest is Mount Agung (3,031 m), known as the "mother mountain" which is an active volcano rated as one of the world's most likely sites for a massive eruption within the next 100 years. Mountains range from centre to the eastern side, with Mount Agung the easternmost peak. Bali's volcanic nature has contributed to its exceptional fertility and its tall mountain ranges provide the high rainfall that supports the highly productive agriculture sector. South of the mountains is a broad, steadily descending area where most of Bali's large rice crop is grown. The northern side of the mountains slopes more steeply to the sea and is the main coffee producing area of the island, along with rice, vegetables and cattle. The longest river, Ayung River, flows approximately 75 km.

 

The island is surrounded by coral reefs. Beaches in the south tend to have white sand while those in the north and west have black sand. Bali has no major waterways, although the Ho River is navigable by small sampan boats. Black sand beaches between Pasut and Klatingdukuh are being developed for tourism, but apart from the seaside temple of Tanah Lot, they are not yet used for significant tourism.

 

The largest city is the provincial capital, Denpasar, near the southern coast. Its population is around 491,500 (2002). Bali's second-largest city is the old colonial capital, Singaraja, which is located on the north coast and is home to around 100,000 people. Other important cities include the beach resort, Kuta, which is practically part of Denpasar's urban area, and Ubud, situated at the north of Denpasar, is the island's cultural centre.

 

Three small islands lie to the immediate south east and all are administratively part of the Klungkung regency of Bali: Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan and Nusa Ceningan. These islands are separated from Bali by the Badung Strait.

 

To the east, the Lombok Strait separates Bali from Lombok and marks the biogeographical division between the fauna of the Indomalayan ecozone and the distinctly different fauna of Australasia. The transition is known as the Wallace Line, named after Alfred Russel Wallace, who first proposed a transition zone between these two major biomes. When sea levels dropped during the Pleistocene ice age, Bali was connected to Java and Sumatra and to the mainland of Asia and shared the Asian fauna, but the deep water of the Lombok Strait continued to keep Lombok Island and the Lesser Sunda archipelago isolated.

 

CLIMATE

Being just 8 degrees south of the equator, Bali has a fairly even climate year round.

 

Day time temperatures at low elevations vary between 20-33⁰ C although it can be much cooler than that in the mountains. The west monsoon is in place from approximately October to April and this can bring significant rain, particularly from December to March. Outside of the monsoon period, humidity is relatively low and any rain unlikely in lowland areas.

 

ECOLOGY

Bali lies just to the west of the Wallace Line, and thus has a fauna that is Asian in character, with very little Australasian influence, and has more in common with Java than with Lombok. An exception is the yellow-crested cockatoo, a member of a primarily Australasian family. There are around 280 species of birds, including the critically endangered Bali myna, which is endemic. Others Include barn swallow, black-naped oriole, black racket-tailed treepie, crested serpent-eagle, crested treeswift, dollarbird, Java sparrow, lesser adjutant, long-tailed shrike, milky stork, Pacific swallow, red-rumped swallow, sacred kingfisher, sea eagle, woodswallow, savanna nightjar, stork-billed kingfisher, yellow-vented bulbul and great egret.

 

Until the early 20th century, Bali was home to several large mammals: the wild banteng, leopard and the endemic Bali tiger. The banteng still occurs in its domestic form, whereas leopards are found only in neighbouring Java, and the Bali tiger is extinct. The last definite record of a tiger on Bali dates from 1937, when one was shot, though the subspecies may have survived until the 1940s or 1950s. The relatively small size of the island, conflict with humans, poaching and habitat reduction drove the Bali tiger to extinction. This was the smallest and rarest of all tiger subspecies and was never caught on film or displayed in zoos, whereas few skins or bones remain in museums around the world. Today, the largest mammals are the Javan rusa deer and the wild boar. A second, smaller species of deer, the Indian muntjac, also occurs. Saltwater crocodiles were once present on the island, but became locally extinct sometime during the last century.

 

Squirrels are quite commonly encountered, less often is the Asian palm civet, which is also kept in coffee farms to produce Kopi Luwak. Bats are well represented, perhaps the most famous place to encounter them remaining the Goa Lawah (Temple of the Bats) where they are worshipped by the locals and also constitute a tourist attraction. They also occur in other cave temples, for instance at Gangga Beach. Two species of monkey occur. The crab-eating macaque, known locally as "kera", is quite common around human settlements and temples, where it becomes accustomed to being fed by humans, particularly in any of the three "monkey forest" temples, such as the popular one in the Ubud area. They are also quite often kept as pets by locals. The second monkey, endemic to Java and some surrounding islands such as Bali, is far rarer and more elusive is the Javan langur, locally known as "lutung". They occur in few places apart from the Bali Barat National Park. They are born an orange colour, though by their first year they would have already changed to a more blackish colouration. In Java however, there is more of a tendency for this species to retain its juvenile orange colour into adulthood, and so you can see a mixture of black and orange monkeys together as a family. Other rarer mammals include the leopard cat, Sunda pangolin and black giant squirrel.

 

Snakes include the king cobra and reticulated python. The water monitor can grow to at least 1.5 m in length and 50 kg and can move quickly.

 

The rich coral reefs around the coast, particularly around popular diving spots such as Tulamben, Amed, Menjangan or neighbouring Nusa Penida, host a wide range of marine life, for instance hawksbill turtle, giant sunfish, giant manta ray, giant moray eel, bumphead parrotfish, hammerhead shark, reef shark, barracuda, and sea snakes. Dolphins are commonly encountered on the north coast near Singaraja and Lovina.

 

A team of scientists conducted a survey from 29 April 2011 to 11 May 2011 at 33 sea sites around Bali. They discovered 952 species of reef fish of which 8 were new discoveries at Pemuteran, Gilimanuk, Nusa Dua, Tulamben and Candidasa, and 393 coral species, including two new ones at Padangbai and between Padangbai and Amed. The average coverage level of healthy coral was 36% (better than in Raja Ampat and Halmahera by 29% or in Fakfak and Kaimana by 25%) with the highest coverage found in Gili Selang and Gili Mimpang in Candidasa, Karangasem regency.

 

Many plants have been introduced by humans within the last centuries, particularly since the 20th century, making it sometimes hard to distinguish what plants are really native.[citation needed] Among the larger trees the most common are: banyan trees, jackfruit, coconuts, bamboo species, acacia trees and also endless rows of coconuts and banana species. Numerous flowers can be seen: hibiscus, frangipani, bougainvillea, poinsettia, oleander, jasmine, water lily, lotus, roses, begonias, orchids and hydrangeas exist. On higher grounds that receive more moisture, for instance around Kintamani, certain species of fern trees, mushrooms and even pine trees thrive well. Rice comes in many varieties. Other plants with agricultural value include: salak, mangosteen, corn, kintamani orange, coffee and water spinach.

 

ENVIRONMENT

Some of the worst erosion has occurred in Lebih Beach, where up to 7 metres of land is lost every year. Decades ago, this beach was used for holy pilgrimages with more than 10,000 people, but they have now moved to Masceti Beach.

 

From ranked third in previous review, in 2010 Bali got score 99.65 of Indonesia's environmental quality index and the highest of all the 33 provinces. The score measured 3 water quality parameters: the level of total suspended solids (TSS), dissolved oxygen (DO) and chemical oxygen demand (COD).

 

Because of over-exploitation by the tourist industry which covers a massive land area, 200 out of 400 rivers on the island have dried up and based on research, the southern part of Bali would face a water shortage up to 2,500 litres of clean water per second by 2015. To ease the shortage, the central government plans to build a water catchment and processing facility at Petanu River in Gianyar. The 300 litres capacity of water per second will be channelled to Denpasar, Badung and Gianyar in 2013.

 

ECONOMY

Three decades ago, the Balinese economy was largely agriculture-based in terms of both output and employment. Tourism is now the largest single industry in terms of income, and as a result, Bali is one of Indonesia's wealthiest regions. In 2003, around 80% of Bali's economy was tourism related. By end of June 2011, non-performing loan of all banks in Bali were 2.23%, lower than the average of Indonesian banking industry non-performing loan (about 5%). The economy, however, suffered significantly as a result of the terrorist bombings 2002 and 2005. The tourism industry has since recovered from these events.

 

AGRICULTURE

Although tourism produces the GDP's largest output, agriculture is still the island's biggest employer; most notably rice cultivation. Crops grown in smaller amounts include fruit, vegetables, Coffea arabica and other cash and subsistence crops. Fishing also provides a significant number of jobs. Bali is also famous for its artisans who produce a vast array of handicrafts, including batik and ikat cloth and clothing, wooden carvings, stone carvings, painted art and silverware. Notably, individual villages typically adopt a single product, such as wind chimes or wooden furniture.

 

The Arabica coffee production region is the highland region of Kintamani near Mount Batur. Generally, Balinese coffee is processed using the wet method. This results in a sweet, soft coffee with good consistency. Typical flavours include lemon and other citrus notes. Many coffee farmers in Kintamani are members of a traditional farming system called Subak Abian, which is based on the Hindu philosophy of "Tri Hita Karana". According to this philosophy, the three causes of happiness are good relations with God, other people and the environment. The Subak Abian system is ideally suited to the production of fair trade and organic coffee production. Arabica coffee from Kintamani is the first product in Indonesia to request a Geographical Indication.

 

TOURISM

The tourism industry is primarily focused in the south, while significant in the other parts of the island as well. The main tourist locations are the town of Kuta (with its beach), and its outer suburbs of Legian and Seminyak (which were once independent townships), the east coast town of Sanur (once the only tourist hub), in the center of the island Ubud, to the south of the Ngurah Rai International Airport, Jimbaran, and the newer development of Nusa Dua and Pecatu.

 

The American government lifted its travel warnings in 2008. The Australian government issued an advice on Friday, 4 May 2012. The overall level of the advice was lowered to 'Exercise a high degree of caution'. The Swedish government issued a new warning on Sunday, 10 June 2012 because of one more tourist who was killed by methanol poisoning. Australia last issued an advice on Monday, 5 January 2015 due to new terrorist threats.

 

An offshoot of tourism is the growing real estate industry. Bali real estate has been rapidly developing in the main tourist areas of Kuta, Legian, Seminyak and Oberoi. Most recently, high-end 5 star projects are under development on the Bukit peninsula, on the south side of the island. Million dollar villas are being developed along the cliff sides of south Bali, commanding panoramic ocean views. Foreign and domestic (many Jakarta individuals and companies are fairly active) investment into other areas of the island also continues to grow. Land prices, despite the worldwide economic crisis, have remained stable.

 

In the last half of 2008, Indonesia's currency had dropped approximately 30% against the US dollar, providing many overseas visitors value for their currencies. Visitor arrivals for 2009 were forecast to drop 8% (which would be higher than 2007 levels), due to the worldwide economic crisis which has also affected the global tourist industry, but not due to any travel warnings.

 

Bali's tourism economy survived the terrorist bombings of 2002 and 2005, and the tourism industry has in fact slowly recovered and surpassed its pre-terrorist bombing levels; the longterm trend has been a steady increase of visitor arrivals. In 2010, Bali received 2.57 million foreign tourists, which surpassed the target of 2.0–2.3 million tourists. The average occupancy of starred hotels achieved 65%, so the island is still able to accommodate tourists for some years without any addition of new rooms/hotels, although at the peak season some of them are fully booked.

 

Bali received the Best Island award from Travel and Leisure in 2010. The island of Bali won because of its attractive surroundings (both mountain and coastal areas), diverse tourist attractions, excellent international and local restaurants, and the friendliness of the local people. According to BBC Travel released in 2011, Bali is one of the World's Best Islands, ranking second after Santorini, Greece.

 

In August 2010, the film Eat Pray Love was released in theatres. The movie was based on Elizabeth Gilbert's best-selling memoir Eat, Pray, Love. It took place at Ubud and Padang-Padang Beach at Bali. The 2006 book, which spent 57 weeks at the No. 1 spot on the New York Times paperback nonfiction best-seller list, had already fuelled a boom in Eat, Pray, Love-related tourism in Ubud, the hill town and cultural and tourist center that was the focus of Gilbert's quest for balance through traditional spirituality and healing that leads to love.

 

In January 2016, after music icon David Bowie died, it was revealed that in his will, Bowie asked for his ashes to be scattered in Bali, conforming to Buddhist rituals. He had visited and performed in a number of Southest Asian cities early in his career, including Bangkok and Singapore.

 

Since 2011, China has displaced Japan as the second-largest supplier of tourists to Bali, while Australia still tops the list. Chinese tourists increased by 17% from last year due to the impact of ACFTA and new direct flights to Bali. In January 2012, Chinese tourists year on year (yoy) increased by 222.18% compared to January 2011, while Japanese tourists declined by 23.54% yoy.

 

Bali reported that it has 2.88 million foreign tourists and 5 million domestic tourists in 2012, marginally surpassing the expectations of 2.8 million foreign tourists. Forecasts for 2013 are at 3.1 million.

 

Based on Bank Indonesia survey in May 2013, 34.39 percent of tourists are upper-middle class with spending between $1,286 to $5,592 and dominated by Australia, France, China, Germany and the US with some China tourists move from low spending before to higher spending currently. While 30.26 percent are middle class with spending between $662 to $1,285.

 

SEX TOURISM

In the twentieth century the incidence of tourism specifically for sex was regularly observed in the era of mass tourism in Indonesia In Bali, prostitution is conducted by both men and women. Bali in particular is notorious for its 'Kuta Cowboys', local gigolos targeting foreign female tourists.

 

Tens of thousands of single women throng the beaches of Bali in Indonesia every year. For decades, young Balinese men have taken advantage of the louche and laid-back atmosphere to find love and lucre from female tourists—Japanese, European and Australian for the most part—who by all accounts seem perfectly happy with the arrangement.

 

By 2013, Indonesia was reportedly the number one destination for Australian child sex tourists, mostly starting in Bali but also travelling to other parts of the country. The problem in Bali was highlighted by Luh Ketut Suryani, head of Psychiatry at Udayana University, as early as 2003. Surayani warned that a low level of awareness of paedophilia in Bali had made it the target of international paedophile organisations. On 19 February 2013, government officials announced measures to combat paedophilia in Bali.

 

TRANSPORTATION

The Ngurah Rai International Airport is located near Jimbaran, on the isthmus at the southernmost part of the island. Lt.Col. Wisnu Airfield is found in north-west Bali.

 

A coastal road circles the island, and three major two-lane arteries cross the central mountains at passes reaching to 1,750m in height (at Penelokan). The Ngurah Rai Bypass is a four-lane expressway that partly encircles Denpasar. Bali has no railway lines.

 

In December 2010 the Government of Indonesia invited investors to build a new Tanah Ampo Cruise Terminal at Karangasem, Bali with a projected worth of $30 million. On 17 July 2011 the first cruise ship (Sun Princess) anchored about 400 meters away from the wharf of Tanah Ampo harbour. The current pier is only 154 meters but will eventually be extended to 300–350 meters to accommodate international cruise ships. The harbour here is safer than the existing facility at Benoa and has a scenic backdrop of east Bali mountains and green rice fields. The tender for improvement was subject to delays, and as of July 2013 the situation remained unclear with cruise line operators complaining and even refusing to use the existing facility at Tanah Ampo.

 

A Memorandum of Understanding has been signed by two ministers, Bali's Governor and Indonesian Train Company to build 565 kilometres of railway along the coast around the island. As of July 2015, no details of this proposed railways have been released.

 

On 16 March 2011 (Tanjung) Benoa port received the "Best Port Welcome 2010" award from London's "Dream World Cruise Destination" magazine. Government plans to expand the role of Benoa port as export-import port to boost Bali's trade and industry sector. The Tourism and Creative Economy Ministry has confirmed that 306 cruise liners are heading for Indonesia in 2013 – an increase of 43 percent compared to the previous year.

 

In May 2011, an integrated Areal Traffic Control System (ATCS) was implemented to reduce traffic jams at four crossing points: Ngurah Rai statue, Dewa Ruci Kuta crossing, Jimbaran crossing and Sanur crossing. ATCS is an integrated system connecting all traffic lights, CCTVs and other traffic signals with a monitoring office at the police headquarters. It has successfully been implemented in other ASEAN countries and will be implemented at other crossings in Bali.

 

On 21 December 2011 construction started on the Nusa Dua-Benoa-Ngurah Rai International Airport toll road which will also provide a special lane for motorcycles. This has been done by seven state-owned enterprises led by PT Jasa Marga with 60% of shares. PT Jasa Marga Bali Tol will construct the 9.91 kilometres toll road (totally 12.7 kilometres with access road). The construction is estimated to cost Rp.2.49 trillion ($273.9 million). The project goes through 2 kilometres of mangrove forest and through 2.3 kilometres of beach, both within 5.4 hectares area. The elevated toll road is built over the mangrove forest on 18,000 concrete pillars which occupied 2 hectares of mangroves forest. It compensated by new planting of 300,000 mangrove trees along the road. On 21 December 2011 the Dewa Ruci 450 meters underpass has also started on the busy Dewa Ruci junction near Bali Kuta Galeria with an estimated cost of Rp136 billion ($14.9 million) from the state budget. On 23 September 2013, the Bali Mandara Toll Road is opened and the Dewa Ruci Junction (Simpang Siur) underpass is opened before. Both are ease the heavy traffic congestion.

 

To solve chronic traffic problems, the province will also build a toll road connecting Serangan with Tohpati, a toll road connecting Kuta, Denpasar and Tohpati and a flyover connecting Kuta and Ngurah Rai Airport.

 

DEMOGRAPHICS

The population of Bali was 3,890,757 as of the 2010 Census; the latest estimate (for January 2014) is 4,225,384. There are an estimated 30,000 expatriates living in Bali.

 

ETHNIC ORIGINS

A DNA study in 2005 by Karafet et al. found that 12% of Balinese Y-chromosomes are of likely Indian origin, while 84% are of likely Austronesian origin, and 2% of likely Melanesian origin. The study does not correlate the DNA samples to the Balinese caste system.

 

CASTE SYSTEM

Bali has a caste system based on the Indian Hindu model, with four castes:

 

- Sudra (Shudra) – peasants constituting close to 93% of Bali's population.

- Wesia (Vaishyas) – the caste of merchants and administrative officials

- Ksatrias (Kshatriyas) – the kingly and warrior caste

- Brahmana (Bramhin) – holy men and priests

 

RELIGION

Unlike most of Muslim-majority Indonesia, about 83.5% of Bali's population adheres to Balinese Hinduism, formed as a combination of existing local beliefs and Hindu influences from mainland Southeast Asia and South Asia. Minority religions include Islam (13.3%), Christianity (1.7%), and Buddhism (0.5%). These figures do not include immigrants from other parts of Indonesia.

 

Balinese Hinduism is an amalgam in which gods and demigods are worshipped together with Buddhist heroes, the spirits of ancestors, indigenous agricultural deities and sacred places. Religion as it is practised in Bali is a composite belief system that embraces not only theology, philosophy, and mythology, but ancestor worship, animism and magic. It pervades nearly every aspect of traditional life. Caste is observed, though less strictly than in India. With an estimated 20,000 puras (temples) and shrines, Bali is known as the "Island of a Thousand Puras", or "Island of the Gods". This is refer to Mahabarata story that behind Bali became island of god or "pulau dewata" in Indonesian language.

 

Balinese Hinduism has roots in Indian Hinduism and Buddhism, and adopted the animistic traditions of the indigenous people. This influence strengthened the belief that the gods and goddesses are present in all things. Every element of nature, therefore, possesses its own power, which reflects the power of the gods. A rock, tree, dagger, or woven cloth is a potential home for spirits whose energy can be directed for good or evil. Balinese Hinduism is deeply interwoven with art and ritual. Ritualizing states of self-control are a notable feature of religious expression among the people, who for this reason have become famous for their graceful and decorous behaviour.

 

Apart from the majority of Balinese Hindus, there also exist Chinese immigrants whose traditions have melded with that of the locals. As a result, these Sino-Balinese not only embrace their original religion, which is a mixture of Buddhism, Christianity, Taoism and Confucianism, but also find a way to harmonise it with the local traditions. Hence, it is not uncommon to find local Sino-Balinese during the local temple's odalan. Moreover, Balinese Hindu priests are invited to perform rites alongside a Chinese priest in the event of the death of a Sino-Balinese. Nevertheless, the Sino-Balinese claim to embrace Buddhism for administrative purposes, such as their Identity Cards.

 

LANGUAGE

Balinese and Indonesian are the most widely spoken languages in Bali, and the vast majority of Balinese people are bilingual or trilingual. The most common spoken language around the tourist areas is Indonesian, as many people in the tourist sector are not solely Balinese, but migrants from Java, Lombok, Sumatra, and other parts of Indonesia. There are several indigenous Balinese languages, but most Balinese can also use the most widely spoken option: modern common Balinese. The usage of different Balinese languages was traditionally determined by the Balinese caste system and by clan membership, but this tradition is diminishing. Kawi and Sanskrit are also commonly used by some Hindu priests in Bali, for Hinduism literature was mostly written in Sanskrit.

 

English and Chinese are the next most common languages (and the primary foreign languages) of many Balinese, owing to the requirements of the tourism industry, as well as the English-speaking community and huge Chinese-Indonesian population. Other foreign languages, such as Japanese, Korean, French, Russian or German are often used in multilingual signs for foreign tourists.

 

CULTURE

Bali is renowned for its diverse and sophisticated art forms, such as painting, sculpture, woodcarving, handcrafts, and performing arts. Balinese cuisine is also distinctive. Balinese percussion orchestra music, known as gamelan, is highly developed and varied. Balinese performing arts often portray stories from Hindu epics such as the Ramayana but with heavy Balinese influence. Famous Balinese dances include pendet, legong, baris, topeng, barong, gong keybar, and kecak (the monkey dance). Bali boasts one of the most diverse and innovative performing arts cultures in the world, with paid performances at thousands of temple festivals, private ceremonies, or public shows.

 

The Hindu New Year, Nyepi, is celebrated in the spring by a day of silence. On this day everyone stays at home and tourists are encouraged to remain in their hotels. On the day before New Year, large and colourful sculptures of ogoh-ogoh monsters are paraded and finally burned in the evening to drive away evil spirits. Other festivals throughout the year are specified by the Balinese pawukon calendrical system.

 

Celebrations are held for many occasions such as a tooth-filing (coming-of-age ritual), cremation or odalan (temple festival). One of the most important concepts that Balinese ceremonies have in common is that of désa kala patra, which refers to how ritual performances must be appropriate in both the specific and general social context. Many of the ceremonial art forms such as wayang kulit and topeng are highly improvisatory, providing flexibility for the performer to adapt the performance to the current situation. Many celebrations call for a loud, boisterous atmosphere with lots of activity and the resulting aesthetic, ramé, is distinctively Balinese. Often two or more gamelan ensembles will be performing well within earshot, and sometimes compete with each other to be heard. Likewise, the audience members talk amongst themselves, get up and walk around, or even cheer on the performance, which adds to the many layers of activity and the liveliness typical of ramé.

 

Kaja and kelod are the Balinese equivalents of North and South, which refer to ones orientation between the island's largest mountain Gunung Agung (kaja), and the sea (kelod). In addition to spatial orientation, kaja and kelod have the connotation of good and evil; gods and ancestors are believed to live on the mountain whereas demons live in the sea. Buildings such as temples and residential homes are spatially oriented by having the most sacred spaces closest to the mountain and the unclean places nearest to the sea.

 

Most temples have an inner courtyard and an outer courtyard which are arranged with the inner courtyard furthest kaja. These spaces serve as performance venues since most Balinese rituals are accompanied by any combination of music, dance and drama. The performances that take place in the inner courtyard are classified as wali, the most sacred rituals which are offerings exclusively for the gods, while the outer courtyard is where bebali ceremonies are held, which are intended for gods and people. Lastly, performances meant solely for the entertainment of humans take place outside the walls of the temple and are called bali-balihan. This three-tiered system of classification was standardised in 1971 by a committee of Balinese officials and artists to better protect the sanctity of the oldest and most sacred Balinese rituals from being performed for a paying audience.

 

Tourism, Bali's chief industry, has provided the island with a foreign audience that is eager to pay for entertainment, thus creating new performance opportunities and more demand for performers. The impact of tourism is controversial since before it became integrated into the economy, the Balinese performing arts did not exist as a capitalist venture, and were not performed for entertainment outside of their respective ritual context. Since the 1930s sacred rituals such as the barong dance have been performed both in their original contexts, as well as exclusively for paying tourists. This has led to new versions of many of these performances which have developed according to the preferences of foreign audiences; some villages have a barong mask specifically for non-ritual performances as well as an older mask which is only used for sacred performances.

 

Balinese society continues to revolve around each family's ancestral village, to which the cycle of life and religion is closely tied. Coercive aspects of traditional society, such as customary law sanctions imposed by traditional authorities such as village councils (including "kasepekang", or shunning) have risen in importance as a consequence of the democratisation and decentralisation of Indonesia since 1998.

 

WIKIPEDIA

developing b&w film prints in the darkroom myself is the best thing everrr

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based historical facts. BEWARE!

  

Some background:

The P-74 "Charger" was a fighter aircraft built by Lockheed for the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF). Its configuration was unusual as it was designed as a twin boom pusher configuration, where the propeller is mounted in the rear of the fuselage, pushing the aircraft forward.

 

The P-74 entered service with the USAAF in late 1944, its conception dated back to 1939 when the U.S. Army Air Corps requested with the Circular Proposal R40C domestic manufacturers to develop high performance fighter types, allowing (even demanding) unusual configurations. Lockheed did not respond immediately and missed the chance to sign a development contract in mid-1940 until early 1941. Twenty-three proposals were submitted to R40C, and after a fist selection of ideas three companies, Vultee with the large XP-54 Swoose Goose, Curtiss with its XP-55 Ascender and Northrop's XP-56 Black Bullet were able to secure prototype contracts.

 

Vultee eventually won the competition, but all these innovative new aircraft suffered from various flaws or development delays, missing various performance goals, so that none ever entered service.

 

In the meantime, Lockheed had been working on the 1939 request in the background on a private venture basis, as it was clear that by 1944 a successor to the company's own P-38 Lightning had to be offered to the USAAC.

The new North American P-51 Mustang was also a sharp competitor, esp. for the Pacific conflict theatre where long range was needed. This role was filled out very well by the P-38, but it was a relatively large and complicated aircraft, so an alternative with a single engine was strived for. Even though jet engines already showed their potential, it was clear that the requested range for the new type could only be achieved through a piston engine.

 

This aircraft became the XP-74, originally christened “Laelaps”, following Lockheed’s tradition, after a female Greek mythological dog who never failed to catch what she was hunting. It was presented as a mock-up to USAAC officials on August 8th 1942 and immediately found sponsorship: with the disappointing results from the XP-54,55 and 56 was immediately ushered into the prototype stage. Its name, though, was rejected, and the more common name “Charger” was adopted.

 

Just like Lockheed’s successful P-38 the XP-74 Charger was designed as a twin-boom aircraft, but it was driven by only a single Packard (License-built Rolls Royce Merlin) V-1650 pusher engine in the aft part of the fuselage. The tail was mounted rearward between two mid-wing booms, with a four-bladed 12-ft propeller between them. The design also included a "ducted wing section" developed by the NACA that enabled installation of cooling radiators and intercoolers in the wing root section.

 

The advantages of a pusher design are that the view forward is unobstructed and armament can be concentrated in the nose, while a major drawback is difficulty in escaping from the aircraft in an emergency, as the pilot could get drawn into the propeller blades. Lockheed deliberated between systems that would eject the pilot, or jettison the propeller or the engine, via a system of explosive bolts. Lockheed eventually installed an early ejector seat which was driven by pressurized air, combined with a mechanism that would blow the canopy off. The system was successfully tested in summer 1943, even though skepticism remained among pilots.

 

Initial armament comprised one 20mm Hispano cannon and four 12.7mm Browning machine guns, the same as in the P-38, but two machine guns were relocated from the nose into the front ends of the tail booms because of the new aircraft’s smaller overall dimensions.

 

The first prototype was ready in October 1943, with a different engine and heavier armor fitted. The second prototype was built to this specification from the start, which would become the serial production standard, the P-74A.

The P-74A used the new V-1650-9 engine, a version of the Merlin that included Simmons automatic supercharger boost control with water injection, allowing War Emergency Power as high as 2,218 hp (1,500 kW). Another change concerned the armament: a longer weapon range was deemed necessary, so the gun armament was changed into four 20mm Hispano cannons, two of the placed in the fuselage nose and one in each tail boom front end. Each gun was supplied with 250 RPG.

 

Alternatively, a nose installment with a single 37mm cannon and two 12.7mm Browning MGs was tested on the first prototype, but this arrangement was found to be less effective than the four 20mm cannons. Another factor that turned this option down was the more complicated logistics demands for three different calibers in one aircraft.

 

The P-74A was ready for service in summer 1944, but its deployment into the Pacific region took until December – the 5th Air Force first units replaced most of its P-38 and also early P-47Ds with the P-74A.These new aircraft had their first clashes with Japanese forces in January 1945.

 

The P-74 was used in a variety of roles. It was designed as an intreceptor against bombers, but its good range and handling at all altitudes made it suitable for tasks like fighter sweeps against enemy airfields, support for U.S. ground forces and protection of sea convoys and transport routes.

While the P-74 could not out-turn the A6M Zero and most other Japanese fighters when flying below 200 mph (320 km/h), its superior speed coupled with a good rate of climb meant that it could utilize energy tactics, making multiple high-speed passes at its target. Also, its focused firepower was deadly to lightly armored Japanese warplanes.

 

Because of its late service introduction, only 305 P-74s were ever produced until the end of hostilities, and they were exclusively used in the Pacific theatre. The P-74's service record shows mixed results, but usually because of misinformation. P-74s have been described as being harder to fly than traditional, single-engined aircraft, but this was because of inadequate training in the first few months of service.

Another drawback was the ejection seat system – it worked basically well, but the tank for the pressurized air turned out to be very vulnerable to enemy fire. Several P-74s literally exploded in midair after cannon fire hits, and this poeblem could only be cured when the tank section behind the cockpit received a more rigid structure and additional armor. Anyway, the P-74 was quickly retired after WWII, as the USAAF focussed on P-47 and P-51.

  

General characteristics

Crew: 1

Length: 10.45 m (34 ft 3 in)

Wingspan: 11.6 m (38 ft 0 in)

Height: 3.97 (13 ft 0 in)

Wing area: 22.2 m² (238.87 ft²)

Empty weight: 3,250 kg (7,165 lb)

Loaded weight: 4,150 kg (9,149 lb)

Max. take-off weight: 4,413 kg (9,730 lb)

 

Powerplant:

1× Packard (License-built Rolls Royce Merlin) V-1650-9 ,

rated at 1,380 hp (1,030 kW) and 2,218 hp (1,500 kW) w. water injection

 

Performance

Maximum speed: 640 km/h (343 knots, 398 mph)

Cruise speed: 495 km/h (265 knots, 308 mph)

Range: 1,105 mi (1,778 km)

Ferry range: 1,330 nmi (1,530 mi, 2,460 km)

Service ceiling: 11,000 m (36,090 ft)

Rate of climb: 15 m/s (2,950 ft/min)

 

Armament

4× 20 mm (0.79 in) Hispano-Suiza HS.404 cannons with 250 RPG

2× hardpoints for up to 2,000 lb (907 kg) of bombs, 6 or 10× T64 5.0 in (127 mm) H.V.A.R rockets

  

The kit and its assembly:

This whif was inspired by a CG rendition of a Saab J21 in a natural metal finish and with (spurious) USAAF markings, probably a skin for a flight simulator. Anyway, I was more or less enchanted by the NMF on the Saab – I had to build one, and it would become the P-74, the only USAF fighter code that had never been used.

 

The kit is the venerable Heller Saab J21A, an “old style” design with raised panel lines. But it is still around and affordable. No big mods were made to the kit during its transition into a USAAF fighter, even though I changed some minor things:

● Main landing gear was completely exchanged through struts from an Airfix A-1 Skyraider and the wheels from a Hasegawa P-51D; thin wire was added as hydraulic tubes

● New propeller blades: instead of the three-bladed original I added four much broader blades with square tips (from a Heller P-51D) to the original spinner

● Different exhaust stubs, which actually belong to a Spitfire Merlin (Special Hobby kit)

● Underfuselage flap was slightly opened

● A pilot figure was added to the nice cockpit

● The gun barrels were replaced with hollow styrene tubes

  

Painting and markings:

NMF was certain, but the rest…? I wanted to have a colorful aircraft, and eventually settled for a machine in the Pacific theatre of operations. When I browsed for options I eventually decided to apply broad black stripes on wings and fuselage, typical 5th Air Force markings that were used e. g. on P-47Ds and P-51Ds.

 

Overall design benchmark for my aircraft is a P-47D-28 of 310th FS/58th FG. The tail would be all white, and the rudder sported red and white stripes, early war insignia. The red nose trim and the deep yellow spinner were taken over from this aircraft, too. The blue individual code number is a personal addition, as well as the nose art, which was puzzled together from a Czech 'Perdubice' Meeting MiG-21 and leftover bits from a Pacific use P-51.

 

The aircraft was basically painted with Aluminum Metallizer (Humbrol 27002) and Polished Steel Metallizer (Modelmaster), and some panels were contrasted with Aluminum (Humbrol 56).

The anti-glare panel in front of the cockpit was painted in Olive Drab (Humbrol 66), the red nose trim with Humbrol 19. The tail was painted with a mix of Humbrol 34 & 196, for a very light grey, and later dry-painted with pure white.

 

The black ID stripes as well as the red and blue rudder trim were not painted, but rather created through decal sheet material (from TL Modellbau), cut to size and shape to fit into their respective places. The tail was a PITA, but for the black stripes this turned out to be very effective and convenient - an experiment that willcertainly see more future use.

 

Cockpit interior was painted in Humbrol 226 (Cockpit Green) and Zinc Chromate Green from Model Master, the landing gear wells received a chrome yellow primer (Humbrol 225) finish.

The landing gear struts were kept in bare Aluminum.

 

For weathering the kit received a rubbing treatment with grinded graphite, which adds a dark, metallic shine and emphasizes the kit’s raised panel lines. Some dry painting with Aluminum was added, too, simulating chipped paint on the leading edges, and on the black ID stripes some dark grey shading was added.

  

A relatively simple whif, but I love how the Saab 21 looks in the unusual, shiny NMF finish - and the USAAF markings with the prominent ID stripes suit it well, even though it looks a bit like a circus attraction now?

Nikon F3

Six Gates Films Orwell BW @400 iso

developed in Tmax dev 7''

epson v700

 

almost all of this picture were taken by Luca (Laszlo K.) while i was developing.

 

it has been a glorious day. We developed over 23 rolls of color negative cinema film in a vintage Morse G3 tank. We had some major fixing issue but we saved some good frames & had a good time.

 

Bottom line:

1)ECN2 is totally feasible for home processing

2) Morse G3 tank agitation could not be the best for these films.

3) we took a little step forward for DIY film photography

We rode up on this train that travels up the second steepest grade in the world (that a train travels on) during foliage time in New Hampshire.

 

Camera: Nikon F90X

Film: 35mm Kodak Ektar 100

Varanasi, also known as Benares, or Kashi is an Indian city on the banks of the Ganga in Uttar Pradesh, 320 kilometres south-east of the state capital, Lucknow. It is the holiest of the seven sacred cities (Sapta Puri) in Hinduism, and Jainism, and played an important role in the development of Buddhism. Some Hindus believe that death at Varanasi brings salvation. It is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. Varanasi is also known as the favourite city of the Hindu deity Lord Shiva as it has been mentioned in the Rigveda that this city in older times was known as Kashi or "Shiv ki Nagri".

 

The Kashi Naresh (Maharaja of Kashi) is the chief cultural patron of Varanasi, and an essential part of all religious celebrations. The culture of Varanasi is closely associated with the Ganges. The city has been a cultural centre of North India for several thousand years, and has a history that is older than most of the major world religions. The Benares Gharana form of Hindustani classical music was developed in Varanasi, and many prominent Indian philosophers, poets, writers, and musicians live or have lived in Varanasi. Gautama Buddha gave his first sermon at Sarnath, located near Varanasi.

 

Varanasi is the spiritual capital of India. It is often referred to as "the holy city of India", "the religious capital of India", "the city of Shiva", and "the city of learning". Scholarly books have been written in the city, including the Ramcharitmanas of Tulsidas. Today, there is a temple of his namesake in the city, the Tulsi Manas Mandir. The current temples and religious institutions in the city are dated to the 18th century. One of the largest residential universities of Asia, the Banaras Hindu University (BHU), is located here.

 

ETYMOLOGY

The name Varanasi possibly originates from the names of the two rivers: Varuna, still flowing in Varanasi, and Asi, a small stream near Assi Ghat. The old city does lie on the north shores of Ganges River bounded by its two tributaries Varuna and Asi. Another speculation is that the city derives its name from the river Varuna, which was called Varanasi in olden times.[11] This is generally disregarded by historians. Through the ages, Varanasi has been known by many names including Kāśī or Kashi (used by pilgrims dating from Buddha's days), Kāśikā (the shining one), Avimukta ("never forsaken" by Shiva), Ānandavana (the forest of bliss), and Rudravāsa (the place where Rudra/Śiva resides).

 

In the Rigveda, the city is referred to as Kāśī or Kashi, the luminous city as an eminent seat of learning. The name Kāśī is also mentioned in the Skanda Purana. In one verse, Shiva says, "The three worlds form one city of mine, and Kāśī is my royal palace therein." The name Kashi may be translated as "City of Light".

 

HISTORY

According to legend, Varanasi was founded by the God Shiva. The Pandavas, the heroes of the Hindu epic Mahabharata are also stated to have visited the city in search of Shiva to atone for their sins of fratricide and Brāhmanahatya that they had committed during the climactic Kurukshetra war. It is regarded as one of seven holy cities which can provide Moksha:

 

The earliest known archaeological evidence suggests that settlement around Varanasi in the Ganga valley (the seat of Vedic religion and philosophy) began in the 11th or 12th century BC, placing it among the world's oldest continually inhabited cities. These archaeological remains suggest that the Varanasi area was populated by Vedic people. However, the Atharvaveda (the oldest known text referencing the city), which dates to approximately the same period, suggests that the area was populated by indigenous tribes. It is possible that archaeological evidence of these previous inhabitants has yet to be discovered. Recent excavations at Aktha and Ramnagar, two sites very near to Varanasi, show them to be from 1800 BC, suggesting Varanasi started to be inhabited by that time too. Varanasi was also home to Parshva, the 23rd Jain Tirthankara and the earliest Tirthankara accepted as a historical figure in the 8th century BC.

 

Varanasi grew as an important industrial centre, famous for its muslin and silk fabrics, perfumes, ivory works, and sculpture. During the time of Gautama Buddha (born circa 567 BC), Varanasi was the capital of the Kingdom of Kashi. Buddha is believed to have founded Buddhism here around 528 BC when he gave his first sermon, "Turning the Wheel of Law", at nearby Sarnath. The celebrated Chinese traveller Xuanzang, who visited the city around 635 AD, attested that the city was a centre of religious and artistic activities, and that it extended for about 5 kilometres along the western bank of the Ganges. When Xuanzang, also known as Hiuen Tsiang, visited Varanasi in the 7th century, he named it "Polonisse" and wrote that the city had some 30 temples with about 30 monks. The city's religious importance continued to grow in the 8th century, when Adi Shankara established the worship of Shiva as an official sect of Varanasi.

 

In ancient times, Varanasi was connected by a road starting from Taxila and ending at Pataliputra during the Mauryan Empire. In 1194, the city succumbed to Turkish Muslim rule under Qutb-ud-din Aibak, who ordered the destruction of some one thousand temples in the city. The city went into decline over some three centuries of Muslim occupation, although new temples were erected in the 13th century after the Afghan invasion. Feroz Shah ordered further destruction of Hindu temples in the Varanasi area in 1376. The Afghan ruler Sikander Lodi continued the suppression of Hinduism in the city and destroyed most of the remaining older temples in 1496. Despite the Muslim rule, Varanasi remained the centre of activity for intellectuals and theologians during the Middle Ages, which further contributed to its reputation as a cultural centre of religion and education. Several major figures of the Bhakti movement were born in Varanasi, including Kabir who was born here in 1389 and hailed as "the most outstanding of the saint-poets of Bhakti cult (devotion) and mysticism of 15th-Century India"; and Ravidas, a 15th-century socio-religious reformer, mystic, poet, traveller, and spiritual figure, who was born and lived in the city and employed in the tannery industry. Similarly, numerous eminent scholars and preachers visited the city from across India and south Asia. Guru Nanak Dev visited Varanasi for Shivratri in 1507, a trip that played a large role in the founding of Sikhism.

 

In the 16th century, Varanasi experienced a cultural revival under the Muslim Mughal emperor Akbar who invested in the city, and built two large temples dedicated to Shiva and Vishnu. The Raja of Poona established the Annapurnamandir and the 200 metres Akbari Bridge was also completed during this period. The earliest tourists began arriving in the city during the 16th century. In 1665, the French traveller Jean Baptiste Tavernier described the architectural beauty of the Vindu Madhava temple on the side of the Ganges. The road infrastructure was also improved during this period and extended from Kolkata to Peshawar by Emperor Sher Shah Suri; later during the British Raj it came to be known as the famous Grand Trunk Road. In 1656, emperor Aurangzeb ordered the destruction of many temples and the building of mosques, causing the city to experience a temporary setback. However, after Aurangazeb's death, most of India was ruled by a confederacy of pro-Hindu kings. Much of modern Varanasi was built during this time by the Rajput and Maratha kings, especially during the 18th century, and most of the important buildings in the city today date to this period. The kings continued to be important through much of the British rule (1775–1947 AD), including the Maharaja of Benares, or Kashi Naresh. The kingdom of Benares was given official status by the Mughals in 1737, and continued as a dynasty-governed area until Indian independence in 1947, during the reign of Dr. Vibhuti Narayan Singh. In the 18th century, Muhammad Shah ordered the construction of an observatory on the Ganges, attached to Man Mandir Ghat, designed to discover imperfections in the calendar in order to revise existing astronomical tables. Tourism in the city began to flourish in the 18th century. In 1791, under the rule of the British Governor-General Warren Hastings, Jonathan Duncan founded a Sanskrit College in Varanasi. In 1867, the establishment of the Varanasi Municipal Board led to significant improvements in the city.

 

In 1897, Mark Twain, the renowned Indophile, said of Varanasi, "Benares is older than history, older than tradition, older even than legend, and looks twice as old as all of them put together." In 1910, the British made Varanasi a new Indian state, with Ramanagar as its headquarters but with no jurisdiction over the city of Varanasi itself. Kashi Naresh still resides in the Ramnagar Fort which is situated to the east of Varanasi, across the Ganges. Ramnagar Fort and its museum are the repository of the history of the kings of Varanasi. Since the 18th century, the fort has been the home of Kashi Naresh, deeply revered by the local people. He is the religious head and some devout inhabitants consider him to be the incarnation of Shiva. He is also the chief cultural patron and an essential part of all religious celebrations.

 

A massacre by British troops, of the Indian troops stationed here and of the population of the city, took place during the early stages of the Indian Rebellion of 1857. Annie Besant worked in Varanasi to promote theosophy and founded the Central Hindu College which later became a foundation for the creation of Banaras Hindu University as a secular university in 1916. Her purpose in founding the Central Hindu College in Varanasi was that she "wanted to bring men of all religions together under the ideal of brotherhood in order to promote Indian cultural values and to remove ill-will among different sections of the Indian population."

 

Varanasi was ceded to the Union of India on 15 October 1948. After the death of Dr. Vibhuti Narayan Singh in 2000, his son Anant Narayan Singh became the figurehead king, responsible for upholding the traditional duties of a Kashi Naresh.

 

MAIN SIGHTS

Varanasi's "Old City", the quarter near the banks of the Ganga river, has crowded narrow winding lanes flanked by road-side shops and scores of Hindu temples. As atmospheric as it is confusing, Varanasi's labyrinthine Old City has a rich culture, attracting many travellers and tourists. The main residential areas of Varanasi (especially for the middle and upper classes) are situated in regions far from the ghats; they are more spacious and less polluted.

 

Museums in and around Varanasi include Jantar Mantar, Sarnath Museum, Bharat Kala Bhawan and Ramnagar Fort.

 

JANTAR MANTAR

The Jantar Mantar observatory (1737) is located above the ghats on the Ganges, much above the high water level in the Ganges next to the Manmandir Ghat, near to Dasaswamedh Ghat and adjoining the palace of Raja Jai Singh of Jaipur. Compared to the observatories at Jaipur and Delhi, it is less well equipped but has a unique equatorial sundial which is functional and allows measurements to be monitored and recorded by one person.

 

RAMNAGAR FORT

The Ramnagar Fort located near the Ganges River on its eastern bank, opposite to the Tulsi Ghat, was built in the 18th century by Kashi Naresh Raja Balwant Singh with creamy chunar sandstone. It is in a typically Mughal style of architecture with carved balconies, open courtyards, and scenic pavilions. At present the fort is not in good repair. The fort and its museum are the repository of the history of the kings of Benares. It has been the home of the Kashi Naresh since the 18th century. The current king and the resident of the fort is Anant Narayan Singh who is also known as the Maharaja of Varanasi even though this royal title has been abolished since 1971. Labeled "an eccentric museum", it has a rare collection of American vintage cars, sedan chairs (bejeweled), an impressive weaponry hall and a rare astrological clock. In addition, manuscripts, especially religious writings, are housed in the Saraswati Bhawan. Also included is a precious handwritten manuscript by Goswami Tulsidas. Many books illustrated in the Mughal miniature style, with beautifully designed covers are also part of the collections. Because of its scenic location on the banks of the Ganges, it is frequently used as an outdoor shooting location for films. The film titled Banaras is one of the popular movies shot here. However, only a part of the fort is open for public viewing as the rest of the area is the residence of the Kashi Naresh and his family. It is 14 kilometres from Varanasi.

 

GHATS

Ghats are embankments made in steps of stone slabs along the river bank where pilgrims perform ritual ablutions. Ghats in Varanasi are an integral complement to the concept of divinity represented in physical, metaphysical and supernatural elements. All the ghats are locations on "the divine cosmic road", indicative of "its manifest transcendental dimension" Varanasi has at least 84 ghats. Steps in the ghats lead to the banks of River Ganges, including the Dashashwamedh Ghat, the Manikarnika Ghat, the Panchganga Ghat and the Harishchandra Ghat (where Hindus cremate their dead). Many ghats are associated with legends and several are now privately owned.

 

Many of the ghats were built when the city was under Maratha control. Marathas, Shindes (Scindias), Holkars, Bhonsles, and Peshwas stand out as patrons of present-day Varanasi. Most of the ghats are bathing ghats, while others are used as cremation sites. A morning boat ride on the Ganges across the ghats is a popular visitor attraction. The extensive stretches of ghats enhance the river front with a multitude of shrines, temples and palaces built "tier on tier above the water’s edge".

 

The Dashashwamedh Ghat is the main and probably the oldest ghat of Varansi located on the Ganges, close to the Kashi Vishwanath Temple. It is believed that Brahma created it to welcome Shiva and sacrificed ten horses during the Dasa -Ashwamedha yajna performed here. Above the ghat and close to it, there are also temples dedicated to Sulatankesvara, Brahmesvara, Varahesvara, Abhaya Vinayaka, Ganga (the Ganges), and Bandi Devi which are part of important pilgrimage journeys. A group of priests perform "Agni Pooja" (Worship to Fire) daily in the evening at this ghat as a dedication to Shiva, Ganga, Surya (Sun), Agni (Fire), and the whole universe. Special aartis are held on Tuesdays and on religious festivals.

 

The Manikarnika Ghat is the Mahasmasana (meaning: "great cremation ground") and is the primary site for Hindu cremation in the city. Adjoining the ghat, there are raised platforms that are used for death anniversary rituals. It is said that an ear-ring (Manikarnika) of Shiva or his wife Sati fell here. According to a myth related to the Tarakesvara Temple, a Shiva temple at the ghat, Shiva whispers the Taraka mantra ("Prayer of the crossing") in the ear of the dead. Fourth-century Gupta period inscriptions mention this ghat. However, the current ghat as a permanent riverside embankment was built in 1302 and has been renovated at least three times.

 

TEMPLES

Among the estimated 23000 temples in Varanasi, the most worshiped are: the Kashi Vishwanath Temple of Shiva; the Sankat Mochan Hanuman Temple; and the Durga Temple known for the band of monkeys that reside in the large trees nearby.

 

Located on the outskirts of the Ganges, the Kashi Vishwanath Temple – dedicated to Varanasi's presiding deity Shiva (Vishwanath – "Lord of the world") – is an important Hindu temple and one of the 12 Jyotirlinga Shiva temples. It is believed that a single view of Vishwanath Jyotirlinga is worth more than that of other jyotirlingas. The temple has been destroyed and rebuilt a number of times. The Gyanvapi Mosque, which is adjacent to the temple, is the original site of the temple. The temple, as it exists now, also called Golden Temple, was built in 1780 by Queen Ahilyabai Holkar of Indore. The two pinnacles of the temple are covered in gold, donated in 1839 by Ranjit Singh, the ruler of the Punjab and the remaining dome is also planned to be gold plated by the Ministry of Culture & Religious Affairs of Uttar Pradesh. On 28 January 1983, the temple was taken over by the government of Uttar Pradesh and its management was transferred to a trust with then Kashi Naresh, Vibhuti Narayan Singh, as president and an executive committee with a Divisional Commissioner as chairman. Numerous rituals, prayers and aratis are held daily, starting from 2:30 am till 11:00 pm.

 

The Sankat Mochan Hanuman Temple is one of the sacred temples of the Hindu god Hanuman situated by the Assi River, on the way to the Durga and New Vishwanath temples within the Banaras Hindu University campus. The present temple structure was built in early 1900s by the educationist and freedom fighter, Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya, the founder of Banaras Hindu University. It is believed the temple was built on the very spot where the medieval Hindu saint Tulsidas had a vision of Hanuman. Thousands flock to the temple on Tuesdays and Saturdays, weekdays associated with Hanuman. On 7 March 2006, in a terrorist attack one of the three explosions hit the temple while the Aarti was in progress when numerous devotees and people attending a wedding were present and many were injured. However, normal worship was resumed the next day with devotees visiting the temple and reciting hymns of Hanuman Chalisa (authored by Tulidas) and Sundarkand (a booklet of these hymns is provided free of charge in the temple). After the terrorist incident, a permanent police post was set up inside the temple.

 

There are two temples named "Durga" in Varanasi, Durga Mandir (built about 500 years ago), and Durga Kund (built in the 18th century). Thousands of Hindu devotees visit Durga Kund during Navratri to worship the goddess Durga. The temple, built in Nagara architectural style, has multi-tiered spires[96] and is stained red with ochre, representing the red colour of Durga. The building has a rectangular tank of water called the Durga Kund ("Kund" meaning a pond or pool). Every year on the occasion of Nag Panchami, the act of depicting the god Vishnu reclining on the serpent Shesha is recreated in the Kund.

 

While the Annapurna Temple, located close to the Kashi Vishwanath temple, is dedicated to Annapurna, the goddess of food, the Sankatha Temple close to the Sindhia Ghat is dedicated to Sankatha, the goddess of remedy. The Sankatha temple has a large sculpture of a lion and a nine temple cluster dedicated to the nine planets.

 

Kalabhairav Temple, an ancient temple located near the Head Post Office at Visheshar Ganj, is dedicated to Kala-Bhairava, the guardian (Kotwal) of Varanasi. The Mrithyunjay Mahadev Temple, dedicated to Shiva, is situated on the way to Daranagar to Kalbhairav temple. A well near the temple has some religious significance as its water source is believed to be fed from several underground streams, having curative powers.

 

The New Vishwanath Temple located in the campus of Banaras Hindu University is a modern temple which was planned by Pandit Malviya and built by the Birlas. The Tulsi Manas Temple, nearby the Durga Temple, is a modern temple dedicated to the god Rama. It is built at the place where Tulsidas authored the Ramcharitmanas, which narrates the life of Rama. Many verses from this epic are inscribed on the temple walls.

 

The Bharat Mata Temple, dedicated to the national personification of India, was inaugurated by Mahatma Gandhi in 1936. It has relief maps of India carved in marble. Babu Shiv Prasad Gupta and Durga Prasad Khatri, leading numismatists, antiquarians and nationalist leaders, donated funds for its construction.

 

RELIGION

HINDUISM

Varanasi is one of the holiest cities and centres of pilgrimage for Hindus of all denominations. It is one of the seven Hindu holiest cities (Sapta Puri), considered the giver of salvation (moksha). Over 50,000 Brahmins live in Varanasi, providing religious services to the masses. Hindus believe that bathing in the Ganges remits sins and that dying in Kashi ensures release of a person's soul from the cycle of its transmigrations. Thus, many Hindus arrive here for dying.

 

As the home to the Kashi Vishwanath Temple Jyotirlinga, it is very sacred for Shaivism. Varanasi is also a Shakti Peetha, where the temple to goddess Vishalakshi stands, believed to be the spot where the goddess Sati's earrings fell. Hindus of the Shakti sect make a pilgrimage to the city because they regard the River Ganges itself to be the Goddess Shakti. Adi Shankara wrote his commentaries on Hinduism here, leading to the great Hindu revival.

 

In 2001, Hindus made up approximately 84% of the population of Varanasi District.

 

ISLAM

Varanasi is one of the holiest cities and centres of pilgrimage for Hindus of all denominations. It is one of the seven Hindu holiest cities (Sapta Puri), considered the giver of salvation (moksha). Over 50,000 Brahmins live in Varanasi, providing religious services to the masses. Hindus believe that bathing in the Ganges remits sins and that dying in Kashi ensures release of a person's soul from the cycle of its transmigrations. Thus, many Hindus arrive here for dying.

 

As the home to the Kashi Vishwanath Temple Jyotirlinga, it is very sacred for Shaivism. Varanasi is also a Shakti Peetha, where the temple to goddess Vishalakshi stands, believed to be the spot where the goddess Sati's earrings fell. Hindus of the Shakti sect make a pilgrimage to the city because they regard the River Ganges itself to be the Goddess Shakti. Adi Shankara wrote his commentaries on Hinduism here, leading to the great Hindu revival.

 

In 2001, Hindus made up approximately 84% of the population of Varanasi District.

 

OTHERS

At the 2001 census, persons of other religions or no religion made up 0.4% of the population of Varanasi District.

 

Varanasi is a pilgrimage site for Jains along with Hindus and Buddhists. It is believed to be the birthplace of Suparshvanath, Shreyansanath, and Parshva, who are respectively the seventh, eleventh, and twenty-third Jain Tirthankars and as such Varanasi is a holy city for Jains. Shree Parshvanath Digambar Jain Tirth Kshetra (Digambar Jain Temple) is situated in Bhelupur, Varanasi. This temple is of great religious importance to the Jain Religion.

 

Sarnath, a suburb of Varanasi, is a place of Buddhist pilgrimage. It is the site of the deer park where Siddhartha Gautama of Nepal is said to have given his first sermon about the basic principles of Buddhism. The Dhamek Stupa is one of the few pre-Ashokan stupas still in existence, though only its foundation remains. Also remaining is the Chaukhandi Stupa commemorating the spot where Buddha met his first disciples in the 5th century. An octagonal tower was built later there.

 

Guru Nanak Dev visited Varanasi for Shivratri in 1507 and had an encounter which with other events forms the basis for the story of the founding of Sikhism. Varanasi also hosts the Roman Catholic Diocese of Varanasi, and has an insignificant Jewish expatriate community. Varanasi is home to numerous tribal faiths which are not easily classified.

 

Dalits are 13% of population Of Varanasi city. Most dalits are followers of Guru Ravidass. So Shri Guru Ravidass Janam Asthan is important place of pilgrimage for Ravidasis from all around India.

 

RELIGIOUS FESTIVALS

On Mahashivaratri (February) – which is dedicated to Shiva – a procession of Shiva proceeds from the Mahamrityunjaya Temple to the Kashi Vishwanath Temple.

 

Dhrupad Mela is a five-day musical festival devoted to dhrupad style held at Tulsi Ghat in February–March.

 

The Sankat Mochan Hanuman Temple celebrates Hanuman Jayanti (March–April), the birthday of Hanuman with great fervour. A special puja, aarti, and a public procession is organized. Starting in 1923, the temple organizes a five-day classical music and dance concert festival titled Sankat Mochan Sangeet Samaroh in this period, when iconic artists from all parts of India are invited to perform.

 

The Ramlila of Ramnagar is a dramatic enactment of Rama's legend, as told in Ramacharitamanasa. The plays, sponsored by Kashi Naresh, are performed in Ramnagar every evening for 31 days. On the last day, the festivities reach a crescendo as Rama vanquishes the demon king Ravana. Kashi Naresh Udit Narayan Singh started this tradition around 1830.

 

Bharat Milap celebrates the meeting of Rama and his younger brother Bharata after the return of the former after 14 years of exile. It is celebrated during October–November, a day after the festival of Vijayadashami. Kashi Naresh attends this festival in his regal attire resplendent in regal finery. The festival attracts a large number of devotees.

 

Nag Nathaiya, celebrated on the fourth lunar day of the dark fortnight of the Hindu month of Kartik (October–November), that commemorates the victory of the god Krishna over the serpent Kaliya. On this occasion, a large Kadamba tree (Neolamarckia cadamba) branch is planted on the banks of the Ganges so that a boy acting the role of Krishna can jump into the river on to the effigy representing Kaliya. He stands over the effigy in a dancing pose playing the flute; the effigy and the boy standing on it is given a swirl in front of the audience. People watch the display standing on the banks of the river or from boats.

 

Ganga Mahotsav is a five-day music festival organized by the Uttar Pradesh Tourism Department, held in November–December culminating a day before Kartik Poornima (Dev Deepawali). On Kartik Poornima also called the Ganges festival, the Ganges is venerated by arti offered by thousands of pilgrims who release lighted lamps to float in the river from the ghats.

 

Annually Jashne-Eid Miladunnabi is celebrated on the day of Barawafat in huge numbers by Muslims in a huge rally coming from all the parts of the city and meeting up at Beniya Bagh.

 

WIKIPEDIA

Taken at a bar in Oslo.

501 C/M, 150/f4, flash.

Developed, printed and then digitized from negative.

The Rise

Regency Square Mall was originally developed in the mid-to-late 1960s. The project was initiated by Regency Centers, a now-powerful retail real estate trust based in Jacksonville that was at the time just getting started.

The mall was constructed at a cost of $12 million upon a giant clump of sand dunes, and opened its doors to the public in 1967. It featured three anchor stores – JC Penney, Furchgott’s, and May-Cohens – as well as an adjacent movie theater.

Regency quickly became a hit, owing a lot of its success to its location. At the time the Arlington area was among Jacksonville’s fastest-growing neighborhoods, and Regency Square Mall was by far the closest retail hub for its residents as well as shoppers coming into town from the beaches. It also helped that the mall was built in an era where shopping malls were quickly becoming a ubiquitous part of life in America.

The surrounding area experienced a development boom, with shopping centers, car dealers, office parks, and restaurants popping up all along neighboring stretches of Atlantic Blvd. Some of this was a result of continued growth in Arlington, but much was the direct result of traffic brought in by Regency’s success.

By the late ’70s, Regency was one of the country’s most active malls, and completely dominated the Jacksonville shopping landscape. The only “nearby” mall that could claim to compete with Regency’s offerings at the time, Orange Park Mall, was over 24 miles away.

Naturally, the mall’s ownership wanted to capitalize on this success, so around this time plans were developed to double the size of the mall at a cost of around $30 million.

Bizarrely, developers opted to tack on the additional space to the opposite side of May-Cohens, creating two wings divided by an anchor store. Ivey’s and Sears became the anchors of the newly-opened west wing.

Shortly thereafter, the east wing would get upgrades in the form of an AMC theater and a large food court.

All the while, business continued to boom at Regency Square, perhaps more so than ever.

The Fall

There’s an old proverb based on a Bible passage that states, “Pride comes before a fall.”

In the mid ’80s, Furchgott’s announced their merger with Stein Mart. While most of the chain’s stores were converted to the Stein Mart branding, Regency’s operators proudly believed the brand to be too low-class for their mall and opted to pursue a replacement anchor.

At the turn of the decade, Regency faced stiff new competition in the form of The Avenues. This new two-story mall, constructed along the intersection of Philips Highway and Southside Blvd., offered a slightly more upscale shopping experience and threatened to lure customers from the then-thriving Baymeadows area away from Regency.

Around this same time, cracks began to show in the foundation at Regency. The mall changed ownership, being sold off to Chicago-based General Growth Properties.

A couple of anchor stores began a decade-long game of musical chair. Dillard’s moved to yet another new wing, vacating the former Ivey’s, which would then become a Montgomery Ward. May-Cohens would become a Gayfer’s, then later a Belk.

Most significant, however, was the rapidly-growing issue of crime. By the early ’90s, yearly crime reports at the mall reached quadruple digits. Over the following decade, the mall rapidly developed a reputation among locals as “the sketchy mall”.

The mall’s management made attempts to fix their reputation, but for the most part the damage had been done. The addition of a JSO substation in 1998 did little to curb the crime epidemic, and the addition of an aggressively-enforced mall dress code the next year only served to alienate its remaining customers.

It seemed clear that despite the mall’s shortcomings, its management felt as though it was still an elite retail hub. In other words, they let pride take the place of rationality.

Another round of renovations in the late ’90s brought an upgraded food court and theater. When Montgomery Ward left in 2001, management pursued big-name anchors rather than simply looking to fill the vacated spot. As a result, Ward’s spot stayed empty for five years.

In 2005, the opening of the St. Johns Town Center made Regency’s survival even less likely. The Town Center now catered to the upscale crowd, with The Avenues’ savvy management team rolling out renovations around the same time to keep up appearances.

Meanwhile, Regency’s crime rate grew worse and vacancies began piling up within its corridors.

By the late 2000s, it was clear that the mall was dying. Crimes at Regency outpaced those at The Avenues and St. Johns Town Center combined.

The mall’s west wing became a ghost town. Dillard’s converted their location to a clearance center. A shooting in 2008 involving an off-duty JSO officer only served to further solidify the mall’s reputation as a bad place. Many locals refused to shop at the mall by themselves, or after dark.

By 2014, the mall’s occupancy rate slipped well under 50%. Belk, which occupied the anchor space that separated the east and west wings, announced that they planned to bolt to a standalone store further down Atlantic Blvd. General Growth Properties, finally accepting that they wouldn’t be the ones to save the mall, put it up for sale in 2013, and got rid of it just a year later.

When new ownership took over, they opted to close down the west wing and move any remaining tenants over to the east wing in hopes of saving at least one part of the mall.

Trump National Doral Miami

 

-- The Kaskel Years --

 

Immigrating from Poland in the 1920's, Alfred L. Kaskel (1901–1968) used his skills to open in the Coney Island neighborhood a small building supplies store which led to early opportunities as a building contractor. Kaskel saved his money and was able to build his first apartment building on Parkside Avenue in Brooklyn. By the age of 30 he was a millionaire. He reinvested the profits and rose to prominence in New York City real estate in the postwar period - as did Donald Trump's father, Fred Trump and Sam Lefrak - by securing low cost government loans to build housing for returning GIs. Kaskel realized the potential for affordable housing in New York City and developed apartments in Forest Hills-Kew Gardens-Rego Park, Queens. In 1945 Kaskel bought the Belmont Plaza Hotel on Lexington and 49th Street - which marked his beginning of a rapid acceleration into the hotel real estate. Kaskel (Carol Management named after his daughter Carole) bought Coney Island's famed Half Moon Hotel for $900,000 in 1947. Kaskel sold the hotel in 1949 for $1,000,000 to the Harbor Hospital of Brooklyn.

 

By 1958 Kaskel was a part time resident of Miami and built the Carillon, a 620 room palace designed by Norman Giller, the celebrated “father” of Miami Modern (MiMo) architecture at Collins and 68th. The Carillon epitomized resort culture in Miami Beach. In 1959, it was voted Miami Beach’s “Hotel of the Year.” A glamorous night spot, the Carillon became known during the 1960s for its famous guests, lavish parties, cabaret shows, and big-name entertainment. Kaskel enjoyed golf - it led him to the swampland west of the Miami Airport and the Doral Country Club. Alfred and Doris Kaskel purchased 2,400 acres of swampland between NW 36 Street and NW 74 Street and from NW 79 Avenue to NW 117 Avenue for about $49,000 with the intention of building a golf course and hotel. At that time there was no paved road to the property. Kaskel's wife and daughter thought he was crazy to purchase the property and called it "Kaskel's folly". In 1962, the Kaskel's dream came true when they opened a hotel and country club that featured the Blue, Red and Par 3 golf courses. They named it Doral - a combination of Alfred and Doris. The Doral was the most luxurious resort constructed in South Florida since the Miami Biltmore in Coral Gables opened in the 1920's. The Doral Country Club was built for $10 million by Kaskel's family owned real estate firm, Carol Management. The Doral golf concept was to build multiple golf courses with a central country club, dining, meeting facilities and lodge rooms and reserve the fairway views for future house, condo and apartment buildings. In 1963 Kaskel also opened the 420- room Doral-on-Ocean - as the sister hotel to the Doral Country Club. The Doral Beach Hotel was long considered the most elegant and luxurious hotel in the area. It won several Mobil Five Star awards. It was said Kaskel did not have a mortgage on the Carillon Hotel, Doral Beach of the Doral Country Club - all funded by the thousands of apartment houses he owned in New York City.

 

Kaskel hired Louis Sibbett "Dick" Wilson and his assistants Joe Lee and Bob Hagge (Robert von Hagge) to design Doral's two regulation length golf courses plus a par-3 course. Wilson was the architect for Bay Hill in Orlando and La Costa in Carlsbad, CA. Since much of the land was swamp Mr. Hagge excavated enough land to route fairways through the water infested terrain just as Kaskel had requested. The intention was to use existing water as an ever-present hazard compensating for the very flat landscape. In May, 1963 construction began on the White Course, for the Doral complex, but it needed dirt, and so the lakes were dredged and enlarged on the Blue course from 60 acres to 75 acres. Kaskel hired Bob Hagge to design the White course. As a result of the building of the new White course, the par-3 course was redesigned since they were both located on the same parcel of land. On January 20, 1966 the Doral Country Club White Course opened and in December 1966 the redesigned Par 3 course reopened. Since the Blue Course had been renamed the Blue Monster, the other courses were renamed as well. The Red Course was renamed the Red Tiger, as Jackie Gleason once called the course. The White Course became known as the White Wonder, and the Par-3 Course became known as the Green Course or the Green Hornet. In 1968, Robert von Hagge and Bruce Devlin were hired to build the fifth course at the Doral Country Club - the Gold Course. In January, 1970 the Gold Course opened for business and received the moniker of Bachelor's Gold.

 

Kaskel put up a large purse to attract a PGA event at Doral in 1962. The tournament was held on the Blue Course and was named the Doral Country Club Open Invitational. Billy Casper was the inaugural winner of the Doral tournament. For that triumph, Casper earned $9,000 of the $50,000 purse. After watching the professionals struggle on the Blue Course, the tournament director Frank Strafaci gave the Blue Course the nickname 'The Blue Monster' which stuck. Doral's Touring Golf Pro for many years was Seve Ballesteros.

 

By 1978 the Kaskel family had grown the Doral brand to 8 hotels including in NYC: Doral Tuscany (now the St Giles Tuscany), Doral Park Avenue (now the Iberostar), Doral Court (now the St. Giles The Court) and the Doral Inn (originally the Belmont Plaza and the former W Flagship hotel now the Maxwell). In 1987, a spa wing was added to the Doral Country Club's hotel and the facility was renamed as the Doral Golf Resort and Spa. Prior to its renovation, the 800 acre complex was reported to feature "four golf courses; 700 hotel rooms across 10 lodges; more than 86,000-square-foot of meeting space, including a 25,000-square-foot ballroom; a 50,000-square-foot spa with 33 treatment rooms; six food and beverage outlets; extensive retail; and a private members' clubhouse.

 

--- The next five owners - KSL, CNL, Morgan Stanley, Paulson & Co. and Donald J. Trump ---

 

In 1994, the Kaskel family (Carol Management) sold the resort to KSL Recreation, a Kohlberg Kravis Roberts affiliate focused on premier golf facilities, for approximately $100 million. KSL Recreation was formed in 1992 (Henry Kravis, Michael Shannon and Larry Lichliter) as a portfolio company of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. KSL investors include public and private pensions and high net worth individuals. KSL appointed Hans Turnovszky as the new general manager. KSL planned a $30 million renovation. Starwood Capital was another interested buyer. The renovation included the remodel of ground floor restaurants (Terraza and Champions Sports Bar and Grill), all rooms and the 4 golf courses.

 

By 1995 the 4 courses (Blue Monster, Gold, White and Red) at Doral were frayed around the edges after some years of neglect. The Blue Monster was dropped off Golf Digest's list of the best 100 courses in 1993. In an effort to update the Blue Monster's difficulty in relation to changes in golf technology and skill, KSL contracted Ray Floyd to renovate the course in 1995. Floyd added and enlarged the already numerous bunkers narrowing many landing areas from the tee. The course was challenging under ideal conditions, but in normal tradewinds the alterations proved too penal and very unpopular. In 1999 Jim McLean, the Doral golf instructor, was asked to take the edges off Floyd's modifications.

 

In 1999 KSL sold 36 acres next to the Doral's golf courses to Marriott Vacation Club International for 240 timeshare villas. The sale marks the first time the Doral's owner, KSL Hotel Corp., relinquished a part of its property, said Joel Paige, KSL president and general manager of the Doral Golf Resort & Spa. KSL has agreed to let Marriott feed off the Doral's amenities by granting timeshare owners the same 40 percent discount and preferred access as guests at KSL's 700-room hotel. That includes the spa, golf courses, tennis courts.

 

In 2004 CNL acquired KSL for $1.366 billion and debt of $794 million for total acquisition cost of $2.16 billion. The resort portfolio of six included: 692-room Doral Golf Resort & Spa in Miami, Florida, 780-room Grand Wailea Resort & Spa on Maui, Hawaii, 796-room La Quinta Resort & Club and PGA West in La Quinta, California, 738-room Arizona Biltmore Resort & Spa in Phoenix, Arizona, 279-room Claremont Resort & Spa in Berkeley, California, 246-room Lake Lanier Islands Resort near Atlanta, Georgia. CNL placed the Doral resort under the management of Marriott International and renamed the property the Doral Golf Resort and Spa, a Marriott Resort. CNL said it would spend $40 million over the next three years on capital improvements at the Doral.

 

In 2007, CNL Hotels was acquired by the real estate arm of Morgan Stanley. The Doral was included in the portfolio of 8 resorts acquired by Morgan Stanley Real Estate for a total transaction cost of $6.6 billion. Michael Franco, the managing director of Morgan Stanley Real Estate said the resorts are extremely hard to replicate and will show excellent future growth from increased corporate group travel and leisure traveler markets.

 

In 2009, Doral's Silver Course was redesigned by Jim McLean and the course was renamed as the Doral Golf Resort & Spa - Jim McLean Signature Course.

 

In 2011, a group of creditors led by hedge fund giant Paulson & Co. seized control of the Doral and seven other properties from Morgan Stanley real estate funds. Morgan Stanley could not handle a $1 billion bond payment coming due. They quickly placed the Doral under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, and began seeking a buyer for the Doral. By selling Doral now the Paulson-led owners can use the cash to pay down debts and avoid making overdue capital expenditures of updating the property.

 

Donald Trump announced in October 2011 that he would buy Doral for $150 million and invest more than the purchase price to restore the property and make Doral great again. When asked what the renovation budget would be Trump has said "unlimited" which publicly became $250 million. The renovations were financed with $125 million in loans from Deutsche Bank. The Trump Organization's hotel management unit, Trump Hotel Collection, took over Doral's management in June 2012. Donald Trrump's daughter Ivanka took charge of the 700 guest rooms' redesign featuring Ivanka's "stylish palette of elegant neutrals, including ivory, champagne and caramel - accentuated with mahogany veneers and gold leaf Spanish revival details". Ivanka introduced her own brand synonymous with quality, elegance, and sophistication into every aspect; from the imported Austrian crystal chandeliers to the handmade Italian bed linens. The rooms were made over in to luxury suites that include massive marble baths with European styled whirlpools. All existing restaurants were gutted and a classic five-star "gourmet stunner" opened - BLT Prime.

 

Doral Golf Resort & Spa was renamed Trump National Doral Miami. The Blue Monster course was renovated by Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner and reopened in December 2013. After a Hanse/Wagner renovation, the Silver Fox course reopened in December 2014. The White Course was closed in January, 2015. The Red Tiger course reopened on January 12, 2015 and the Golden Palm course reopened in September 2015 after the Hanse/Wagner renovations.

 

The Blue Monster played host to the Doral Open on the PGA Tour from 1962 to 2006, and from 2007 to 2016 the WGC-Cadillac Championship made its home there. In 2016, it was announced that the tournament would be moved to Mexico City. In 2017 Rick Smith, best known as Phil Mickelson's former swing coach, replaced Jim McLean as the lead instructor at Trump National Doral Miami. McLean, a fixture at Doral through five owners and 26 years, moved his golf school to the nearby Biltmore Miami Hotel, where ownership has promised significant upgrades to its existing practice facilities. McLean called the move to Coral Gables "bittersweet."

 

Trump has been the target of dozens of liens from contractors who worked on the renovation project. On May 20, 2016, a Miami-Dade County Circuit Court judge ordered Trump National Doral Miami to be foreclosed and sold on June 28 unless the Trump Organization paid $32,800 to a Miami paint supply company. A 6-foot high portrait of Donald Trump hanging in the Champions Bar became controversial when it was reported to be purchased for $10,000 with funds from the non-profit Trump Foundation. The resort has challenged the local property tax assessments every year. In May 2019 it was reported the resort was in "steep decline" financially, in which its net operating income had fallen by 69 percent – from $13.8 million in 2015 to $4.3 million two years later.

 

David Feder has served as Vice President and Managing Director of Trump National Doral from 2014 to present. He previously presided over the Boca Resort and Club, Fairmont Turnberry Isle and the Arizona Biltmore. Paige Koerbel managed Doral in 2010 when it was operated by Marriott International and was there during the Trump acquisition. Joel Paige served as KSL's General Manager at Doral from 1995 to 2001. Paige is now the Chief Operating Officer at Kingsmill Resort in Williamsburg, Va.

 

Photos and text compiled by Dick Johnson

richardlloydjohnson@hotmail.com

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based historical facts. BEWARE!

  

In July 1967, the first Swedish Air Force student pilots started training on the Saab 105, a Swedish high-wing, twin-engine trainer aircraft developed in the early sixties as a private venture by Saab AB. The Swedish Air Force procured the type for various roles and issued the aircraft with the designation Sk 60.

 

The Sk 60 entered service in 1967, replacing the aging De Havilland Vampire fleet, and had a long-lasting career. But in the late Eighties, by which point the existing engines of the Swedish Air Force's Sk 60 fleet were considered to be towards the end of their technical and economic lifespan and the airframes started to show their age and wear of constant use, the Swedish Air Force started to think about a successor and/or a modernization program.

 

Saab suggested to replace the Saab 105’s Turbomeca Aubisque engines with newly-built Williams International FJ44 engines, which were lighter and less costly to operate, but this was only regarded as a stop-gap solution. In parallel, Saab also started work for a dedicated new jet trainer that would prepare pilots for the Saab 39 Gripen – also on the drawing boards at the time – and as a less sophisticated alternative to the promising but stillborn Saab 38.

 

The Saab 38 (also known as B3LA or A 38/Sk 38) was a single-engine jet trainer and attack aircraft planned by Saab during the 1970s and actually a collaboration between Saab and the Italian aircraft manufacturer Aermacchi (the aircraft resembled the AMX a lot). It was to replace the older Saab 105 jet trainer in the Swedish Air Force, too, but the aircraft never got past the drawing board and was canceled in 1979 in favor of the more advanced Saab JAS 39 Gripen multi-role fighter.

Anyway, this decision left Sweden without a replacement for the Sk 60 as transitional trainer and as a light attack and reconnaissance aircraft.

 

In 1991, Saab presented its new trainer design, internally called "FSK900", to the Swedish Air Force. The aircraft was a conservative design, with such a configurational resemblance to the Dassault-Dornier Alpha Jet that it is hard to believe Saab engineers didn't see the Alpha Jet as a model for what they wanted to do. However, even if that was the case, the FSK900 was by no means a copy of the Alpha Jet, and the two machines can be told apart at a glance. FSK900 had a muscular, rather massive appearance, while the Alpha Jet was more wasp-like and very sleek. The FSK900 was also bigger in length and span and had an empty weight about 10% greater.

 

The FSK900 was mostly made of aircraft aluminum alloys, with some control surfaces made of carbon-fiber / epoxy composite, plus very selective use of titanium. It had high-mounted swept wings, with a supercritical airfoil section and a leading-edge dogtooth; a conventional swept tail assembly; tricycle landing gear; twin engines, one mounted in a pod along each side of the fuselage; and a tandem-seat cockpit with dual controls.

 

The wings had a sweep of 27.5°, an anhedral droop of 7°, and featured ailerons for roll control as well as double slotted flaps. The tailplanes were all-moving, and also featured an anhedral of 7°. An airbrake was mounted on each side of the rear fuselage. Flight controls were hydraulic, and hydraulic systems were dual redundant.

 

The instructor and cadet sat in tandem, both on zero-zero ejection seats, with the instructor's seat in the rear raised 27 centimeters (10.6 inches) to give a good forward view. The cockpit was pressurized and featured a one-piece canopy, hinged open to the right, that provided excellent visibility.

 

The landing gear assemblies all featured single wheels, with the nose gear retracting forward and the main gear retracting forward and into the fuselage, featuring an antiskid braking system. The twin engines were two Williams International FJ44-4M turbofans without reheat, each rated at 16.89 kN (3,790 lbst). These were the same engines, that Saab had also proposed for Saab’s Sk 60 modernization program, even though a less powerful variant for the lighter aircraft.

 

The FSK900 could be fitted with two pylons under each wing and under the fuselage centerline, for a total of five hardpoint. The inner wing pylons were wet and could be used to carry 450 liter (119 US gallon) external tanks, a total external payload of 2,500 kg (5,500 lb) could be carried.

External stores included a centerline target winch for the target tug role, an air-sampling pod for detection of fallout or other atmospheric pollutants, jammer or chaff pods for electronic warfare training, a camera/sensor pod and a baggage pod for use in the liaison role. The aircraft also featured a baggage compartment in the center fuselage, which also offered space for other special equipment or future updates.

 

Potential armament comprised a conformal underfuselage pod with a single 27 mm Mauser BK-27 revolver cannon with 120 rounds (the same weapon that eventually went into the Saab Gripen).

Other weapons included various iron and cluster bombs of up to 454 kg (1.000 lb) caliber, unguided missiles of various calibers and the Rb.74 (AIM-9L Sidewinder) AAM. A radar was not mounted, but the FSK900’s nose section offered enough space for a radome.

 

The Swedish Air Force accepted the Saab design, leading to a contract for two nonflying static-test airframes and four flying prototypes. Detail design was complete by the end of 1993 and prototype construction began in the spring of 1994, leading to first flight of the initial prototype on 29 July 1994. The first production "Sk 90 A", how the basic trainer type was officially dubbed, was delivered to the Swedish Air Force in 1996.

 

In parallel, a contract was signed for the re-engining of 115 Saab Sk 60 aircraft in 1993; the number of aircraft to be upgraded was subsequently reduced as a result of cuts to the defense budget and the advent of the FSK900, of which 60 were ordered initially.

 

The Sk 90 was regarded as strong, agile, and pleasant to fly, while being cheap to operate. Sk 90 As flying in the training role typically painted in the unique “Fields & Meadows” splinter camouflage, although decorative paint jobs showed up on occasion and many aircraft received additional dayglow markings.

Some of the few aircraft given to operational squadrons, which used them for keeping up flight hours and as hacks, had apparently been painted in all-grey camouflage to match the combat aircraft they shared the flight line with.

 

With the Sk 90 S a new variant was soon introduced, replacing the Sk 60 C, two-seat ground attack/reconnaissance version for the Swedish Air Force with an extended camera nose. It featured a similar camera arrangement to the Sk 60 C with a panoramic camera, plus an avionics palet in the baggage compartment for a modular DICAST (Digital Camera And Sensor Tray) pod under the fuselage. Unlike the Sk 60 C, which was converted from existing Sk 60 A trainers, the Sk 90 S was an original design. 20 were delivered until 1997, together with the standard trainers, which were kept on the production lines at slow pace until 1999.

 

A total of 108 production Sk 90s were built, and the Swedish Air Force has no further requirement for new Sk 90s at present. Upgrades are in planning, including fit of at least some Sk 90s with a modern "glass cockpit" to provide advanced training for the Saab Gripen (which had entered service in June 1992), and a full authority digital engine control (FADEC) for the FJ44-4M turbofans. Integration of the Rb.75 (the AGM-65A/B Maverick in Swedish service) together with a pod-mounted FLIR camera system was also suggested, improving the Sk 90’s attack capability dramatically. These updates were started in 2000. The modified aircraft received the designation Sk 90 B and Sk 90 SB, respectively, and until 2006 the whole fleet was updated.

 

Tests were also made with reinforced underwing pylons that would allow the carriage of the RBS-15 anti-ship missile. Even though the Sk 90 did not carry a radar, the missile-armed trainers were considered as a linked multiplicators for Saab 39s with the appropriate avionics, so that salvoes of multiple missiles could be launched in order to overload ship defences and improve hit probability. While the latter assumption was proved as correct during field trials with two modified Sk 90s, the missiles’ extra drag and the consequent loss in agility, speed and range made the concept unpractical, since the armed Sk 90 could not keep up with the Saab 39, limit reaction time and would offer an easy target.

 

Another plan was the Sk 90 C, a two-seater with enhanced attack capabilities. Its most distict feature was a simplified PS-05/A pulse-Doppler X band multi-mode radar, developed by Ericsson and GEC-Marconi for the JAS 39 Gripen.

The system was based on the Blue Vixen radar for the Sea Harrier that also served as the basis for the Eurofighter's CAPTOR radar, and it would allow a highly improved air-to-air and air-to-ground capability, also in better concunction with the Saab Gripen as lead aircraft. Two technology demonstrators were converted from Sk 90 A trainers, but the project was shelved - due to budget restrictions and simply through the fact that the JAS 39 Gripen offered anything the Swedish Air Force had called for in just one, single weapon system, so that the Sk 90 remained in its advanced trainer and tactical recce role. The technology package was offered to foreign customers, though.

 

Despite its qualities and development potential, the Sk 90 did not attain much foreign interest. It suffered from bad timing and from the focus on domestic demands. It came effectively 10 years too late to be serious export success, and the Sk 90 was very similar to the Dassault/Dornier Alpha Jet (even though it was cheaper to operate) - at a time when the German Luftwaffe started to prematurely phaze out its attack variant and flooded the market with cheap second hand aircraft in excellent condition. Besides, the Saab Sk 90 had, with the BAe Hawk, another proven competitor with a long operational track record all over the world.

 

Modest foreign sales could be secured, though: Austria procured 36 Sk 90 Ö in 2002 (basically comparable with the updated Sk 90 B), replacing its Saab 105 fleet and keeping up its close connection with Saab since the Seventies. Malaysia showed interest, too, as well as Singapore, Myanmar, Finland, Poland and Hungary.

 

The latest interest came from the Republic of Scotland in late 2017 – after the country’s separation from the United Kingdom and building an independent air force with a supplier from a neutral country.

The Republic of Scotland’s Air Corps (RoScAC) started negotiations with Saab and the Swedish government over either eight newly built or refurbished, older Sk 90 As that were updated to C standard with the PS-05/A radar.

Scotland additionally showed interest in a small fleet of 1st generation Saab 39 interceptors that would replace the RAF fighters based on Scottish ground.

  

General characteristics:

Crew: two pilots in tandem

Length incl. pitot: 13.0 m (42 ft 8 in) for the A trainer, 13.68 m (44 ft 10 in) for the S variant

Wingspan: 9.94 m (32 ft 7 in)

Height: 4.6 m (15 ft 1 in)

Empty weight: 3,790 kg (8,360 lb)

Max. takeoff weight: 7,500 kg (16,530 lb)

 

Powerplant:

2× Williams International FJ44-4M turbofans without reheat, rated at 16.89 kN (3,790 lbst) each

 

Performance:

Maximum speed: 1,038 km/h (645 mph)

Range: 1,670 km (900 nm)

 

Armament:

No internal gun; five hardpoints for 2,500 kg (5,500 lb) of payload and a variety of ordnance

  

The kit and its assembly:

A simple kit travesty! This is basically the 1:72 Kawasaki T-4 from Hasegawa, with little modifications.

Originally, I wondered what an overdue Saab 105 replacement could or would look like? The interesting Saab 38 never saw the light, as mentioned above, there was also an A-10-style light attack aircraft (maybe to be built as a kitbashing some day...) and I assume that neutral Sweden would rather develop its own aircraft than procure a foreign product.

 

Consideration of the BAe Hawk, Alpha Jet and the L-39 Albatros as inspirations for this project, I eventually came across the modern but rather overlooked Japanese Kawasaki T-4 trainer – and found that it had a certain Swedish look about it? Hmm... And coupled with a very characteristic paint scheme, like “Fields & Meadows”, maybe…?

 

I wanted to keep things simple, though, so the T-4 was mostly built OOB. A pleasant experience. The kit is relatively simple and fit is very good, with only minimal PSR necessary.

 

The only changes are the underwings hardpoints, which come from a Heller SEPECAT Jaguar, the pair of drop tanks (from an Academy F-5E, IIRC), a scratched recce pod for the ventral hardpoint and a modified bow section. This camera nose is a transplant from a Marivox Saab 105, assuming that the new trainer would be employed in similar roles as the Sk 60. The respective Swedish kit comes with a lot of optional parts, including the extended Sk 60 C’s camera nose - and it fits very well onto the T-4's rounded nose.

  

Painting and markings:

Well, when building a kit is not a true challenge, maybe the paint job is? The T-4 in a "Fields & Meadows" livery was the initial inspiration for this build, so I tried to stick with the concept as far as possible, even though I'd assume that Swedish aircraft in the kit's time frame would rather be grey with subdued markings. But there's hardly anything as Swedish and spectacular as "Fields & Meadows", and this scheme would also be perfect for the tactical recce role of this build.

 

The pattern was loosely inspired by the Saab Viggens’ scheme (I found pictures of Sk 60 in Fields & Meadows, but could not puzzle together a complete view) as benchmark.

 

Painting was done with a fine brush (size 2), free-handedly. Even the waterline was created without masking tape - a clean, bigger brush (size 6) was enough to create the sharp edge. This sounds bizarre and maybe suggest a masochistic touch, but it actually worked better than expected - and I was in the lucky situation that I did not have to slavishly copy and recreate the splinter pattern on a real-world model. ;-)

 

Finding proper tones for the famous and very characteristic Swedish paint scheme was not easy, though. Pictures of real aircraft vary largely, light conditions and weathering make a proper identification difficult, to say the least. Since I wanted a simple solution (a lot of corrections during the painting process was expected), I settled upon the following enamel tones:

• Modelmaster 2060, RAF Dark Green

• Humbrol 150, Forest Green FS 34127

• Humbrol 72, Khaki Drill, for the earth tone

• A 1:1 mix of Humbrol 33 (Flat Black) + Modelmaster 2094 (RAL 7021) for a very dark grey

• Humbrol 247 (RLM 76) for the undersides

 

Painting was done from black (starting here because it was the only mixed tone), then the earth tone, light green and finally the dark green - a slow (2 full days) but rather uncomplicated process. But I think that the effort paid out, and helps selling the fictional Sk 90 idea.

 

The cockpit was painted in neutral grey, while the landing gear and the air intakes became white. A very Swedish touch are the bright green headrests - seen on Saab 37.

 

The markings were kept simple, puzzled together from various sources. Tactical codes come from a Heller Saab 37 Viggen sheet, while the roundels come from an RBD Models sheet (great stuff!) from Sweden - they actually belong to a Saab 32, but since the roundel sizes are normed the transplant onto the smaller aircraft here was easy and even plausible.

 

Some stencils were taken from the T-4 OOB sheet or gathered together from the scrap box, e .g. the "FARA" warnings.

The silver trim at the flaps and the fin rudder were made with generic 0.5mm decal stripes in silver. Similar strips in black were used to create the de-icers on the wings' leading edges.

 

Finally, the kit was sealed with matt acrylic varnish (Italeri).

  

Not tough to build, but still a challenge to paint. But the result is spectacular, and the T-4 under foreign flag looks disturbingly plausible. How could Sweden hide this aircraft from the public for so long...?

And it's certainly not the last T-4 I will build. A Scottish aircraft, as mentioned in the background, is a hot candidate - but the aircraft has a lot of OOB whiffing potential...

Haridwar is an ancient city and municipality in the Haridwar district of Uttarakhand, India. The River Ganges, after flowing for 253 kilometres from its source at Gaumukh at the edge of the Gangotri Glacier, enters the Indo-Gangetic Plains of North India for the first time at Haridwar, which gave the city its ancient name, Gangadwára.

 

Haridwar is regarded as one of the seven holiest places (Sapta Puri) to Hindus. According to the Samudra manthan, Haridwar along with Ujjain, Nashik and Prayag (Allahabad) is one of four sites where drops of Amrit, the elixir of immortality, accidentally spilled over from the pitcher while being carried by the celestial bird Garuda. This is manifested in the Kumbha Mela being celebrated every 3 years in one of the 4 places, and thus every 12 years in Haridwar. Amidst the Kumbha Mela, millions of pilgrims, devotees, and tourists congregate in Haridwar to perform ritualistic bathing on the banks of the river Ganges to wash away their sins to attain Moksha. Brahma Kund, the spot where the Amrit fell, is located at Har ki Pauri (literally, "footsteps of the Lord") and is considered to be the most sacred ghat of Haridwar.

 

Haridwar is the headquarters and the largest city of the district. Today, the city is developing beyond its religious importance, with the fast developing industrial estate of State Industrial Development Corporation of Uttarakhand (SIDCUL) and the close by township of Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited in Ranipur, Uttarakhand as well as its affiliated ancillaries.

 

ETYMOLOGY

The name of the town has two spellings: Hardwar and Haridwar. Each of these names has its own connotation.

 

In Sanskrit, Hara means "Lord Shiva" and Dwara means "gate" or "gateway". Hence, Hardwar stands for "Gateway to Lord Shiva". Hardwar has been a typical place to start a pilgrim's journey in order to reach Mount Kailash, the eternal abode of Lord Shiva, Kedarnath, the northernmost Jyotirlinga and one of the sites of the smaller Char Dham pilgrimage circuit and Gaumukh, the source of River Ganga. Har ki Pauri or footsteps of Lord Shiva is considered the most sacred site in Hardwar.

 

On the other hand, Hari means "Lord Vishnu". So, Haridwar stands for "Gateway to Lord Vishnu". In order to reach Badrinath, one of the four Char Dhams, with a temple of Lord Vishnu, Haridwar is a typical place to start a pilgrim's journey. Therefore, the name Haridwar.

 

Haridwar is also known as the home of Devi Sati and the palace of her father Daksha. In ancient times, the town was also referred to as Gangadwára (गंगाद्वार), the place where the Ganges descends to the plains.

 

SEVEN HOLY PLACES

Haridwar (purnaic name Maya) is one of the seven most holy Hindu places in India, with Varanasi usually considered the holiest.

 

“ Ayodhyā Mathurā Māyā Kāśī Kāñcī Avantikā I

Purī Dvārāvatī caiva saptaitā mokṣadāyikāḥII – Garuḍa Purāṇa I XVI .14”

 

HISTORY

In the scriptures, Haridwar has been variously mentioned as Kapilasthana, Gangadwara and Mayapuri. It is also an entry point to the Char Dham (the four main centres of pilgrimage in Uttarakhand viz, Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri, and Yamunotri), hence, Shaivaites (followers of Lord Shiva) and Vaishnavites (followers of Lord Vishnu) call this place Hardwar and Haridwar respectively, corresponding to Hara being Shiv and Hari being Vishnu.

 

In the Vanaparva of the Mahabharat, where sage Dhaumya tells Yudhisthira about the tirthas of India, Gangadwar, i.e., Haridwar and Kankhal, have been referred to, the text also mentions that Agastya Rishi did penance here, with the help of his wife, Lopamudra (the princess of Vidharba).

 

Sage Kapila is said to have an ashram here giving it, its ancient name, Kapila or Kapilasthana.

 

The legendary King, Bhagiratha, the great-grandson of the Suryavanshi King Sagar (an ancestor of Rama), is said to have brought the river Ganges down from heaven, through years of penance in Satya Yuga, for the salvation of 60,000 of his ancestors from the curse of the saint Kapila, a tradition continued by thousands of devout Hindus, who brings the ashes of their departed family members, in hope of their salvation. Lord Vishnu is said to have left his footprint on the stone that is set in the upper wall of Har Ki Pauri, where the Holy Ganges touches it at all times.

 

Haridwar came under the rule of the Maurya Empire (322–185 BCE), and later under the Kushan Empire (c. 1st–3rd centuries). Archaeological findings have proved that terra cotta culture dating between 1700 BCE and 1200 BCE existed in this region. First modern era written evidence of Haridwar is found in the accounts of a Chinese traveller, Huan Tsang, who visited India in 629 AD. during the reign of King Harshavardhan (590–647) records Haridwar as 'Mo-yu-lo', the remains of which still exist at Mayapur, a little to the south of the modern town. Among the ruins are a fort and three temples, decorated with broken stone sculptures, he also mentions the presence of a temple, north of Mo-yu-lo called 'Gangadwara', Gateway of the Ganges.

 

The city also fell to the Central Asian conqueror Timur Lang (1336–1405) on 13 January 1399.

 

During his visit to Haridwar, first Sikh Guru, Guru Nanak (1469–1539) bathed at 'Kushawart Ghat', wherein the famous, 'watering the crops' episode took place, his visit is today commemorated by a gurudwara (Gurudwara Nanakwara), according to two Sikh Janamsakhis, this visit took place on the Baisakhi day in 1504 AD, he later also visited Kankhal en route to Kotdwara in Garhwal. Pandas of the Haridwar have been known to keep genealogy records of most of the Hindu population. Known as vahis, these records are updated on each visit to the city, and are a repository of vast family trees of family in North India.

 

Ain-e-Akbari, written by Abul Fazal in the 16th century during the reign of Mughal Emperor Akbar, refers to it as Maya (Mayapur), known as Hardwar on the Ganges”, as seven sacred cities of Hindus. It further mentions it is eighteen kos (each approx. 2 km) in length, and large numbers of pilgrims assemble on the 10th of Chaitra. It also mentions that during his travels and also while at home, Mughal Emperor, Akbar drank water from the Ganges river, which he called 'the water of immortality'. Special people were stationed at Sorun and later Haridwar to dispatch water, in sealed jars, to wherever he was stationed

 

During the Mughal period, there was mint for Akbar's copper coinage at Haridwar. It is said that Raja Man Singh of Amber, laid that foundation of the present day city of Haridwar and also renovated the ghats at Hark Ki Pauri. After his death, his ashes are also said to have been immersed at Brahma Kund by Mughal emperor Akbar himself. Thomas Coryat, an English traveller, who visited the city in the reign of Emperor Jahangir (1596–1627) mentions it as 'Haridwara', the capital of Shiva.

 

Being one of the oldest living cities, Haridwar finds its mention in the ancient Hindu scriptures as it weaves through the life and time stretching from the period of the Buddha, to the more recent British advent. Haridwar has a rich and ancient religious and cultural heritage. It still has many old havelis and mansions bearing exquisite murals and intricate stonework.

 

One of the two major dams on the river Ganges, the Bhimgoda, is situated here. Built in 1840s, it diverts the waters of the Ganges to the Upper Ganges Canal, which irrigated the surrounding lands. Though this caused severe deterioration to the Ganges water flow, and is a major cause for the decay of the Ganges as an inland waterway, which till 18th century was used heavily by the ships of the East India Company, and a town as high up as Tehri, was considered a port city The headworks of the Ganges Canal system are located in Haridwar. The Upper Ganges Canal was opened in 1854 after the work began in April 1842, prompted by the famine of 1837–38. The unique feature of the canal is the half-kilometre-long aqueduct over Solani river at Roorkee, which raises the canal 25 metres above the original river.

 

'Haridwar Union Municipality' was constituted in 1868, which included the then villages of Mayapur and Kankhal. Haridwar was first connected with railways, via Laksar, through branch line in 1886, when the Awadh and Rohilakhand Railway line was extended through Roorkee to Saharanpur, this was later extended to Dehradun in 1900.

 

In 1901, it had a population of 25,597 and was a part of the Roorkee tehsil, in Saharanpur district of the United Province,[10] and remained so till the creation of Uttar Pradesh in 1947.

 

Haridwar has been an abode of the weary in body, mind and spirit. It has also been a centre of attraction for learning various arts, science, and culture. The city has a long-standing position as a great source of Ayurvedic medicines and herbal remedies and is home to the unique Gurukul (school of traditional education), including the Gurukul Kangri Vishwavidyalaya, which has a vast campus, and has been providing traditional education of its own kind, since 1902. Development of Haridwar took an upturn in the 1960s, with the setting up of a temple of modern civilisation, BHEL, a 'Navratna PSU' in 1962, which brought along not just a its own township of BHEL, Ranipur, close to the existing Ranipur village, but also a set of ancillaries in the region. The University of Roorkee, now IIT Roorkee, is one of the oldest and most prestigious institutes of learning in the fields of science and engineering.

 

GEOGRAPHY

The Ganges emerges from the mountains to touch the plains. The water in the river Ganges is mostly clear and generally cold, except in the rainy season, during which soil from the upper regions flows down into it.

 

The river Ganges flows in a series of channels separated from each other called aits, most of which are well wooded. Other minor seasonal streams are Ranipur Rao, Pathri Rao, Ravi Rao, Harnaui Rao, Begham Nadi etc. A large part of the district is forested, and Rajaji National Park is within the bounds of the district, making it an ideal destination for wildlife and adventure lovers. Rajaji is accessible through different gates; the Ramgarh Gate and Mohand Gate are within 25 km of Dehradun, while the Motichur, Ranipur and Chilla Gates are just about 9 km from Haridwar. Kunaon Gate is 6 km from Rishikesh, and Laldhang gate is 25 km from Kotdwara.

 

Haridwar district, covering an area of about 2360 km², is in the southwestern part of Uttarakhand state of India.

 

Haridwar is situated at height of 314 metres from the sea level, between Shivalik Hills in the North and Northeast and the Ganges River in the South.

 

HINDU GENEALOGY REGISTERS AT HARIDWAR

Something that is not well known today to Indians and to those settled abroad, in an ancient custom detailed family genealogies of Hindu families for the past several generations are kept by professional Hindu Brahmins popularly known as Pandas, at the Hindu holy city of Haridwar in hand written registers passed down to them over generations by their Brahmin ancestors which are classified according to original districts and villages of ones ancestors, with special designated Brahmin families being in charge of designated district registers, even for cases where ancestral districts and villages that have been left behind in Pakistan after Partition of India with Hindus having to migrate to India. In several cases present day decedents are now Sikhs and many maybe Muslims or even Christians. It is common for one to find details of up to, or even more than, ones seven past generations in these genealogy registers kept by the Pandas of Haridwar.

 

For centuries when Hindu ancestors visited the holy town of Haridwar for any purpose which may have mostly been for pilgrimage purposes or/and for cremation of their dead or for immersion of ashes and bones of their kin after cremation into the waters of the holy river Ganges as required by Hindu religious custom, it has been an ancient custom to go to the Pandit who is in charge of ones family register and update the family's genealogical family tree with details of all marriages, births and deaths from ones extended joint family.

 

In present day India people visiting Haridwar are dumbfounded when Pandas out of the blue solicit them to come and update their very own ancestral genealogical family tree, news travels like wildfire among the Pandas with ones family's designated Panda being quickly notified of ones visit. Nowadays with Hindu joint family system having broken down with people preferring more nuclear families, record keeping Pandits prefer visitors to Haridwar to come prepared after getting in touch with all of ones extended family and bringing all relevant details regarding ones ancestral district and village, names of grand parents and great grand parents and marriages, births and deaths that have occurred in the extended family, even with as much details as possible of the families married into. A visiting family member is required to personally sign the family genealogical register furnished by ones Family Panda after updating it for future family visitors and generations to see and to authenticate the updated entries, friends and other family members accompanying on the visit may also be requested to sign as witnesses. However it is preferable to visit one's family pandas before immerson of ashes of one's kin as they will help properly in this rituals.

 

PLACES OF INTEREST

In Hindu traditions, the 'Panch Tirth' (Five Pilgrimages) within Haridwar, are "Gangadwar" (Har ki Pauri), Kushawart (Ghat in Kankhal), Bilwa Tirtha (Mansa Devi Temple) and Neel Parvat (Chandi Devi Temple). There are several other temples and ashrams located in and around the city. Also, alcohol and non-vegetarian food is not permitted in Haridwar.

 

HAR KI PAURI

This sacred Ghat was constructed by King Vikramaditya (1st century BC) in memory of his brother Bharthari. It is believed that Bharthari came to Haridwar and meditated on the banks of the holy Ganges. When he died, his brother constructed a Ghat in his name, which later came to be known as Har Ki Pauri. The most sacred ghat within Har Ki Pauri is Brahmakund. The evening prayer (Aarti) at dusk offered to Goddess Ganga at Har Ki Pauri (steps of God Hara or Shiva) is an enchanting experience for any visitor. A spectacle of sound and colour is seen when, after the ceremony, pilgrims float Diyas (floral floats with lamps) and incense on the river, commemorating their deceased ancestors. Thousands of people from all around the world do make a point to attend this prayer on their visit to Haridwar. A majority of present ghats were largely developed in the 1800s. On the night of Dussehra or a few days before that the Ganga Canal is dried in Haridwar to clean the riverbed. The water is restored on Dewali. It is believed that on Dussera Maa Ganga goes to her father's house and returns after Bhai Duj or Bhai Phota. It is for this reason that the waters in the Ganga canal in Haridwar are partially dried on the night of Dussehra and the waters are restored on the day of Bhai Duj or Bhai Phota.

 

CHANDI DEVI TEMPLE

The temple is dedicated to Goddess Chandi, who sits atop the 'Neel Parvat' on the eastern bank of the river Ganges. It was constructed in 1929 A.D. by the king of Kashmir, Suchat Singh. Skanda Purana mentions a legend, in which Chanda-Munda, the Army Chief of a local Demon Kings Shumbha and Nishumbha were killed by goddess Chandi here, after which the place got the name Chandi Devi. It is believed that the main statue was established by the Adi Shankaracharya in 8th century A.D. The temple is a 3 km trek from Chandighat and can also be reached through a ropeway.

 

MAYA DEVI TEMPLE

Situated at the top of Bilwa Parwat, the temple of Goddess Mansa Devi, literally meaning the Goddess who fulfills desires (Mansa), is a popular tourist destination, especially because of the cable cars, which offer a picturesque view of the entire city. The main temple houses two idols of the Goddess, one with three mouths and five arms, while the other one has eight arms.

 

KANKHAL

The ancient temple of Daksha Mahadev also known as Daksheshwar Mahadev Temple, is situated in the south Kankhal town. According to Hindu texts, King Daksha Prajapati, father of Dakshayani, Lord Shiva's first wife, performed a yagña, to which he deliberately did not invite Lord Shiva. When she arrived uninvited, he was further insulted by the king, seeing which Sati felt infuriated and self-immolated herself in the yagna kund. King Daksha was later killed by the demon Virabhadra, born out of Shiva's anger. Later the king was brought to life and given a goat's head by Shiva. Daksha Mahadev temple is a tribute to this legend.

 

Sati Kund, another well-known mythological heritage worth a visit is situated in the Kankhal. Legend has it that Sati immolated herself in this kund.

 

PIRAN KALIYAR

Piran Kaliyar Sharif, built by Ibrahim Lodhi, a ruler of Delhi, this 'Dargah' of Hazrat Alauddin Sabir Kaliyari, a 13th-century, Sufi Saint of Chishti Order (also known as Sarkar Sabir Pak), in Kaliyar village, 7 km. from Roorkee, is visited by devotees from all over the world, during the annual 'Urs' festival, which is celebrated from 1st day of sighting the moon to 16th day of Rabi al-awwal month, in the Islamic calendar.

 

NEEL DHARA PAKSHI VIHAR

This Bird Sanctuary is situated on the main Ganges river, or Neel Dhara, at the Bhimgoda Barrage, it is a paradise for bird watchers and home to many migratory birds during the winter season.

 

BHIMGODA TANK

This tank is situated at a distance of about 1 km from Har Ki Pauri. It is said that while Pandavas were going to Himalayas through Haridwar, prince Bhima drew water from the rocks here by thrusting his knee (goda), to the very ground.

 

DUHADHARI BARFANI TEMPLE

Part of the ashram of Dudhadhari Barfani Baba, this temple complex in white marble is one of most beautiful temples in Haridwar, especially the temples of Rama-Sita and Hanumana.

 

SUREHVARA DEVI TEMPLE

Temple of Goddess Sureshwari, situated in midst of Rajaji National Park. Serene and religious makes this temple abode of worshipers, saints etc. Located at outskirts of Haridwar in Ranipur and permission from forest rangers is necessary. The location of the temple is beyond the boundary of Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited, Haridwar.

 

PAWAN DHAM

A modern temple, made entirely of glass pieces, Pawan Dham is now a popular tourist destination. The temple complex was constructed by the effort of Swami Vedantanand Maharaj and the institute located there is growing under the leadership of Swami Sahaj Prakash Maharaj. People from Moga in Punjab have put considerable efforts and money to erect this place.

 

BHARAT MATA MANDIR

Bharat Mata Mandir is a multi-storey temple dedicated to Bharat Mata (Mother India). Bharat Mata Mandir was inaugurated on 15 May 1983 by Indira Gandhi on the banks of the river Ganges. It is situated adjacent to the Samanvaya Ashram, and stands eight stories tall to a height of 55 m. Each floor depicts an era in the Indian history, from the days of Ramayana until India's independence.

 

On the first floor is the statue of Bharat Mata. The second floor, Shur Mandir, is dedicated to the well renowned heroes of India. The third floor Matri Mandir is dedicated to the achievements of India's revered women, such as Radha, Mira, Savitri, Draupadi, Ahilya, Anusuya, Maitri, Gargi etc. The great saints from various religions, including Jainism, Sikhism, and Buddhism are featured on the fourth floor Sant Mandir. The assembly hall with walls depicting symbolic coexistence of all religions practised in India and paintings portraying history and beauty in various provinces, is situated on the fifth floor. The various forms of the Goddess Shakti can be seen on the sixth floor, whilst the seventh floor is devoted to all incarnations of Lord Vishnu. The eighth floor holds the shrine of Lord Shiva from which devotees can gain a panoramic view of Himalayas, Haridwar, and the splendour of the entire campus of Sapta Sarovar.

 

The temple was built under the former Shankaracharya Maha-Mandleshwar Swami Satyamitranand Giri Maharaj. Since the inception of the Swami Satyamitranand foundation in 1998, several other branches have been opened, namely in Renukut, Jabalpur, Jodhpur, Indore, and Ahmedabad.

   

Developing induced breeding techniques for SIS could help to mitigate the destruction of wild spawn. Photo by Francois Rajts. Photo by WorldFish.

Classic cell structure

And now for some shots with the 50mm, of the details and fittings of the church. More to follow.

 

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Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin (1 March 1812 – 14 September 1852) was an English architect, designer, artist and critic, chiefly remembered for his pioneering role in the Gothic Revival style; his work culminated in the interior design of the Palace of Westminster. Pugin designed many churches in England, and some in Ireland and Australia.[1] Pugin was the son of Auguste Pugin, and the father of E.W. and Edmund Peter Paul Pugin, who continued his architectural firm as Pugin & Pugin.

 

Pugin was the son of a French draughtsman, Auguste Pugin, who had come to England as a result of the French Revolution and had married Catherine Welby of the Denton, Lincolnshire Welby family.[3] Augustus was born at his parents' house in Bloomsbury. Between 1821 and 1838 Pugin's father had published a series of volumes of architectural drawings, the first two entitled, Specimens of Gothic Architecture, and the following three, Examples of Gothic Architecture, that were to remain both in print and the standard references for Gothic architecture for at least the next century.

 

As a child he was taken each Sunday by his mother to the services of the fashionable Scottish presbyterian preacher Edward Irving (later founder of the Holy Catholic Apostolic Church), at his chapel in Cross Street, Hatton Garden.[4] He soon rebelled against this version of Christianity: according to Benjamin Ferrey, Pugin "always expressed unmitigated disgust at the cold and sterile forms of the Scotch church; and the moment he broke free from the trammels imposed on him by his mother, he rushed into the arms of a church which, pompous by its ceremonies, was attractive to his imaginative mind.

 

Pugin learned drawing from his father, and for a while attended Christ's Hospital. After leaving school he worked in his father's office, and in 1825 and 1827 accompanied him on visits to France.[6] His first commissions independent of his father were for designs for the goldsmiths Rundell and Bridge, and for designs for furniture at Windsor Castle, from the upholsterers Morrel and Seddon. Through a contact made while working at Windsor, he became interested in the design of theatre scenery, and in 1831 obtained a commission to design the sets for the production of a new opera called Kenilworth at Covent Garden.[7] He also developed an interest in sailing, and briefly commanded a small merchant schooner trading between Britain and Holland, which allowed him to import examples of furniture and carving from Flanders,with which he later furnished his house at Ramsgate.[8] During one voyage in 1830 he was wrecked on the Scottish coast near Leith,[9] as a result of which he came into contact with Edinburgh architect James Gillespie Graham, who advised him to abandon seafaring for architecture.[10] He then set up a business supplying historically accurate carved wood and stone details for the increasing number of buildings being constructed in the Gothic style, but the enterprise soon failed.

 

In 1831, aged nineteen, Pugin married the first of his three wives, Anne Garnet.[11] Anne died a few months later in childbirth, leaving him with a daughter. He had a further six children, including the architect Edward Pugin, with his second wife, Louisa Burton, who died in 1844. His third wife, Jane Knill, kept a journal of their married life together, between their marriage in 1848 and his death; it was later published.[12] Their son was Peter Paul Pugin.

 

Following his second marriage in 1833, Pugin moved to Salisbury with his wife,[13] and in 1835 bought half an acre of land, at Alderbury, about a mile-and-a-half outside the town, On this he built a medieval-inspired house for his family, called "St Marie's Grange".[14] Charles Locke Eastlake said of it "he had not yet learned the art of combining a picturesque exterior with the ordinary comforts of an English home".

 

In 1834, Pugin became a Roman Catholic convert,[16] and was received into the faith in the following year.[17] His conversion resulted in the loss of some commissions,[citation needed] but also brought him into contact with new patrons and employers. In 1832 he had made the acquaintance of John Talbot, 16th Earl of Shrewsbury, a Roman Catholic, sympathetic to his aesthetic views who employed him in alterations and additions to his residence Alton Towers, which subsequently led to many other commissions.[18] Shrewsbury commissioned him to build St. Giles' Catholic Church, Cheadle, completed in 1846, and Pugin was also responsible for designing the oldest Catholic church in Shropshire, St Peter and Paul at Newport,

 

n 1836, Pugin published Contrasts, a polemical book which argued for the revival of the medieval Gothic style, and also "a return to the faith and the social structures of the Middle Ages".[19] Each plate in the book selected a type of urban building and contrasted the 1830 example with its 15th-century equivalent. In one example, Pugin contrasted a medieval monastic foundation, where monks fed and clothed the needy, grew food in the gardens – and gave the dead a decent burial – with "a panopticon workhouse where the poor were beaten, half starved and sent off after death for dissection. Each structure was the built expression of a particular view of humanity: Christianity versus Utilitarianism."[19] Pugin's biographer, Rosemary Hill, wrote: "The drawings were all calculatedly unfair. King's College London was shown from an unflatteringly skewed angle, while Christ Church, Oxford, was edited to avoid showing its famous Tom Tower because that was by Christopher Wren and so not medieval. But the cumulative rhetorical force was tremendous."

 

In 1841 he left Salisbury,[20] finding it an inconvenient base for his growing architectural practice.[21] He sold St Marie's Grange at a considerable financial loss,[22] and moved temporarily to Cheyne Walk, Chelsea. He had however already purchased a piece of land at the West Cliff, Ramsgate, where he proceeded to build himself a large house and, at his own expense, a church on which he worked whenever funds allowed. His second wife died in 1844 and was buried at St. Chad's, Birmingham, a church which he had himself had designed.

 

Following the destruction by fire of the Palace of Westminster in 1834, Pugin was employed by Sir Charles Barry to supply interior designs for his entry to the architectural competition which would determine who would build the new Palace of Westminster. Pugin also supplied drawings for James Gillespie Graham's entry.[24] This followed a period of employment when Pugin had worked with Barry on the interior design of King Edward's School, Birmingham. Despite his conversion to Catholicism in 1834, Pugin designed and refurbished both Anglican and Catholic churches throughout the country.

 

Other works include St Chad's Cathedral, Erdington Abbey and Oscott College, all in Birmingham. He also designed the college buildings of St Patrick and St Mary in St. Patrick's College, Maynooth; though not the college chapel. His original plans included both a chapel and an aula maxima, neither of which were built because of financial constraints. The college chapel was designed by a follower of Pugin, the Irish architect J.J. McCarthy. Also in Ireland, Pugin designed St Mary's Cathedral in Killarney, St Aidan's Cathedral, Enniscorthy (renovated in 1996) and the Dominican church of the Holy Cross in Tralee. He revised the plans for St Michael's Church in Ballinasloe, Galway. Pugin was also invited by Bishop Wareing to design what eventually became Northampton Cathedral, a project that was completed in 1864 by Pugin's son Edward Welby Pugin.

 

Pugin visited Italy in 1847; his experience there confirmed his dislike of Renaissance and Baroque architecture, but he found much to admire in the medieval art of northern Italy.

 

In February 1852, while travelling with his son Edward by train, Pugin suffered a total breakdown and arrived in London unable to recognise anyone or speak coherently. For four months he was confined to a private asylum, Kensington House. In June, he was transferred to the Royal Bethlem Hospital, popularly known as Bedlam.[26] At that time, Bethlem Hospital was opposite St George's Cathedral, Southwark, one of Pugin's major buildings, where he had married his third wife, Jane, in 1848. Jane and a doctor removed Pugin from Bedlam and took him to a private house in Hammersmith where they attempted therapy, and he recovered sufficiently to recognise his wife.[26] In September, Jane took her husband back to The Grange in Ramsgate, where he died on 14 September 1852.[26]

 

On Pugin's death certificate, the cause listed was "convulsions followed by coma". Pugin's biographer, Rosemary Hill, suggests that, in the last year of his life, he was suffering from hyperthyroidism which would account for his symptoms of exaggerated appetite, perspiration, and restlessness. Hill writes that Pugin's medical history, including eye problems and recurrent illness from his early twenties, suggests that he contracted syphilis in his late teens, and this may have been the cause of his death at the age of 40.

 

In 1844, having won the architectural competition to design the new Palace of Westminster, Sir Charles Barry, asked Pugin to supply detailed designs for the interior of the new building, including stained glass, metalwork, wood carving, upholstery, furniture and a royal throne. Pugin's biographer, Rosemary Hill, shows that Barry designed the Palace as a whole, and only he could coordinate such a large project and deal with its difficult paymasters, but he relied entirely on Pugin for its Gothic interiors, wallpapers and furnishings.[28]

 

At the end of Pugin's life, in February 1852, Barry visited him in Ramsgate and Pugin supplied a detailed design for the iconic Palace clock tower, officially dubbed the Elizabeth Tower, but more popularly known as Big Ben. The design is very close to earlier designs by Pugin, including an unbuilt scheme for Scarisbrick Hall, Lancashire. The tower was Pugin's last design before descending into madness. In her biography, Hill quotes Pugin as writing of what is probably his best known building: "I never worked so hard in my life [as] for Mr Barry for tomorrow I render all the designs for finishing his bell tower & it is beautiful & I am the whole machinery of the clock."[29] Hill writes that Barry omitted to give any credit to Pugin for his huge contribution to the design of the new Houses of Parliament.[30] In 1867, after the deaths of both Pugin and Barry, Pugin's son Edward published a pamphlet, Who Was the Art Architect of the Houses of Parliament, a statement of facts, in which he asserted that his father was the "true" architect of the building, and not Barry.

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augustus_Welby_Northmore_Pugin

Nha Trang (/ˌnɑːˈtʃæŋ/; Vietnamese: [ɲaː˧ ʈaːŋ˧] is a coastal city and capital of Khánh Hòa Province, on the South Central Coast of Vietnam. It is bounded on the north by Ninh Hoà district, on the south by Cam Ranh town and on the west by Diên Khánh District. The city has about 392,000 inhabitants, a number that is projected to increase to 560,000 by 2015 and 630,000 inhabitants by 2025. An area of 12.87 square kilometres of the western communes of Diên An and Diên Toàn is planned to be merged into Nha Trang which will make its new area 265.47 square kilometres based on the approval of the Prime Minister of Vietnam in September 2012.

 

Nha Trang is well known for its beaches and scuba diving and has developed into a popular destination for international tourists, attracting large numbers of backpackers, as well as more affluent travelers on the south-east Asia circuit; it is already very popular with Vietnamese tourists, with Nha Trang Bay widely considered as among the world's most beautiful bays. Tourists are welcomed to participate in the Sea Festival, held biennially. Nha Trang was the site of the Miss Universe 2008 Pageant on July 14, 2008 and Miss Earth 2010 was held on December 4, 2010. It was also the site for the April 14, 2015 season 8 finale of Face Off. Nha Trang was approved to host the 2016 Asian Beach Games.

 

Historically, the city was known as Kauthara under the Champa. The city is still home to the famous Po Nagar Tower built by the Champa. Being a coastal city, Nha Trang is a centre for marine science based at the Nha Trang Oceanography Institute. The Hon Mun marine protected area is one of four first marine protected areas in the world admitted by the IUCN.

 

ETYMOLOGY

According to some researchers, the name Nha Trang derives from a Vietnamese spelling of the Cham language name of the site Ya Trang (literally "Reed River"), the name of the Cai River as referred to by the Cham people. From the name of this river, the name was adopted to call what is now Nha Trang, which was officially made Vietnam's territory in 1698. Ya Drang is a common Cham and Montagnard place name, same as Ia Drang Valley.

 

As far as the recorded naming of Nha Trang is concerned, in Toàn tập Thiên Nam Tứ Chí Lộ Đồ Thư, a geographical book written by a Vietnamese scholar with the family of Đỗ Bá in the second half of the 18th century, the name Nha Trang Môn ("Nha Trang gate") was mentioned.[2] In another map dating to the 17th century, known as Giáp Ngọ Niên Bình Nam Đồ by a noble called Đoan Quận công Bùi Thế Đạt, the name Nha Trang Hải môn (Nha Trang Sea Gate) was also cited. In Vietnamese recorded historic bibliographies, these books are perhaps the earliest ones that mentioned this place name.

 

In a work by Lê Quý Đôn called Phủ biên tạp lục (1776), many Nha Trang-related names were mentioned, such as đầm Nha Trang, dinh Nha Trang, nguồn Nha Trang, and đèo Nha Trang. Some would say that the Nha Trang is actually a part of the Dead Sea in the early 1700s but the idea was then removed in 1738.

 

HISTORY

Kauthara, also translated as ancient clam, is a constituent state of the empire-leading kingdom and its ruling area is located in the area from today's Fu An province to Cam Ranh. Yanpunagara, the capital of Yangpu, occupies the faith of a man and is deeply influenced by religions such as Brahmanism and Buddhism. However, in addition to that, the gods who formerly occupied ruled the indigenous faith in the motherland, such as Çri Maladakuthara (釋利摩落陀古笪羅) in the ancient Gur'an region in the south, are one of those who can preserve the old God Most of the old gods who dominated the motherland were replaced by brahmanist gods such as the goddess Yan Pu Nagara (楊浦那竭羅) and the Bhagavati (妻婆伽婆底), Replaced, located in Nha Trang near today. Bhagavati is mixed with Yan Pu Nagara, a goddess in the local faith, which is quite revered by the people and has dedicated ancestral temples to enshrine it.

 

From 1653 to the 19th century, Nha Trang was a deserted area rich in wildlife (animals like tigers) and was a part of Hà Bạc, Vĩnh Xương County, Diên Khánh Province. After just two decades in the early 20th century, Nha Trang underwent a rapid change. On August 30, 1924, the Governor-General of French Indochina decreed Nha Trang as a townlet (urban centre). Nha Trang Townlet was established from the ancient villages of Xương Huân, Phương Câu, Vạn Thạnh, Phương Sài, and Phước Hải.

 

During French Indochina, Nha Trang was seen as de facto capital of Khánh Hòa Province. The colonial administration offices (like Envoy Office, Commanding Office, Trade Office, Post Office) were situated in Nha Trang. Local royal offices like Province Chief, Provincial Judge, Military Commander are in Diên Khánh city (a walled military city 10 km south-west of Nha Trang).

 

On 7 May 1937, the Governor-General of French Indochina by another decree upgraded Nha Trang Townlet to town. At this time, Nha Trang Town had five wards based on the ancient villages merged to make the town: Xương Huân, Phương Câu, Vạn Thạnh, Phương Sài, and Phước Hải.

 

On 27 January 1958, the president of the Republic of Vietnam, Ngô Đình Diệm by Decree 18-BNV abrogated the town status of Nha Trang and divided Nha Trang into two rural communes: Nha Trang Đông (Eastern Nha Trang) and Nha Trang Tây (Western Nha Trang), under the administration of Vĩnh Xương County.

 

During the late 1960s, the U.S. Army's First Field Force, Vietnam (1FFV)was headquartered in Nha Trang. 1FFV was a corps-level major subordinate command of the U.S. Army Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV).

 

On 22 October 1970, the government of the Republic of Vietnam by Decree 132-SL/NV reestablished Nha Trang Town on the ground of Nha Trang Đông and Nha Trang Tây and other rural communes. Following that establishment, the government by Decree 357-ĐUHC/NC/NĐ dated 5 June 1971 divided Nha Trang into 11 urban zones.

 

On 2 April 1975, communist (Viet Cong/PRG/VPA) forces captured the city. On 4 April 1975, Khánh Hòa Military Commission (Ủy ban Quân quản Khánh Hòa) divided Nha Trang into three administrative districts: District 1, District 2 and Vĩnh Xương District. In September 1975, the districts were merged to become one entity, the town of Nha Trang.

 

On 30 March 1977, the Council of the Government (now the cabinet) of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam by Decision 391-CP/QĐ upgraded Nha Trang to city status, a county-level city under the administration of Phú Khánh Province (a province created by merger of now Phú Yên Province and Khánh Hòa Province). Seven communes of former Vĩnh Xương County, namely Vĩnh Thái, Vĩnh Ngọc, Vĩnh Hiệp, Vĩnh Lương, Vĩnh Trung, Vĩnh Thạnh, Vĩnh Phương was split from Khánh Xương County to become Nha Trang City territory.

 

On 27 March 1978, the provincial government by Decision 54-BT founded Phước Đồng Commune under Nha Trang City.

 

On 1 July 1989, Khanh Hoa was split from Phu Khanh Province to become Khánh Hòa Province as it was before, Nha Trang was made the capital of Khánh Hòa Province. On April 22, 1999, the prime minister by Decision 106/1999 recognized Nha Trang City the second class municipal city. On April 22, 2009, the prime minister Nguyễn Tấn Dũng recognized Nha Trang City at the first class municipal city.

 

GEOGRAPHY

Nha Trang city has a metropolitan area of 251 km² and population of about 500,000. It borders Ninh Hòa town in the north, Cam Ranh city in the south, Diên Khánh town in the west and the East Sea to the east. The city is on the beautiful Nha Trang Bay, which was chosen by Travel + Leisure in two succeeding years as one of 29 most beautiful bays in the world. Nha Trang is surrounded on all three sides by mountains and a large island and four smaller ones on the fourth side (in the ocean directly in front of the city's main area), blocking major storms from potentially damaging the city.

 

CLIMATE

Nha Trang has a tropical savanna climate with a lengthy dry season from January to August and a shorter wet season from September to December, when 1,029 millimetres of the city's total annual rainfall of 1,361 millimetres is received from the north-east monsoon. During the wet season extremely heavy rainfall from typhoons is not uncommon, though the city is shielded from the worst winds.

 

ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISIONS

Nha Trang is subdivided into 27 wards and communes, of which 20 are urban wards: Vĩnh Hải, Vĩnh Phước, Vĩnh Thọ, Xương Huân, Vạn Thắng, Vạn Thạnh, Phương Sài, Phương Sơn, Ngọc Hiệp, Phước Hòa, Phước Tân, Phước Tiến, Phước Hải, Lộc Thọ, Tân Lập, Vĩnh Nguyên, Vĩnh Trường, Phước Long (founded in November 1998), Vĩnh Hòa (founded in April 2002); and 8 suburban communes: Vĩnh Phương, Vĩnh Trung, Vĩnh Thạnh, Vĩnh Thái, Vĩnh Hiệp, Vĩnh Ngọc, Vĩnh Lương, and Phước Đồng. Since 1998, due to the high pace of urbanization, many urban planned zones have been built: Hòn Rớ, Bắc Việt, Thánh Gia, Đường Đệ, and Nam Hòn Khô.

 

EDUCATION

Nha Trang is home to the multidisciplinary Nha Trang University (formerly Nha Trang Fishery University); the Naval and Aviation Academy; a teacher's training college; Khanh Hoa University, as well as the Nha Trang Oceanography Institute a unique institute of oceanography in Vietnam and the Pasteur Institute of Nha Trang, one of the many famous Pasteur Institutes.

 

NHA TRANG PASTEUR INSTITUTE

The French-Swiss bacteriologist Alexandre Yersin, discoverer of the Yersinia pestis bacterium lived in Nha Trang for 50 years and was affectionately known as Ông Năm. He established the Indochinese Pasteur Institute (now known as the Pasteur Institute of Nha Trang), devoted to researching the bubonic plague. Yersin died in Nha Trang on 1 March 1943. A street in the city is named after him, and a shrine has been built over his tomb. There is a Yersin Museum dedicated to his achievements.

 

ECONOMY

Nha Trang's economy relies largely on tourism. In the suburban areas around the city, the shipbuilding industry has developed and contributed significantly to the local economy. Fishery and services are also important to the city. Khánh Hòa Province in general and Nha Trang is particular are among the largest contributors to Vietnam's annual budget revenues. Lobster farming on the sea is an important industry for the people living in suburb areas.

 

To the south of the city, by Cam Ranh Bay, several industrial parks are under construction and have been partly available for investors. Once the construction of the deep-water port on Vân Phong Bay has been completed, this area will become the third important economic zone in the province (besides Nha Trang and Cam Ranh).

 

TOURISM

Nha Trang is one of the most important tourist hubs of Vietnam, thanks to its beaches with fine and clean sand and the clear ocean water with mild temperatures all year round. There are several resorts — such as Vinpearl, Diamond Bay and Ana Mandara — and amusement and water parks, in the city and on islands off the coast. The possibly most beautiful street of Nha Trang is Tran Phu Street along the seaside, sometimes referred to as the Pacific Coast Highway of Vietnam.

 

Lying off Nha Trang is the Hon Tre Island (Bamboo Island), with a major resort operated by the Vinpearl Group. The Vinpearl Cable Car, a gondola lift system, links the mainland to the five-star resort and theme park on Hon Tre Island.

 

Nha Trang is a stopover for annual yacht races starting in Hong Kong. In recent years, the city has welcomed many five-star sea cruises. In addition to sailboat racing, Nha Trang provides a rich variety of tourist activities for visitors. Island hopping, scuba diving, water sports and other sporting activities can be enjoyed. The Nha Trang Tourist Information Center (a non-governmental organisation), located near the Cho Dam Market has been set up to provide information for visitors.

 

The local cuisine is most famous for fresh seafood and barbecued pork rolled in rice paper. The area's bird's nest soup is deemed one of the best in Vietnam. Bird's nests are collected in the wild, on bird farms on the islands off the coast and even in some houses in the inner city. The farmed bird in question belongs to the swiftlet group, popularly referred to as yến hàng (Aerodramus fuciphagus and A. germani).

 

TOURIST ATTRACTIONS

Scuba diving and kite boarding are available, as are catamaran sailboats. Winds are steady.

 

Alexandre Yersin Museum

Pasteur Institute of Nha Trang

Nha Trang Oceanography Institute, the largest of its kind in Indochina where thousands of oceanic life samples, exhibits are on display. It is home to the largest oceanic library in Vietnam.

Chánh Tọa Church (or Mountain Church)

Long Son Pagoda, and its statue of Gautama Buddha.

Tong Lam Lo Son Pagoda, and its statue of Amitabha Buddha.

Magical Mystery Tour Nha Trang

Boat tour on Cai River, visiting islands off the coast and Ba Hồ Waterfall

Palace of Emperor Bảo Đại

Thap Ba Hot Spring (Lady Tower hot spring)

Nha Phu Lagoon

Hoa Lan Stream (Orchid Flower stream)

Monkey Island

Sạn Beach

Nha Trang Booze Cruise (all-you-can-drink party boat)

Hòn Tằm Island (Silkworm island)

Hòn Mun Island (Ebony island)

Hòn Con Sẻ Tre Island (Bamboo Sparrow island)

Hòn Ông Island

Đảo Yến Island (Swiftlet island)

Hòn Tre Island (Bamboo island)

Suối Đổ Stream

Suối Tiên Stream (Fairy stream)

Hòn Bà Mountain

Cai River Minigolf & Restaurant & Marina

Yangbay Waterfall

Tháp Bà Pô Nagar Nha Trang (a Champa Tower)

Chùa Long Sơn (Long Son Pagoda, literally "The Dragon Mountain Pagoda" — or White Buddha Pagoda)

Trí Nguyên Aquarium (an aquarium where hundreds of rare oceanic species are fed)

Vinpearl Cable Car

 

CULTURE

CUISINE

Two local culinary specialities that attract people are bánh canh chả cá (bánh canh with fish paddies) and bún cá sứa (rice vermicelli with jelly fish).

 

NIGHTLIFE

The nightlife is known as superior to other coastal towns such as Mui Ne and Vũng Tàu It is usually busiest around the Vietnamese New Year and can be worth visiting most of the year, with the possible exception of the rainy period (especially November).

 

Many tourists enjoy the Nha Trang River Cai boat ride (locally known as Song Cai, as "song" means "river" in the Vietnamese language).

 

TRANSPORTATION

When Cam Ranh Bay used to be an important naval base, Nha Trang Airport was the main airport of the city. This airport was used by the United States Air Force and Republic of Vietnam Air Force during the Vietnam War. When part of Cam Ranh Bay was made an economic development zone by the Vietnamese government, Cam Ranh International Airport (also a military airport built by the United States during Vietnam War) was made the new civilian airport of the city. This airport is located by Cam Ranh Bay, 28 km (17 mi) south of the city and was (as of 2007) the fourth busiest airport in passenger traffic in Vietnam serving more than 683,000 passengers in 2008. As of 2016, the airport has domestic connections to Hanoi, Hồ Chí Minh City, Hải Phòng, Đà Nẵng, Vinh.

 

The city is next to the National Route 1A, the backbone north-south road of the country. The Reunification Railway crosses the city and stops at Nha Trang Railway Station. The construction work of Vân Phong Port, north of the city, a deep-water project capable of handling ships up to 100,000 tonnes, and with a capacity of 100 million tonnes of cargo per annum, is under progress by a consortium of Japanese corporations. The estimated investment capital for this port-city complex project is expected to reach US$15 billion.

 

SISTER CITIES

Thái Nguyên, Vietnam

Malaysia Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia

 

WIKIPEDIA

Mélisande* got me thinking octagonally again and this brought to mind an old Rudolf Koch book. It's nice to be able to expropriate things so easily.

Fomapan 100 stand developed in Rodinal. Epson scan.

 

Developed in Microdol-X 1:3 16 MIn. 75 F.

Camera: Pentax K-1000

Lens: SMC Pentax-M 1.4/50

Film: Legacy Pro 100

Scanned from lith print

Arista Liquid Lith

Ilford MC RC Warmtone

 

SEE THE CAMERA AT THE LINK BELOW:

 

www.flickr.com/photos/vikingphotos/5344850292/

HPD pupils are developing concept models as part of their Developing Design Proposals Unit. As usual lighting remains a popular choice. Pupils are also developing proposals on themes as diverse as seating, kitchen utensils and sportswear equipment.

 

Good to see evidencs of great strides being made in quich modeling techniques using materials like plasticine, copper wire, plywood and foam. The glue gun gets a lot of use at the moment as does the bandsaw and fretsaw.

 

Fortunately, Cathy, our cleaner has been very understanding. The mess at times you would not believe!

 

Good work everybody. Have a great Christmas break, get some rest. You'll need all your energy for the new year!

Varanasi, also known as Benares, or Kashi is an Indian city on the banks of the Ganga in Uttar Pradesh, 320 kilometres south-east of the state capital, Lucknow. It is the holiest of the seven sacred cities (Sapta Puri) in Hinduism, and Jainism, and played an important role in the development of Buddhism. Some Hindus believe that death at Varanasi brings salvation. It is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. Varanasi is also known as the favourite city of the Hindu deity Lord Shiva as it has been mentioned in the Rigveda that this city in older times was known as Kashi or "Shiv ki Nagri".

 

The Kashi Naresh (Maharaja of Kashi) is the chief cultural patron of Varanasi, and an essential part of all religious celebrations. The culture of Varanasi is closely associated with the Ganges. The city has been a cultural centre of North India for several thousand years, and has a history that is older than most of the major world religions. The Benares Gharana form of Hindustani classical music was developed in Varanasi, and many prominent Indian philosophers, poets, writers, and musicians live or have lived in Varanasi. Gautama Buddha gave his first sermon at Sarnath, located near Varanasi.

 

Varanasi is the spiritual capital of India. It is often referred to as "the holy city of India", "the religious capital of India", "the city of Shiva", and "the city of learning". Scholarly books have been written in the city, including the Ramcharitmanas of Tulsidas. Today, there is a temple of his namesake in the city, the Tulsi Manas Mandir. The current temples and religious institutions in the city are dated to the 18th century. One of the largest residential universities of Asia, the Banaras Hindu University (BHU), is located here.

 

ETYMOLOGY

The name Varanasi possibly originates from the names of the two rivers: Varuna, still flowing in Varanasi, and Asi, a small stream near Assi Ghat. The old city does lie on the north shores of Ganges River bounded by its two tributaries Varuna and Asi. Another speculation is that the city derives its name from the river Varuna, which was called Varanasi in olden times.[11] This is generally disregarded by historians. Through the ages, Varanasi has been known by many names including Kāśī or Kashi (used by pilgrims dating from Buddha's days), Kāśikā (the shining one), Avimukta ("never forsaken" by Shiva), Ānandavana (the forest of bliss), and Rudravāsa (the place where Rudra/Śiva resides).

 

In the Rigveda, the city is referred to as Kāśī or Kashi, the luminous city as an eminent seat of learning. The name Kāśī is also mentioned in the Skanda Purana. In one verse, Shiva says, "The three worlds form one city of mine, and Kāśī is my royal palace therein." The name Kashi may be translated as "City of Light".

 

HISTORY

According to legend, Varanasi was founded by the God Shiva. The Pandavas, the heroes of the Hindu epic Mahabharata are also stated to have visited the city in search of Shiva to atone for their sins of fratricide and Brāhmanahatya that they had committed during the climactic Kurukshetra war. It is regarded as one of seven holy cities which can provide Moksha:

 

The earliest known archaeological evidence suggests that settlement around Varanasi in the Ganga valley (the seat of Vedic religion and philosophy) began in the 11th or 12th century BC, placing it among the world's oldest continually inhabited cities. These archaeological remains suggest that the Varanasi area was populated by Vedic people. However, the Atharvaveda (the oldest known text referencing the city), which dates to approximately the same period, suggests that the area was populated by indigenous tribes. It is possible that archaeological evidence of these previous inhabitants has yet to be discovered. Recent excavations at Aktha and Ramnagar, two sites very near to Varanasi, show them to be from 1800 BC, suggesting Varanasi started to be inhabited by that time too. Varanasi was also home to Parshva, the 23rd Jain Tirthankara and the earliest Tirthankara accepted as a historical figure in the 8th century BC.

 

Varanasi grew as an important industrial centre, famous for its muslin and silk fabrics, perfumes, ivory works, and sculpture. During the time of Gautama Buddha (born circa 567 BC), Varanasi was the capital of the Kingdom of Kashi. Buddha is believed to have founded Buddhism here around 528 BC when he gave his first sermon, "Turning the Wheel of Law", at nearby Sarnath. The celebrated Chinese traveller Xuanzang, who visited the city around 635 AD, attested that the city was a centre of religious and artistic activities, and that it extended for about 5 kilometres along the western bank of the Ganges. When Xuanzang, also known as Hiuen Tsiang, visited Varanasi in the 7th century, he named it "Polonisse" and wrote that the city had some 30 temples with about 30 monks. The city's religious importance continued to grow in the 8th century, when Adi Shankara established the worship of Shiva as an official sect of Varanasi.

 

In ancient times, Varanasi was connected by a road starting from Taxila and ending at Pataliputra during the Mauryan Empire. In 1194, the city succumbed to Turkish Muslim rule under Qutb-ud-din Aibak, who ordered the destruction of some one thousand temples in the city. The city went into decline over some three centuries of Muslim occupation, although new temples were erected in the 13th century after the Afghan invasion. Feroz Shah ordered further destruction of Hindu temples in the Varanasi area in 1376. The Afghan ruler Sikander Lodi continued the suppression of Hinduism in the city and destroyed most of the remaining older temples in 1496. Despite the Muslim rule, Varanasi remained the centre of activity for intellectuals and theologians during the Middle Ages, which further contributed to its reputation as a cultural centre of religion and education. Several major figures of the Bhakti movement were born in Varanasi, including Kabir who was born here in 1389 and hailed as "the most outstanding of the saint-poets of Bhakti cult (devotion) and mysticism of 15th-Century India"; and Ravidas, a 15th-century socio-religious reformer, mystic, poet, traveller, and spiritual figure, who was born and lived in the city and employed in the tannery industry. Similarly, numerous eminent scholars and preachers visited the city from across India and south Asia. Guru Nanak Dev visited Varanasi for Shivratri in 1507, a trip that played a large role in the founding of Sikhism.

 

In the 16th century, Varanasi experienced a cultural revival under the Muslim Mughal emperor Akbar who invested in the city, and built two large temples dedicated to Shiva and Vishnu. The Raja of Poona established the Annapurnamandir and the 200 metres Akbari Bridge was also completed during this period. The earliest tourists began arriving in the city during the 16th century. In 1665, the French traveller Jean Baptiste Tavernier described the architectural beauty of the Vindu Madhava temple on the side of the Ganges. The road infrastructure was also improved during this period and extended from Kolkata to Peshawar by Emperor Sher Shah Suri; later during the British Raj it came to be known as the famous Grand Trunk Road. In 1656, emperor Aurangzeb ordered the destruction of many temples and the building of mosques, causing the city to experience a temporary setback. However, after Aurangazeb's death, most of India was ruled by a confederacy of pro-Hindu kings. Much of modern Varanasi was built during this time by the Rajput and Maratha kings, especially during the 18th century, and most of the important buildings in the city today date to this period. The kings continued to be important through much of the British rule (1775–1947 AD), including the Maharaja of Benares, or Kashi Naresh. The kingdom of Benares was given official status by the Mughals in 1737, and continued as a dynasty-governed area until Indian independence in 1947, during the reign of Dr. Vibhuti Narayan Singh. In the 18th century, Muhammad Shah ordered the construction of an observatory on the Ganges, attached to Man Mandir Ghat, designed to discover imperfections in the calendar in order to revise existing astronomical tables. Tourism in the city began to flourish in the 18th century. In 1791, under the rule of the British Governor-General Warren Hastings, Jonathan Duncan founded a Sanskrit College in Varanasi. In 1867, the establishment of the Varanasi Municipal Board led to significant improvements in the city.

 

In 1897, Mark Twain, the renowned Indophile, said of Varanasi, "Benares is older than history, older than tradition, older even than legend, and looks twice as old as all of them put together." In 1910, the British made Varanasi a new Indian state, with Ramanagar as its headquarters but with no jurisdiction over the city of Varanasi itself. Kashi Naresh still resides in the Ramnagar Fort which is situated to the east of Varanasi, across the Ganges. Ramnagar Fort and its museum are the repository of the history of the kings of Varanasi. Since the 18th century, the fort has been the home of Kashi Naresh, deeply revered by the local people. He is the religious head and some devout inhabitants consider him to be the incarnation of Shiva. He is also the chief cultural patron and an essential part of all religious celebrations.

 

A massacre by British troops, of the Indian troops stationed here and of the population of the city, took place during the early stages of the Indian Rebellion of 1857. Annie Besant worked in Varanasi to promote theosophy and founded the Central Hindu College which later became a foundation for the creation of Banaras Hindu University as a secular university in 1916. Her purpose in founding the Central Hindu College in Varanasi was that she "wanted to bring men of all religions together under the ideal of brotherhood in order to promote Indian cultural values and to remove ill-will among different sections of the Indian population."

 

Varanasi was ceded to the Union of India on 15 October 1948. After the death of Dr. Vibhuti Narayan Singh in 2000, his son Anant Narayan Singh became the figurehead king, responsible for upholding the traditional duties of a Kashi Naresh.

 

MAIN SIGHTS

Varanasi's "Old City", the quarter near the banks of the Ganga river, has crowded narrow winding lanes flanked by road-side shops and scores of Hindu temples. As atmospheric as it is confusing, Varanasi's labyrinthine Old City has a rich culture, attracting many travellers and tourists. The main residential areas of Varanasi (especially for the middle and upper classes) are situated in regions far from the ghats; they are more spacious and less polluted.

 

Museums in and around Varanasi include Jantar Mantar, Sarnath Museum, Bharat Kala Bhawan and Ramnagar Fort.

 

JANTAR MANTAR

The Jantar Mantar observatory (1737) is located above the ghats on the Ganges, much above the high water level in the Ganges next to the Manmandir Ghat, near to Dasaswamedh Ghat and adjoining the palace of Raja Jai Singh of Jaipur. Compared to the observatories at Jaipur and Delhi, it is less well equipped but has a unique equatorial sundial which is functional and allows measurements to be monitored and recorded by one person.

 

RAMNAGAR FORT

The Ramnagar Fort located near the Ganges River on its eastern bank, opposite to the Tulsi Ghat, was built in the 18th century by Kashi Naresh Raja Balwant Singh with creamy chunar sandstone. It is in a typically Mughal style of architecture with carved balconies, open courtyards, and scenic pavilions. At present the fort is not in good repair. The fort and its museum are the repository of the history of the kings of Benares. It has been the home of the Kashi Naresh since the 18th century. The current king and the resident of the fort is Anant Narayan Singh who is also known as the Maharaja of Varanasi even though this royal title has been abolished since 1971. Labeled "an eccentric museum", it has a rare collection of American vintage cars, sedan chairs (bejeweled), an impressive weaponry hall and a rare astrological clock. In addition, manuscripts, especially religious writings, are housed in the Saraswati Bhawan. Also included is a precious handwritten manuscript by Goswami Tulsidas. Many books illustrated in the Mughal miniature style, with beautifully designed covers are also part of the collections. Because of its scenic location on the banks of the Ganges, it is frequently used as an outdoor shooting location for films. The film titled Banaras is one of the popular movies shot here. However, only a part of the fort is open for public viewing as the rest of the area is the residence of the Kashi Naresh and his family. It is 14 kilometres from Varanasi.

 

GHATS

Ghats are embankments made in steps of stone slabs along the river bank where pilgrims perform ritual ablutions. Ghats in Varanasi are an integral complement to the concept of divinity represented in physical, metaphysical and supernatural elements. All the ghats are locations on "the divine cosmic road", indicative of "its manifest transcendental dimension" Varanasi has at least 84 ghats. Steps in the ghats lead to the banks of River Ganges, including the Dashashwamedh Ghat, the Manikarnika Ghat, the Panchganga Ghat and the Harishchandra Ghat (where Hindus cremate their dead). Many ghats are associated with legends and several are now privately owned.

 

Many of the ghats were built when the city was under Maratha control. Marathas, Shindes (Scindias), Holkars, Bhonsles, and Peshwas stand out as patrons of present-day Varanasi. Most of the ghats are bathing ghats, while others are used as cremation sites. A morning boat ride on the Ganges across the ghats is a popular visitor attraction. The extensive stretches of ghats enhance the river front with a multitude of shrines, temples and palaces built "tier on tier above the water’s edge".

 

The Dashashwamedh Ghat is the main and probably the oldest ghat of Varansi located on the Ganges, close to the Kashi Vishwanath Temple. It is believed that Brahma created it to welcome Shiva and sacrificed ten horses during the Dasa -Ashwamedha yajna performed here. Above the ghat and close to it, there are also temples dedicated to Sulatankesvara, Brahmesvara, Varahesvara, Abhaya Vinayaka, Ganga (the Ganges), and Bandi Devi which are part of important pilgrimage journeys. A group of priests perform "Agni Pooja" (Worship to Fire) daily in the evening at this ghat as a dedication to Shiva, Ganga, Surya (Sun), Agni (Fire), and the whole universe. Special aartis are held on Tuesdays and on religious festivals.

 

The Manikarnika Ghat is the Mahasmasana (meaning: "great cremation ground") and is the primary site for Hindu cremation in the city. Adjoining the ghat, there are raised platforms that are used for death anniversary rituals. It is said that an ear-ring (Manikarnika) of Shiva or his wife Sati fell here. According to a myth related to the Tarakesvara Temple, a Shiva temple at the ghat, Shiva whispers the Taraka mantra ("Prayer of the crossing") in the ear of the dead. Fourth-century Gupta period inscriptions mention this ghat. However, the current ghat as a permanent riverside embankment was built in 1302 and has been renovated at least three times.

 

TEMPLES

Among the estimated 23000 temples in Varanasi, the most worshiped are: the Kashi Vishwanath Temple of Shiva; the Sankat Mochan Hanuman Temple; and the Durga Temple known for the band of monkeys that reside in the large trees nearby.

 

Located on the outskirts of the Ganges, the Kashi Vishwanath Temple – dedicated to Varanasi's presiding deity Shiva (Vishwanath – "Lord of the world") – is an important Hindu temple and one of the 12 Jyotirlinga Shiva temples. It is believed that a single view of Vishwanath Jyotirlinga is worth more than that of other jyotirlingas. The temple has been destroyed and rebuilt a number of times. The Gyanvapi Mosque, which is adjacent to the temple, is the original site of the temple. The temple, as it exists now, also called Golden Temple, was built in 1780 by Queen Ahilyabai Holkar of Indore. The two pinnacles of the temple are covered in gold, donated in 1839 by Ranjit Singh, the ruler of the Punjab and the remaining dome is also planned to be gold plated by the Ministry of Culture & Religious Affairs of Uttar Pradesh. On 28 January 1983, the temple was taken over by the government of Uttar Pradesh and its management was transferred to a trust with then Kashi Naresh, Vibhuti Narayan Singh, as president and an executive committee with a Divisional Commissioner as chairman. Numerous rituals, prayers and aratis are held daily, starting from 2:30 am till 11:00 pm.

 

The Sankat Mochan Hanuman Temple is one of the sacred temples of the Hindu god Hanuman situated by the Assi River, on the way to the Durga and New Vishwanath temples within the Banaras Hindu University campus. The present temple structure was built in early 1900s by the educationist and freedom fighter, Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya, the founder of Banaras Hindu University. It is believed the temple was built on the very spot where the medieval Hindu saint Tulsidas had a vision of Hanuman. Thousands flock to the temple on Tuesdays and Saturdays, weekdays associated with Hanuman. On 7 March 2006, in a terrorist attack one of the three explosions hit the temple while the Aarti was in progress when numerous devotees and people attending a wedding were present and many were injured. However, normal worship was resumed the next day with devotees visiting the temple and reciting hymns of Hanuman Chalisa (authored by Tulidas) and Sundarkand (a booklet of these hymns is provided free of charge in the temple). After the terrorist incident, a permanent police post was set up inside the temple.

 

There are two temples named "Durga" in Varanasi, Durga Mandir (built about 500 years ago), and Durga Kund (built in the 18th century). Thousands of Hindu devotees visit Durga Kund during Navratri to worship the goddess Durga. The temple, built in Nagara architectural style, has multi-tiered spires[96] and is stained red with ochre, representing the red colour of Durga. The building has a rectangular tank of water called the Durga Kund ("Kund" meaning a pond or pool). Every year on the occasion of Nag Panchami, the act of depicting the god Vishnu reclining on the serpent Shesha is recreated in the Kund.

 

While the Annapurna Temple, located close to the Kashi Vishwanath temple, is dedicated to Annapurna, the goddess of food, the Sankatha Temple close to the Sindhia Ghat is dedicated to Sankatha, the goddess of remedy. The Sankatha temple has a large sculpture of a lion and a nine temple cluster dedicated to the nine planets.

 

Kalabhairav Temple, an ancient temple located near the Head Post Office at Visheshar Ganj, is dedicated to Kala-Bhairava, the guardian (Kotwal) of Varanasi. The Mrithyunjay Mahadev Temple, dedicated to Shiva, is situated on the way to Daranagar to Kalbhairav temple. A well near the temple has some religious significance as its water source is believed to be fed from several underground streams, having curative powers.

 

The New Vishwanath Temple located in the campus of Banaras Hindu University is a modern temple which was planned by Pandit Malviya and built by the Birlas. The Tulsi Manas Temple, nearby the Durga Temple, is a modern temple dedicated to the god Rama. It is built at the place where Tulsidas authored the Ramcharitmanas, which narrates the life of Rama. Many verses from this epic are inscribed on the temple walls.

 

The Bharat Mata Temple, dedicated to the national personification of India, was inaugurated by Mahatma Gandhi in 1936. It has relief maps of India carved in marble. Babu Shiv Prasad Gupta and Durga Prasad Khatri, leading numismatists, antiquarians and nationalist leaders, donated funds for its construction.

 

RELIGION

HINDUISM

Varanasi is one of the holiest cities and centres of pilgrimage for Hindus of all denominations. It is one of the seven Hindu holiest cities (Sapta Puri), considered the giver of salvation (moksha). Over 50,000 Brahmins live in Varanasi, providing religious services to the masses. Hindus believe that bathing in the Ganges remits sins and that dying in Kashi ensures release of a person's soul from the cycle of its transmigrations. Thus, many Hindus arrive here for dying.

 

As the home to the Kashi Vishwanath Temple Jyotirlinga, it is very sacred for Shaivism. Varanasi is also a Shakti Peetha, where the temple to goddess Vishalakshi stands, believed to be the spot where the goddess Sati's earrings fell. Hindus of the Shakti sect make a pilgrimage to the city because they regard the River Ganges itself to be the Goddess Shakti. Adi Shankara wrote his commentaries on Hinduism here, leading to the great Hindu revival.

 

In 2001, Hindus made up approximately 84% of the population of Varanasi District.

 

ISLAM

Varanasi is one of the holiest cities and centres of pilgrimage for Hindus of all denominations. It is one of the seven Hindu holiest cities (Sapta Puri), considered the giver of salvation (moksha). Over 50,000 Brahmins live in Varanasi, providing religious services to the masses. Hindus believe that bathing in the Ganges remits sins and that dying in Kashi ensures release of a person's soul from the cycle of its transmigrations. Thus, many Hindus arrive here for dying.

 

As the home to the Kashi Vishwanath Temple Jyotirlinga, it is very sacred for Shaivism. Varanasi is also a Shakti Peetha, where the temple to goddess Vishalakshi stands, believed to be the spot where the goddess Sati's earrings fell. Hindus of the Shakti sect make a pilgrimage to the city because they regard the River Ganges itself to be the Goddess Shakti. Adi Shankara wrote his commentaries on Hinduism here, leading to the great Hindu revival.

 

In 2001, Hindus made up approximately 84% of the population of Varanasi District.

 

OTHERS

At the 2001 census, persons of other religions or no religion made up 0.4% of the population of Varanasi District.

 

Varanasi is a pilgrimage site for Jains along with Hindus and Buddhists. It is believed to be the birthplace of Suparshvanath, Shreyansanath, and Parshva, who are respectively the seventh, eleventh, and twenty-third Jain Tirthankars and as such Varanasi is a holy city for Jains. Shree Parshvanath Digambar Jain Tirth Kshetra (Digambar Jain Temple) is situated in Bhelupur, Varanasi. This temple is of great religious importance to the Jain Religion.

 

Sarnath, a suburb of Varanasi, is a place of Buddhist pilgrimage. It is the site of the deer park where Siddhartha Gautama of Nepal is said to have given his first sermon about the basic principles of Buddhism. The Dhamek Stupa is one of the few pre-Ashokan stupas still in existence, though only its foundation remains. Also remaining is the Chaukhandi Stupa commemorating the spot where Buddha met his first disciples in the 5th century. An octagonal tower was built later there.

 

Guru Nanak Dev visited Varanasi for Shivratri in 1507 and had an encounter which with other events forms the basis for the story of the founding of Sikhism. Varanasi also hosts the Roman Catholic Diocese of Varanasi, and has an insignificant Jewish expatriate community. Varanasi is home to numerous tribal faiths which are not easily classified.

 

Dalits are 13% of population Of Varanasi city. Most dalits are followers of Guru Ravidass. So Shri Guru Ravidass Janam Asthan is important place of pilgrimage for Ravidasis from all around India.

 

RELIGIOUS FESTIVALS

On Mahashivaratri (February) – which is dedicated to Shiva – a procession of Shiva proceeds from the Mahamrityunjaya Temple to the Kashi Vishwanath Temple.

 

Dhrupad Mela is a five-day musical festival devoted to dhrupad style held at Tulsi Ghat in February–March.

 

The Sankat Mochan Hanuman Temple celebrates Hanuman Jayanti (March–April), the birthday of Hanuman with great fervour. A special puja, aarti, and a public procession is organized. Starting in 1923, the temple organizes a five-day classical music and dance concert festival titled Sankat Mochan Sangeet Samaroh in this period, when iconic artists from all parts of India are invited to perform.

 

The Ramlila of Ramnagar is a dramatic enactment of Rama's legend, as told in Ramacharitamanasa. The plays, sponsored by Kashi Naresh, are performed in Ramnagar every evening for 31 days. On the last day, the festivities reach a crescendo as Rama vanquishes the demon king Ravana. Kashi Naresh Udit Narayan Singh started this tradition around 1830.

 

Bharat Milap celebrates the meeting of Rama and his younger brother Bharata after the return of the former after 14 years of exile. It is celebrated during October–November, a day after the festival of Vijayadashami. Kashi Naresh attends this festival in his regal attire resplendent in regal finery. The festival attracts a large number of devotees.

 

Nag Nathaiya, celebrated on the fourth lunar day of the dark fortnight of the Hindu month of Kartik (October–November), that commemorates the victory of the god Krishna over the serpent Kaliya. On this occasion, a large Kadamba tree (Neolamarckia cadamba) branch is planted on the banks of the Ganges so that a boy acting the role of Krishna can jump into the river on to the effigy representing Kaliya. He stands over the effigy in a dancing pose playing the flute; the effigy and the boy standing on it is given a swirl in front of the audience. People watch the display standing on the banks of the river or from boats.

 

Ganga Mahotsav is a five-day music festival organized by the Uttar Pradesh Tourism Department, held in November–December culminating a day before Kartik Poornima (Dev Deepawali). On Kartik Poornima also called the Ganges festival, the Ganges is venerated by arti offered by thousands of pilgrims who release lighted lamps to float in the river from the ghats.

 

Annually Jashne-Eid Miladunnabi is celebrated on the day of Barawafat in huge numbers by Muslims in a huge rally coming from all the parts of the city and meeting up at Beniya Bagh.

 

WIKIPEDIA

A developing filament near the edge of the sun churned and twisted as the rotating sun brought it into clearer view over a day (Nov. 16-17, 2017). Filaments are cooler and often unstable clouds of particles floating above the sun's surface, which are tethered by magnetic forces. In extreme ultraviolet light, they appear darker than the sun's surface. The bright area to the right of the filament is an active region. The loop that appears behind the filament in the middle of the clip is made of charged particles tracing magnetic field lines. Credit: Solar Dynamics Observatory, NASA.

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based historical facts. BEWARE!

  

It took China long way to develop and produce a true supersonic fighter aircraft: in March, 1964, Shenyang Aircraft Factory began the first domestic production of the J-7 jet fighter. However, the mass production of the aircraft, which had been developed through Soviet help, license production and reverse-engineering, was severely hindered by an unexpected problem—the Cultural Revolution. This incident and its consequences resulted in poor initial quality and slow progress.

 

This, in turn, resulted in full scale production only coming about in the 1980s, by which time the J-7 design was showing its age. However, through the years the J-7 saw constant development and refinement in China.

 

One of the many directions of the prolific J-7 family was the J-7III series, later re-coded J-7C. This variant was in so far special, as it was not based on the 1st generation MiG-21F. It was rather a reverse-engineered MiG-21MF obtained from Egypt, but just like the Soviet ejection seat, the original Soviet radar failed to impress Chinese, so a domestic Chinese radar was developed for the aircraft called the "JL-7". JL-7 is a 2 cm wavelength mono pulse fire radar weighing 100 kg, with a maximum range of 28 km, and MTBF is 70 hours.

 

However, due to the limitation of Chinese avionics industry in the 1980s, the performance of the domestic Chinese fire control radars were not satisfactory, because due to their relatively large size, the nosecone had to be enlarged, resulting in decrease in aerodynamic performance of the series. As a result, only very limited numbers of this series were built.

 

The J-7III prototypes comprised a series of a total of 5 aircraft, equipped with domestically developed HTY-3 ejection seat and KL-11 auto pilot. These machines had to be powered by the domestic WP-7 engine (a copy of the MiG-21F's Tumansky R-11) because the intended WP-13F (a license build of the Tumansky R-13) failed to meet the original schedule. The J-7III was planned to enter service in 1985, but due to the delay of WP-13 development, it was not until 1987 when the design was finally certified.

 

Production of the true J-7C fighter started in 1989, when the WP-13 became available, but only a total of 17 were built until 1996. It was soon superseded by the J-7IIIA, the prototype of the more sophisticated J-7D. This upgraded all-weather fighter was equipped with KJ-11A auto pilot, JD-3II TACAN, ADS-1 air data computer, Type 563B INS, WL-7A radio compass, Type 256 radar altimeter, TKR-122 radio, 930-4 RWR, 941-4A decoy launcher, and an improved JL-7A radar.

The fighter was to be armed with PL-7 & PL-8 AAMs and carried a twin 23 mm gun (a copy of the MiG-21MF's ventral GSh-23-2 cannon). A HK-13A HUD replaced HK-03D optical sight in earlier models. The upgraded JL-7A fire control radar had look-down/shoot-down capability added.

 

The production J-7D received an uprated WP-13FI engine, and initial certification was received in November 1994, but it was not until more than a year later in December 1995 when the model was finally fully certified due to the need to certify the WP-13FI on the aircraft. But, again, the results were not satisfactory and only 32 were built until 1999.

 

Even though the J-7C and D had been developed from a much more modern basis than the earlier MiG-21F derivatives, the "new" type offered - except for the more capable radar and the all-weather capability - no considerable benefit, was even less manoueverable in dogfight situations, more complex and expensive, and also had a very limited range. What was needed was a revolutionary step forward.

 

Such a proposal came from Chengdu Aircraft Corporation's general designer Mr. Wang Zi-fang (王子方) in 1998, who had already worked on the J-7D. He proposed the addition of fuselage elements that would partly replace the inner wing sections and create lift, but also offer additional room for more and better avionics, allowing the carriage of state-of-the-art weaponry like the PL-11 AAM, together with more internal fuel. Furthermore, the adaptation of the WS-13 turbofan, a new engine for which project work had just started and which would improve both range and performance of the modified aircraft.

 

In 2000, while an alternative design, the J-7FS, had been under parallel development and cleared for service by then, CAC received green lights for a developmental technology demonstrator under the label J-7DS (S stands for Shi-yan, 试验, meaning "experimental" in Chinese).

 

While the general third generation MiG-21 outlines were retained, the blended wing/body sections - certainly inspired by US American types like the F-16 and the F-18 - and a new, taller fin changed overall proportions considerably. Esp. from above, the bigger wing planform with extended LERXes (reminiscent of the MiG Analog experimental delta wing aircraft that were used during the Tu-144 development in the Soviet union) created the impression of a much more massive and compact aircraft, even though the dimenions remained unchanged.

 

Thanks to the additional space in the BWB sections, new and better equipment could be installed, and the aerodynamics were changed, too. For instance, the J-7's air brakes under the forward fuselage were deleted and replaced by a new pair of splayed design, stabilizing the aircraft more effectively in a dive. The single air brake in front of the ventral fin was retained, though, as well as the blown flaps from the MiG-21MF.

 

The ventral gun pod with a domestic copy of the GSh-23-2 was also deleted; this space, together with the air brake compartment, was now used for a semi-recessed laser range finder, so that guided ammunition could be deployed. But a gun was retained: a new, more effective Type 30-I 30 mm (1.18 in) cannon (a copy of the Gryazev-Shipunov GSh-30-1) with 150 rounds was placed into the port LERX, under the cockpit.

Inside of the LERX on the other side, compartments for new avionics (esp. for the once more upgraded JL-7B fire control radar) were added. With this radar and weapons like the PL-11 missile, the aircraft finally achieved the long desired BVR interception capability.

 

Flanking the new, longer WS-13 engine, the BWBs held extra fuel tanks. For en even more extended range and loiter time, provisions were made for a fixed air-refuelling probe on the starboard side under the cockpit.

Under the inner wings, an additional pair of pylons was added (for a total of seven), and overall ordnance load could be raised to 3.000 kg (6.600 lb).

 

The first J-7DS first flew in summer 2005, still only powered by an WP-13I engine, for a 22-month test program. Three prototypes were built, but only the first two aircraft were to fly – the third machine was only used for static tests.

The driving force behind this program was actually the PLANAF, the People's Liberation Army, Naval Air Force (中國人民解放軍海軍航空兵). While the Chinese Air Force rather placed its bet on the more modern and sophisticated Chengdu J-10 fighter, the PLANAF was rather looking for a more simple and inexpensive multi-role combat aircraft that could carry out both air defence and strike missions, and replace the ageing (and rather ineffective) J-8 fighters and Q-5 attack aircraft, as well as early J-7II fighters with limited all-weather capability. Consequently, the type was only operated by the PLANAF from 2010 onwards and received the official designation J-7DH ("H" for 海军 [Haijun] = Navy).

 

Production was still continuing in small numbers in late 2016, but the number of built specimen is uncertain. About 150 J-7DH are supposed to be in active service, mostly with PLANAF Northern and East Fleet units. Unlike many former J-7 variants (including its ancestor, the PLAAF's more or less stillborn C and D variants), the J-7DH was not offered for export.

  

General characteristics:

Crew: 1

Length: 14.61 m (47 ft 10½ in)

15.69 m (51 ft 5 in) with pitot

Wingspan: 7,41 m (24 ft 3½ in)

Height: 4.78 m (15 ft 8½ in)

Wing area: 28.88 m² (309.8 ft²)

Aspect ratio: 2.8:1

Empty weight: 5,892 kg (12.977 lb)

Loaded weight: 8,240 kg (18.150 lb)

Max. take-off weight: 9,800 kg (21.585 lb)

 

Powerplant:

1× Guizhou WS-13 turbofan with a dry thrust of 51.2 kN (11,510 lbf)

and 84.6 kN (19,000 lbf) with afterburner

 

Performance

Maximum speed: Mach 2.0, 2,200 km/h (1.189 knots, 1.375 mph)

Stall speed: 210 km/h (114 knots, 131 mph) IAS

Combat radius: 1.050 km (568 nmi, 652 mi) (air superiority, two AAMs and three drop tanks)

Ferry range: 2,500 km (1.350 nmi, 1.550 mi)

Service ceiling: 17,500 m (57.420 ft)

Rate of climb: 195 m/s (38.386 ft/min)

 

Armament:

1× Type 30-I 30mm (1.18") cannon with 150 rounds in the port forward fuselage;

7× hardpoints (6× under-wing, 1× centerline under-fuselage) with a capacity of 3,000 kg maximum (up to 500 kg each); Ordnance primarily comprises air-to-air missiles, including PL-2, PL-5, PL-7, PL-8, PL-9 and PL-11 AAMs, but in a secondary CAS role various rocket pods an unguided bombs of up to 500kg caliber can be carried

  

The kit and its assembly:

Another Chinese whif, and again a MiG-21 derivative - a fruitful source of inspiration. The J-7DH is not based ona real world project, though, but was rather inspired by an article about a Chinese 2020 update for the MiG-21 from Japan, including some drawings and artwork.

The latter depicted a late MiG-21 with some minor mods, but also some characteristic F-16 parts like the chines and the BWB flanks grafted to it - and it looked good!

 

Since I recently butchered an Intech F-16 for my Academy T-50 conversion (primariliy donation the whole landing gear, including the wells), I had a donor kit at ahnd, and I also found a Mastercraft MiG-21MF in my stash without a true plan. So I combined both for "something Chinese"...

 

The build was pretty starightforward - except for the fact that the Intech F-16 is a rather clumsy affair (donating the fin and the fuselage flanks) and that no part from the Mastercraft MiG-21 matches with another one! Lots of improvisation and mods were necessary.

On the other side, the F-16 parts were just glued onto the MiG-21 fuselage and blended into one with putty (in several layers, though).

 

The fin was taken wholesale from the F-16, but clipped by about 5mm at the top. I originally wanted to use F-16 wings with wing tip launch rails and the stabilizers, too, but when I held them to the model it looked wacky - so I reverted to the Fishbed parts. The stabilizers were taken OOB, but the wing span was reduced at the roots, so that the original MiG-21 wing span was retained. Only the landing gear wells had to be adapted accordingly, but that was easier than expected and the result looks very organic.

 

With more wing area, I added a third pair of hardpoints under the wing roots, and I kept the gun under the cockpit in the LERX. That offered room inside of the fuselage, filled by a laser rangefinder in a canoe fairing where the original gun used to be.

 

On the tail, a new jet nozzle was mounted, on the fuselage some air scoops and antennae were added an an IR sensor on the nose. A new seat was used in the cockpit instead of the poor L-shaped OOB thing. The PL-2 & -11 ordnance consists of simple AIM-9Bs and slightly modified AIM-120, plus some launch rails from the scrap box.

  

Paintings and markings:

Modern Chinese military aircraft are hardly benchmarks for creative paint schemes - and the only "realistic" option in this case would have been a uniform grey livery. The original J-7C PLAAF night fighters carried a high contrast sand/dark green/light blue livery, similar to the MiG-21 export scheme (a.k.a. "Pumpkin"), but I found the latter not suitabel for a naval operator.

 

I eventually found a compromise, using one of the J-7C schemes as pattern but using grey tones instead - still not very colorful, but the "clover" patterns would help disrupt the aircraft's outlines and support the modern look and feel of this whif.

 

Basic colors are Humbrol 140 (Dark Gull Grey, FS 36231) and 165 (RAF Medium Sea Grey) from above, plus 122 (IAF Pale Blue, FS 35622) on the undersides. With the dark grey pattern placed with no direct connection to the Pale Blue undersides, there's even a blending effect between the tones - not spectacular, but IMHO effective.

 

The cockpit interior became pale teal (a mix of Soviet Cockpit Blue and white), while the landing gear wells were painted with a mix of Humbrol 56, 119 and 225 - for a yellow-ish, dull metallic brown. The wheel discs became bright green (Humbrol 131), and any di-electric panel and the radome became deep green (Humbrol 2).

 

The decals come from a Begemot MiG-21 sheet (roundels), while the tactical 5-digit code comes from an Airfix 1:72 B-17 sheet. The yellow code is a bit unusual, as well as its place on the fin, but both occur on Chinese fighters.

The code itself is based on the information published in the 2010 book “Chinese Air Power” by Yefim Gordon und Dmitriy Komissarov, where the Chinese code system is explained – I hope that it is more or less authentic.

 

The kit received a light black ink wash and some dry painting with lighter blue-grey shades, but no weathering, since modern Chinese aircraft tend to look pretty clean and pristine. Since the kits both did not feature much surface details, and a lot of the few OOB details got lost during the PSR process for the BWB wing sections, I painted some details and panel lines with a soft pencil - a compromise, though. Finally, the kit was sealed with matt acrylic varnish.

  

The result is a pretty subtle whif, and with the F-16 parts added the result even looks very conclusive! From above, the extra fuselage width makes the Fishbed look very massive, which is underlined by the extended stabilizer span. But I think that retailing the original MiG-21 delta wing was a good decision, because it helps retaining the Fishbed's "fast" look.

I am just not 100% happy with the finish - but for the crappy kits I used as basis it's O.K.

 

Developing.

Decided the other day to work on other things, but I have this one hanging around....

 

Crease pattern available.

Because the box rests on the table with three tips touching, your food stays hot longer.

"The secret of happiness, you see, is not found in seeking more, but in developing the capacity to enjoy less." ~ Socrates

 

chiotsrun.com/2010/03/13/sunny-spring-days/

The Fleetliner was originally developped and manufactured by Daimler, During the final years of production, Farington was where the Fleetlines kept coming under the light. Independently imported quite a few years ago into France, this Fleetline acted as a mobile catering and restaurant unit catering to events and shows across the area. Note the refrigerated container used for fresh food storage in the background.

Number 9 tee box going back towards the clubhouse.

 

The Ritz-Carlton, Dove Mountain

13900 North Dove Mountain Boulevard

Marana, Arizona

 

**In the Beginning**

 

In 1926, Missourian Eugene Cayton arrived in Tucson to improve his health. He acquired what was then known as Ruelas Canyon in the Tortolita Mountains and established the T Bench Bar Ranch. "Cush" Cayton built for his wife, Inez, a stone house atop one of the smaller peaks. The stone house is still there on top of the hill overlooking Dove Mountain Boulevard near the eighth and ninth holes of the Gallery Golf Club. The Gallery Golf Club at Dove Mountain was developed by John MacMillan, majority owner of Palo Verde Partners and opened in 2003.

 

The Cayton’s ranched the land until 1984. In 1985 David Mehl’s Cottonwood Properties Inc. Acquired the 1,300 acres of desert land and thus began Mehl's vision of Dove Mountain as an upscale golf community. David Mehl and his late brother George founded Tucson-based Cottonwood Properties in 1972. Its purpose was to invest in and develop quality real estate in the Tucson, Arizona area. David Mehl graduated from the University of Arizona in 1972.

 

In the early 1980’s Cottonwood Properties was the master developer of the 790 acre Westin La Paloma resort community in the foothills of Tucson. The development consisted of the 487 room Westin La Paloma Resort & Hotel and the 27 hole Jack Nicklaus signature golf course. Cottonwood owned the hotel until 1988 when it sold the hotel to the Aoki Corp., the Japan-based construction company that owned Westin. Aoki spent $200 million to acquire 3 hotels - the Inter-Continental at Hilton Head Island in South Carolina, the Inter-Continental at Buckhead in Atlanta, and an equity interest in the Westin La Paloma.

 

**Pygmy Owl**

 

In March 1997 the Pygmy Owl was added to the list of endangered species under federal law. In 1999 the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service dealt a set-back to the development. Environmental protections for the ferruginous pygmy owl forced Cottonwood to scale back plans at Dove Mountain. The numbers of homes were scaled back from 13,000 to 6,500 and the numbers of proposed resorts were reduced to one from 3 or 4. Cottonwood also contributed several million dollars to a conservation fund managed by the federal agency.

 

In 1999 the Tucson Citizen quoted David Mehl ”By making density reductions, we are developing at a density compatible with the pygmy owl.. In areas where it’s not, then we’re offering to pay to make up for it.”

 

**The Development**

 

Cottonwood committed some twenty years of planning into making Dove Mountain a premiere golf resort community.

 

In the late 1990’s Cottonwood Properties partnered with Scottsdale-based Greenbrier Southwest Corp. and began planning a 500-room Hyatt resort hotel for Dove Mountain. The hotel was designed and the developers received a verbal commitment for the financing on Sept. 10, 2001. The next day, September 11, 2001, the world changed and the idea for the Hyatt Resort was shelved.

 

The principals of Greenbrier Southwest Corporation, Tim and Casey Bolinger, previously served with Woodbine Southwest Corporation in Phoenix from 1991-1998. They managed the planning, zoning, financing, development and marketing of the 730-acre Kierland master-planned community, including Kierland Commons and the Westin Kierland Resort.

 

Greenbrier Southwest developed a much smaller project – the Hidden Meadow Ranch in Greer, Arizona. Opened in 2002, the rustic ranch (transformed from a church youth camp) has 12 luxury cabins starting at $500 a night including meals.

 

In August 2007 a building permit was issued for a Ritz-Carlton resort and spa to be built in Dove Mountain in Marana. The building permit cost $309,643.10 and was applied for by Dove Mountain Hotel Co. LLC. Also, Tucson Water approved a water main extension, a 290,000-gallon reservoir and a booster station that would serve the proposed 250-room hotel.

 

The Ritz-Carlton, Dove Mountain and The Residences at The Ritz-Carlton, Dove Mountain were announced as the largest branded resort/residential community managed by the Ritz Carlton hotel company. The $160 million hotel will be the second Ritz-Carlton in Arizona, joining the The Ritz-Carlton, Phoenix.

 

The Ritz Carlton press release announced that HKS Hill Glazier Architects of Palo Alto, California will design the hotel as a low-rise, four story building embracing the feel of the desert southwest. The main building of adobe block, straw-flecked stucco, clay tile and native stone will include 226 guest rooms and suites. Separate buildings nearby will feature 24 individual casita rooms and suites.

 

In addition a $60-million Jack Nicklaus Signature Golf Course with 27-holes was planned for a late 2008 opening. The Ritz-Carlton Golf Club, Dove Mountain now hosts the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship beginning in February 2009 (The PGA Tour has committed to The Ritz-Carlton, Dove Mountain through the 2013 event). When George and David Mehl hired Nicklaus in 1983 to design the Westin La Polama Golf Course, it was Nicklaus’s 26th golf course on his design resume. With Dove Mountain completed Nicklaus has designed over 200 golf courses around the world.

 

**Grand Opening**

 

The Ritz Carlton’s pre-opening General Manager – Michael McMahon - aims to have the resort become the first in the Tucson area to achieve AAA's highest rating of five diamonds. Previously McMahon was General Manager The Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort, Naples, Florida.

 

The hotel’s opening general manager was Allan Federer. In March 2011 Federer moved to the Ritz-Carlton Dubai as General Manager. Replacing Federer is Liam Doyle – who previously was general manager at the Sherbourne Dublin, Ireland and Hotel Manager at the Ritz-Carlton South Beach.

 

The Ritz-Carlton Grand Opening Press Release reported that Arizona Governor Jan Brewer was in attendance at the December 18, 2009 event. Speakers at the event included owner and developer David Mehl of Cottonwood Properties, senior vice president of operations for The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, L.L.C., Hank Biddle, and The Ritz-Carlton, Dove Mountain resort general manager, Allan Federer.

 

“This day is a landmark event not only for the town of Marana, but for the State of Arizona,” stated general manager Allan Federer. “Over twenty years ago, David and his brother George Mehl had a vision to build the finest resort in the country. All it took was the right partners and the perfect location. With the help of The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, L.L.C. and co-developer Greenbrier Southwest Corporation, it became a reality. Now the world has the opportunity to visit a place like no other, The Ritz-Carlton, Dove Mountain.”

 

Following the official ribbon-cutting seventy-two white doves were released symbolizing the property as the 72nd within The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, L.L.C. portfolio.

 

At full operation the hotel has 450 employees. It has 44,000 square feet of meeting space including a 9,000 square foot main ballroom.

 

The hotel’s opening Chef de Cuisine was Joel Harrington. Harrington previously was chef de cuisine of Fearing's at The Ritz-Carlton, Dallas. Harrington graduated from CIA in Hyde Park, NY and worked with Marcus Samuellson at Aquavit in NYC.

 

Replacing Harrington is Chef David Serus who previously served as Executive Sous-Chef of The Ritz-Carlton, Half Moon Bay and Executive Chef of The Ritz-Carlton, Washington, D.C. Serus’ role encompass all hotel culinary activities, including those at CORE Kitchen & Wine Bar, Cayton’s Restaurant, Ignite Lobby Lounge, Turquesa Latin Grill, To Go, In-Room Dining, banquets, and catering.

 

**Two Landmark 200 Year Old Saguaros**

 

When Wild Burro Canyon was selected for the perfect hotel site, where balcony views of the Tortolita Mountains would be maximized, it was discovered that two majestic Saguaros, each estimated to be close to 200 years old, would have been lost. This was unacceptable to ownership. After three more months of analysis, the final solution was to simply shift the whole facility 25 feet. Today, as hotel guests behold the box canyon views from Ignite or CORE Kitchen and Wine Bar, they enjoy these two landmark cacti, which rise majestically overhead and stand in testament to the preservation of the High Sonoran Desert. “These cacti are sacred and add to our sense of place,” said Allan Federer, general manager of The Ritz-Carlton, Dove Mountain. “Guests gaze in awe and wonder at the desert’s version of a redwood, adding to the memories they will have of this beautiful property.”

 

Photos and text compiled by Dick Johnson

richardlloydjohnson@hotmail.com

212-832-0098

March, 2012

 

BSG training for Countries (SG1) for SG Effectiveness. 19-01-2016

 

©ITU/A.Mhadhbi

Developed and scanned years after being shot on a Holga GN. Remember to clean out the bags. ;)

05/05/2023. London, United Kingdom. Bilateral meeting between Andrew Mitchell, Minister of State in the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office and President of Comoros Azli Assoumani at the Small Island Developing States Coronation Event at Lancaster House. Picture by Lauren Hurley / DHSC