Kathmandu is the capital and largest municipality of Nepal. It is the only city of Nepal with the administrative status of Mahanagar (Metropolitan City), as compared to Upa-Mahanagar (Sub-Metropolitan City) or Nagar (City). Kathmandu is the core of Nepal's largest urban agglomeration located in the Kathmandu Valley consisting of Lalitpur, Kirtipur, Madhyapur Thimi, Bhaktapur and a number of smaller communities. Kathmandu is also known informally as "KTM" or the "tri-city". According to the 2011 census, Kathmandu Metropolitan City has a population of 975.453 and measures 49,45 square kilometres.

 

The city stands at an elevation of approximately 1.400 metres in the bowl-shaped Kathmandu Valley of central Nepal. It is surrounded by four major hills: Shivapuri, Phulchoki, Nagarjun, and Chandragiri. Kathmandu Valley is part of three districts (Kathmandu, Lalitpur, and Bhaktapur), has the highest population density in the country, and is home to about a twelfth of Nepal's population.

 

Historically, the Kathmandu Valley and adjoining areas were known as Nepal Mandala. Until the 15th century, Bhaktapur was its capital when two other capitals, Kathmandu and Lalitpur, were established. During the Rana and Shah eras, British historians called the valley itself "Nepal Proper". Today, Kathmandu is not only the capital of the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, but also the headquarters of the Bagmati Zone and the Central Development Region of Nepal.

 

Kathmandu is the gateway to tourism in Nepal. It is also the hub of the country's economy. It has the most advanced infrastructure of any urban area in Nepal, and its economy is focused on tourism, which accounted for 3.8% of Nepal's GDP in 1995–96. Tourism in Kathmandu declined thereafter during a period of political unrest, but since then has improved. In 2013, Kathmandu was ranked third among the top 10 travel destinations on the rise in the world by TripAdvisor, and ranked first in Asia.

 

The city has a rich history, spanning nearly 2000 years, as inferred from inscriptions found in the valley. Religious and cultural festivities form a major part of the lives of people residing in Kathmandu. Most of Kathmandu's people follow Hinduism and many others follow Buddhism. There are people of other religious beliefs as well, giving Kathmandu a cosmopolitan culture. Nepali is the most commonly spoken language in the city. English is understood by Kathmandu's educated residents. Kathmandu was devastated by a 7.8 magnitude earthquake on April 25, 2015.

 

ETYMOLOGY

The city of Kathmandu is named after Kasthamandap temple, that stood in Durbar Square. In Sanskrit, Kastha (काष्ठ) means "wood" and Mandap (/मण्डप) means "covered shelter". This temple, also known as Maru Satal (in ″Newar language″), was built in 1596 by King Laxmi Narsingh Malla. The two-storey structure was made entirely of wood, and used no iron nails nor supports. According to legend, all the timber used to build the pagoda was obtained from a single tree. The structure unfortunately collapsed during the major earthquake in April 2015.

 

The colophons of ancient manuscripts, dated as late as the 20th century, refer to Kathmandu as Kasthamandap Mahanagar in Nepal Mandala. Mahanagar means "great city". The city is called "Kasthamandap" in a vow that Buddhist priests still recite to this day. Thus, Kathmandu is also known as Kasthamandap. During medieval times, the city was sometimes called Kantipur (कान्तिपुर). This name is derived from two Sanskrit words - Kanti and pur. "Kanti" is one of the names of the Goddess Lakshmi, and "pur" means place.

 

Among the indigenous Newar people, Kathmandu is known as Yen Desa (येँ देश), and Patan and Bhaktapur are known as Yala Desa (यल देश) and Khwopa Desa (ख्वप देश). "Yen" is the shorter form of Yambu (यम्बु), which originally referred to the northern half of Kathmandu.

 

HISTORY

Archaeological excavations in parts of Kathmandu have found evidence of ancient civilizations. The oldest of these findings is a statue, found in Maligaon, that was dated at 185 AD. The excavation of Dhando Chaitya uncovered a brick with an inscription in Brahmi script. Archaeologists believe it is two thousand years old. Stone inscriptions are an ubiquitous element at heritage sites and are key sources for the history of Nepal

 

The earliest Western reference to Kathmandu appears in an account of Jesuit Fathers Johann Grueber and Albert d'Orville. In 1661, they passed through Nepal on their way from Tibet to India, and reported that they reached "Cadmendu, the capital of the Kingdom of Necbal".

 

ANCIENT HISTORY

The ancient history of Kathmandu is described in its traditional myths and legends. According to Swayambhu Purana, the present day Kathmandu was once a lake called Nagdaha. The lake was drained by Manjusri, who established a city called Manjupattan and made Dharmakar the ruler of the land.

 

Kotirudra Samhita of Shiva Purana, Chapter 11, shloka 18 refers to the place as Nayapala city famous for its Pashupati Shivalinga. The name Nepal probably originates from this city Nayapala.

 

Very few historical records exist of the period before the medieval Licchavis rulers. According to Gopalraj Vansawali, a genealogy of Nepali monarchs, the rulers of Kathmandu Valley before the Licchavis were Gopalas, Mahispalas, Aabhirs, Kirants, and Somavanshi. The Kirata dynasty was established by Yalamber. During the Kirata era, a settlement called Yambu existed in the northern half of old Kathmandu. In some of the Sino-Tibetan languages, Kathmandu is still called Yambu. Another smaller settlement called Yengal was present in the southern half of old Kathmandu, near Manjupattan. During the reign of the seventh Kirata ruler, Jitedasti, Buddhist monks entered Kathmandu valley and established a forest monastery at Sankhu.

 

MEDIEVAL HISTORY

LICCHAVI ERA

The Licchavis from the Indo-Gangetic plain migrated north and defeated the Kiratas, establishing the Licchavi dynasty. During this era, following the genocide of Shakyas in Lumbini by Virudhaka, the survivors migrated north and entered the forest monastery in Sankhu masquerading as Koliyas. From Sankhu, they migrated to Yambu and Yengal (Lanjagwal and Manjupattan) and established the first permanent Buddhist monasteries of Kathmandu. This created the basis of Newar Buddhism, which is the only surviving Sanskrit-based Buddhist tradition in the world. With their migration, Yambu was called Koligram and Yengal was called Dakshin Koligram during most of the Licchavi era.Eventually, the Licchavi ruler Gunakamadeva merged Koligram and Dakshin Koligram, founding the city of Kathmandu. The city was designed in the shape of Chandrahrasa, the sword of Manjushri. The city was surrounded by eight barracks guarded by Ajimas. One of these barracks is still in use at Bhadrakali (in front of Singha Durbar). The city served as an important transit point in the trade between India and Tibet, leading to tremendous growth in architecture. Descriptions of buildings such as Managriha, Kailaskut Bhawan, and Bhadradiwas Bhawan have been found in the surviving journals of travelers and monks who lived during this era. For example, the famous 7th-century Chinese traveller Xuanzang described Kailaskut Bhawan, the palace of the Licchavi king Amshuverma. The trade route also led to cultural exchange as well. The artistry of the Newar people - the indigenous inhabitants of the Kathmandu Valley - became highly sought after during this era, both within the Valley and throughout the greater Himalayas. Newar artists travelled extensively throughout Asia, creating religious art for their neighbors. For example, Araniko led a group of his compatriot artists through Tibet and China. Bhrikuti, the princess of Nepal who married Tibetan monarch Songtsän Gampo, was instrumental in introducing Buddhism to Tibet.

 

MALLA ERA

The Licchavi era was followed by the Malla era. Rulers from Tirhut, upon being attacked by Muslims, fled north to the Kathmandu valley. They intermarried with Nepali royalty, and this led to the Malla era. The early years of the Malla era were turbulent, with raids and attacks from Khas and Turk Muslims. There was also a devastating earthquake which claimed the lives of a third of Kathmandu's population, including the king Abhaya Malla. These disasters led to the destruction of most of the architecture of the Licchavi era (such as Mangriha and Kailashkut Bhawan), and the loss of literature collected in various monasteries within the city. Despite the initial hardships, Kathmandu rose to prominence again and, during most of the Malla era, dominated the trade between India and Tibet. Nepali currency became the standard currency in trans-Himalayan trade.

 

During the later part of the Malla era, Kathmandu Valley comprised four fortified cities: Kantipur, Lalitpur, Bhaktapur, and Kirtipur. These served as the capitals of the Malla confederation of Nepal. These states competed with each other in the arts, architecture, aesthetics, and trade, resulting in tremendous development. The kings of this period directly influenced or involved themselves in the construction of public buildings, squares, and temples, as well as the development of water spouts, the institutionalization of trusts (called guthis), the codification of laws, the writing of dramas, and the performance of plays in city squares. Evidence of an influx of ideas from India, Tibet, China, Persia, and Europe among other places can be found in a stone inscription from the time of king Pratap Malla. Books have been found from this era that describe their tantric tradition (e.g. Tantrakhyan), medicine (e.g. Haramekhala), religion (e.g. Mooldevshashidev), law, morals, and history. Amarkosh, a Sanskrit-Nepal Bhasa dictionary from 1381 AD, was also found. Architecturally notable buildings from this era include Kathmandu Durbar Square, Patan Durbar Square, Bhaktapur Durbar Square, the former durbar of Kirtipur, Nyatapola, Kumbheshwar, the Krishna temple, and others.

 

MODERN ERA

EARLY SHAH RULE

The Gorkha Kingdom ended the Malla confederation after the Battle of Kathmandu in 1768. This marked the beginning of the modern era in Kathmandu. The Battle of Kirtipur was the start of the Gorkha conquest of the Kathmandu Valley. Kathmandu was adopted as the capital of the Gorkha empire, and the empire itself was dubbed Nepal. During the early part of this era, Kathmandu maintained its distinctive culture. Buildings with characteristic Nepali architecture, such as the nine-story tower of Basantapur, were built during this era. However, trade declined because of continual war with neighboring nations. Bhimsen Thapa supported France against Great Britain; this led to the development of modern military structures, such as modern barracks in Kathmandu. The nine-storey tower Dharahara was originally built during this era.

 

RANA RULE

Rana rule over Nepal started with the Kot Massacre, which occurred near Hanuman Dhoka Durbar. During this massacre, most of Nepal's high-ranking officials were massacred by Jang Bahadur Rana and his supporters. Another massacre, the Bhandarkhal Massacre, was also conducted by Kunwar and his supporters in Kathmandu. During the Rana regime, Kathmandu's alliance shifted from anti-British to pro-British; this led to the construction of the first buildings in the style of Western European architecture. The most well-known of these buildings include Singha Durbar, Garden of Dreams, Shital Niwas, and the old Narayanhiti palace. The first modern commercial road in the Kathmandu Valley, the New Road, was also built during this era. Trichandra College (the first college of Nepal), Durbar School (the first modern school of Nepal), and Bir Hospital (the first hospital of Nepal) were built in Kathmandu during this era. Rana rule was marked by tyranny, debauchery, economic exploitation and religious persecution.

 

GEOGRAPHY

Kathmandu is located in the northwestern part of Kathmandu Valley to the north of the Bagmati River and covers an area of 50,67 square kilometres. The average elevation is 1.400 metres above sea level. The city is directly bounded by several other municipalities of the Kathmandu valley: south of the Bagmati by Lalitpur Sub-Metropolitan City (Patan) with which it today forms one urban area surrounded by a ring road, to the southwest by Kirtipur Municipality and to the east by Madyapur Thimi Municipality. To the north the urban area extends into several Village Development Committees. However, the urban agglomeration extends well beyond the neighboring municipalities, e. g. to Bhaktapur and just about covers the entire Kathmandu valley.

 

Kathmandu is dissected by eight rivers, the main river of the valley, the Bagmati and its tributaries, of which the Bishnumati, Dhobi Khola, Manohara Khola, Hanumant Khola, and Tukucha Khola are predominant. The mountains from where these rivers originate are in the elevation range of 1.500–3.000 metres, and have passes which provide access to and from Kathmandu and its valley. An ancient canal once flowed from Nagarjuna hill through Balaju to Kathmandu; this canal is now extinct.

 

Kathmandu and its valley are in the Deciduous Monsoon Forest Zone (altitude range of 1.200–2.100 metres), one of five vegetation zones defined for Nepal. The dominant tree species in this zone are oak, elm, beech, maple and others, with coniferous trees at higher altitude.

 

TOURISM

Tourism is considered another important industry in Nepal. This industry started around 1950, as the country's political makeup changed and ended the country's isolation from the rest of the world. In 1956, air transportation was established and the Tribhuvan Highway, between Kathmandu and Raxaul (at India's border), was started. Separate organizations were created in Kathmandu to promote this activity; some of these include the Tourism Development Board, the Department of Tourism and the Civil Aviation Department. Furthermore, Nepal became a member of several international tourist associations. Establishing diplomatic relations with other nations further accentuated this activity. The hotel industry, travel agencies, training of tourist guides, and targeted publicity campaigns are the chief reasons for the remarkable growth of this industry in Nepal, and in Kathmandu in particular.

 

Since then, tourism in Nepal has thrived; it is sometimes called the "third religion" of Nepal. It is the country's most important industry. Tourism is a major source of income for most of the people in the city, with several hundred thousand visitors annually. Hindu and Buddhist pilgrims from all over the world visit Kathmandu's religious sites such as Pashupatinath, Swayambhunath, Boudhanath and Budhanilkantha. From a mere 6179 tourists in 1961–62, the number jumped to 491504 in 1999-2000. With the end of Maoist insuregency period in 2009 there was a significant rise of 509,956 tourist arrivals. Since then, tourism has improved as the country turned into a Democratic Republic. In economic terms, the foreign exchange registered 3.8% of the GDP in 1995–96 but then started declining. The high level of tourism is attributed to the natural grandeur of the Himalayas and the rich cultural heritage of the country.

 

The neighborhood of Thamel is Kathmandu's primary "traveler's ghetto", packed with guest houses, restaurants, shops, and bookstores, catering to tourists. Another neighborhood of growing popularity is Jhamel, a name for Jhamsikhel coined to rhyme with Thamel. Jhochhen Tol, also known as Freak Street, is Kathmandu's original traveler's haunt, made popular by the hippies of the 1960s and 1970s; it remains a popular alternative to Thamel. Asan is a bazaar and ceremonial square on the old trade route to Tibet, and provides a fine example of a traditional neighborhood.

With the opening of the tourist industry after the change in the political scenario of Nepal in 1950, the hotel industry drastically improved. Now Kathmandu boasts several five-star hotels like Hyatt Regency, Hotel Yak & Yeti, The Everest Hotel, Hotel Radisson, Hotel De L'Annapurna, The Malla Hotel, Shangri-La Hotel (which is not operated by the Shangri-La Hotel Group) and The Shanker Hotel. There are several four-star hotels such as Hotel Vaishali, Hotel Narayani, The Blue Star and Grand Hotel. The Garden Hotel, Hotel Ambassador, and Aloha Inn are among the three-star hotels in Kathmandu. Hotels like Hyatt Regency, De L'Annapurna and Hotel Yak & Yeti are among the five-star hotels providing casinos as well.

 

DEMOGRAPHICS

Kathmandu's urban cosmopolitan character has made it the most populous city in Nepal, recording a population of 671846 residents living in 235387 households in the metropolitan area, according to the 2001 census. According to the National Population Census of 2011, the total population of Kathmandu city was 975543 with an annual growth rate of 6,12% with respect to the population figure of 2001. 70% of the total population residing in Kathmandu are aged between 15 and 59.

 

Over the years the city has been home to people of various ethnicities, resulting in a range of different traditions and cultural practices. In one decade, the population increased from 427045 in 1991 to 671805 in 2001. The population was projected to reach 915071 in 2011 and 1.319.597 by 2021. To keep up this population growth, the KMC-controlled area of 5,076.6 hectares has expanded to 8.214 hectares in 2001. With this new area, the population density which was 85 in 1991 is still 85 in 2001; it is likely to jump to 111 in 2011 and 161 in 2021.

 

ETHNIC GROUPS

The largest ethnic groups are Newar (29.6%), Matwali (25.1% Sunuwar, Gurung, Magars, Tamang etc.), Khas Brahmins (20.51%) and Chettris (18.5%) . Tamangs originating from surrounding hill districts can be seen in Kathmandu. More recently, other hill ethnic groups and Caste groups from Terai have become present as well in vast majority. The major languages are Nepali, Nepal Bhasa and English is understood by about 30% of the people. The major religions are Hinduism and Buddhism.

 

The linguistic profile of Kathmandu underwent drastic changes during the Shah dynasty's rule because of its strong bias towards the Brahminic culture. Sanskrit language therefore was preferred and people were encouraged to learn it even by attending Sanskrit learning centers in Terai. Sanskrit schools were specially set up in Kathmandu and in the Terai region to inculcate traditional Hindu culture and practices originated from Nepal.

 

ARCHITECTURE AND CITYSCAPE

The ancient trade route between India and Tibet that passed through Kathmandu enabled a fusion of artistic and architectural traditions from other cultures to be amalgamated with local art and architecture. The monuments of Kathmandu City have been influenced over the centuries by Hindu and Buddhist religious practices. The architectural treasure of the Kathmandu valley has been categorized under the well-known seven groups of heritage monuments and buildings. In 2006 UNESCO declared these seven groups of monuments as a World Heritage Site (WHS). The seven monuments zones cover an area of 188,95 hectares, with the buffer zone extending to 239,34 hectares. The Seven Monument Zones (Mzs) inscribed originally in 1979 and with a minor modification in 2006 are Durbar squares of Hanuman Dhoka, Patan and Bhaktapur, Hindu temples of Pashupatinath and Changunarayan, the Buddhist stupas of Swayambhu and Boudhanath.

 

DURBAR SQUARES

The literal meaning of Durbar Square is a "place of palaces". There are three preserved Durbar Squares in Kathmandu valley and one unpreserved in Kirtipur. The Durbar Square of Kathmandu is located in the old city and has heritage buildings representing four kingdoms (Kantipur, Lalitpur, Bhaktapur, Kirtipur); the earliest is the Licchavi dynasty. The complex has 50 temples and is distributed in two quadrangles of the Durbar Square. The outer quadrangle has the Kasthamandap, Kumari Ghar, and Shiva-Parvati Temple; the inner quadrangle has the Hanuman Dhoka palace. The squares were severely damaged in the April 2015 Nepal earthquake.

 

Hanuman Dhoka is a complex of structures with the Royal Palace of the Malla kings and of the Shah dynasty. It is spread over five acres. The eastern wing, with ten courtyards, is the oldest part, dating to the mid-16th century. It was expanded by King Pratap Malla in the 17th century with many temples. The royal family lived in this palace until 1886 when they moved to Narayanhiti Palace. The stone inscription outside is in fifteen languages.

 

Kumari Ghar is a palace in the center of the Kathmandu city, next to the Durbar square where a Royal Kumari selected from several Kumaris resides. Kumari, or Kumari Devi, is the tradition of worshipping young pre-pubescent girls as manifestations of the divine female energy or devi in South Asian countries. In Nepal the selection process is very rigorous. Kumari is believed to be the bodily incarnation of the goddess Taleju (the Nepali name for Durga) until she menstruates, after which it is believed that the goddess vacates her body. Serious illness or a major loss of blood from an injury are also causes for her to revert to common status. The current Royal Kumari, Matina Shakya, age four, was installed in October 2008 by the Maoist government that replaced the monarchy.

 

Kasthamandap is a three-storeyed temple enshrining an image of Gorakhnath. It was built in the 16th century in pagoda style. The name of Kathmandu is a derivative of the word Kasthamandap. It was built under the reign of King Laxmi Narsingha Malla. Kasthamandap stands at the intersection of two ancient trade routes linking India and Tibet at Maru square. It was originally built as a rest house for travelers.

 

PASHUPATINATH TEMPLE

The Pashupatinath Temple is a famous 5th century Hindu temple dedicated to Lord Shiva (Pashupati). Located on the banks of the Bagmati River in the eastern part of Kathmandu, Pashupatinath Temple is the oldest Hindu temple in Kathmandu. It served as the seat of national deity, Lord Pashupatinath, until Nepal was secularized. However, a significant part of the temple was destroyed by Mughal invaders in the 14th century and little or nothing remains of the original 5th-century temple exterior. The temple as it stands today was built in the 19th century, although the image of the bull and the black four-headed image of Pashupati are at least 300 years old. The temple is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Shivaratri, or the night of Lord Shiva, is the most important festival that takes place here, attracting thousands of devotees and sadhus.

 

Believers in Pashupatinath (mainly Hindus) are allowed to enter the temple premises, but non-Hindu visitors are allowed to view the temple only from the across the Bagmati River. The priests who perform the services at this temple have been Brahmins from Karnataka, South India since the time of Malla king Yaksha Malla. This tradition is believed to have been started at the request of Adi Shankaracharya who sought to unify the states of Bharatam (Unified India) by encouraging cultural exchange. This procedure is followed in other temples around India, which were sanctified by Adi Shankaracharya.

 

The temple is built in the pagoda style of architecture, with cubic constructions, carved wooden rafters (tundal) on which they rest, and two-level roofs made of copper and gold.

 

BOUDHANATH

The Boudhanath, (also written Bouddhanath, Bodhnath, Baudhanath or the Khāsa Chaitya), is one of the holiest Buddhist sites in Nepal, along with Swayambhu. It is a very popular tourist site. Boudhanath is known as Khāsti by Newars and as Bauddha or Bodhnāth by speakers of Nepali. Located about 11 km from the center and northeastern outskirts of Kathmandu, the stupa's massive mandala makes it one of the largest spherical stupas in Nepal. Boudhanath became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979.The base of the stupa has 108 small depictions of the Dhyani Buddha Amitabha. It is surrounded with a brick wall with 147 niches, each with four or five prayer wheels engraved with the mantra, om mani padme hum. At the northern entrance where visitors must pass is a shrine dedicated to Ajima, the goddess of smallpox. Every year the stupa attracts many Tibetan Buddhist pilgrims who perform full body prostrations in the inner lower enclosure, walk around the stupa with prayer wheels, chant, and pray. Thousands of prayer flags are hoisted up from the top of the stupa downwards and dot the perimeter of the complex. The influx of many Tibetan refugees from China has seen the construction of over 50 Tibetan gompas (monasteries) around Boudhanath.

 

SWAYAMBHU

Swayambhu is a Buddhist stupa atop a hillock at the northwestern part of the city. This is among the oldest religious sites in Nepal. Although the site is considered Buddhist, it is revered by both Buddhists and Hindus. The stupa consists of a dome at the base; above the dome, there is a cubic structure with the eyes of Buddha looking in all four directions.[clarification needed] There are pentagonal Toran above each of the four sides, with statues engraved on them. Behind and above the torana there are thirteen tiers. Above all the tiers, there is a small space above which lies a gajur.

 

CULTURE

ARTS

Kathmandu valley is described as "an enormous treasure house of art and sculptures", which are made of wood, stone, metal, and terracotta, and found in profusion in temples, shrines, stupas, gompas, chaityasm and palaces. The art objects are also seen in street corners, lanes, private courtyards, and in open ground. Most art is in the form of icons of gods and goddesses. Kathmandu valley has had this art treasure very long, but received worldwide recognition only after the country opened its doors to the outside world in 1950.

 

The religious art of Nepal and Kathmandu in particular consists of an iconic symbolism of the Mother Goddesses such as: Bhavani, Durga, Gaja-Lakshmi, Hariti-Sitala, Mahsishamardini, Saptamatrika (seven mother goddesses), and Sri-Lakshmi(wealth-goddess). From the 3rd century BC, apart from the Hindu gods and goddesses, Buddhist monuments from the Ashokan period (it is said that Ashoka visited Nepal in 250 BC) have embellished Nepal in general and the valley in particular. These art and architectural edifices encompass three major periods of evolution: the Licchavi or classical period (500 to 900 AD), the post-classical period (1000 to 1400 AD), with strong influence of the Palla art form; the Malla period (1400 onwards) that exhibited explicitly tantric influences coupled with the art of Tibetan Demonology.

 

A broad typology has been ascribed to the decorative designs and carvings created by the people of Nepal. These artists have maintained a blend of Hinduism and Buddhism. The typology, based on the type of material used are: Stone Art, Metal Art, Wood Art, Terracotta Art, and Painting.

 

MUSEUMS

Kathmandu is home to a number of museums and art galleries, including the National Museum of Nepal and the Natural History Museum of Nepal. Nepal's art and architecture is an amalgamation of two ancient religions, Hinduism and Buddhhism. These are amply reflected in the many temples, shrines, stupas, monasteries, and palaces in the seven well-defined Monument Zones of the Kathmandu valley recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This amalgamation is also reflected in the planning and exhibitions in museums and art galleries throughout Kathmandu and its sister cities of Patan and Bhaktapur. The museums display unique artifacts and paintings from the 5th century CE to the present day, including archeological exportation.

  

KATHMANDU MUSEUMS ABD ART GALLERIES INCLUDE:

The National Museum

The Natural History Museum

Hanumandhoka Palace Complex

The Kaiser Library

The National Art Gallery

The NEF-ART (Nepal Fine Art) Gallery

The Nepal Art Council Gallery

Narayanhity Palace Museum

The Taragaon Museum

 

The National Museum is located in the western part of Kathmandu, near the Swayambhunath stupa in an historical building. This building was constructed in the early 19th century by General Bhimsen Thapa. It is the most important museum in the country, housing an extensive collection of weapons, art and antiquities of historic and cultural importance. The museum was established in 1928 as a collection house of war trophies and weapons, and the initial name of this museum was Chhauni Silkhana, meaning "the stone house of arms and ammunition". Given its focus, the museum contains an extensive quantity of weapons, including locally made firearms used in wars, leather cannons from the 18th–19th century, and medieval and modern works in wood, bronze, stone and paintings.

 

The Natural History Museum is located in the southern foothills of Swayambhunath hill and has a sizeable collection of different species of animals, butterflies, and plants. The museum is noted for its display of species, from prehistoric shells to stuffed animals.

 

The Tribhuvan Museum contains artifacts related to the King Tribhuvan (1906–1955). It has a variety of pieces including his personal belongings, letters and papers, memorabilia related to events he was involved in and a rare collection of photos and paintings of Royal family members. The Mahendra Museum is dedicated to king Mahendra of Nepal (1920–1972). Like the Tribhuvan Museum, it includes his personal belongings such as decorations, stamps, coins and personal notes and manuscripts, but it also has structural reconstructions of his cabinet room and office chamber. The Hanumandhoka Palace, a lavish medieval palace complex in the Durbar, contains three separate museums of historic importance. These museums include the Birendra museum, which contains items related to the second-last monarch, Birendra of Nepal.

 

The enclosed compound of the Narayanhity Palace Museum is in the north-central part of Kathmandu. "Narayanhity" comes from Narayana, a form of the Hindu god Lord Vishnu, and Hiti, meaning "water spout" (Vishnu's temple is located opposite the palace, and the water spout is located east of the main entrance to the precinct). Narayanhity was a new palace, in front of the old palace built in 1915, and was built in 1970 in the form of a contemporary Pagoda. It was built on the occasion of the marriage of King Birenda Bir Bikram Shah, then heir apparent to the throne. The southern gate of the palace is at the crossing of Prithvipath and Darbar Marg roads. The palace area covers 30 hectares and is fully secured with gates on all sides. This palace was the scene of the Nepali royal massacre. After the fall of the monarchy, it was converted to a museum.The Taragaon Museum presents the modern history of the Kathmandu Valley. It seeks to document 50 years of research and cultural heritage conservation of the Kathmandu Valley, documenting what artists photographers architects anthropologists from abroad had contributed in the second half of the 20th century. The actual structure of the Museum showcases restoration and rehabilitation efforts to preserve the built heritage of Kathmandu. It was designed by Carl Pruscha (master-planner of the Kathmandy Valley) in 1970 and constructed in 1971. Restoration works began in 2010 to rehabilitate the Taragaon hostel into the Taragaon Museum. The design uses local brick along with modern architectural design elements, as well as the use of circle, triangles and squares. The Museum is within a short walk from the Boudhnath stupa, which itself can be seen from the Museum tower.

 

ART GALLERIES

Kathmandu is a center for art in Nepal, displaying the work of contemporary artists in the country and also collections of historical artists. Patan in particular is an ancient city noted for its fine arts and crafts. Art in Kathmandu is vibrant, demonstrating a fusion of traditionalism and modern art, derived from a great number of national, Asian, and global influences. Nepali art is commonly divided into two areas: the idealistic traditional painting known as Paubhas in Nepal and perhaps more commonly known as Thangkas in Tibet, closely linked to the country's religious history and on the other hand the contemporary western-style painting, including nature-based compositions or abstract artwork based on Tantric elements and social themes of which painters in Nepal are well noted for. Internationally, the British-based charity, the Kathmandu Contemporary Art Centre is involved with promoting arts in Kathmandu.

 

Kathmandu contains many notable art galleries. The NAFA Gallery, operated by the Arts and crafts Department of the Nepal Academy is housed in Sita Bhavan, a neo-classical old Rana palace.

 

The Srijana Contemporary Art Gallery, located inside the Bhrikutimandap Exhibition grounds, hosts the work of contemporary painters and sculptors, and regularly organizes exhibitions. It also runs morning and evening classes in the schools of art. Also of note is the Moti Azima Gallery, located in a three storied building in Bhimsenthan which contains an impressive collection of traditional utensils and handmade dolls and items typical of a medieval Newar house, giving an important insight into Nepali history. The J Art Gallery is also located in Kathmandu, near the Royal Palace in Durbarmarg, Kathmandu and displays the artwork of eminent, established Nepali painters. The Nepal Art Council Gallery, located in the Babar Mahal, on the way to Tribhuvan International Airport contains artwork of both national and international artists and extensive halls regularly used for art exhibitions.

 

CUISINE

The staple food of most of Kathmanduites is dal bhat. It consists of rice and lentil soup, generally served with vegetable curries, achar and sometimes Chutney. Momo, a type of Nepali version of Tibetan dumpling, has become prominent in Nepal with many street vendors selling it. It is one of the most popular fast foods in Kathmandu. Various Nepali variants of momo including buff (i.e. buffalo) momo, chicken momo, and vegetarian momo are famous in Kathmandu. Dal Bhaat is the local cuisine of Kathmandu.

 

Most of the cuisines found in Kathmandu are non-vegetarian. However, the practice of vegetarianism is not uncommon, and vegetarian cuisines can be found throughout the city. Consumption of beef is very uncommon and considered taboo in many places. Buff (meat of water buffalo) is very common. There is a strong tradition of buff consumption in Kathmandu, especially among Newars, which is not found in other parts of Nepal. Consumption of pork was considered taboo until a few decades ago. Due to the intermixing with Kirat cuisine from eastern Nepal, pork has found a place in Kathmandu dishes. A fringe population of devout Hindus and Muslims consider it taboo. The Muslims forbid eating buff as from Quran while Hindus eat all varieties except Cow's meat as the consider Cow to be a goddess and symbol of purity. The chief breakfast for locals and visitors is mostly Momo or Chowmein.

 

Kathmandu had only one restaurant in 1955. A large number of restaurants in Kathmandu have since opened, catering Nepali cuisine, Tibetan cuisine, Chinese cuisine and Indian cuisine in particular. Many other restaurants have opened to accommodate locals, expatriates, and tourists. The growth of tourism in Kathmandu has led to culinary creativity and the development of hybrid foods to accommodate for tourists such as American chop suey, which is a sweet-and-sour sauce with crispy noodles with a fried egg commonly added on top and other westernized adaptations of traditional cuisine. Continental cuisine can be found in selected places. International chain restaurants are rare, but some outlets of Pizza Hut and KFC have recently opened there. It also has several outlets of the international ice-cream chain Baskin-Robbins

 

Kathmandu has a larger proportion of tea drinkers than coffee drinkers. Tea is widely served but is extremely weak by western standards. It is richer and contains tea leaves boiled with milk, sugar and spices. Alcohol is widely drunk, and there are numerous local variants of alcoholic beverages. But its use has been now reduced.refnational survey. Drinking and driving is illegal, and authorities have a zero tolerance policy. Ailaa and thwon (alcohol made from rice) are the alcoholic beverages of Kathmandu, found in all the local bhattis (alcohol serving eateries). Chhyaang, tongba (fermented millet or barley) and rakshi are alcohols from other parts of Nepal which are found in Kathmandu. However, shops and bars in Kathmandu widely sell western and Nepali beers. Shops are forbidden to sell alcohol on the first two days and last two days of the Nepali month (Nepal Sambat).

 

FESTIVALS

Most of the fairs and festivals in Kathmandu originated in the Malla period or earlier. Traditionally, these festivals were celebrated by Newars. In recent years, these festivals have found wider participation from other Kathmanduites as well. As the capital of the Republic of Nepal, various national festivals are celebrated in Kathmandu. With mass migration to the city, the cultures of Khas from the west, Kirats from the east, Bon/Tibetan from the north, and Mithila from the south meet in the capital and mingle harmoniously. The festivities such as the Ghode (horse) Jatra, Indra Jatra, Dashain Durga Puja festivals, Shivratri and many more are observed by all Hindu and Buddhist communities of Kathmandu with devotional fervor and enthusiasm. Social regulation in the codes enacted incorporate Hindu traditions and ethics. These were followed by the Shah kings and previous kings, as devout Hindus and protectors of Buddhist religion.

 

Cultural continuity has been maintained for centuries in the exclusive worship of goddesses and deities in Kathmandu and the rest of the country. These deities include the Ajima, Taleju (or Tulja Bhavani), Digu taleju, and Kumari (the living goddess).[citation needed] The artistic edifices have now become places of worship in the everyday life of the people, therefore a roster is maintained to observe annual festivals. There are 133 festivals held in the year.

 

Some of the traditional festivals observed in Kathmandu, apart from those previously mentioned, are Bada Dashain, Tihar, Chhath, Maghe Sankranti, Naga Panchami, Janai Poornima, Pancha Dan, Teej/Rishi Panchami, Pahan Charhe, Jana Baha Dyah Jatra (White Machchhendranath Jatra), and Matatirtha Aunsi.

 

HINDUISM

Assumedly, together with the kingdom of Licchhavi (c. 400 to 750), Hinduism and the endogam social stratification of the Caste was established in Kathmandu Valley. The Pashupatinath Temple, Changu Narayan temple (the oldest), and the Kasthamandap are of particular importance to Hindus. Other notable Hindu temples in Kathmandu and the surrounding valley include Bajrayogini Temple, Dakshinkali Temple, Guhyeshwari Temple, and the Sobha Bhagwati shrine.

 

The Bagmati River which flows through Kathmandu is considered a holy river both by Hindus and Buddhists, and many Hindu temples are located on the banks of this river. The importance of the Bagmati also lies in the fact that Hindus are cremated on its banks, and Kirants are buried in the hills by its side. According to the Nepali Hindu tradition, the dead body must be dipped three times into the Bagmati before cremation. The chief mourner (usually the first son) who lights the funeral pyre must take a holy riverwater bath immediately after cremation. Many relatives who join the funeral procession also take bath in the Bagmati River or sprinkle the holy water on their bodies at the end of cremation as the Bagmati is believed to purify people spiritually.

 

BUDDHISM

Buddhism started in Kathmandu with the arrival of Buddhist monks during the time of Buddha (c. 563 - 483 BC). They started a forest monastery in Sankhu. This monastery was renovated by Shakyas after they fled genocide from Virudhaka (rule: 491-461 BC).

 

During the Hindu Lichchavi era (c. 400 to 750), various monasteries and orders were created which successively led to the formation of Newar Buddhism, which is still practiced in the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Sanskrit.

 

WIKIPEDIA

Some background:

Simple, efficient and reliable, the Regult (リガード, Rigādo) was the standard mass production mecha of the Zentraedi forces. Produced by Esbeliben at the 4.432.369th Zentraedi Fully Automated Weaponry Development and Production Factory Satellite in staggering numbers to fill the need for an all-purpose mecha, this battle pod accommodated a single Zentraedi soldier in a compact cockpit and was capable of operating in space or on a planet's surface. The Regult saw much use during Space War I in repeated engagements against the forces of the SDF-1 Macross and the U.N. Spacy, but its lack of versatility against superior mecha often resulted in average effectiveness and heavy losses. The vehicle was regarded as expendable and was therefore cheap, simple, but also very effective when fielded in large numbers. Possessing minimal defensive features, the Regult was a simple weapon that performed best in large numbers and when supported by other mecha such as Gnerl Fighter Pods. Total production is said to have exceeded 300 million in total.

 

The cockpit could be accesses through a hatch on the back of the Regult’s body, which was, however, extremely cramped, with poor habitability and means of survival. The giant Zentraedi that operated it often found themselves crouching, with some complaining that "It would have been easier had they just walked on their own feet". Many parts of the craft relied on being operated on manually, which increased the fatigue of the pilot. On the other hand, the overall structure was extremely simple, with relatively few failures, making operational rate high.

 

In space, the Regult made use of two booster engines and numerous vernier thrusters to propel itself at very high speeds, capable of engaging and maintaining pace with the U.N. Spacy's VF-1 Valkyrie variable fighter. Within an atmosphere, the Regult was largely limited to ground combat but retained high speed and maneuverability. On land, the Regult was surprisingly fast and agile, too, capable of closing with the VF-1 variable fighter in GERWALK flight (though likely unable to maintain pace at full GERWALK velocity). The Regult was not confined to land operations, though, it was also capable of operating underwater for extended periods of time. Thanks to its boosters, the Regult was capable of high leaping that allowed the pod to cover long distances, surprise enemies and even engage low-flying aircraft.

 

Armed with a variety of direct-fire energy weapons and anti-personnel/anti-aircraft guns, the Regult offered considerable firepower and was capable of engaging both air and ground units. It was also able to deliver powerful kicks. The armor of the body shell wasn't very strong, though, and could easily be penetrated by a Valkyrie's 55 mm Gatling gun pod. Even bare fist attacks of a VF-1 could crack the Regult’s cockpit or immobilize it. The U.N. Spacy’s MBR-07 Destroid Spartan was, after initial battel experience with the Regult, specifically designed to engage the Zentraedi forces’ primary infantry weapon in close-combat.

 

The Regult was, despite general shortcomings, a highly successful design and it became the basis for a wide range of specialized versions, including advanced battle pods for commanders, heavy infantry weapon carriers and reconnaissance/command vehicles. The latter included the Regult Tactical Scout (リガード偵察型). manufactured by electronics specialist Ectromelia. The Tactical Scout variant was a deadly addition to the Zentraedi Regult mecha troops. Removing all weaponry, the Tactical Scout was equipped with many additional sensor clusters and long-range detection equipment. Always found operating among other Regult mecha or supporting Glaug command pods, the Scout was capable of early warning enemy detection as well as ECM/ECCM roles (Electronic Countermeasures/Electronic Counter-Countermeasures). In Space War I, the Tactical Scout was utilized to devastating effect, often providing radar jamming, communication relay and superior tactical positioning for the many Zentraedi mecha forces.

 

At the end of Space War I in January 2012, production of the Regult for potential Earth defensive combat continued when the seizure operation of the Factory Satellite was executed. After the war, Regults were used by both U.N. Spacy and Zentraedi insurgents. Many surviving units were incorporated into the New U.N. Forces and given new model numbers. The normal Regult became the “Zentraedi Battle Pod” ZBP-104 (often just called “Type 104”) and was, for example, used by Al-Shahal's New U.N. Army's Zentraedi garrison. The related ZBP-106 was a modernized version for Zentraedi commanders, with built-in boosters, additional Queadluun-Rhea arms and extra armaments. These primarily replaced the Glaug battle pod, of which only a handful had survived. By 2067, Regult pods of all variants were still in operation among mixed human/Zentraedi units.

  

General characteristics:

Accommodation: pilot only, in standard cockpit in main body

Overall Height: 18.2 meters

Overall Length: 7.6 meters

Overall Width: 12.6 meters

Max Weight: 39.8 metric tons

 

Powerplant & propulsion:

1x 1.3 GGV class Ectromelia thermonuclear reaction furnace,

driving 2x main booster Thrusters and 12x vernier thrusters

 

Performance:

unknown

 

Armament:

None

 

Special Equipment and Features:

Standard all-frequency radar antenna

Standard laser long-range sensor

Ectromelia infrared, visible light and ultraviolet frequency sensor cluster

ECM/ECCM suite

  

The kit and its assembly:

I had this kit stashed away for a couple of years, together with a bunch of other 1:100 Zentraedi pods of all kinds and the plan to build a full platoon one day – but this has naturally not happened so far and the kits were and are still waiting. The “Reconnaissance & Surveillance” group build at whatifmodellers.com in August 2021 was a good occasion and motivation to tackle the Tactical Scout model from the pile, though, as it perfectly fits the GB’s theme and also adds an exotic science fiction/anime twist to the submissions.

 

The kit is an original ARII boxing from 1983, AFAIK the only edition of this model. One might expect this kit to be a variation of the 1982 standard Regult (sometimes spelled “Reguld”) kit with extra parts, but that’s not the case – it is a new mold with different parts and technical solutions, and it offers optional parts for the standard Regult pod as well as the two missile carrier versions that were published at the same time, too. The Tactical Scout uses the same basis, but it comes with parts exclusive for this variant (hull and a sprue with the many antennae and sensors).

 

I remembered from a former ARII Regult build in the late Eighties that the legs were a wobbly affair. Careful sprue inspection revealed, however, that this second generation comes with some sensible detail changes, e. g. the feet, which originally consisted of separate toe and heel sections (and these were hollow from behind/below!). To my biggest surprise the knees – a notorious weak spot of the 1st generation Regult kit – were not only held by small and flimsy vinyl caps anymore: These were replaced with much bigger vinyl rings, fitted into sturdy single-piece enclosures made from a tough styrene which can even be tuned with small metal screws(!), which are included in the kit. Interesting!

 

But the joy is still limited: even though the mold is newer, fit is mediocre at best, PSR is necessary on every seam. However, the good news is that the kit does not fight with you. The whole thing was mostly built OOB, because at 1:100 there's little that makes sense to add to the surface, and the kit comes with anything you'd expect on a Regult Scout pod. I just added some lenses and small stuff behind the large "eye", which is (also to my surprise) a clear part. The stuff might only appear in schemes on the finished model, but that's better than leaving the area blank.

 

Otherwise, the model was built in sub-sections for easier painting and handling, to be assembled in a final step – made possible by the kit’s design which avoids the early mecha kit’s “onion layer” construction, except for the feet. This is the only area that requires some extra effort, and which is also a bit tricky to assemble.

 

However, while the knees appear to be a robust construction, the kit showed some material weakness: while handling the leg assembly, one leg suddenly came off under the knees - turned out that the locator that holds the knee joint above (which I expected to be the weak point) completely broke off of the lower leg! Weird damage. I tried to glue the leg into place, but this did not work, and so I inserted a replacement for the broken. This eventually worked.

  

Painting and markings:

Colorful, but pretty standard and with the attempt to be authentic. However, information concerning the Regults’ paint scheme is somewhat inconsistent. I decided to use a more complex interpretation of the standard blue/grey Regult scheme, with a lighter “face shield” and some other details that make the mecha look more interesting. I used the box art and some screenshots from the Macross TV series as reference; the Tactical Scout pod already appears in episode #2 for the first time, and there are some good views at it, even though the anime version is highly simplified.

 

Humbrol enamels were used, including 48 (Mediterranean Blue), 196 (RAL 7035, instead of pure white), 40 (Pale Grey) and 27 (Sea Grey). The many optics were created with clear acrylics over a silver base, and the large frontal “eye” is a piece of clear plastic with a coat of clear turquoise paint, too.

 

The model received a black ink washing to emphasize details, engraved panel lines and recesses, as well as some light post-shading through dry-brushing. Some surface details were created with decal stripes, e. g. on the upper legs, or with a black fineliner, and some color highlights were distributed all over the hull, e. g. the yellowish-beige tips of the wide antenna or the bright blue panels on the upper legs.

 

The decals were taken OOB, and thanks to a translation chart I was able to decipher some of the markings which I’d interpret as a serial number and a unit code – but who knows?

 

Finally, the kit received an overall coat of matt acrylic varnish and some weathering/dust traces around the feet with simple watercolors – more would IMHO look out of place, due to the mecha’s sheer size in real life and the fact that the Regult has to be considered a disposable item. Either it’s brand new and shiny, or busted, there’s probably little in between that justifies serious weathering which better suits the tank-like Destroids.

  

A “normal” build, even though the model and the topic are exotic enough. This 2nd generation Regult kit went together easier than expected, even though it has its weak points, too. However, material ageing turned out to be the biggest challenge (after all, the kit is almost 40 years old!), but all problems could be overcome and the resulting model looks decent – and it has this certain Eighties flavor! :D

 

Not really.

 

Liked the wee fella at the bottom left and it kinda looks a wee bit like moonlight on the water

 

58s Image Average (12 frames, 1s Exposure, 4s Delay)

Singapore (Listeni/ˈsɪŋɡəpɔːr/), officially the Republic of Singapore, and often referred to as the Lion City, the Garden City, and the Red Dot, is a global city and sovereign state in Southeast Asia and the world's only island city-state. It lies one degree (137 km) north of the equator, at the southernmost tip of continental Asia and peninsular Malaysia, with Indonesia's Riau Islands to the south. Singapore's territory consists of the diamond-shaped main island and 62 islets. Since independence, extensive land reclamation has increased its total size by 23% (130 km2), and its greening policy has covered the densely populated island with tropical flora, parks and gardens.

 

The islands were settled from the second century AD by a series of local empires. In 1819, Sir Stamford Raffles founded modern Singapore as a trading post of the East India Company; after the company collapsed, the islands were ceded to Britain and became part of its Straits Settlements in 1826. During World War II, Singapore was occupied by Japan. It gained independence from Britain in 1963, by uniting with other former British territories to form Malaysia, but was expelled two years later over ideological differences. After early years of turbulence, and despite lacking natural resources and a hinterland, the nation developed rapidly as an Asian Tiger economy, based on external trade and its human capital.

 

Singapore is a global commerce, finance and transport hub. Its standings include: "easiest place to do business" (World Bank) for ten consecutive years, most "technology-ready" nation (WEF), top International-meetings city (UIA), city with "best investment potential" (BERI), 2nd-most competitive country (WEF), 3rd-largest foreign exchange centre, 3rd-largest financial centre, 3rd-largest oil refining and trading centre and one of the top two busiest container ports since the 1990s. Singapore's best known global brands include Singapore Airlines and Changi Airport, both amongst the most-awarded in their industry; SIA is also rated by Fortune surveys as Asia's "most admired company". For the past decade, it has been the only Asian country with the top AAA sovereign rating from all major credit rating agencies, including S&P, Moody's and Fitch.

 

Singapore ranks high on its national social policies, leading Asia and 11th globally, on the Human Development Index (UN), notably on key measures of education, healthcare, life expectancy, quality of life, personal safety, housing. Although income inequality is high, 90% of citizens own their homes, and the country has one of the highest per capita incomes, with low taxes. The cosmopolitan nation is home to 5.5 million residents, 38% of whom are permanent residents and other foreign nationals. Singaporeans are mostly bilingual in a mother-tongue language and English as their common language. Its cultural diversity is reflected in its extensive ethnic "hawker" cuisine and major festivals - Chinese, Malay, Indian, Western - which are all national holidays. In 2015, Lonely Planet and The New York Times listed Singapore as their top and 6th best world destination to visit respectively.

 

The nation's core principles are meritocracy, multiculturalism and secularism. It is noted for its effective, pragmatic and incorrupt governance and civil service, which together with its rapid development policies, is widely cited as the "Singapore model". Gallup polls shows 84% of its residents expressed confidence in the national government, and 85% in its judicial systems - one of the highest ratings recorded. Singapore has significant influence on global affairs relative to its size, leading some analysts to classify it as a middle power. It is ranked as Asia's most influential city and 4th in the world by Forbes.

 

Singapore is a unitary, multiparty, parliamentary republic, with a Westminster system of unicameral parliamentary government. The People's Action Party has won every election since self-government in 1959. One of the five founding members of the ASEAN, Singapore is also the host of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Secretariat, and a member of the East Asia Summit, Non-Aligned Movement, and the Commonwealth of Nations.

 

ETYMOLOGY

The English name of Singapore is derived from the Malay word, Singapura, which was in turn derived from Sanskrit (Singa is "lion", Pura "city"; Sanskrit: सिंहपुर, IAST: Siṃhápura), hence the customary reference to the nation as the Lion City, and its inclusion in many of the nation's symbols (e.g., its coat of arms, Merlion emblem). However, it is unlikely that lions ever lived on the island; Sang Nila Utama, who founded and named the island Singapura, most likely saw a Malayan tiger. It is also known as Pulau Ujong, as far back as the 3rd century, literally 'island at the end' (of the Malay Peninsula) in Malay.

 

Since the 1970s, Singapore has also been widely known as the Garden City, owing to its extensive greening policy covering the whole island, a priority of its first prime minister Lee Kuan Yew, dubbed the nation's "Chief Gardener". The nation's conservation and greening efforts contributed to Singapore Botanic Gardens being the only tropical garden to be inscribed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. The nickname, Red Dot, is a reference to its size on the map, contrasting with its achievements. In 2015, Singapore's Golden Jubilee year, the celebratory "SG50" branding is depicted inside a red dot.

 

HISTORY

Temasek ('Sea Town' in the Malay language), an outpost of the Sumatran Srivijaya empire, is the earliest written record relating to the area now called Singapore. In the 13th century, the Kingdom of Singapura was established on the island and it became a trading port city. However, there were two major foreign invasions before it was destroyed by the Majapahit in 1398. In 1613, Portuguese raiders burned down the settlement, which by then was nominally part of the Johor Sultanate and the island sank into obscurity for the next two centuries, while the wider maritime region and much trade was under Dutch control.

 

BRITISH COLONISATION 1819-1942

In 1819, Thomas Stamford Raffles arrived and signed a treaty with Sultan Hussein Shah of Johor, on behalf of the British East India Company, to develop the southern part of Singapore as a British trading post. In 1824, the entire island, as well as the Temenggong, became a British possession after a further treaty with the Sultan. In 1826, Singapore became part of the Straits Settlements, under the jurisdiction of British India, becoming the regional capital in 1836.

 

Prior to Raffles' arrival, there were only about a thousand people living on the island, mostly indigenous Malays along with a handful of Chinese. By 1860, the population had swelled to more than 80,000 and more than half were Chinese. Many immigrants came to work at rubber plantations and, after the 1870s, the island became a global centre for rubber exports.

 

After the First World War, the British built the large Singapore Naval Base. Lieutenant General Sir William George Shedden Dobbie was appointed General Officer Commanding of the Malaya Command on 8 November 1935, holding the post until 1939;

 

WORLD WAR II AND JAPANESE OCCUPATION 1942-45

in May 1938, the General Officer Commanding of the Malaya Command warned how Singapore could be conquered by the Japanese via an attack from northern Malaya, but his warnings went unheeded. The Imperial Japanese Army invaded British Malaya, culminating in the Battle of Singapore. When the British surrendered on 15 February 1942, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill called the defeat "the worst disaster and largest capitulation in British history". Between 5,000 and 25,000 ethnic Chinese people were killed in the subsequent Sook Ching massacre.

 

From November 1944 to May 1945, the Allies conducted an intensive bombing of Singapore.

 

RETURN OF BRITISH 1945-59

After the surrender of Japan was announced in the Jewel Voice Broadcast by the Japanese Emperor on 15 August 1945 there was a breakdown of order and looting and revenge-killing were widespread. The formal Japanese Occupation of Singapore was only ended by Operation Tiderace and the formal surrender on 12 September 1945 at Singapore City Hall when Lord Louis Mountbatten, Supreme Allied Commander of Southeast Asia Command, accepted the capitulation of Japanese forces in Southeast Asia from General Itagaki Seishiro.

 

A British Military Administration was then formed to govern the island. On 1 April 1946, the Straits Settlements were dissolved and Singapore became a separate Crown Colony with a civil administration headed by a Governor. Much of the infrastructure had been destroyed during the war, including the harbour, electricity, telephone and water supply systems. There was also a shortage of food leading to malnutrition, disease, and rampant crime and violence. High food prices, unemployment, and workers' discontent culminated into a series of strikes in 1947 causing massive stoppages in public transport and other services. In July 1947, separate Executive and Legislative Councils were established and the election of six members of the Legislative Council was scheduled for the following year. By late 1947, the economy began to recover, facilitated by a growing demand for tin and rubber around the world, but it would take several more years before the economy returned to pre-war levels.

 

The failure of Britain to defend Singapore had destroyed its credibility as an infallible ruler in the eyes of Singaporeans. The decades after the war saw a political awakening amongst the local populace and the rise of anti-colonial and nationalist sentiments, epitomized by the slogan Merdeka, or "independence" in the Malay language.

 

During the 1950s, Chinese Communists with strong ties to the trade unions and Chinese schools carried out armed uprising against the government, leading to the Malayan Emergency and later, the Communist Insurgency War. The 1954 National Service Riots, Chinese middle schools riots, and Hock Lee bus riots in Singapore were all linked to these events.

 

David Marshall, pro-independence leader of the Labour Front, won Singapore's first general election in 1955. He led a delegation to London, but Britain rejected his demand for complete self-rule. He resigned and was replaced by Lim Yew Hock, whose policies convinced Britain to grant Singapore full internal self-government for all matters except defence and foreign affairs.

 

SELF-GOVERNMENT 1959-1963

During the May 1959 elections, the People's Action Party won a landslide victory. Singapore became an internally self-governing state within the Commonwealth, with Lee Kuan Yew as its first Prime Minister. Governor Sir William Allmond Codrington Goode served as the first Yang di-Pertuan Negara (Head of State), and was succeeded by Yusof bin Ishak, who became the first President of Singapore in 1965.

 

MERGER WITH MALAYSIA 1963-65

As a result of the 1962 Merger Referendum, on 31 August 1963 Singapore joined with the Federation of Malaya, the Crown Colony of Sarawak and the Crown Colony of North Borneo to form the new federation of Malaysia under the terms of the Malaysia Agreement. Singaporean leaders chose to join Malaysia primarily due to concerns over its limited land size, scarcity of water, markets and natural resources. Some Singaporean and Malaysian politicians were also concerned that the communists might form the government on the island, a possibility perceived as an external threat to the Federation of Malaya.However, shortly after the merger, the Singapore state government and the Malaysian central government disagreed on many political and economic issues, and communal strife culminated in the 1964 race riots in Singapore. After many heated ideological conflicts between the two governments, on 9 August 1965, the Malaysian Parliament voted 126 to 0 to expel Singapore from Malaysia with Singaporean delegates not present.

 

INDEPENDENCE 1965 TO PRESENT

Singapore gained independence as the Republic of Singapore (remaining within the Commonwealth of Nations) on 9 August 1965. Race riots broke out once more in 1969. In 1967, the country co-founded ASEAN, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, and in 1970 it joined the Non-Aligned Movement. Lee Kuan Yew became Prime Minister, leading its Third World economy to First World affluence in a single generation. His emphasis on rapid economic growth, support for business entrepreneurship, limitations on internal democracy, and close relationships with China set the new nation's policies for the next half-century.

 

In 1990, Goh Chok Tong succeeded Lee as Prime Minister, while the latter continued serving in the Cabinet as Senior Minister until 2004, and then Minister Mentor until May 2011. During Goh's tenure, the country faced the 1997 Asian financial crisis, the 2003 SARS outbreak and terrorist threats posed by Jemaah Islamiyah.

 

In 2004, Lee Hsien Loong, the eldest son of Lee Kuan Yew, became the country's third Prime Minister. Goh Chok Tong remained in Cabinet as the Senior Minister until May 2011, when he was named Emeritus Senior Minister despite his retirement. He steered the nation through the 2008 global financial crisis, resolved the disputed 79-year old Malayan railways land, and introduced integrated resorts. Despite the economy's exceptional growth, PAP suffered its worst election results in 2011, winning 60% of votes, amidst hot-button issues of high influx of foreign workers and cost of living. Lee initiated a major re-structuring of the economy to raise productivity, improved universal healthcare and grants, especially for the pioneer generation of citizens, amongst many new inclusive measures.

 

On 23 March 2015, its founding prime minister, Lee Kuan Yew, who had 'personified Singapore to the world' for nearly half a century died. In a week of national mourning, 1.7 million residents and guests paid tribute to him at his lying-in-state at Parliament House and at community sites around the island.

 

Singapore celebrated its Golden jubilee in 2015 – its 50th year of independence, with a year-long series of events branded SG50. The PAP maintained its dominance in Parliament at the September general elections, receiving 69.9% of the popular vote, its second-highest polling result behind the 2001 tally of 75.3%.

 

GEOGRAPHY

Singapore consists of 63 islands, including the main island, Pulau Ujong. There are two man-made connections to Johor, Malaysia: the Johor–Singapore Causeway in the north and the Tuas Second Link in the west. Jurong Island, Pulau Tekong, Pulau Ubin and Sentosa are the largest of Singapore's smaller islands. The highest natural point is Bukit Timah Hill at 163.63 m. April and May are the hottest months, with the wetter monsoon season from November to January.

 

From July to October, there is often haze caused by bush fires in neighbouring Indonesia, usually from the island of Sumatra. Although Singapore does not observe daylight saving time (DST), it follows the GMT+8 time zone, one hour ahead of the typical zone for its geographical location.

 

GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS

Singapore is a parliamentary republic with a Westminster system of unicameral parliamentary government representing constituencies. The country's constitution establishes a representative democracy as the political system. Executive power rests with the Cabinet of Singapore, led by the Prime Minister and, to a much lesser extent, the President. The President is elected through a popular vote, and has veto powers over a specific set of executive decisions, such as the use of the national reserves and the appointment of judges, but otherwise occupies a largely ceremonial post.

 

The Parliament serves as the legislative branch of the government. Members of Parliament (MPs) consist of elected, non-constituency and nominated members. Elected MPs are voted into the Parliament on a "first-past-the-post" (plurality) basis and represent either single-member or group representation constituencies. The People's Action Party has won control of Parliament with large majorities in every election since self-governance was secured in 1959.

 

Although the elections are clean, there is no independent electoral authority and the government has strong influence on the media. Freedom House ranks Singapore as "partly free" in its Freedom in the World report, and The Economist ranks Singapore as a "flawed democracy", the second best rank of four, in its "Democracy Index". Despite this, in the 2011 Parliamentary elections, the opposition, led by the Workers' Party, increased its representation to seven elected MPs. In the 2015 elections, PAP scored a landslide victory, winning 83 of 89 seats contested, with 70% of popular votes. Gallup polls reported 84% of residents in Singapore expressed confidence in the government, and 85% in its judicial systems and courts – one of the highest ratings in the world.

 

Singapore's governance model eschews populist politics, focusing on the nation's long-term interest, and is known to be clean, effective and pragmatic. As a small nation highly dependent on external trade, it is vulnerable to geo-politics and global economics. It places great emphasis on security and stability of the region in its foreign policies, and applies global best practices to ensure the nation's attractiveness as an investment destination and business hub.

 

The legal system of Singapore is based on English common law, but with substantial local differences. Trial by jury was abolished in 1970 so that judicial decisions would rest entirely in the hands of appointed judges. Singapore has penalties that include judicial corporal punishment in the form of caning, which may be imposed for such offences as rape, rioting, vandalism, and certain immigration offences.There is a mandatory death penalty for murder, as well as for certain aggravated drug-trafficking and firearms offences.

 

Amnesty International has said that some legal provisions of the Singapore system conflict with the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty, and that Singapore has "... possibly the highest execution rate in the world relative to its population". The government has disputed Amnesty's claims. In a 2008 survey of international business executives, Singapore received the top ranking with regard to judicial system quality in Asia. Singapore has been consistently rated among the least corrupt countries in the world by Transparency International.

 

In 2011, the World Justice Project's Rule of Law Index ranked Singapore among the top countries surveyed with regard to "order and security", "absence of corruption", and "effective criminal justice". However, the country received a much lower ranking for "freedom of speech" and "freedom of assembly". All public gatherings of five or more people require police permits, and protests may legally be held only at the Speakers' Corner.

 

EDUCATION

Education for primary, secondary, and tertiary levels is mostly supported by the state. All institutions, private and public, must be registered with the Ministry of Education. English is the language of instruction in all public schools, and all subjects are taught and examined in English except for the "mother tongue" language paper. While the term "mother tongue" in general refers to the first language internationally, in Singapore's education system, it is used to refer to the second language, as English is the first language. Students who have been abroad for a while, or who struggle with their "Mother Tongue" language, are allowed to take a simpler syllabus or drop the subject.

 

Education takes place in three stages: primary, secondary, and pre-university education. Only the primary level is compulsory. Students begin with six years of primary school, which is made up of a four-year foundation course and a two-year orientation stage. The curriculum is focused on the development of English, the mother tongue, mathematics, and science. Secondary school lasts from four to five years, and is divided between Special, Express, Normal (Academic), and Normal (Technical) streams in each school, depending on a student's ability level. The basic coursework breakdown is the same as in the primary level, although classes are much more specialised. Pre-university education takes place over two to three years at senior schools, mostly called Junior Colleges.

 

Some schools have a degree of freedom in their curriculum and are known as autonomous schools. These exist from the secondary education level and up.

 

National examinations are standardised across all schools, with a test taken after each stage. After the first six years of education, students take the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE), which determines their placement at secondary school. At the end of the secondary stage, GCE "O"-Level exams are taken; at the end of the following pre-university stage, the GCE "A"-Level exams are taken. Of all non-student Singaporeans aged 15 and above, 18% have no education qualifications at all while 45% have the PSLE as their highest qualification; 15% have the GCE 'O' Level as their highest qualification and 14% have a degree.

 

Singaporean students consistently rank at or near the top of international education assessments:

- In 2015, Singapore topped the OECD's global school performance rankings, based on 15-year-old students' average scores in mathematics and science across 76 countries.

- Singaporean students were ranked first in the 2011 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study conducted by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement, and have been ranked in the top three every year since 1995.

- Singapore fared best in the 2015 International Baccalaureate exams, taken in 107 countries, with more than half of the world's 81 perfect scorers and 98% passing rate.

 

The country's two main public universities - the National University of Singapore and Nanyang Technological University - are ranked among the top 13 in the world.

 

HEALTH

Singapore has a generally efficient healthcare system, even though their health expenditures are relatively low for developed countries. The World Health Organisation ranks Singapore's healthcare system as 6th overall in the world in its World Health Report. In general, Singapore has had the lowest infant mortality rate in the world for the past two decades.

 

Life expectancy in Singapore is 80 for males and 85 for females, placing the country 4th in the world for life expectancy. Almost the whole population has access to improved water and sanitation facilities. There are fewer than 10 annual deaths from HIV per 100,000 people. There is a high level of immunisation. Adult obesity is below 10%

 

The government's healthcare system is based upon the "3M" framework. This has three components: Medifund, which provides a safety net for those not able to otherwise afford healthcare, Medisave, a compulsory health savings scheme covering about 85% of the population, and Medishield, a government-funded health insurance program. Public hospitals in Singapore have autonomy in their management decisions, and compete for patients. A subsidy scheme exists for those on low income. In 2008, 32% of healthcare was funded by the government. It accounts for approximately 3.5% of Singapore's GDP.

 

RELIGION

Buddhism is the most widely practised religion in Singapore, with 33% of the resident population declaring themselves adherents at the most recent census. The next-most practised religion is Christianity, followed by Islam, Taoism, and Hinduism. 17% of the population did not have a religious affiliation. The proportion of Christians, Taoists, and non-religious people increased between 2000 and 2010 by about 3% each, whilst the proportion of Buddhists decreased. Other faiths remained largely stable in their share of the population. An analysis by the Pew Research Center found Singapore to be the world's most religiously diverse nation.

 

There are monasteries and Dharma centres from all three major traditions of Buddhism in Singapore: Theravada, Mahayana, and Vajrayana. Most Buddhists in Singapore are Chinese and are of the Mahayana tradition, with missionaries having come into the country from Taiwan and China for several decades. However, Thailand's Theravada Buddhism has seen growing popularity among the populace (not only the Chinese) during the past decade. Soka Gakkai International, a Japanese Buddhist organisation, is practised by many people in Singapore, but mostly by those of Chinese descent. Tibetan Buddhism has also made slow inroads into the country in recent years.

 

CULTURE

Singapore has one of the lowest rates of drug use in the world. Culturally, the use of illicit drugs is viewed as highly undesirable by Singaporeans, unlike many European societies. Singaporeans' disapproval towards drug use has resulted in laws that impose the mandatory death sentence for certain serious drug trafficking offences. Singapore also has a low rate of alcohol consumption per capita and low levels of violent crime, and one of the lowest intentional homicide rate globally. The average alcohol consumption rate is only 2 litres annually per adult, one of the lowest in the world.

 

Foreigners make up 42% of the population, and have a strong influence on Singaporean culture. The Economist Intelligence Unit, in its 2013 "Where-to-be-born Index", ranks Singapore as having the best quality of life in Asia and sixth overall in the world.

 

LANGUAGES; RELIGIONS AND CULTURES

Singapore is a very diverse and young country. It has many languages, religions, and cultures for a country its size.

 

When Singapore became independent from the United Kingdom in 1963, most of the newly minted Singaporean citizens were uneducated labourers from Malaysia, China and India. Many of them were transient labourers who were seeking to make some money in Singapore and they had no intention of staying permanently. A sizeable minority of middle-class, local-born people, known as the Peranakans, also existed. With the exception of the Peranakans (descendants of late 15th and 16th-century Chinese immigrants) who pledged their loyalties to Singapore, most of the labourers' loyalties lay with their respective homelands of Malaysia, China and India. After independence, the process of crafting a Singaporean identity and culture began.

 

Former Prime Ministers of Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew and Goh Chok Tong, have stated that Singapore does not fit the traditional description of a nation, calling it a society-in-transition, pointing out the fact that Singaporeans do not all speak the same language, share the same religion, or have the same customs. Even though English is the first language of the nation, according to the government's 2010 census 20% of Singaporeans, or one in five, are illiterate in English. This is a marked improvement from 1990 where 40% of Singaporeans were illiterate in English.

 

Languages, religions and cultures among Singaporeans are not delineated according to skin colour or ancestry, unlike many other countries. Among Chinese Singaporeans, one in five is Christian, another one in five is atheist, and the rest are mostly Buddhists or Taoists. One-third speak English as their home language, while half speak Mandarin Chinese. The rest speak other Chinese varieties at home. Most Malays in Singapore speak Malay as their home language with some speaking English. Singaporean Indians are much more religious. Only 1% of them are atheists. Six in ten are Hindu, two in ten Muslim, and the rest mostly Christian. Four in ten speak English as their home language, three in ten Tamil, one in ten Malay, and the rest other Indian languages as their home language.

 

Each Singaporean's behaviours and attitudes would therefore be influenced by, among many other things, his or her home language and his religion. Singaporeans who speak English as their native language tend to lean toward Western culture, while those who speak Chinese as their native language tend to lean toward Chinese culture and Confucianism. Malay speaking Singaporeans tend to lean toward the Malay culture, which itself is closely linked to the Islamic culture.

 

ATTITUDES AND BELIEFS

At the national level in Singapore, meritocracy, where one is judged based on one's ability, is heavily emphasised.

 

Racial and religious harmony is regarded by Singaporeans as a crucial part of Singapore's success, and played a part in building a Singaporean identity. Singapore has a reputation as a nanny state. The national flower of Singapore is the hybrid orchid, Vanda 'Miss Joaquim', named in memory of a Singapore-born Armenian woman, who crossbred the flower in her garden at Tanjong Pagar in 1893. Many national symbols such as the Coat of arms of Singapore and the Lion head symbol of Singapore make use of the lion, as Singapore is known as the Lion City. Other monikers by which Singapore is widely known is the Garden City and the Red Dot. Public holidays in Singapore cover major Chinese, Western, Malay and Indian festivals.

 

Singaporean employees work an average of around 45 hours weekly, relatively long compared to many other nations. Three in four Singaporean employees surveyed stated that they take pride in doing their work well, and that doing so helps their self-confidence.

 

CUISINE

Dining, along with shopping, is said to be the country's national pastime. The focus on food has led countries like Australia to attract Singaporean tourists with food-based itineraries. The diversity of food is touted as a reason to visit the country, and the variety of food representing different ethnicities is seen by the government as a symbol of its multiculturalism. The "national fruit" of Singapore is the durian.

 

In popular culture, food items belong to a particular ethnicity, with Chinese, Malay, and Indian food clearly defined. However, the diversity of cuisine has been increased further by the "hybridisation" of different styles (e.g., the Peranakan cuisine, a mix of Chinese and Malay cuisine).

 

WIKIPEDIA

Photo/Video shoot for his upcoming release.

Manali, (alt. 1,950 m or 6,398 ft) in the Beas River valley, is an important hill station in the Himalayan mountains of Himachal Pradesh, India, near the northern end of the Kullu Valley. Manali is administratively a part of the Kullu district. The population is approx. 30,000. The small town was the beginning of an ancient trade route to Ladakh and, from there, over the Karakoram Pass on to Yarkand and Khotan in the Tarim Basin. Manali and its surrounding areas are of great significance to the Indian culture and heritage as it was the home and abode of the Saptarshi or seven sages. The ancient cave temple, Hidimba Devi Temple, is not far from town.

Contents

[hide]

 

* 1 Geography

* 2 Demographics

* 3 Etymology

* 4 History

* 5 Transport

* 6 Tourism in Manali

o 6.1 Tourist Attractions

o 6.2 Places around Manali

o 6.3 Adventure Sports

* 7 Notes

* 8 References

* 9 External links

 

[edit] Geography

 

Manali is located at [show location on an interactive map] 32°10′N 77°06′E / 32.16, 77.1[1]. It has an average elevation of 2625 metres (8612 feet).

 

[edit] Demographics

 

As of 2001 India census[2], Manali had a population of 6265. Males constitute 64% of the population and females 36%. Manali has an average literacy rate of 74%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 80%, and female literacy is 63%. In Manali, 9% of the population is under 6 years of age.

 

[edit] Etymology

 

Manali is named after the Brahmin lawgiver Manu. The word Manali literally means “the abode of Manu”. Legend has it that sage Manu stepped off his ark in Manali to recreate human life after a great flood had deluged the world. Manali is known as the "Valley of the Gods". The Old Manali village has an ancient temple dedicated to sage Manu.

 

[edit] History

 

In ancient times, the valley was sparsely populated by nomadic hunters known as "rakshas". The next arrivals were the shepherds who arrived from the Kangra valley and settled to take up agriculture. Some of the earliest inhabitants of the region are the 'naur' or 'nar', which is a caste unique to the Kullu valley. Only a few naur families are known to exist now. A naur family in the village Soyal near Haripur on the west bank of Manali was famous for the vast land they owned and their practice of having 'rakshas' as their labourers.

 

The British were responsible for introducing apples and trout which were not native to Manali. It is said that when apple trees were first planted the fruits were so plentiful that often branches, unable to bear the weight would collapse. To this day apple along with plum and pear remains the best source of income for the majority of its inhabitants.

 

Tourism in Manali received a real boost after the rise of militancy in Kashmir in the late 1980s. This once quiet village was transformed into a bustling town with hundreds of hotels and restaurants.

 

[edit] Transport

Mall street, Manali

 

Manali is well connected by road to Delhi through NH-21 which goes on the Leh and is the world's highest motorable road.[citation needed] Leading up to Manali from New Delhi are the towns of Panipat and Ambala in Haryana, Chandigarh(Union Territory), Ropar in Punjab, and Bilaspur, Sundernagar, and Mandi in Himachal.

 

Manali is not easily approachable by rail. The nearest broad gauge railheads are at Chandigarh (315 km), Pathankot (325 km) and Kalka (310 km). The nearest narrow gauge railhead is at Joginder Nagar (135 km)

 

The nearest airport is at Bhuntar, which is about 50 km from Manali. The only private airline in the region is Jagson Airlines. Offlate services have been started by Air Deccan as well as Indian Airlines who fly daily to Bhuntar Airport.

 

[edit] Tourism in Manali

Traditional home, Manali, 2004

River Beas and mountains as seen from Van Vihar

A view of Rohtang Pass in Manali

Mountain ranges in Manali

Bridge in the middle of town with prayer flags

Buddha Statue at Buddhist monastery

Image:Snowfallinmanali.JPG

A view of Circuit House Road covered in snow

  

[edit] Tourist Attractions

 

Manali is a popular Himalayan tourist destination and accounts for nearly a quarter of all tourist arrivals in Himachal Pradesh. It is visited by many trekkers who follow the hashish trail. Manali's charas is considered to be the best in India. The valleys provide natural U.V lights as fields are high up the mountain and high grade grows directly from the sunlight.ala. Manali's cool atmosphere provides a perfect haven for the ones afflicted by the hot Indian summers. It is famous for adventure sports like skiing, hiking, mountaineering, para gliding, rafting, trekking, kayaking, and mountain biking. It also offers hot springs, spectacular religious shrines and temples, Tibetan Buddhist temples, and trekking in the surrounding mountains.

 

Naggar Fort south of Manali is a reminder of the 1500 year old Pal Dynasty. Made from rocks, stones, and elaborate wood carvings, it is an ensemble of the rich and elegant artworks of Himachal. The castle was later converted to a rest house and luxury hotel. Tourists often stop at the castle to see the small shrine located in the building's courtyard, a fine example of architecture and design from the Pal Dynasty.

 

The often visited site in Manali is the Dhungri or Hadimba Temple. Erected in 1533, this temple is dedicated to the local deity Hadimba, wife of the Pandava prince, Bhim. A major festival is held here in the month of May. The temple is noted for its four-storeyed pagoda and exquisite wooden carvings.

 

Manali is known for its shiny gompas or Buddhist monasteries. With the highest concentration of Tibetan refugees in the entire Kullu valley, it is famous for its Gadhan Thekchhokling Gompa, built in 1969. The monastery is maintained by donations from the local community and through the sale of hand-woven carpets in the temple workshop

 

The smaller and more modern Himalayan Nyingamapa Gompa stands nearer the bazaar, in a garden blooming with sunflowers. Its main shrine, lit by dozens of electric bulbs and fragrant with Tibetan incense, houses a colossal gold-faced Buddha, best viewed from the small room on the first floor.

 

The Museum of Traditional Himachal Culture, near the Hadimba temple, is worth a visit, which houses artifacts of folk art of the entire Kullu valley.

 

[edit] Places around Manali

 

Rohtang Pass, at an altitude of 13,050 feet above sea level, is another adventure tourist site where it can be cold even on a summer day. It is the highest point on the Manali-Keylong road and provides a wide panoramic view of mountains rising far above clouds, which is truly breath taking. Close by is a small lake called Dassaur Lake. Beas Kund, the source of river Beas, is also nearby. In winter, the road of Rothang Pass is closed.

 

Rahala waterfalls: About 16 km from Manali at the start of the climb to the Rohtang Pass, are the beautiful Rahalla Falls at an altitude of 2,501 m.

 

Monasteries: Manali is known for its shiny gompas or Buddhist monasteries. It is maintained by donations from the local community and by sale of hand-woven carpets in the temple workshop.

 

Rani Nala - 46 km from Manali, it is the glacier point where snow is available throughout the year.

 

Vashist Hot Water Springs and Temple: Around 3 km from Manali, across the Beas river is Vashist, a small village with natural sulphur springs. Modern bathhouses,now closed, due to a conflict with the elders of the village and Manali council. Vasistha [3] a sage narrated Yoga Vasishtha an ancient scripture to Rama. A unique and an extremely profound discourse, that provides innumerable insights and secrets to the inner world of consciousness. This extremely huge scripture covers all the topics that relate to the spiritual study of a seeker. Vaishisht, also boasts a pair of old stone temples, opposite each other above the main square. Dedicated to the local patron saint Vashista, the smaller of the two opens on to a partially covered courtyard, and is adorned with elaborate woodcarvings those lining the interior of the shrine, blackened by years of oil-lamp and incense smoke, are particularly fine. In this ornate quadrangle is the resting place of the local and transient sadhus, drinking chai, and smoking chillums with whoever will join them in reverence to The Lord Shiva and Guru Vashshist. The temple baths are separated into male and female and the water is often unbearably hot.

  

Solang valley, popularly known as Snow Point, is 13 km northwest of Manali and famous for its 300-meter ski lift. It is a picturesque spot and offers splendid views of glaciers and the snow-capped mountains. Jagatsukh, the former capital of Manali, is also an important spot.

 

At a distance of 3 km northwest of Manali is Old Manali, famous for its orchards and old guesthouses. There is ruined fort here by the name of Manaligarh. There is also the Manu Maharishi Temple, dedicated to sage Manu.

 

Manikaran: 85 km from Manali and 45 km from Kullu, lies in the Parvati Valley. Here icy cold waters of the Parvati river co-exist with hot-water springs side-by-side. The springs are known for their healing properties.

 

[edit] Adventure Sports

 

Skiing is a major pastime in Manali. Facilities for skiing are available at Solang Nullah (January-March) and Rohtang La (during summer). The Mountaineering Institute at Solang Nullah is a good training institute. Heli skiing is possible at the deep snowfields.

Skiing at Solang

 

The Mountaineering Institute and Allied Sports is about 3 km from the Mall and offers mountaineering and kayaking courses. Kayaking is possible on the Beas River.

 

There are several good hikes from Manali. The 12 km hike up the western banks of the Beas to the Solang Valley is noteworthy. Lama Dugh meadow is a 6 km hike up to the Manalsu Nala, west of Manali town.

 

For the best trekking expedition, take a trek from Solang Valley, on to Dhundhi and from there to Dussar lake and then onwards to Manali. This stretch will take you to places you would have only dreamt of. Pure, unadulterated adventure and fun. Be sure to have a good guide at your disposal who knows this area otherwise you would be lost forever. The trek would typically last for 5 days.

 

In the summers, several travel agencies organize paragliding on the slopes of the Solang Nullah. The charges generally include accommodation, food, equipment, and a guide, but not transport.

 

From May to July and, depending on the monsoons, from mid-September to mid-October, some basic rafting is possible on the Beas. The trips generally begin at Pirdi and continue 16 km down to Jhiri.

 

The HPTDC provides day permits for fishing. Permits can be obtained also at Patlikhul. Angling in the Kullu valley is possible at Larji, Katrain and Kasol.

 

Beas Kund is the lake from which the River Beas originates. It is considered holy and sacred. Besides being a holy pilgrimage place, it is a popular destination for trekking.

River Crossing over Beas is a popular sport in Manali

 

Manali is among the most popular adventure sports destinations in India. Manali offers opportunities for mountaineering, skiing, trekking, paragliding, white water rafting, river crossing and mountain biking. Yak skiing is a sport unique to this area.[4]. Manali also featured in Time magazine's "Best of Asia" for its "Extreme Yak Sports".[4]

8m00s, Automated Frame Average

 

We managed to secure an evening worth of shooting at this luxury apartment just along the Suzhou river but as luck would have it, the sky was gloomy and featureless.

 

Unfortunately there won't be an opportunity for us to go up there anymore in the future so these shots are all I have left of the shoot.

Ko Chang (เกาะช้าง) is an island in Trat Province, Eastern Thailand. Ko Chang is Thailand's second largest island, and the biggest in Eastern Thailand. With about 5,000 permanent residents the island is not heavily populated, but tourism (and development) has increased dramatically over the last few years.

 

Ko Chang is one of Thailand's most beautiful islands with long white sandy beaches. The island is also home to a wide range of wildlife, including a good selection of birds, snakes, deer and a number of elephants. The island and its vicinity are great places for snorkeling, diving and jungle hiking. The "discovery" of the island as a tourist destination since 2000 has brought on a large amount of rapid development, and while still far quieter than places like Phuket or Ko Samui, it is far from quiet in high season. Regarding services and activities specifically aimed at tourists prices have reached such a level that the islanders are pricing themselves out of the market when compared to the other islands.

 

HISTORY

Prior to World War II, Ko Chang was little known to Westerners and was lightly-populated. The few families there made a living growing coconuts and fruit on the mainland. In January 1941, during the Franco-Thai War, the Thai Navy fought against a French surprise attack in in the waters to the south of Ko Chang.

 

The first backpacking foreigners started arriving on local fishing boats in the mid-1970s. In 1982, Ko Chang, along with surrounding areas, became part of Mu Ko Chang National Marine Park. Only very recently, in less than ten years, Ko Chang has turned into a major tourist destination, both for foreigners and local Thais.

 

This sudden tourism boom however, has been fraught with controversy concerning land use, etc. The government is trying to "develop" it from a backpackers' paradise to a top-level destination, and construction work is going on throughout the island, with basic huts torn down to make way for fancy resorts.

 

GEOGRAPHY

Ko Chang is the largest island in the Ko Chang Archipelago. The name means Elephant Island, named for the elephant shape of its headland, although elephants are not indigenous to the island.

 

Ko Chang has an area of approximately 429 square kilometres. The topography contains high mountains and complex stone cliffs. The highest mount is Khao Salak Phet which is 744 metres high, rich in fertile evergreen forest which is the main water source. Therefore, there are many waterfalls, beaches and splendid reefs in the west of the island.

 

Most accommodation is located on the western side of the island, where the sandy beaches are. On the eastern side of the island there are few sandy beaches; as such, this side is far less touristy. There are some nice waterfalls though.

 

70 percent of this undisturbed island is rainforest, steep hills, cliffs, waterfalls, and wildlife, fine beaches, coral reefs and an abundance of marine life. The island also offers tall mountains and rock cliffs.

 

CLIMATE

Ko Chang has the same seasons as Bangkok. The best season to go is the (comparatively) cool season between November and February. March to May are roasting hot and between June and October it rains, and a lot at that: 4,000 mm in an average year. Many guest houses close during this season, so accommodation is limited.

 

GET IN

BY PLANE

Bangkok Airways flies 3 times a day from Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport (the "new" BKK) to Trat Airport. The flights depart at 08:30, 11:40 and 17:05, and take 1 hour exactly. Ticket prices are between 2,000B and 3,800B return trip depending on the time of year.

 

Direct door-to-door minibus transfers from Trat airport to Ko Chang resorts cost 500 Baht/person one way and 900 Baht/person return including the ferry crossing. The minibuses are air-conditioned.

 

From Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport, take the free express shuttle bus from outside the arrivals concourse to the airport's own bus terminal, and from there the next available bus to either Trat or Chanthaburi, then proceed as described below.

 

BY BUS

From Bangkok the most economical way to get to Laem Ngop (where the Ko Chang ferry piers are) is to take a 1st class bus #999 from the Eastern (Ekamai) Bus Terminal direct to the Laem Ngop piers. The fare is 275 baht one-way (520 baht return) and takes just over five hours. Departures from Ekamai are at 07:45 & 09:45, and return at 14:00. Subject to seat availability, this bus can also be boarded at Chanthaburi and at Suvarnabhumi Airport. However, as of December 2009 there was a more comfortable way to travel from Bangkok Airport to Ko Chang: the new bus line # 392 starts from the airport bus terminus (make sure to take a free shuttle from main airport to airport bus terminus) at 07:30 and returns from Koh Chang at 12:30. Tickets can be bought online at the Suvarnabhumi Burapha Bus Company. As of 1 Nov. 2010 there are also express shared minibuses running from Suvarnabhumi airport non-stop to Lonely Beach on Ko Chang. Tickets are 308 baht for the big bus and 600 baht (800 baht round trip)for the Lonely Beach Express minibus which includes a ticket for the ferry. However, this service can be unreliable; jammed minivans with unsecure luggage and drivers breaking traffic rules. It is also not guaranteed that your return will be by minivan, but rather with a large bus carrying people for other destinations which requires lengthy stops along the way.

 

Alternatively, there are 1st class (approx. 5 hours, around 250 baht) and 2nd class services from both the Eastern Bus Terminal (Ekamai) and Northern Bus Terminal (Moh Chit) direct to Trat, and frequent songthaew services from Trat to Laem Ngop (approx. 30 minutes, 50 baht/person). Departures from Ekamai are more frequent than from Moh Chit. If coming by bus from the south, the #511 air-con bus can be used to connect directly between Bangkok's Southern (Sai Tai Mai) and Eastern (Ekamai) bus terminals.

 

Departures from Ekamai on the Cherdchai Private Bus company second class bus are 255 Baht to Trat (March 2015), with departures approximately every 2 hours during the day and advertised travel time being 4 hours.

 

There is a new government bus line 999 that travels between Ekamai station and the ferry to Ao Thammachart Pier. It is properly airconditioned and each traveller receives a refreshment pack. Unfortunately the travel times for bus 999 are limited. There are only 2 departure times per day, both in the morning.

 

The Cherdchai Private Bus company night sells seats on a first class airconditioned night bus that leaves Ekamai at 11.30pm and arrives in Trat town around 5am the next morning but it cannot be recommended as the bus was crowded, the airconditioning was almost non-existent, the toilet stank of urine and the bus itself was filthy. Be careful too that if the Cherdchai ticket booth at Ekamai charges you for a ferry ticket to Koh Chang as the ferry ticket is overpriced and puts you on a ferry to Centrepoint Pier, which is a 45 minutes trip compared to 25 minutes if you take the ferry to Ao Thammachart Pier.

 

Connection in Trat can also be used if coming from Pattaya (2nd class bus, 4 hours, around 200 baht).

 

There are direct minibus services to Laem Ngop from Pattaya, Ban Phe (gateway to Ko Samet), and Bangkok's Khao San Road and Victory monument (in front of the Payathai hospital). They, however, are less comfortable and spacious than public buses, and you may be charged significantly more by travel agencies selling tickets to these, as often with any tourist-oriented transportation in Thailand.

 

It may also be possible to proceed directly to Laem Ngop by minibus or songthaew from the Hat Lek / Koh Kong border crossing with southern Cambodia, depending on the time of year, time of day, etc - enquire locally. Price around 120 baht (one way) from the border to Trat bus station.

 

BY BOAT

Most ferries operate from Laem Ngop, which has three piers . The Laem Ngop (Tha Khrom Luang or Tha Laern Ngop) pier is approximately 700 metres west of Laem Ngop. The Centrepoint (Tha Centre Point) pier is located about 3.5 km north-west of Laem Ngop. These piers serve both vehicle and passenger ferries.

 

Koh Chang vehicle ferry pier is located in Thammachat Bay (Ao Thammachat), around 15 km west of Laem Ngop.

 

All piers on Ko Chang are situated on the eastern side of the island. The major piers are the two Dan Kao piers, Tha Dan Kao and Tha Ferry Dan Kao, who handles most of the traffic. To take a boat from Laem Ngop to the Dan Kao piers take around 45 minutes. The car ferry from Laem Ngop take around 1 hour and arrives at the Tha Ferry Dan Kao pier, situated 400 metres southeast of the Tha Dan Kao pier. The car ferry from Thammachat Bay stops at the Ko Chang Ferry Pier (Tha Ferry Ko Chang) in the Sapparot Bay (Ao Sapparot), 3 kilometres northwest from the Dan Kao piers.

 

Light meals, fruit, fruits and beverages are available at all the piers and on the car ferries.

 

There are two operators that provide daily speedboat services from Ko Kood to Ko Chang. One is based in Bang Bao, the other on Kai Bae Beach [6] Rates are the same but departures times can vary, so make sure to book ahead.

 

GET AROUND

In the daytime, you can catch a songtheaw on its route around the main road for 50 or 150 baht/person, depending how far you go. The rates are generally much higher than in other places, but the vehicles are almost new and in excellent condition. Starting from 5.00pm, many of them start to ask "taxi" price, telling you that they operate as a public transport only until that time, and may quote prices as high as say 500 baht from Lonely Beach to the Dan Kao pier (bargain if you choose to hire, do not support silly prices!). However, if you have some time and patience, you still can try and have a "shared" ride with some drivers, maybe for a higher rate if they expect little or no other passengers.

 

These taxis are also waiting at the Dan Kao Pier (50 baht/person to White Sand beach, 100 baht to Lonely Beach). At the Dan Kao Ferry-Pier there may be no taxis available. If you arrive without a vehicle you may have to walk the 400 metres to Dan Kao Pier. The prices have become unofficially fixed and there is little room for bargaining; however, the price you pay to return should be the price you payed to come in the first place (50B White Sands, 100B Lonely, 150B Bang Bao). If they try to add 50B to that, decline (not politely). There will be another taxi and accepting the price increase condones the practice and causes price increases over time.

 

Small motorcycles can be rented for 150-300B per day. The main road is sealed and almost circles the island and there are plans to complete the circuit in the near future. Cars are also available for rental, most hotels can help with it. 4x4 car recommended, since some roads might be in bad condition, especially near Lonely Beach.

 

To rent a motorbike at the center point pier is a good option to save money, as you are avoiding the expensive taxi rides. It further gives you the freedom to drive to more remote beaches where you most of the time fine lower rates for accommodation. [Update April 2014: Center Point motorbike rentals charging 250 baht/day daily rentals, 200 baht/day for 5 days, and 150 baht/day for monthly rentals. Price is (apparently) non negotiable. They also only provide you with ~.7L of fuel, so it's on you to fill the rest of the way up.]

 

If there are 2 or more people going with you, hiring a songtheaw may cost the same price, or even be cheaper than paying per each person in a "shared" songtheaw (there is no difference, an empty songtheaw can easily be hired). Just do not forget to bargain if their price sounds quite silly when compared, say, to Bangkok taxi-meter (on Ko Chang it can be difficult if not impossible to get the same price, but at least it should not cost double or even more). Generally most people just stay on the beach of their choice and walk to wherever they want to go.

 

Hitching on Ko Chang is also an alternative if you choose not to pay the often exorbitant fees of the songtheaw. Many islanders are more than willing to pick up a hitchhiker who happens to be going the same way they are. A Coke or cold bottle of green tea for the driver are always appreciated at the end of your journey.

 

SEE

Elephants - There are three or four places offering elephant rides. We checked them out and none of them are 'elephant friendly'. Please think carefully about wanting to sit on a chair on the back of an elephant. All you can see from the is trees and a long drop to the ground. Elephants for riding are 'broken' when they are babies. They are guided by a mahout with an 'ice pick'. The ice pick is not for show. It is used on the elephant. Perhaps not when you are there... Elephants under stress rock from side to side and actually look distressed. If you see this behaviour, or see that the animals are being chained with little or no shade, or see that they do 'tricks', they are being misused. This becomes your choice. Do you perpetuate a cruel practice for a bit of fun, or do you look elsewhere?

 

- The Mu Ko Chang National Park - National Marine Park comprising parts of Ko Chang and 46 other islands

- War memorial monument - in the very south of the island

 

WATERFALLS

- Klong Plu - the most popular waterfall, and the only one on the west side of the island

- Klong Nonsi - waterfall on the east side of the island

- Klong Nueng - said to be the most breathtaking waterfall

- Khiri Petch - medium sized waterfall, about 3 kilometres from Salak Petch village

- Kongoi - 5 waterfalls near Bang Bao

- The Thanmayom - near Thanmayom pier

 

DO

Scuba diving and fishing are the most popular activities, because there are many beautiful corals and many kinds of fish for fishing. Additionally, a jungle trekking is a great idea. Jungle trekking is divided in 2 parts- north and south. Jungle trekking of north is a nature walk that contains many kinds of fruit, and several of plants. On the other hand, jungle trekking of south includes visiting fishing villagse and offers you to see a variety of animals (monkeys, snakes, birds, lizards) You can also learn how to cook Thai food. The cost for each courses starts form 1200 baht. They will teach popular Thai food such as spicy salad (som-tum), chicken curry (kang keaw wan), spicy soup (tom yum), fried rice noodles (Pad Thai), and so on. Moreover, the main activity in koh chang is the island sightseeing. You can see a famous Chinese temple that everybody should visit and pray.

 

WIKITRAVEL

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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.

____________________________________________

 

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

London band Average Sex supporting The Hungry Ghosts at Centrala Birmingham.

This image shows the 10-year global average of nearly a decade's worth of data taken by SeaWiFS, showing the abundance of life in the sea. Dark blue represents warmer areas where there is little life due to lack of nutrients, and greens and reds represent cooler nutrient-rich areas.

 

Credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio. NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, The SeaWiFS Project and GeoEye, Scientific Visualization Studio

 

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission.

 

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I happened to look at this display this evening, it shows my average speed since I reset the mileage recorder. Eighteen miles per hour over the last 1,392 miles !

It is salutary to reflect that a good cyclist could achieve a similar average speed over that distance.

Warner Bros Studio Tour London: The Making of Harry Potter

Warner Bros Studio, Aerodrome Way, Leavesden, Watford, Herts, WD25 7LS

 

A great day out for every fan of the boy wizard.

 

The Making of Harry Potter studio tour, covering 150,000 square foot, on two soundstages opened on the 31st March 2012, with stars galore at the red carpet launch at the Leavesden Studios where all eight movies were produced.

 

The home for many film productions, including several James Bond features, before a relatively new production company arrived there to make a film about a young boy who on his 11th birthday discovers he is a wizard.

 

Over the next ten years, the cast and crew of over 4,000 in total used more and more of the studios as the popularity of the books and films grew. The three young stars lived, grew up, went to school and turned into adults there on those stages.

 

Your tour begins in the foyer, with a flying Ford Anglia hanging from the ceiling and the walls adorned with huge photos of the cast, along with a few props.

 

Passing by the set of the cupboard under the stairs, you enter a room with a number of vertical TV screens showing Potter movie posters from around the world, followed by a short video sequence showing the rise of Harry’s popularity, the production teams discovery of the stories and the enormous worldwide success of the books and films.

 

Moving into the cinema, a short film introduced by Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint, talking about their experiences growing up on a film set for ten years, with clips from all eight films. The film ends with them standing in front of the main doors to the Great Hall and they walk in through the doors and invite you to follow them.

 

The screen at this point slowly rises to reveal the actual main doors to the Great Hall, surrounded with stone statues and carvings. What a wizard way to start the tour.

 

Walking through into the Great Hall we are told that we were now walking on the actual stone floor used in the films and seeing the actual tables where the actors ate their feasts. Dummies down each side of the hall wear the actual costumes used in the films. At the far end of the hall is the teachers’ table area, with more amazing costumes worn by Professors Dumbledore, Snape, McGonagall, Moody, Trelawney and Flitwick, as well as Hagrid and Filch too.

 

Leaving the Great Hall you enter the first of two vast sound stages. This includes sets for the Gryffindor Common Room and Dormitory, Dumbledore’s Office, Potions Classroom, Hagrid’s Hut, Burrow’s Kitchen and parts of the Ministry of Magic, also Umbridge’s gaudy pink, feline office. Each filled to the brim with props and costumes.

 

Props can be seen everywhere, with a massive cage in the centre, chock-a-block with goblets, chandeliers, wands and armour. A huge glass case contains the wands of 24 of the major characters – less than 1 percent of the total number of wands made for the films. The ornate doors to a Gringott’s vault and to the Chamber of Secrets are seen after passing a wall dedicated to the paintings produced to decorate the walls of Hogwarts.

 

Below the giant swinging pendulum of the Hogwarts castle clock there are several huge touch screens containing an interactive Marauders Map.

 

There are sections of the soundstage dedicated to various movie-making crafts. The hair and makeup section, costumes section, animal department, graphic design and production.

The final section in this first soundstage is dedicated to the Special Effects department with three huge video screens showing all the tricks and techniques, including greenscreen footage and CGI. Props attached to their motion rigs, include the Gringott’s Vault Cart and Mad-Eye Moody’s Recumbent Broomstick.

 

In separate room you can have a go on a broomstick or drive the Ford Anglia yourself, using the greenscreen technology.

 

The Backlot about half way round the tour is an open air section between the two soundstages where refreshments are available, including Butterbeer the popular wizarding beverage.

 

Also featured on the backlot are the Knight Bus, another Ford Anglia, Hagrid’s motorbike/sidecar, the Riddle family tombstone, a section of the rickety wooden Hogwarts Bridge, Potter’s burnt out cottage from Godric’s Hollow and Number 4 Privet Drive.

 

Entering the second soundstage you pass some of the giant chess pieces from the first movie. A number of video screens here progressively show what it was like to work in the creature shop, cleverly leading you from one screen to the next, past models of Fawkes, a snapping Monster Book of Monsters and a giant animatronic head of Hagrid. The next room has the life size (i.e., ENORMOUS!) model of Aragog the spider and one of three animatronic Buckbeak models.

 

Walking around the corner (WOW) you are transported into another world entirely. The dark lighting and cobbled street can only mean one thing – you have entered Diagon Alley. The shops using the original sets have been rebuilt– Flourish & Blotts, Eeylops Owl Emporium, Potage’s Cauldron Shop and of course Ollivander’s Wand Shop, each and every one them is crammed full of detail. At the other end of the street is Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes, with the bright orange shopfront standing out from the crowd of blackness and featuring a moving model of one of the red-haired twins doffing his hat.

 

At the end of Diagon Alley you move onto the Art and Design department with walls covered with architectural drawings and detailed plans, accurate down to the millimetre, for many of the props and sets already seen. A draftsman’s table serves as a projection screen for another video about the work of the art department.

 

Moving on, up the ascending path are walls full of concept paintings and artwork, also intricate cardboard models of Hogsmead and the Hogwarts.

 

You are only looking at a model of the model though, as entering the next room, there, spread over at least 15 square metres is the most amazing, complex and elaborate model built to a 1:24 scale. It has a bigger footprint than the average house.

 

The last part of the tour is a fitting tribute to the crew and cast of the most popular film franchise of all time. A much tidier recreation of the interior of Ollivander’s Wand shop, with over 4,000 wand boxes lining its shelves – one for every single person who worked on the films.

 

Exit through the Gift Shop.

The Goldoni Theater is the oldest and still existing theater in Venice, as well as the fourth most ancient one throughout the city (after the Michiel Theater, the Tron Theater -1581- and the San Moisé Theater -1613). It was built by the Vendramin family in 1622 and was called by their name. The opening ceremony of the theater, also named San Salvador and San Luca Theater, took place in the Autumn of the same year with a performance of the acting company “Gli Accesi”.

For the very first 30 years only comedies were performed. In 1653 the theater was destroyed by a violent fire; the new owners, Andrea and Zanetta Vendramin decided to rebuild it inside the old undamaged walls and to entrust repairs to external managers, which were the only beneficiaries of the funds but were obliged to pay out to the Vendramin family an average annual income of 1.000 ducats and to incur all the expenses.

Andrea and Zanetta were the owners for more than 40 years and kept on subcontracting to external entrepreneurs; one of the most important ones worth to be mentioned is Gaspare Torelli, an outstanding figure within the Venetian cultural panorama in those times. Librettist, costume designer and set designer if needed, Torelli signed his first contract with the Vendramin family in 1681 and it was renewed two times (this had never occurred before). In those few years he was able to leave an important mark at all levels (scheduling and productions, structural improvements, etc.). He renovated and enlarged theater and stage and renewed the equipment so as to offer an excellent theatrical seasons to the Venetian public.

 

The success obtained by the dynamic presence of Gaspare Torelli was obstructed by the Grimani family, who was the owner of three theaters (San Samuele Theater, SS. Giovanni e Paolo and San Giovanni Grisostomo). In 1687 Torelli renewed his commitment to the Vendramins for ten years more; the Grimanis were worried about the steady success of the contending theater and so they convinced or forced the manager to accept the movement to the Parma Court proposed by the Farneses and to sublet to them the Vendramins’ contract and the ownership of some reserved loges at the San Salvador Theater. It was certainly an interference going beyond legal limits and it could not be accepted by the Vendramin family. After Andrea’s death in 1685, indeed, Zanetta and her sons Alvise, Francesco, Andrea and Antonio took legal action, were successful and in 1869 obtained the management of the theater again. The two families who owned the Venetian theaters ended to be in competition with each other at the beginning of the 18th century; in 1703 they came to terms (for the first time in their business about the theater) and signed a contract which regulated, for five years, the performances of the San Samuele Theater and the San Salvador Theater, which started to be more and more often named as San Luca Theater in documents. At the end of the preset period, the contract was not renewed. Antonio and Francesco Vendramin, who took over from Alvise, kept on managing the theater independently until the season 1752-1753 which was the turning point thanks to the employment of Carlo Goldoni in the San Luca Theater.

 

The first time Goldoni showed himself in a Venetian theater was in 1734, and since then he went on being appointed by the Grimani family to hold this job at the San Samuele Theater. Then he moved to the Sant’Angelo Theater where the stage management was Girolamo Medebach and where he stayed (writing and staging 40 comedies )until the expiry date of the contract in 1753. Due to personal conflicts with Medebach, too, Goldoni left the Sant’Angelo Theater and met the Vendramins who seized the moment and offered the well known Goldoni a very favorable contract based on making a deal directly with the owner and giving him his comedies which should have been immediately paid before their reading. The trust in Goldoni’s ability to produce successful and appealing comedies was absolute. This is why his incomes had almost doubled but the most relevant fact was that he was free to get his works printed wherever and by whichever editor he liked.

Thanks to this cultural and social attitude of the whole Venetian city and of its notables, Carlo Goldoni could start that Theater reform which let him create everlasting works and characters that have always been performed on all the stages and in every language all over the world. As a matter of fact comedies like Il Campiello, Gl’innamorati and I Rusteghi date back to that time. The last season passed by Goldoni at the San Luca Theater in the year 1761 was particularly flourishing and took to produce comedies like La trilogia della villeggiatura, Sior Todero brontolon, Le baruffe chiozzotte and Una delle ultime sere di carnovale. When Carlo Goldoni left to Paris, Francesco Vendramin kept on managing the theater like a business up to the time when, in 1775, the Security Committee of the Local Authority decided that the theater was not safe and needed a drastic restoration. It was also due to the fact that the way of managing the theater by the Vendramins had stopped the profitable rental system which obliged the lessees not only to organize the shows but also to maintain and renovate the theater facility, and the San Carlo Theater was an old and unsafe building at that moment. In Autumn 1776 the theater was reopened and its activity started again with the company of Antonio Sacchi but the audience didn’t immediately meet with the Vendramins’ expectations, maybe also because during the restoration the theater had come under some structural changes and extensions, like the entrance located in Calle Berizi (the present Calle del Teatro), a new foyer and some more loges (seventeen were totally added, five of which at the first order or “pepiano” and four at each of the three following orders of loges).

The theater activity went on at a mean level until the fall of the “Serenissima” Republic in 1797, also because of the financial difficulties which the Vendramin family was drawn into. In 1798, on the 18th of January, the Austrians came into possession of Venice, according to the Campoformio Treaty which decreed that Napoleon gave Venice to Austria.

 

During the short term of the French domination, in 1807 the Ministry of Interior reduced the city theaters, that could only be used proportionally to the population density. The Venetian theaters were reduced to four and the San Luca one was closed. It was a large, centrally located theater, whose static conditions were not worse than the other ones, so we can suppose within reason that its closure depended above all on political motivations, as the Vendramins were suspected to sympathize with the Austrians.

In 1815, when the Austrians came again, an imperial decree gave back to the San Luca Theater the possibility to be reopened. It happened officially in 1817 following a radical structural renovation.

Specific attention was paid both to the maintenance of the theater and its amenities and to the renovation of the theater lighting and scenery equipments, also because there had always been a high and urgent competition with the other Venetian theaters, especially with the new born La Fenice.

In 1833 the foyer was enlarged, the stage was lengthened and the theater curve was adjusted; on the 28th of September the ancient Theater of the Vendramins at San Luca changed its name into Apollo Theater.

In the night between the 12th and the 13th of December 1836 La Fenice Theater was destroyed by a very aggressive fire, so the Vendramins agreed to transfer the shows, which had already been made ready for the imminent Carnival, to the Apollo Theater. That season was outstanding indeed and the opera Pia de’ Tolomei by Gaetano Donizetti was performed the first time. There was no program reduction, except for a ballet which could not be performed because of the delimited size of the stage.

Due to the Carnival and in order to give more convenience to the spectators coming from La Fenice Theater, Domenico Vendramin made a suitable landing place prepared on the Carbon bank that was next to a covered street which led directly to the door of the theater hall.

Unfortunately in 1844, when he was again thinking about a new and relevant renovation, Domenico Vendramin died prematurely and so his widow, Regina de Marchi, took on the management of the theater; her first aim was to see that her husband’s plan would come true. The Apollo Theater was the first one in Italy to be equipped with gas illumination and to be completely illuminated. In Spring 1853 the painter Ferrari Bravo was given the task to renovate the theater: it was a significant restoration in a flowered neo gothic style, which gave the Apollo Theater the new feature that distinguished it until its end.

The second half of the 19th century was a very particular and difficult period; Regina de Marchi was an intelligent woman with a strong personality and managed the theater for almost forty years. She faced in a positive way all the problems caused by historical facts to a public and well-known place like an old local theater. She hosted the celebrations for the 1848 irredentist revolt and the short free time of the new republic and faced in a dignified way the Radetzky’s oppressive regime, the disappointment of the second independence war, censure and financial difficulties, but she was still there to manage the theater when the Italian troops entered Venice on the 19th of October, in 1866.

Starting from this date the Apollo Theater activity began again and lasted for about ten years more. It’s worth to be remembered the successful activity of the new “venetian” company by Angelo Moro Lin and its writer and poet Giacinto Gallina with his comedies Le barufe in famegia and La famegia in rovina.

In 1874 another restoration work led to remove dirt from decorations and to reinforce basic structures. At the time there were five orders of balconies and 162 loges; the parterre had 560 seats and a total capacity of 1.250 seats with three exits to the street (three in the parterre, one of which towards the foyer and the other two next to the orchestra); on the side of the left scene one more exit was beneath balconies (exit shared with the Carbon under portico, a passage still used nowadays to the scenery transfer). Something worthy of note is that the second line of balconies on the right was directly joined to the owner’s home. A relevant work converted the last order of loges into a gallery.

 

In 1875 the actor Angelo Moro Lin and Regina de Marchi decided together to entitle the ancient San Luca Theater to Carlo Goldoni. It was obviously not only a question of name, but firstly in reference to a more pertinent “comic” characterization in honor of the great playwright and then a worthy homage to one of the most eminent sons of the city of Venice. In the evening of the 26th of February, 1875, a day after the anniversary of Goldoni’s birth (it was necessary to postpone the ceremony until one day later because of an over-the-top snowfall), the Apollo Theater died and the Carlo Goldoni Theater was born. A bust by the sculptor Soranzo, which is still present in the theater foyer, and given by the Prince Giovannelli, was shown. The ceremony was touching and Moro Lin, surrounded by his actors, made a successful speech in Venetian dialect and expressed the wish that a suitable monument would have been erected to the most famous poet of the city. All the company (who distinguished themselves as “goldonian company”) performed the comedy Una delle ultime sere di Carnovale, that is the last comedy written by Goldoni before leaving Venice indefinitely and by which he could, in some way and in a theater to him entitled, come back.

In 1880 Regina de Marchi, widow of the last member of the Vendramins, died and the grandniece Chiara Ciotto got the ownership of the theater, together with her husband Pietro Marigonda who became its director. When Pietro’s son, Antonio Marigonda, was the owner, the Goldoni Theater appeared to have some urban problems and needed some external refurbishment: these problems were solved by demolishing some crumbling buildings and by broadening the Calle del Teatro.

The façade of the theater was not adequate and some engineers were charged with planning a new one. The project was approved in May, 1909, and the construction was completed in only four months. This was the first, real façade of the ancient Vendramin Theater, which the contemporaries didn’t appreciate and which was named “railway style” façade.

Beyond the aesthetic opinion about the new façade, these years were very important for the theater activity because a clear commitment of redevelopment was focused on the very careful attention to the settlement of the artistic selection. All the best Italian companies and some foreign ones, too, referred to the Goldoni Theater and for this reason a statistical survey relating to the 1909 season about the box office takings placed Venice immediately after Milan and Rome.

 

After the Great War there was a remarkable relaunch of the theater activity and the Venetian audience never missed the dates with the great companies of that time. In 1923 the theater celebrated the fourth century of its existence, but the preceding year another exceptional event had inserted the Goldoni Theater in all the artistic and elite news sections of that time: Eleonora Duse had made a comeback to Venice twenty years later. In March 1922 (scarcely two years before her death) she acted two extraordinary plays: La donna del mare by Ibsen and La porta chiusa by Marco Praga.

The unexpected death of Antonio Marigonda caused a sudden stop in this very good time of artistic growth that led to a quick downfall of the activity until the closure of the theater. Piero and Andrea, Pietro Marigonda’s sons, managed the theater for a short time, till the year 1937 , when the ownership changed again and the theater was purchased by the Lawyer Giacomo Baldissera baron Treves de’ Bonfili, and the management was entrusted to ICSA (Imprese Cinematografiche Spettacoli e Affini: cinema, performances and similar Companies). The last ten years of the Goldoni Theater were not significant because of a programming of popular entertainment categories like the operetta and the revue. It is important to note that the Venetian audience took position against and was successful in avoiding the transformation of the Goldoni Theater into a movie theater, something that occurred to other ones, like the Rossini (ex San Benedetto Theater) and the Malibran (ex San Giovanni Grisostomo Theater).

During the painful years of the Second World War, the theater went on operating, also because Venice hosted the Ministry of Popular Culture and therefore the General Management Office for Performance. On the 15th of June, 1947, the theater was considered unusable and was permanently closed because of the unsafe structural conditions which needed an almost total rebuilding. That Summer in 1947 nobody could have never imagined that the old Goldoni Theater would go on being closed for such a long time and nobody could have supposed such a rough and many times changed path, the endless patience of Venetian people and the way of proceeding similar to a serialized novel with a lot of coups de théatre. The first ten years spent without an agreement between the last owner, the Lawyer Baldissera (who could not or did not want to be responsible of the necessary works), and the Municipal Administration that had decreed the building was a community benefit (so as to avoid a possible speculative use) and aimed at its expropriation. On the 5th of October, 1957, the Municipal Administration acquired the building from the Lawyer Baldissera but, at that point, the main problem was to find the necessary money to proceed.

The impasse seemed to break through by means of a project by the Fondazione Giorgio, but it had no follow-up. Two more years spent before the approval by the High Council for Public Works of a new project which was about restoration, not total renovation: it was considered a partial demolition of the building and the preservation of some structures.

At that time, there were also disputes between conservatives (who supported the theory “just like it was, just where it was”) and innovators (who were in favor of a modern structural work). The project seemed to be able to have a positive follow up and the reopening of the theater was expected, with a certain overoptimism, to occur in 1963. But in May 1962 the works were stopped because of legal disputes with the owners of the neighboring buildings. Two more years spent before a new project was approved, in September 1964. However, only in Summer 1969 the works started: a completely new building was constructed and its external structures were finished in 1973. The works could have been finished even that same year if new disputes between conservatives and innovators would not delay it. It was finally reached a compromise: to maintain the interior with the preceding distinctive features, although with some changes (four orders of loges and a gallery, instead of five orders of only loges and a raised parterre, with a consequent reduction of seats) and to construct a completely new exterior.

Finally, on the 22nd of April, 1979, with a total expense of almost three and a half milliards Lire, the theater was reopened, nineteen years later with respect to the first project, twenty nine years after the takeover by the Municipality and thirty two years after its closure. The opening performance was one of Carlo Goldoni’s masterpieces: La locandiera with Giancarlo Cobelli as a director and Carla Gravina as the leading character, together with Gabriele Ferzetti. The performance was brought touring for three years and a TV adaptation was produced, too, which can be still nowadays be seen by a DVD player.

The Municipality of Venice managed the theater for more than ten years, entrusting the conduction to various directors (among which an unforgettable person like Giorgio Gaber), until 1992, when its management was entrusted to the Teatro Stabile del Veneto, an association of which also the Giuseppe Verdi Theater of Padua is a part and that is still conducting the Goldoni Theater.

"Society Hill is a historic neighborhood in Center City Philadelphia, with a population of 6,215 as of the 2010 United States Census. Settled in the early 1680s, Society Hill is one of the oldest residential neighborhoods in Philadelphia. After urban decay developed between the late 19th and early 20th centuries, an urban renewal program began in the 1950s, restoring the area and its many historic buildings. Society Hill has since become one of the most expensive neighborhoods with the highest average income and second-highest real estate values in Philadelphia. Society Hill's historic colonial architecture, along with planning and restoration efforts, led the American Planning Association to designate it, in 2008, as one of the great American neighborhoods and a good example of sustainable urban living.

 

The neighborhood hosts one of the largest concentrations of original 18th- and early 19th-century buildings in the United States. Society Hill is noted for its Franklin street lamps, brick sidewalks, cobblestone and Belgian block streets bordered by two- to four-story brick rowhouses in Federal and Georgian architecture, and public buildings in Greek Revival architecture such as the Merchants' Exchange Building and the Old Pine Street Church.

 

Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City, and the 68th-largest city in the world. Since 1854, the city has been coextensive with Philadelphia County, the most populous county in Pennsylvania and the urban core of the Delaware Valley, the nation's seventh-largest and world's 68th-largest metropolitan region, with 6.245 million residents as of 2020. The city's population as of the 2020 census was 1,603,797, and over 56 million people live within 250 mi (400 km) of Philadelphia.

 

Philadelphia was founded in 1682 by William Penn, an English Quaker. The city served as capital of the Pennsylvania Colony during the British colonial era and went on to play a historic and vital role as the central meeting place for the nation's founding fathers whose plans and actions in Philadelphia ultimately inspired the American Revolution and the nation's independence. Philadelphia hosted the First Continental Congress in 1774 following the Boston Tea Party, preserved the Liberty Bell, and hosted the Second Continental Congress during which the founders signed the Declaration of Independence, which historian Joseph Ellis has described as "the most potent and consequential words in American history". Once the Revolutionary War commenced, both the Battle of Germantown and the Siege of Fort Mifflin were fought within Philadelphia's city limits. The U.S. Constitution was later ratified in Philadelphia at the Philadelphia Convention of 1787. Philadelphia remained the nation's largest city until 1790, when it was surpassed by New York City, and served as the nation's first capital from May 10, 1775, until December 12, 1776, and on four subsequent occasions during and following the American Revolution, including from 1790 to 1800 while the new national capital of Washington, D.C. was under construction.

 

During the 19th and 20th centuries, Philadelphia emerged as a major national industrial center and railroad hub. The city’s blossoming industrial sector attracted European immigrants, predominantly from Germany and Ireland, the two largest reported ancestry groups in the city as of 2015. In the 20th century, immigrant waves from Italy and elsewhere in Southern Europe arrived. Following the end of the Civil War in 1865, Philadelphia became a leading destination for African Americans in the Great Migration. In the 20th century, Puerto Rican Americans moved to the city in large numbers. Between 1890 and 1950, Philadelphia's population doubled to 2.07 million. Philadelphia has since attracted immigrants from East and South Asia, Eastern Europe, and Latin America.

 

With 18 four-year universities and colleges, Philadelphia is one of the nation's leading centers for higher education and academic research. As of 2021, the Philadelphia metropolitan area was the nation's ninth-largest metropolitan economy with a gross metropolitan product (GMP) of US$479 billion. Philadelphia is the largest center of economic activity in Pennsylvania and the broader multi-state Delaware Valley region; the city is home to five Fortune 500 corporate headquarters as of 2022. The Philadelphia skyline, which includes several globally renowned commercial skyscrapers, is expanding, primarily with new residential high-rise condominiums. The city and the Delaware Valley are a biotechnology and venture capital hub; and the Philadelphia Stock Exchange, owned by NASDAQ, is the nation's oldest stock exchange and a global leader in options trading. 30th Street Station, the city's primary rail station, is the third-busiest Amtrak hub in the nation, and the city's multimodal transport and logistics infrastructure, including Philadelphia International Airport, the PhilaPort seaport, freight rail infrastructure, roadway traffic capacity, and warehouse storage space, are all expanding.

 

Philadelphia is a national cultural hub, hosting more outdoor sculptures and murals than any other American city. Fairmount Park, when combined with adjacent Wissahickon Valley Park in the same watershed, is 2,052 acres (830 ha), representing one of the nation's largest contiguous urban parks and the 45th largest urban park in the world. The city is known for its arts, culture, cuisine, and colonial and Revolution-era history; in 2016, it attracted 42 million domestic tourists who spent $6.8 billion, representing $11 billion in total economic impact to the city and surrounding Pennsylvania counties.

 

With five professional sports teams and a hugely loyal fan base, the city is often ranked as the nation's best city for professional sports fans. The city has a culturally and philanthropically active LGBTQ+ community. Philadelphia also has played an immensely influential historic and ongoing role in the development and evolution of American music, especially R&B, soul, and rock.

 

Philadelphia is a city of many firsts, including the nation's first library (1731), hospital (1751), medical school (1765), national capital (1774), university (by some accounts) (1779), stock exchange (1790), zoo (1874), and business school (1881). Philadelphia contains 67 National Historic Landmarks, including Independence Hall. From the city's 17th century founding through the present, Philadelphia has been the birthplace or home to an extensive number of prominent and influential Americans. In 2021, Time magazine named Philadelphia one of the world's greatest 100 places." - info from Wikipedia.

 

The fall of 2022 I did my 3rd major cycling tour. I began my adventure in Montreal, Canada and finished in Savannah, GA. This tour took me through the oldest parts of Quebec and the 13 original US states. During this adventure I cycled 7,126 km over the course of 2.5 months and took more than 68,000 photos. As with my previous tours, a major focus was to photograph historic architecture.

 

Now on Instagram.

 

Become a patron to my photography on Patreon or donate.

Center Weighted Average.

 

This is my camera's auto-focus setting, but its idea of 'center' and mine do not always correspond.

  

Mammut americanum (Kerr, 1792) - American mastodon skeleton (cast) from the Pleistocene of Florida, USA. (South Florida Museum, Bradenton, Florida, USA)

 

From museum signage:

Mammut americanum, the American Mastodon, is one of the most spectacular of the now extinct Ice Age mammals. Mastodons, belonging to the Order Proboscidea, were large elephant-like animals with heavy shaggy coats and two large upper tusks. The average mastodon’s shoulder height was 8 to 10 feet. Measuring 11 feet 4 inches at the shoulder, the South Florida Museum’s mastodon is one of the world’s largest and the largest ever recovered in North America. Massive size, on its last set of teeth, and arthritis in its backbone are contributing factors suggesting this giant proboscidean is probably an older male.

 

At Home in the Forest

Mastodons were forest-dwelling animals that browsed on twigs, leaves, shrubs, fruits, pinecones and needles, and mosses. Their teeth were rather primitive and characterized by rounded and pointed enamel-covered cones with close-spaced roots. Such teeth were well suited to clipping or crushing twigs, leaves, and stems. Their trunk not only functioned as a nose, but also as an appendage used to grab and manipulate objects.

 

Mastodons belong to the Order Proboscidea along with mammoths and modern elephants. Their closest living relatives are the Sirenia (dugongs and manatees). [Elephants] evolved in Africa about 35 million years ago and spread throughout Africa, Europe, and Asia. About 3.7 million years ago, [elephants] migrated to North America via the Bering Strait land bridge. A mastodon’s normal range was hundreds of miles, and individuals have been recovered from the Aucilla River, Ichetucknee River, Palm Beach County, and Wakulla Springs.

 

An Aucilla Giant

Our mastodon was found in 1967 by diver Don Serbosek on an isolated stretch of the Aucilla River in Jefferson County. The scattered bones were in a 20 ft. deep hole in the river bottom. This unique display is the only articulation done to date of this Aucilla mastodon. It is an exact and finely detailed cast of the fossil bones acquired by the Florida Museum of Natural History for research studies on the Pleistocene giant.

 

How did the Aucilla mastodon die? There are no recognizable butcher marks on the bones, but two projective points along with hundreds of carved bone needles were found in the immediate vicinity. This evidence implies human activity, but further analysis revealed the needles were more recent, probably ca. B.C. 300 to A.D. 200. Perhaps a hunt drove him into the river where he slipped into the deep hole and drowned.

 

The Aucilla Adventures

For Don Serbosek, the waterways of Florida have yielded a lifetime of adventure and discovery. One of the first underwater explorers of Florida’s rivers and springs, Don was used to finding an occasional ancient animal bone or early human artifact. However, a 1967 trip to north Florida’s Aucilla river turned a routine SCUBA dive into the find of a lifetime and nearly a lifetime of work.

 

Disciplined Discovery

There, scattered across the bottom of the isolated stretch of river bed where the Aucilla rises from an underground limestone caverns and soon sinks into another, were piles of bones. Mammoth and mastodon teeth littered the ground. The next weekend, equipped with SCUBA gear, Don and others set about to map the site. Bones, Indian artifacts, projectile points and bone needles were recovered and their locations noted. Then, 20 feet down at the bottom of a hole revealed by their underwater lamps, Serbosek saw the well-preserved skeleton of a huge mastodon with half of its lower jaw lying on top of a pile of bones. Many more trips were required to bring up the easily accessible bones, but no skull was found.

 

The Missing Skull

A dedicated search for the missing skull commenced. As he fanned away sand, searching with his fingers in the dark murky water, Don felt a large, flat rock. At first he passed it by, but something didn’t feel quite right. The rock was smooth and flat, not like the sharp, eroded limestone typical of the river bed. Retracing his progess, he eventually found it again and fanned away more and more sand. The rock grew bigger and bigger and began to curve downward. It was the skull, buried in a layer of blue clay.

 

Raising the 400 pound skull posed quite a challenge. A framework of steel pipe laced with a floor of heavy canvas and supported by eight inner tubes was designed to cradle the huge fossil. Four feet below the surface, the inner tubes were carefully inflated, and the skull emerged from the water.

 

On the surface, a large tank filled with water-soluble acrylic preservative was used to hold the precious fossils. As the bones soaked up the preservative, they slowly hardened.

 

A Lengthy Process

Meticulous paleontology takes a great deal of perseverance. Recovering the Aucilla mastodon took three years. Developing the techniques to make an accurate copy of of the fossilized bones took another ten years. Serbosek pooled his talents with Dr. Cliff Jeremiah of Jacksonville, a fellow member of the Florida Paleontological Society with a reputation for making remarkably fine replicas of fossils.

 

After 11 years of collaborations, refining the process on countless other specimens, the two men were ready to work on the Aucilla mastodon. From the first sighting to final articulation, more than 20 years and thousands of hours have been dedicated to the magnificent mastodon. This painstaking paleontological work was performed with the utmost care and pride. All who worked on the project know that there may never be another mastodon of this size and significance found in Florida. The South Florida Museum is proud to exhibit this unique Pleistocene mammal.

 

Classification: Animalia, Chordata, Vertebrata, Mammalia, Proboscidea, Mammutidae

 

Locality: Aucilla River, Jefferson County, northern Florida, USA

----------------------

See info. at:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mastodon

 

Pushkar (Hindi: पुष्कर) is a town in the Ajmer district in the Indian state of Rajasthan. It is situated 14 km northwest of Ajmer at an average elevation of 510 m and is one of the five sacred dhams (pilgrimage site) for devout Hindus. According to Hindu theology, the pond at the Katas Raj temple Near Choa Saidan Shah in Chakwal District of Pakistan has a theological association with Shiva; it was formed by the tears of Lord Shiva which he is believed to have shed after the death of his wife, Sati. The story goes that when Sati died, Shiva cried so much and for so long, that his tears created two holy ponds – one at Pushkara in Ajmer in India and the other at Ketaksha, which literally means raining eyes, in Sanskrit. It is from this name that the word Katas is derived. It is often called "Tirth Raj" – the king of pilgrimage sites – and has in recent years become a popular destination for foreign tourists.

 

Pushkar is one of the oldest existing cities of India. It lies on the shore of Pushkar Lake. The date of its actual origin is not known, but legend associates Brahma with its creation.

 

Pushkar has many temples. Most of the temples are not very old because many temples were destroyed during Muslim conquests in the area. Subsequently, the destroyed temples were rebuilt. The most famous among all is the Brahma Temple built during the 14th century CE. Very few temples to Lord Brahma exist anywhere in the world. Other temples of Brahma include Bithoor in Uttar Pradesh, India; Khedbrahma in Gujarat, India; village Asotra near Balotra city of Barmer district in Rajasthan; Uttamar Kovil (one of the Divya Desams) near Srirangam, Tamil Nadu; Mother Temple of Besakih in Bali, Indonesia; and Prambanan in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. The Pushkar lake has 52 ghats where pilgrims descend to the lake to bathe in the sacred waters.

 

Pushkar is also famous for its annual fair (Pushkar Camel Fair) held in November.

 

ETYMOLOGY

Pushkar in Sanskrit means blue lotus flower. Hindus believe that the gods released a swan with a lotus in its beak and let it fall on earth where Brahma would perform a grand yagna. The place where the lotus fell was called Pushkar. Pushkar word may be derived from word 'Pushkarni'means- lake. It may be derived from word Pushpa means flower and Kar means hand.

 

HISTORY

Pushkar is one of the oldest cities of India. The date of its actual founding is not known, but legend associates Brahma with its creation.

 

According to legend, Brahma was in search of a place for Mahayagna and he found this place suitable. After a long time, Brahma came to known that a demon, Vajranash, was killing people here so the Lord intoned a mantra on a lotus flower and killed the demon. During this process the parts of flower fell on three places which were later known as Jyaistha, Madhya and Kanistha Pushkar. After this Brahma performed a yagna to protect this place from demons. The consort of Brahma, Saraswati, were needed to offer Ahuti for the yagna but she was not there that time so Gayatri, a Gurjar girl, was married to brahma and performned yagna. This act made first wife of Brahma, Saraswati, angry and she cursed Brahma saying that he would be worshiped in Pushkar only.

 

The Mahabharata says that while laying down a programme for Maharaja Yudhishthara’s travel, “Maharaja after entering the Jungles of Sind and crossing the small rivers on the way should bathe in Pushkara". And, as per Vaman Purana, Prahlada on his pilgrimage to holy places visited Pushkarayana.

 

A Gurjara Pratihara ruler of Mandore, Nahadarava, restored this tirtha in the seventh century. He got the place cleared and the lake restored by making an embankment on the side of the river Luni. He rebuilt old palaces and built twelve dharmashalas (resting places) and ghats on three sides of the lake.

 

According to Rajputana Gazetteer Pushkar was held by Chechi Gurjars until about 700 years ago.Later Some shrines were occupied by Kanphati Jogis.

 

There are still priests from the Gurjar community in Pushkar temple, known as Bhopas.

 

The sage Parasara is said to have been born here. His descendants, called Parasara Brahamanas, are found in Pushkar and the surrounding area. The famous temple of Jeenmata has been cared for by Parasara Brahmans for the last 1,000 years.

 

It is also the venue of the annual Pushkar Camel Fair. In 1901, the town was part of the Rajputana Agency had a population of 3,831.

 

PUSHKAR FAIR

Pushkar fair continues for five days and these five days are a period of relaxation and merry-making for the villagers. This fair time is the most busy time for them, as this is one of the largest cattle fairs in the country. Animals, including over 50,000 camels, are brought from miles around to be traded and sold. Trading is brisk as several thousand heads of cattle exchange hands. All the camels are cleaned, washed, adorned, some are interestingly shorn to form patterns, and special stalls are set up selling finery and jewellery for the camels. Camels at the Pushkar fair are decorated with great care. They wear jewellery of silver and beads. There are silver bells and bangles around their ankles that jangle when they walk. An interesting ritual is the piercing of a camel's nose. It has more than 400 temples including the only one temple in India dedicated to the Hindu God Lord Brahma, the Creator of the Universe.

 

According to Indian mythology, after visiting all the Hindu pilgrim towns and temples (Four Dhams), if Pushkar is not visited for worship, then salvation is not achieved. According to the Hindu calendar Pushkar Fair commences in Nawami (ninth day of fortnightly phases of moon) and ends in Purnima (Full Moon) in the month of Kartika (October or November according to the lunar calendar). In Pushkar, one of the biggest Cattle Fair is also held for trading purposes and the best cattle in all categories are awarded. Countless people in their colourful attire gather to take a dip in the Holy Lake and pray to the deities. The whole town comes alive with vibrant folk music and dances, magic shows, horse and camel races and various other traditional entertainment competitions.Pushkar, with more than 12 local fairs and festivals of 10–15 days duration is a year round destination. It is a mellow town by the great lake of Pushkar amidst the perfume of jasmine and rose flowers. About 4,000 to 6,000 visitors from all over the world come to Pushkar everyday.

 

PUSHKAR LAKE

The prime attraction of Pushkar is the Pushkar Lake which is considered sacred like the Mansarovar Lake in Tibet. Pushkar has become a place of Hindu pilgrimage because of this holy lake. Legend has it that this lake was consecrated to Lord Brahma, the creator of the universe when a lotus dropped from his hand into the vale and a lake emerged in that place.

 

BRAHMA TEMPLE

The most important temple in Pushkar is the Temple of Lord Brahma, one of the holy trinity of Hinduism. The temple enshrines a life-size idol of Lord Brahma.

 

SAVITRI TEMPLE

This temple that is located at the top of the Ratnagiri Hill is dedicated to Savitri, the wife of Lord Brahma. The temple houses a statue of Goddess Savitri.

 

WIKIPEDIA

On Monday, June 30, the national average retail gasoline price was $3.70 per gallon. Although this is the highest average heading into the Fourth of July holiday since 2008, gasoline prices in 2014 have remained well below the spring peaks reached in each of the previous three years (see graph). Although prices are currently 20 cents per gallon higher than last year at this time, prices this year did not peak as high as in recent years because of relatively stable crude oil prices in 2014. The peak retail gasoline price this year was $3.71/gal on April 29, lower than last year's spring peak of $3.78, and lower than price peaks in 2011 and 2012. www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.cfm?id=16951

 

Publication date: July 2, 2014

 

Mean averaging each of the gun barrel opening sequence shots for all of the bond films through 2012.

 

my blog

PIXLS.US

average editing sorry

Average HoN player.

Pushkar (Hindi: पुष्कर) is a town in the Ajmer district in the Indian state of Rajasthan. It is situated 14 km northwest of Ajmer at an average elevation of 510 m and is one of the five sacred dhams (pilgrimage site) for devout Hindus. According to Hindu theology, the pond at the Katas Raj temple Near Choa Saidan Shah in Chakwal District of Pakistan has a theological association with Shiva; it was formed by the tears of Lord Shiva which he is believed to have shed after the death of his wife, Sati. The story goes that when Sati died, Shiva cried so much and for so long, that his tears created two holy ponds – one at Pushkara in Ajmer in India and the other at Ketaksha, which literally means raining eyes, in Sanskrit. It is from this name that the word Katas is derived. It is often called "Tirth Raj" – the king of pilgrimage sites – and has in recent years become a popular destination for foreign tourists.

 

Pushkar is one of the oldest existing cities of India. It lies on the shore of Pushkar Lake. The date of its actual origin is not known, but legend associates Brahma with its creation.

 

Pushkar has many temples. Most of the temples are not very old because many temples were destroyed during Muslim conquests in the area. Subsequently, the destroyed temples were rebuilt. The most famous among all is the Brahma Temple built during the 14th century CE. Very few temples to Lord Brahma exist anywhere in the world. Other temples of Brahma include Bithoor in Uttar Pradesh, India; Khedbrahma in Gujarat, India; village Asotra near Balotra city of Barmer district in Rajasthan; Uttamar Kovil (one of the Divya Desams) near Srirangam, Tamil Nadu; Mother Temple of Besakih in Bali, Indonesia; and Prambanan in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. The Pushkar lake has 52 ghats where pilgrims descend to the lake to bathe in the sacred waters.

 

Pushkar is also famous for its annual fair (Pushkar Camel Fair) held in November.

 

ETYMOLOGY

Pushkar in Sanskrit means blue lotus flower. Hindus believe that the gods released a swan with a lotus in its beak and let it fall on earth where Brahma would perform a grand yagna. The place where the lotus fell was called Pushkar. Pushkar word may be derived from word 'Pushkarni'means- lake. It may be derived from word Pushpa means flower and Kar means hand.

 

HISTORY

Pushkar is one of the oldest cities of India. The date of its actual founding is not known, but legend associates Brahma with its creation.

 

According to legend, Brahma was in search of a place for Mahayagna and he found this place suitable. After a long time, Brahma came to known that a demon, Vajranash, was killing people here so the Lord intoned a mantra on a lotus flower and killed the demon. During this process the parts of flower fell on three places which were later known as Jyaistha, Madhya and Kanistha Pushkar. After this Brahma performed a yagna to protect this place from demons. The consort of Brahma, Saraswati, were needed to offer Ahuti for the yagna but she was not there that time so Gayatri, a Gurjar girl, was married to brahma and performned yagna. This act made first wife of Brahma, Saraswati, angry and she cursed Brahma saying that he would be worshiped in Pushkar only.

 

The Mahabharata says that while laying down a programme for Maharaja Yudhishthara’s travel, “Maharaja after entering the Jungles of Sind and crossing the small rivers on the way should bathe in Pushkara". And, as per Vaman Purana, Prahlada on his pilgrimage to holy places visited Pushkarayana.

 

A Gurjara Pratihara ruler of Mandore, Nahadarava, restored this tirtha in the seventh century. He got the place cleared and the lake restored by making an embankment on the side of the river Luni. He rebuilt old palaces and built twelve dharmashalas (resting places) and ghats on three sides of the lake.

 

According to Rajputana Gazetteer Pushkar was held by Chechi Gurjars until about 700 years ago.Later Some shrines were occupied by Kanphati Jogis.

 

There are still priests from the Gurjar community in Pushkar temple, known as Bhopas.

 

The sage Parasara is said to have been born here. His descendants, called Parasara Brahamanas, are found in Pushkar and the surrounding area. The famous temple of Jeenmata has been cared for by Parasara Brahmans for the last 1,000 years.

 

It is also the venue of the annual Pushkar Camel Fair. In 1901, the town was part of the Rajputana Agency had a population of 3,831.

 

PUSHKAR FAIR

Pushkar fair continues for five days and these five days are a period of relaxation and merry-making for the villagers. This fair time is the most busy time for them, as this is one of the largest cattle fairs in the country. Animals, including over 50,000 camels, are brought from miles around to be traded and sold. Trading is brisk as several thousand heads of cattle exchange hands. All the camels are cleaned, washed, adorned, some are interestingly shorn to form patterns, and special stalls are set up selling finery and jewellery for the camels. Camels at the Pushkar fair are decorated with great care. They wear jewellery of silver and beads. There are silver bells and bangles around their ankles that jangle when they walk. An interesting ritual is the piercing of a camel's nose. It has more than 400 temples including the only one temple in India dedicated to the Hindu God Lord Brahma, the Creator of the Universe.

 

According to Indian mythology, after visiting all the Hindu pilgrim towns and temples (Four Dhams), if Pushkar is not visited for worship, then salvation is not achieved. According to the Hindu calendar Pushkar Fair commences in Nawami (ninth day of fortnightly phases of moon) and ends in Purnima (Full Moon) in the month of Kartika (October or November according to the lunar calendar). In Pushkar, one of the biggest Cattle Fair is also held for trading purposes and the best cattle in all categories are awarded. Countless people in their colourful attire gather to take a dip in the Holy Lake and pray to the deities. The whole town comes alive with vibrant folk music and dances, magic shows, horse and camel races and various other traditional entertainment competitions.Pushkar, with more than 12 local fairs and festivals of 10–15 days duration is a year round destination. It is a mellow town by the great lake of Pushkar amidst the perfume of jasmine and rose flowers. About 4,000 to 6,000 visitors from all over the world come to Pushkar everyday.

 

PUSHKAR LAKE

The prime attraction of Pushkar is the Pushkar Lake which is considered sacred like the Mansarovar Lake in Tibet. Pushkar has become a place of Hindu pilgrimage because of this holy lake. Legend has it that this lake was consecrated to Lord Brahma, the creator of the universe when a lotus dropped from his hand into the vale and a lake emerged in that place.

 

BRAHMA TEMPLE

The most important temple in Pushkar is the Temple of Lord Brahma, one of the holy trinity of Hinduism. The temple enshrines a life-size idol of Lord Brahma.

 

SAVITRI TEMPLE

This temple that is located at the top of the Ratnagiri Hill is dedicated to Savitri, the wife of Lord Brahma. The temple houses a statue of Goddess Savitri.

 

WIKIPEDIA

Ten Vikings, five blue-bearded trawlerfolk, seven goslings , ten strategically placed coconuts, two dragon's heads and an inflatable monkey may sound like the contents of the average ten year old's toy box (maybe not the coconuts)... but in this case they were the signs that again the North East Skiffs were in town. Joined by good friends from north of the border (apologies if the staged start etc meant we didn't get a chance to catch up with you all) we all ensured that skiffs were well-represented amongst the 40 boats in this year's Great Tyne Row. 25km, 100s of rowers and supporters ... and sunshine to boot .... what could be better?

Normally these write ups start with the alarm clock on the day itself. Today however, I feel we have to take a step back in time and recognise the sterling efforts of those individuals across all the clubs who've designed, stitched, cut, glued, painted, knotted, inflated, baked, sought, bought and gave so much of their time and energy to present the boats and crew costumes to such an amazing standard. These things always take significantly more time than the casual observer would credit (seriously, weeks in some cases), so go on... you all know who you are... give yourselves a hearty and well deserved three cheers hip hip ........ hip hip........ hip hip.......The effort was worth it!

That said, it was an early alarm that roused this week's intrepid explorers from their limited slumber (previous paragraph explains lack of sleep). Following a quick hustle for fur, ropes and daggers and a spot check of shields, dragons head, furry seat covers and drums, we headed out on the first of the day's trips to Newburn.

On arrival we joined the flurry of activity as boats arrived, trailers were cleared and dispatched and last minute adornments were added to boats and rowers alike. (it's great to see the themes emerging...) Others may have to add detail as we were quickly whisked away, taking the trailer and return vehicle down to Tynemouth. Kindly the powers that be had closed the central motorway so we were diverted numerous times before reaching our destination. Here the organisation kicked in with a friendly welcome and a cordoned off car park (trailers left / cars right.. lovely!) our attempt at a quick dash back via alternate route was thwarted by the closure of the quayside and after spiralling in circles a few times we were back en route and in Newburn (just) in time for the briefing over on the other bank, foregoing breakfast in place of information and some snappy trackers.

Briefed, dressed and GPS'd .. we were off, the river and wind affording us assistance and we were all too thankful that the row wasn’t 24 hours earlier. It became quickly apparent that we weren't the only boats to get dressed too up as a flurry of bumblebees, turtles, ballerinas (complete with swan's head on the bow) and the whole Mad Hatters Tea Party passed by, exchanging smiles , waves and wishes of good fortune. This kinship is part of the reason we do what we do!!!

Onlookers from the various paths and jetties also waved and cheered , with Conor (our self-appointed PR officer) ensuring all got a wave or a twirl of the axe back in return (occasionally accompanied by a "Viking grimace" for effect)

Passing under the bridges on the Tyne is always special but to do it in full Viking regalia, rowing to a pounding drum with axes raised high and the echoes of our Nordic shrieks rebounding from the iconic bridges and buildings definitely got the hairs on the back of the neck tingling. Thanks to those gathered on the Millennium bridge for their support and cheers of encouragement.... this only added to the occasion.

Just past the bridges we paused for a quick regulation "cake break" to enable us to regain formation and take on valuable nutrients (jam and sprinkles) then we off for the second half.

At one point I feared a doping scandal would cloud the day as suspicious packets were observed being thrown from the Whitburn vessel to their fellow skiffies. Upon closer inspection these turned out to be "Fisherman's Friends"(keeping to theme!) which hopefully do not appear on the sport’s list of banned substances.

It became clear that we were getting close to the last mile or so as we noticed the size of the company we were in. Monster propellers stuck out from the water and huge ferries suddenly made our "massive" skiff feel very small. We did however balance this argument with the fact we were significantly more attractive (and modest)

From the outset it was our plan to finish together (Blyth, Whitburn and ourselves) and the final run home took some delicate oar work and tight control as three coxes worked together to ensure that that we crossed the line in perfect unison (down to the second) . As the old Viking fishing and skiffing song goes (roughly translated and with a great deal of artistic licence) " T'was bow to bow and with matching strokes, finished six merry maidens and nine canny blokes!"

Finishing horns blown, it was time for a blast around the corner into Tynemouth so full pull to arms and away into some really bouncy waters (thanks to the safety boats for their care and attention). This is what skiffs are designed for and it was great fun to get the bow in the air. After a brief burst of nausea, and some hilarity-linked timing issues we were back on form making good progress and surfed smoothly to shore to the joyful strains of a steel band playing "in the mood".

Back at beach there were lots of volunteers waiting to help us land and get the boat over the rocks safely (thanks again folks). At one point we were in such close company carrying the boat that my fur leg wrappings were caught underfoot by a following trawlerman, almost taking my baggy trousers with it and risking exposure of the horse-hair undercrackers beneath (it's all in the detail). Thankfully for all, the wrappings gave way and we proceeded uncompromised with modesty still intact.

Safely on dry land we were warmed to see familiar faces from home had made the journey to greet us. Many photos were taken and inevitable oar comparisons made (this time even more pronounced as light carbon fibre oars were compared with our "tree trunks"

Refreshments ranged from the traditional (rustic bread being broken to supplement the mead and soup rations) to the more modern (beer and burgers) and some wonderful fusion (a drinking horn full of "Fosters") Katie's blue cheese quiche being especially noteworthy (only wished I asked to use one of their magnificent swords to cut it)

The haven was by now full of people and boats and there was a real buzz was about the place. Presentations followed, with well-deserved recognition given to those who have organised the event and helped out (hat's off folks!) and all crews enthusiastically supported each other as winners were announced. It was then that the impact of our approach of camaraderie and unity became obvious as we made history by being presented not only the eagerly expected "enjoying the view" pennant for joint last place, but we also were awarded the joint fastest skiff in class as we all had indeed finished together. Magic!

Full results are available on the website, but special awards were given to "Just for the halibut!" for best dressed crew, Swan Lake for best dressed boat and St Andrews gaining the Harry Clasper award for breaking a rudder and using an oar to help steer ... to all winners and competitors well done!!

I made the final pilgrimage to Newburn to retrieve the car (thanks to the wonderful Ian and Elsie for the lift) whilst the boats were packed, fond farewells made and best wishes exchanged. Thanks too for the patience of those who waited in Tynemouth for that final pickup. It was indeed a sleepy trio of Vikings that stood on the curb when I arrived back, all traces of boats and rowers gone and even the ice cream man was looking at his watch.

Quickly replenished and revived by a homeward pitstop we reflected on another absolutely cracking adventure in grand company…..

OK fellow adventurers..... Where next ??????? (hum the theme tune of your choice!!)

With an average total flow of 630 million m3 per year, this With an average total flow of 630 million m3 per year, this source is the first in Europe, and one of the most important in the world, in terms of its volume of runoff. It is the result of the emergence of a huge underground network.

The Latin name of this valley is: "Vallis clausa", which means "the closed valley", at the bottom of which mysteriously rises the river La Sorgue which gave its name to the village (attested from the 10th century. In official texts) .

An enchanting site The Fontaine de Vaucluse continues to intrigue and attract visitors.

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Avec un écoulement total moyen de 630 millions de m3 par an, cette source est la première d’Europe, et une des plus importantes au niveau mondial, par son volume d’eau écoulé. Elle résulte de l’émergence d’un immense réseau souterrain.

Le nom latin de cette vallée est : « Vallis clausa », qui signifie "la Vallée close", au fond de laquelle surgit mystérieusement la rivière La Sorgue qui a donné son nom au village (attesté dès le Xe sècle. dans les textes officiels).

Un site enchanteur La Fontaine de Vaucluse ne cesse d’intriguer et d’attirer les visiteurs.

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Filmé avec Sony ILCE-7M3 - le 3 décembre 2019

Optique : Sony FE - 24-105 - F4

Montage, étalonnage et export en 4K avec Final CutProX

 

Route: Delhi > Shimla (2 Nights) > Manali (3 Nights) > Dharamshala (1 Night) > Dalhousie (1 Night) > Amritsar (2 Nights) >

Chandigarh (1 Night) > Delhi (1 Nights)

 

Brief Description

 

Day 01: Day 01: Delhi – Shimla (350 kms/7 hrs)

Morning drive to Shimla, Shimla is capital of Himachal Pradesh. It was the summer capital of India under British rule. Shimla is located in the north-west Himalayas at an average altitude of 2,205 meters. Shimla has been blessed with all the natural bounties which one can think of. It has got a scenic location, it is surrounded by green hills with snow capped peaks. The spectacular cool hills accompanied by the structures made during the colonial era create an aura which is very different from other hill. Reach Shimla and stay night in the Hotel.

 

Day 02: Shimla

After breakfast, proceed for the city tour of Shimla. Tour includes excursion to Kufri, Shimla mosque, summer hill, Annandale, Christ church, shimla state museum etc. Enjoy shopping in famous shopping plaza of The Mall. Stay night in Shimla.

 

Day 03: Shimla – Manali (250 kms/6 hrs)

Mronig drive to Manali on the way visit Pandho Dem, Hanogi Mata Temple. Manali is an important hill station in the mountains of Himachal Pradesh, India, near the northern end of the Kullu Valley. It is located about 250 kilometres (155 mi) north of state capital, Shimla. Night stay in Manali.

 

Day 04: Manali – Rohtang Pass – Manali (100 kms/4 hrs)

After breakfast, excursion to Rohtang pass on highway to Keylong/Leh. It is a gateway to Lahaul Spiti, Pangi and Leh valley just as Zojila pass is a gatway to Ladakh. There are beautiful sight of glaciers, peaks and Chandra river flows down in the Lahaul valley. Slightly to the left are the twin peaks of the Geypan. Back to Manali and free for leisure activities.

 

Day 05: Manali

Proceed for the city tour of Manali. Tour includes visit to Hadimba temple, Manu temple, Vashisht Bath, Van Vihar, Tibbetan Monestry, Club House and evening shopping at the local market Mall Road. Over Night stay in hotel.

 

Day 06: Manali – Dharamshala (230 kms/6 hrs apprx)

Drive to Dharamshala in the morning, Dharamshala is located in the Kangra Valley, in the shadow of the Dhauladhar mountains. Reach Dharamshala and enjoy evening by walk. Over night stay in Dharamshala.

 

Day 07: Dharamshala – Dalhousie (100 kms/2 hrs approx)

After breakfast, visit Dalali Lamba Temple, Bhagsu nath temple. Take lunch in Dharamshala and proceed for Dalhousie. Dalhousie is located in the outer slopes of hill Dhauladhar range is another important hill resort in the district Chamba . A number of picturesque walks run through the oak, pine and deodar forests around the town and offer excellent views of the Chenab, the Ravi and the Beas valleys. It is thicky wooded with stately pines and oaks and has lovely picnic spot all around. Dalhousie is the gateway to Chamba. Evening free for walk around the mall road. Over night stay in Dalhousie.

 

Day 08: Dalhousie – Amritsar (200 kms/5 hrs)

Proceed for half tour of Dalhousie and drive to Amritsar. Amritsar is the spiritual and cultural centre of the Sikh Religion. Reach Amritsar and over night in Amritsar.

 

Day 09: Amritsar

Visit Golden Temple in the morning. Amritsar is an institution by itself. And the Golden Temple is the cradle of Amritsar with the city growing around it nurtured by its divine sanctity. Amritsar is one of the most sacred Sikh religious sites in India. Visit Jalian wallah bagh and Wagah Border (India Pakistan border) to watch retreat ceremony-30 KM on the road to Lahore is India-Pakistan Border. A visit to the border is an interesting experience especially at Sunset, when the retreat ceremony takes place with the Border Security Force on the Indian Side and the Sutlej Rangers on the Pakistan side putting up a well coordinated and spectacular display. The sound from the Bugles blown together from both sides paints past on the canvas when India and Pakistan were one, simultaneously Flags of the two nations are ceremoniously retrieved and lights are switched on marking the end of the day. Amidst thunderous applause today this point is the only land route open to approach Pakistan and central Asia. Over night stay in hotel.

 

Day 10: Amritsar – Chandigarh (220 kms/5 hrs)

After breakfast, drive to Chandigarh. Chandigarh is a union territory and capital of Haryana and Punjab. Chandigarh is a first planned city and known for its architecture and urban planning. Evening free to explore the beauty of Chandigarh.

 

Day 11: Chandigarh – Delhi (250 kms/5 hrs)

After breakfast, check out from the hotel and visit Rose garden, rock garden and proceed to Delhi. Reach Delhi check into the hotel.

 

Day 12: Delhi – Departure

Tour of Delhi. In Old Delhi visit the Raj Ghat , Jama Masjid and drive past Red Fort and Chandni Chowk. In New Delhi visit the Qutub Minar, Humayun's Tomb, India Gate, Lakshminarayan Temple. Also drive past President's House, Parliament House, Government Secretariat Buildings & Connaught Place shopping centre. As per the flight timings, transfer to the Delhi airport to board the flight for onward journey.

Not your average tourist destination! Global traveler posing with pink-dressed Pakistani tour guide "Faisal" and the Khyber Rifles security guard's loaded AK-47 automatic assault rifle at the historic Khyber Pass on the Pakistan-Afghanistan Border. Travelling with 2 crazy white American guys and 2 thrill-seeker Australian companions in a darkened windows air-conditioned Toyota mini-van, the tour guide charged us each US $150, paid in cash, and he "could not guarantee our safety" warning us there might be Taliban operating in the area, LOL, for the 6 hour there-and-back day trip from Peshawar. We had to stop for over an hour at the Pakistan Northern Areas District Commissioner's Office to pay a fee/bribe and get a permit to go up there as foreigners are normally prohibited in these "Federally Administered Tribal Areas" upon which the Pakistan Government only has control within 160 meters of the road. The rest is controlled by smugglers and warlords living in fortified houses which can be seen from the highway. Six months after this photo was taken, the Taliban blew up a bridge that we crossed to disrupt NATO supply lines including critical fuel trucks. Over the centuries many conquering armies have crossed this strategic pass including Greek Alexander the Great, Mongol Genghis Khan, Persian Mughals on their way to India, and lately the Anglo-Euro-American NATO supply lines. The actual borderline is at the hills in the background. The British-built Grand Trunk Road in the background descends to an inland port at the bottom of the valley (behind the guard's head) and continues on to Kabul. For a souvenir, I traded a US $5 bill with an opportunistic hawker for 11,500 Afghans money and put the bank notes in a picture frame along with a print of this photo. Been there. Done that. Travelling with Toronto, Canada-based G-Adventures (they weren't kidding!!!) on their now discontinued two-week China-Pakistan "Karakoram Highway" tour, August 2007 - it was just another "optional activity" when we passed through Peshawar on our way to the tour end in Lahore, but was not mentioned in the brochure! LOLOL

Baddesley Clinton is not one the grandest of houses, nor is it filled with rare works of art, but having been owned by one family, the Ferrers, since the 16th century and maintained largely intact and original, it is a rare example of the average early-modern home of the lesser gentry. Unlike such mansions as nearby Coughton Court, Baddesley Clinton is relatively small, even cozy, and one can easily imagine the life of the people who lived here. It is best known for being the home of the Jesuit Henry Garnet for almost 14 years, and the existence of several priest hides conceived and built by Nicholas Owen.

 

The Clintons settled here in the thirteenth century, when it was called just Baddesley, and added their name to the place. They were responsible for the digging of the moat that you see above. It was eventually sold in 1438 to John Brome, a wealthy lawyer, and the Bromes built most of the east and west sides of the house.

 

John Brome was the Under Treasurer of England but a Lancastrian, and when Henry VI was deposed in 1461 by the Yorkist claimant Edward IV, Brome lost all of his court appointments. He later quarreled with John Herthill, Steward to Richard "the Kingmaker", Earl of Warwick, and Herthill murdered him in 1468 on the porch of the Whitefriars Church in London. Brome's second son, Nicholas, who inherited the estate, eventually avenged his father's murder by killing Herthill in 1471.

 

Nicholas Brome seems to have had a taste for violence. According to Henry Ferrers, a later owner of the house, it was soon after inheriting Baddesley Clinton that Nicholas 'slew the minister of Baddesley Church findinge him in his plor (parlour) chockinge his wife under ye chinne, and to expiatt these bloody offenses and crimes he built the steeple and raysed the church body ten foote higher". He was pardoned for this killing by both the King and the Pope. Nicholas seems also to have developed a taste for building, and is thought to have been responsible for the building of much of the earliest part of the house. Baddesley Clinton passed into the hands of the Ferrers family in 1517, through the marriage of Nicholas Brome's daughter, Constance, to Sir Edward Ferrers.

 

The most interesting of the Ferrers is Henry Ferrers (1549-1633), the great-grandson of Sir Edward Ferrers, and contemporary with the times of the Gunpowder Plot. He inherited the property in 1564, and lived through the reigns of Edward VI, Mary I, Elizabeth I and James I, dying in the reign of Charles I. He carried out extensive building, including the wing that contains the Great Hall, as well as adding the Great Parlour above the existing entranceway. He also installed much oak paneling and mantels that are still there as well.

 

Henry Ferrers was an antiquarian, and spent a lifetime collecting historical information, much of which was later used by Sir William Dugdale in the 'Antiquities of Warwickshire'. This interest of his can be seen by the enormous amount of heraldic glass and devices throughout the house. He was trained in the law, and admitted to the Middle Temple in 1572. He may also have served a term as an MP for Cirencester in 1593.

 

After the death of Henry Ferrers, the fortunes of the Ferrers family fluctuated through periods of heavy taxation such as during the Civil War and in the early eighteenth century, followed by attempts by some generations to maintain and improve the property in better times. The last Ferrers in the direct male line, Marmion Edward Ferrers (1813-1884), was so poor that Lady Chatterton, the aunt of his wife Rebecca, and her husband, Edward Heneage Deering, had to come and live with him to share the expense. These two were only married because of a misunderstanding. It is said that Deering came to Lady Chatterly to ask permission to pay address to her niece, but she thought it was a proposal to her, and accepted. Deering, although she was old enough to be his mother, was too chivalrous to set the story straight!

 

The estate passed down through Marmion Edward Ferrer's nephew through several relatives, and it was Mr. Thomas Ferrers-Walker who eventually sold the house to the Government, after which it became part of the National Trust. The Ferrers Archive is kept at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust in Stratford-upon-Avon.

 

Henry Ferrers was also a devout Catholic, but a cautious one and was never convicted for recusancy. He must have been aware of the activities of the Vaux sisters, who rented the house from him in the 1590's in order to secretly shelter Father Henry Garnet and other priests, and to be able to conduct catholic services. Soon after they rented the house, Anne Vaux had Nicholas Owen build secret hiding places, including one created out of the sewer and the moat.

 

A spectacular raid on Baddesley in October 1591 was recorded both by Father John Gerard in his Autobiography of an Elizabethan, and also by Father Henry Garnet in a letter to his Jesuit superior, Aquaviva. Several priests, including Garnet and Gerard, as well as lay assistants had risen early and were preparing to leave the house, when it was surrounded and all the approach roads blocked by pursuviants. The stable-boys, knowing that so many horses saddled and ready to go would be suspicious, armed themselves with farm implements and blocked the pursuviants attempt at violent entry. This bought some time for those inside the house, as the pursuviants had to resort to requests, and led them to believe that the lady of the house had not yet arisen. Those outside had to wait patiently, albeit not quietly, while those inside were quickly hiding away the priests, Catholic vestments, and all other signs of the presence of a Catholic priest, including the overturning of their mattresses so that the pursuviants could not feel the warmth.

 

The priests stood in the hiding place in the moat, ankle-deep in cold water for over four hours while the pursuviants tore through the house, although their attempts at intimidation seemed to have far outweighed their skills in searching. Anne Vaux said "here was a searcher pounding the walls in unbelievable fury, there another shifting side-tables, turning over beds. Yet, when any of them touched with their hand or foot the actual place where some sacred object was hidden, he paid not the slightest attention to the most obvious evidence of a contrivance."

 

The searchers turned up nothing, and eventually left after being paid off by Anne Vaux with twelve gold pieces. As Gerard later said, "Yes, that is the pitiful lot of Catholics when men come with a warrant ... it is the Catholics, not the men who send them, who have to pay. As if it were not enough to suffer, they have to pay for their suffering."

 

You can still inspect these hiding places today, and we must say they are not for those who are claustrophobic or faint of heart. Until you actually see them, it is hard to imagine the cramped, damp, dark and tomb-like conditions these priests endured.

 

The first of these is a lath and plaster hutch in the roof above a closet off the bedroom in the gatehouse block. It measures six feet three inches by four feet, and is three feet nine inches high. It contains two wooden benches and is lined with fine hair-plaster.

 

In the corner of the kitchen, where a garderobe once existed, you can see through to the medieval drain where the hiding place used by Father Gerard and Father Garnet was located. At the time, this could only be accessed through the garderobe shaft in the floor of the Sacristy above. A hiding space beneath the floor of the Library was accessed through the fireplace in the Great Parlour, and can now be viewed from the Moat Room. It was in the Library Room that Nicholas Brome was said to have murdered the priest, and it is reputed to be haunted.

 

For an excellent account of the priest holes and the work of Nicholas Owen at Baddesley Clinton, the article Elizabethan Priest Holes : III - East Anglia, Baddesley Clinton, Hindlip by Michael Hodgetts, and published in Recusant History, is a must read.

 

The house itself consists almost entirely of building done by either the Bromes in the fifteenth century or by Henry Ferrers in the sixteenth, and although much repair and alteration work has been carried out inside the house, the panelling, fireplaces and heraldic glass throughout the house all date from the work of Henry Ferrers.

Originally quadrangular in shape, the property today consists of only three blocks, the east including the gatehouse and the Great Parlour, the south containing the Hall, and the west containing the kitchen. The gatehouse and kitchen wing are of grey sandstone, whereas the Hall, which was reconstructed in the 18th century, is of brick.

 

The crenellated gatehouse is one of the house's most interesting features. The lower part with the gun ports was built by Nicholas Brome in the late fifteenth century, and is thought originally to have had a drawbridge. The upper part was re-formed by Henry Ferrers to accommodate the Great Parlour. The brick bridge was built in the early eighteenth century, and the crenelations added in the nineteenth century. The massive carved oak door in the gatehouse leading through to the courtyard dates from Nicholas Brome.

 

The present owners are still undertaking restoration work to enable all the documented priest hides and trapdoors to be made available for viewing, this work includes part of the moat tunnel complex that is presently plugged in order to prevent midges from penetrating into the Sacristy and bedrooms

 

Baddesley Clinton, although still a private dwelling was sold to the Government and passed to the National Trust in 1980 and opened to the public in 1982.

 

The above was copied from "The gunpowder plot" website.

 

Great to place to visit. If only there had been some sun!

 

HMS Anson was a ship of the Royal Navy, launched at Plymouth on 4 September 1781.[1] Originally a 64-gun third rate ship of the line, she fought at the Battle of the Saintes.

 

The ship proved too weak to stand in the line of battle, so in 1784 she was razéed to produce a frigate of 44 guns (fifth rate). Stronger than the average frigate of the time, the razee frigate Anson subsequently had a successful career during the French Revolutionary Wars and Napoleonic Wars, mostly operating against privateers, but also in small actions against enemy frigates.

 

Anson was lost in a shipwreck on 29 December 1807. Trapped by a lee shore off Loe Bar, Cornwall, she hit the rocks and between 60 and 190 men were killed. The subsequent treatment of the recovered bodies of drowned seamen caused controversy, and led to the Burial of Drowned Persons Act 1808.

Design and construction[edit]

The ship was ordered on 24 April 1773 as an Intrepid-class ship of the line of 64 guns. The lead ship of the class, HMS Intrepid, had entered service in 1771 and proved satisfactory in sea trials, so the Royal Navy increased their order from four to fifteen ships. Anson was part of the expanded order, named after George Anson, 1st Baron Anson[citation needed], the victorious admiral of the First Battle of Cape Finisterre (1747).

 

Anson was launched on 4 September 1781[1] by Georgina, Duchess of Devonshire.[citation needed] She was completed and entered service on 15 October 1781.

 

The Intrepid-class design had been originally approved in 1765, so by the time Anson was launched it was over 15 years old. During that period, the design of ships-of-the-line had evolved, with the standard size and layout now being the seventy-four. Anson was therefore rather small and less solidly built than most of her contemporaries.

 

American Revolutionary War[edit]

Main article: Battle of the Saintes

Anson fought at the battle of Les Saintes on 9 April 1782 under the flag of Admiral Sir George Rodney against Admiral de Grasse. She was in the rear division, which was under the command of Rear-Admiral Francis Samuel Drake. In this engagement, Captain William Blair was one of the two Royal Navy post captains killed. In all Anson lost three men killed (including Blair), and 13 men wounded.[2]

 

Conversion to a frigate[edit]

Experience with 64-gun ships throughout the navy, at the Battle of the Saintes and elsewhere, had shown that they were now too poorly armed and weakly built to stand in the line of battle against larger ships-of-the-line. Rather than dispose of the ships entirely, the Royal Navy subjected some ships to a razée – removing the uppermost deck (and its armament) to produce a large frigate. The subsequent razee frigate was more heavily armed and built than a typical purpose-built frigate, though was not as fast and easy to handle in strong winds.

 

Anson was chosen for this process and in 1794 the ship was razéed. The original forecastle and quarterdeck were removed, and the former upper deck (now weather or spar-deck) was partially removed and restructured to provide a new forecastle and quarterdeck. The result was a frigate of 44 guns, with a primary gun deck armament of twenty-six 24-pounder cannon (most frigates of the time were too lightly built to handle such heavy guns, so were armed with 18-pounders). The new quarterdeck and forecastle also allowed the armaments stationed there to be substantially strengthened from the original design, including adding carronades. Anson was thus heavily armed for a frigate, and retained the stronger construction (and ability to absorb damage) of a ship-of-the-line.

 

French Revolutionary Wars[edit]

Leviathan, Anson, Pompee, Melpomene, and Childers shared in the proceeds of the capture on 10 September of the Tordenshiold.[3]

 

At the Action of 16 July 1797, Anson and Sylph drove the French corvette Calliope on shore, where Sylph proceeded to fire on her. When Pomone checked a week later, Calliope was wrecked; her crew were camped on shore trying to salvage what stores they could. Pomone confirmed that the flute Freedom and a brig that had also been driven ashore too were wrecked.[4]

 

On 29 December 1797 Anson recaptured Daphne, which the French had captured three years earlier in December 1794 and taken into service under her existing name. Daphné was under the command of lieutenant de vaisseau Latreyte and transiting between Lorient and Bordeaux on her way to Guadeloupe when Anson captured her at the mouth of the Gironde.[5] Anson fired several shots before Daphne struck. She was armed with 30 guns and had 276 men aboard, including 30 passengers. Two of the passengers were Civil Commissioners Jaiquelin and La Carze, who succeeded in throwing their dispatches for Guadeloupe overboard. Daphne had five men killed and several wounded.[6]

 

On 7 September 1798, after a 24-hour long chase, Anson and Phaeton captured Flore.[7] Captain Stopford, of Phaeton, in his letter described Flore as a frigate of 36 guns and 255 men. She was eight days out of Boulogne on a cruise.[8] She had also served the Royal Navy in the American Revolutionary War.

 

Anson was unable to take part in the Battle of Tory Island on 12 October 1798, because she had sustained damage during poor weather and was unable to keep up with the rest of the British squadron. In the aftermath of the original engagement, on 18 October she joined the brig HMS Kangaroo and fought a separate action, capturing the damaged French frigate Loire. Anson was then under the command of Captain Philip Charles Durham, who struggled to manoeuvre his ship after having lost her mizzen mast, main lower and topsail yards during the earlier pursuit.

 

Anson sailed from Plymouth on 26 January 1799, and on 2 February, in company with Ethalion, captured the French privateer cutter Boulonaise. Boulonaise, of Dunkirk, was armed with 14 guns and had been preying on shipping in the North Sea.

 

On 9 September 1799 Captain Durham hosted a fête for King George III. During the course of the evening, the king was found on the low deck surrounded by the ship’s company talking to an old sailor.

 

On 10 April 1800, when north-west of the Canary Islands, Anson detained Catherine & Anna bound for Hamburg, Holy Roman Empire, from Batavia with a cargo of coffee.

 

On 27 April Anson captured the letter of marque brig Vainquer. Vainquer was pierced for 16 guns but only mounted four. When captured she had been on her way from Bordeaux to San Domingo with a cargo of merchandise.[9]

 

Two days later, at daybreak, Anson encountered four French privateers: Brave (36 guns), Guepe (18), Hardi (18), and Duide (16). As soon as the French vessels realized that Anson was a British frigate they scattered. As Anson passed Brave going in the opposite direction Anson fired a broadside into her; Durham believed that the broadside did considerable damage, but he was unable to follow up as the Brave had the wind in her favour and so outsailed Anson. Durham then set off after one of the other French vessels, which he was able to capture. She was Hardi, of 18 guns and 194 men. Durham described her as "a very fine new Ship just of the Stocks." The Royal Navy took Hardi into service, first as HMS Hardi, before shortly thereafter renaming her HMS Rosario. Lastly, Durham reported sending into port for adjudication a very valuable ship that had been sailing from Batavia to Hamburg with the Governor of Batavia as passenger.[9] (This may have been Catherine & Anna.)

 

In 1801 Captain W. E. Cacraft assumed command and Anson joined the Channel station, cruising from Portsmouth. In 1802 she was in the Mediterranean, and in November she sailed from Malta for Egypt. She went in for repairs in 1805 at Portsmouth.

 

Napoleonic Wars[edit]

On the morning of 23 August 1806 Captain Charles Lydiard in Anson, together with Arethusa, made a successful attack near Moro Castle in Cuba. There they succeeded in capturing the Spanish frigate Pomone.

 

On 15 September 1806, she encountered the French ship of the line Foudroyant, 84, under jury rig some 15 miles off Havana. Assuming that Foudroyant had been damaged in action Captain Charles Lydiard attacked but then after half an hour found that the French ship had only suffered from bad weather and retained all her firepower. He was forced to haul off after two men had been killed and 13 wounded, his sails and rigging had been badly damaged, and the ships were drifting fast in shore.

  

The capture of Curaçao, depicted by Thomas Whitcombe

On 1 January 1807 Anson, Latona, Arethusa, Fisgard, and Morne Fortunee captured Curaçao.[10] The Dutch resisted and on Anson seven men were wounded; in all, the British lost three killed and 14 wounded. On the ships alone, the Dutch lost six men killed, including Commandant Cornelius J. Evertz, who commanded the Dutch naval force in Curaçao, and seven wounded, of whom one died later. With the colony, the British captured the frigate Kenau Hasselar, the sloop Suriname (a former Royal Naval sloop), and two naval schooners. In 1847 the Admiralty authorised the issue of the Naval General Service Medal with clasp "Curacoa 1 Jany. 1807" to any surviving claimants from the action; 65 medals were issued.[11]

 

Shipwreck[edit]

 

'Loss of the Anson Frigate, off Cornwall', in an 1808 depiction by William Elmes

 

HMS Anson monument at Loe Bar

Anson was wrecked off Loe Bar, Cornwall, on 29 December 1807. The previous day she had been driven onto a lee shore by a gale while attempting to return to Falmouth. She had anchored, but the first anchor cable snapped at 4 am. Anson's smaller anchor cable broke at 7 am and now with no anchor the Captain attempted to beach her but she hit the rocks broadside. The mainmast broke and fell onto the beach and some men managed to get ashore.[12] Estimates of the number of lives lost vary from sixty[13] to 190.[12] Captain Lydiard was among the casualties, his body being recovered on 1 January 1808 and taken to Falmouth for burial with full military honours.[14] Most of the other victims were buried in pits dug on unconsecrated ground on the cliffs with no burial rites. The death toll is uncertain as some of the survivors had been press ganged and took the opportunity to desert.[12]

 

Post script[edit]

The loss of the Anson caused controversy at the time, because of the treatment of the dead sailors washed ashore. In those days it was customary to bury unceremoniously drowned seamen without shroud or coffin in unconsecrated ground, with bodies remaining unburied for long periods of time. This controversy led to a local solicitor, Thomas Grylls, drafting a new law to provide drowned seamen more decent treatment. This law was introduced to parliament by John Hearle Tremayne, Member of Parliament for Cornwall, and was enacted as the Burial of Drowned Persons Act 1808. A monument to the drowned sailors, and to passing of the Grylls Act, stands near the entrance to the harbour of Porthleven.[15][16]

 

Henry Trengrouse, a Cornish resident of the area, witnessed the wreck of the Anson. Distressed by the loss of life caused by the difficulties in attaching lines to the wreck, he developed a rocket apparatus to shoot lines across the surf to shipwrecks, to take off survivors in cradles. This was an early form of the breeches buoy.[17] An example of his life-saving apparatus is on display at Helston Folk Museum, as is a cannon salvaged from Anson. A carved figure from the stern of HMS Anson was sold at auction for £19,975 and is currently displayed on the Holland America cruise liner MS Noordam outside the Level 10 Observation Lounge.

Diatrypella favacea (Fr.) Ces. & De Not., syn.: Sphaeria favacea Fr., Diatrype favacea Fr., Microstoma favaceum (Fr.) Auersw., Diatrypella verruciformis (Ehrh.) Nke.

Birch Blackhead, DE: Birken-Eckenscheibchen, Warziges Eckenscheibchen

Slo.: brezova predirnica

 

Dat.: March 6. 2017

Lat.: 46.35975 Long.: 13.70052

Code: Bot_1035/2017_DSC6829

 

Habitat: Light wood and bushes on the edge of a small alpine pasture, moderately inclined mountain slope, southeast aspect; shallow, skeletal, colluvial, calcareous ground; mostly sunny, exposed to direct rain, average precipitations ~ 3.000 mm/year, average temperature 7-9 deg C, elevation 615 m (2.020 feet), alpine phytogeographical region.

 

Substratum: Dead, still standing, almost horizontally positioned branch of Corylus avellana.

 

Place: Lower Trenta valley, between villages Soča and Trenta, right bank of river Soča, near abandoned farmhouse Strgulc, Soča 47, East Julian Alps, Posočje, Slovenia EC

 

Comments: Taxonomy of genus Diatrypella is not yet settled on species level, even not on genus level. Consequently the descriptions in literature of the habit and host(s) of the species under the name Diatrypella favacea vary widely. There are mainly two approaches; 'lumpers' consider Diatrypella favacea in broader sense and consider different spore sizes of finds on different hosts as insignificant, while 'splitters' find these differences significant (among other traits) and recognize several host specific species. According to them this find would clearly be Diatrypella verruciformis (Ehrh.) Nke., which grows on Corylus sp. only. They consider Diatrypella favacea a species bound exclusively on Betula sp.. I follow Index Fungorum where these taxa (and others) are considered synonyms.

 

Stromata 2-5.5 mm in diameter, ostioles of mature stromata small, barely visible, when old and weathered much larger; stromata mostly on the upper side of the branch; branch decayed, about 5 cm in diameter; attempt to extract pigments using 5% KOH was negative.

 

Spores smooth, curved. Dimensions: 6,2 [7,2 ; 7,6] 8,6 x 1,4 [1,7 ; 1,8] 2,1 microns; Q = 3,2 [4 ; 4,3] 5,1 ; N = 40 ; C = 95%; Me = 7,4 x 1,8 microns; Qe = 4,2. Asci many spored. Olympus, NEA 100x/1.25, magnification 1.000 x, oil; fresh material, in water. AmScope MA500 digital camera.

 

Herbarium: Mycotheca and lichen herbarium (LJU-Li) of Slovenian Forestry Institute, Večna pot 2, Ljubljana, Index Herbariorum LJF

 

Ref.:

(1) Personal communication with Mr. Osieck Eduard, AscoFrance. Many thanks for the links to relevant literature.

(2) J. Breitenbach, F. Kraenzlin, Eds., Fungi of Switzerland, Vol.1. Verlag Mykologia (1984), p 282. SP 6-8/1.5

(3) G. Medardi, Atlante fotografico degli Ascomiceti d'Italia, A.M.B. Centro Studi Micologici (2012) (in Italian with English keys), p 327. SP 6-7/0.5-2

(4) Vasilyeva, L.N. & S.L. Stephenson, Pyrenomycetes of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. II. Cryptovalsa Ces. et De Not. and Diatrypella (Ces. et De Not.) Nitschke (Diatrypaceae), Fungal Diversity (2005), 19: 189-200.

www.fungaldiversity.org/fdp/sfdp/19-12.pdf key ? , large ostioles; only, on Betula, SP 6-8 long, Breitenbach: stromata with 'barely visible ostioles

(5) www.pilzbestimmer.de/Detailed/17417.html SP 5-7/ 1 ogromne ostiole

(6) Glawe, D.A. & J.D. Rogers, Diatrypaceae in the Pacific Northwest, Mycotaxon (1984), 20: 401-460; available at Cyberliber www.cybertruffle.org.uk/cyberliber/59575/0020/002/0430.htm

(7) Croxall 1950 (Studies on British Pyrenomycetes. III. The British species of the genus Diatrypella Cesati & De Notaris, Trans. Brit. Mycol. Soc. (1950), 33(1/2): 45-72.

(8) www.verspreidingsatlas.nl/0593010 (see tab "artikelen').

  

The influenza pandemic of 1918-19 was caused by what is considered one of the deadliest viruses in history, comparable to the "Black Plague" that swept through western Europe in the Middle Ages and killed millions. Influenza—or the flu, grippe, Spanish Lady, Flanders Fever, or Three-day Fever, as the disease was called variously—was even more devastating. It was a worldwide holocaust: more than 20 million people died (a conservative estimate, as records are incomplete and statistics unreliable). It affected every continent, nation, stratum of society, and ethnic and age group.

 

There is no discernible reason for its strange history; there was no geographical pattern or obvious path of transmission. It rampaged through the British Grand Fleet in the spring of 1918, but did not seriously menace the U.S. battleships attached to the fleet for months. German soldiers on the Western Front were afflicted seriously, but British tommies were not. American doughboys crossing the Atlantic to France on transports had a much higher mortality rate than the crews of the ships that carried them. Ships returning to the United States from the war zone had far fewer cases than those going over did.

 

There are various theories about the flu's origins: some say it started in Spain, others say in Asia, and still others say in the United States. Recent pathological research has concluded the flu may have originated with swine and percolated for an undetermined number of years, perhaps even trading back and forth between pigs and people before growing strong enough to become virulent.1 Some writers have determined there were two or three waves, but from 1916 to 1919 the epidemic ebbed and flowed for more than three years, finally becoming a pandemic. It gradually got worse in scope and severity, climaxing in the fall of 1918 before slowly subsiding in the winter.

 

The pandemic in the United States was a medical disaster of massive proportions. One authority suggests as much as one quarter of the population, 25 million, had the flu in 1918-19.2 As many as 700,000 may have died; this was more than the total U.S. combat losses in both world wars, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War combined.3

 

The flu struck the military services earlier and more severely than the civilian population. The Army may have had more than a quarter of its number down with the contagion at one time or another. Military camps in the United States became huge virtual hospitals, with entire barracks taken over as wards. Bases were so crippled that the Army's Chief of Staff urgently cabled General John Pershing in November 1918, "Influenza not only stopped all drafts calls in October but practically stopped all training."4 The American Expeditionary Force in Europe was not hit quite so hard. The hospital admission rate in the war zone was approximately 64% that of the rate of soldiers in the states; 167 out of every thousand fell ill with the disease. Altogether, 12,423 U.S. soldiers in Europe died.5

 

A much larger number died on the troop transports. "The worst place to have an epidemic, like a fire," writes one authority, "is in close quarters far from help, such as a ship on the high seas."6 Troops literally were packed in the compartments of the transports, making it likely that if one person caught the disease, all in his immediate proximity soon would come down with it. In the last six months of the war, while the pandemic was spreading rapidly throughout the world, 1.5 million doughboys crossed the Atlantic to British and French ports. Transports often were crowded with the sick and the dead. One convoy commander radioed London that more than "1,300 cases of virulent pneumonia and influenza in convoy, 49 deaths." Admiral William S. Sims, Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. naval forces in Europe, threatened a quarantine, but it proved to be "politically impossible."7

 

Though few in the crews of troop transports fell ill, this was not true of the Navy as a whole. The cruiser Minneapolis (C-13), while moored at the Philadelphia Navy Yard in January 1918, saw the first noticeable outbreak of flu. In a two-week period, 21 members of her crew came down with the disease. Within a month, the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery was receiving reports of numerous cases in ships and bases scattered along the Atlantic seaboard.8

 

The epidemic soon spread to the naval forces deployed in the war zone. In March, a comparatively mild epidemic of influenza and pneumonia showed up among the naval personnel stationed at Brest and the U.S. naval air stations in Gujan and Fromentine. The disease spread quickly to the crews of escorts operating out of Brest. One of the surgeons at the U.S. naval hospital there wrote in early July that 30 members of a destroyer's crew became incapacitated with the illness. "We were thinking of taking them ashore," he wrote, "so as to fumigate the ship when came the call of a torpedoed ship. Every man slid into place, fever, headache, bone ache and all, and away she beat it to sea [to] pick up the survivors."9

 

Influenza also spread among the U.S. sailors based in Great Britain. Even the London Headquarters staff of the U.S. naval force in European waters was affected. On 30 June, Commander T. A. Thomson, Admiral Sims's chief medical officer, reported that, "My entire office is out of commission with influenza, including myself." Nonetheless, he predicted optimistically to Surgeon General William Braisted at the end of July that there were only about 1,500 cases in the entire naval force, and that the epidemic was about over.10 Commander Thomson tragically was mistaken; a far deadlier strain had been sweeping through Asia, and even as he wrote to the Surgeon General, British civilians were dying by the hundreds.11

 

Washington officials were not especially alarmed over the flu in August. Medical officers still reported evidence of the disease at home and abroad, but the number of cases appeared to be decreasing. This changed toward the end of the month. Cables arrived from Brest with the news of a massive and deadly outbreak among French military personnel. Meanwhile, the Navy Department was notified of an eruption of the malady in Boston, which initially targeted the bluejackets crowded on a receiving ship moored at the city's Commonwealth Pier. On the last day of August, as the city focused on Babe Ruth pitching the Red Sox to the American League pennant, 106 sailors on the receiving ship came down with the flu. By the first week of September more than 2,000 officers and sailors in the Boston area were stricken. There were so many patients at Chelsea Naval Hospital that tents had to be erected on the lawn to handle the overflow. Before it was over, 26 sailors in the Boston area died from the disease.12

 

The new epidemic reached the Atlantic Fleet and other shore installations in September. By the end of the month the Great Lakes Training Station near Chicago had nearly 10,000 down with the illness—so many that one sailor estimated half the barracks had been converted into temporary hospital wards. By the beginning of October, some 31,000 sailors, most of them on shore facilities in the states, had been stricken, and more than 1,100 had died.13

 

In the war zone, the new and more deadly strain appeared first among the U.S. naval forces in French waters. Inevitably, Brest was battered by the disease. Flu already had ravaged French sailors and civilians in the district. To compound the situation, troopships from Norfolk, Boston, and other U.S. ports debarked thousands of doughboys weekly, many of whom brought the pestilence with them. A sailor on the President Grant (SP-3014) claimed years later that so many died on the transport that members of the crew, when not on watch, were required to prepare the deceased for burial. "I stood my watch in the radio room," he wrote, "and when off watch I turned to and helped sew up some of the dead soldiers till my fingers bled. We used a palm and needle rig to cross-stitch thru the canvas."14 Marine Brigadier General Smedley Butler wrote his family after arriving at Brest: "We had a hell of a trip over, an epidemic of Spanish influenza breaking out among us…We had at one time fully 500 cases of influenza…I suppose it is one of the awful results of this devilish war…terribly hard to bear, this loss of your men when you can't help them."15

 

During the three-month period from 15 September to 15 December, the patient load at the U.S. naval hospital in Brest averaged 800. In the end, more than 2,000 U.S. servicemen died in Brest from influenza.16

 

The autumn Spanish Flu epidemic was widespread in Great Britain. In September, 14,000 died. The weekly death tolls mounted steadily, reaching their peak in the last week of October, when the total was 4,000. More than 18,000 died in London alone from September to December. Even the Prime Minister, David Lloyd George, came down with the flu in September.17

 

Other than London, the cities hardest hit were the port cities, particularly Liverpool and Southampton. Luckily for the U.S. Navy, few of its personnel were in those cities. The ports that did have large numbers of sailors, however, were not so lucky. The southern Irish town of Queenstown, which had become the largest U.S. naval installation in the British Isles, saw a large number of cases. Throughout October, the number of new cases averaged 25 to 35 daily. When the new naval hospital at Whitepoint opened in late October, 150 patients were admitted immediately, all with the flu.18

 

The sailors stationed on the battleships and other naval vessels concentrated near Berehaven in Bantry Bay in southwestern Ireland suffered the most from the epidemic. By the middle of October, a third of the Utah's (BB-31) and Oklahoma's (BB-37) crews were down with the disease. One of the Utah's officers recalled in his oral history that one Sunday in October he went hiking with several officers from the Oklahoma, including the ship's gunnery officer, and a few days later the gunnery officer was dead from the flu.19 The Nevada (BB-36) experienced few cases until the second week in October, when the number began to escalate. As the ship's history recorded, "The end of the month found us riddled of the disease." A member of the ship's company wrote in his diary on 21 October, "a large percentage of the ship's crew is sick with Spanish Influenza." A few days later he remarked, "The general spirit is gloomy, everyone sees many of his shipmates groping around looking like hooded ghosts…One can tell by the expression on each face that they are battling to their utmost to keep going, for this is the surest way to down the dicease [sic]." He also mentioned in his diary that the sick bay line was sometimes 50 or 60 feet long." Altogether, 11 of the Nevada's sailors died.20

 

Personnel on the U.S. dreadnoughts attached to the British Grand Fleet, which suffered heavily from the flu, also were affected seriously. There were more than 600 cases on HMS Revenge. The battlecruiser HMS Princess Royal was so devastated that tugs were moored alongside to provide essential services. Some ships had to borrow personnel from sister ships to go on patrol.21 In the U.S. squadron, according to one former officer, the Arkansas (BB-33) had "in excess of 1,200 cases" of the flu; this was in a total complement of about 1,500 men. "Everybody sick with the flu," a bluejacket on the Arkansas wrote dejectedly in his diary. Admiral Harry W. Hill, in h is oral history, recalled that, "On both the Texas (BB-35) and Wyoming (BB-32), we had more than half our [crews] incapacitated at one time or another. They were so numerous they couldn't be handled in sick bay, and had to be taken care of in special areas set up in various places in the ship."22 Admiral John McCrea, who was on the New York (BB-34) at the time, said in his oral history that, "We had a hell of a time with it. We lost something around 14 or 15 people, including a couple of officers…There were 10 officers…whose rooms were forward of the wardroom. I was one of the 10…and I was the only one in that part of the ship [who] didn't have the flu."

 

When the Grand Fleet had to sortie once during the epidemic, several British warships did not have enough healthy men to get under way. All of the U.S. battleships, however, managed to join the fleet as it steamed out of the Firth of Forth. Fortunately, it was a false alarm; morale in the German High Seas Fleet had deteriorated to the point that it was unable to go to sea. Admiral McCrea recalled that if the German fleet had come out at that time, "the result could have been disastrous for the Grand Fleet…[The epidemic] was bad, bad, I can tell you."23

 

Despite the large number of personnel in the squadron stricken with the flu, there were very few fatalities on the U.S. dreadnoughts—fewer than 30.

 

Of all the U.S. naval vessels affected by the epidemic, the one most savaged by it—the cruiser Pittsburgh (CAA)—was not in the war zone. While visiting Rio de Janeiro, her crew became so crippled by the disease that the ship could not sail. About 80% of her crew was affected, and 58 died, the most in any Navy ship.24

 

Admiral Sims, the European naval force commander, became increasingly concerned about the severity of the fall outbreak of influenza. In early October he cabled the Navy Department that "there is no doubt that this [epidemic] is now a greater danger to people on ship-board than the Submarine is." He appealed to Chief of Naval Operations Admiral William S. Benson to send two hospital ships to European waters immediately. He also strongly urged Washington officials to reduce significantly the number of troops—up to 50%—per transport. "Many deaths," Admiral Sims wrote, "have occurred and many more expected. Immediate drastic measures should be adopted to avoid serious loss of life…[and] official public outcry and possible investigation by Congress."25

 

By and large, it was left to individual commanding officers and medical personnel to handle the crisis. Unfortunately, there were few guidelines and even fewer effective medicines. Vaccines were virtually unknown in the days before antibiotics. In general, doctors relied on fresh air, bed rest, simplified diet, and quarantine. Quinine, aspirin, and whiskey were the most common drugs used to treat victims. Preventatives from coffee to throat and nose sprays were tried on most ships. One ship's surgeon, however, advised the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery that "the less medicine given by mouth," the better the chance of recovery. After the epidemic, the bureau concluded that quarantine was the most effective preventative.26

 

The pandemic lingered on into 1919 before finally disappearing. The Navy, one authority claimed, kept more accurate records than did the U.S. Public Health Service concerning civilian cases. He concluded that at least 40% of the Navy's personnel had the flu. This may well have been a conservative estimate, since an undetermined number of ill sailors evidently did not report to sick bay. According to records, 5,027 Navy personnel died from influenza or complications. This was more than twice as many as those who died from enemy action.27

 

The Navy was heavily affected by the pandemic. Crews were decimated, ships were delayed in sailing, and medical facilities were taxed, but as one surgeon wrote, "We can't stop this War on account of Spanish or any other kind of influenza."28 Navy veterans of the Great War never forgot the pandemic. In memoirs and oral histories, they recalled the suffering and dying. "What do you recall thinking and experiencing at the time?" asked one historian. "Mostly flu," the sailor replied. "Men were dying every day."

www.usni.org/magazines/naval-history-magazine/2002/april/...

Pushkar (Hindi: पुष्कर) is a town in the Ajmer district in the Indian state of Rajasthan. It is situated 14 km northwest of Ajmer at an average elevation of 510 m and is one of the five sacred dhams (pilgrimage site) for devout Hindus. According to Hindu theology, the pond at the Katas Raj temple Near Choa Saidan Shah in Chakwal District of Pakistan has a theological association with Shiva; it was formed by the tears of Lord Shiva which he is believed to have shed after the death of his wife, Sati. The story goes that when Sati died, Shiva cried so much and for so long, that his tears created two holy ponds – one at Pushkara in Ajmer in India and the other at Ketaksha, which literally means raining eyes, in Sanskrit. It is from this name that the word Katas is derived. It is often called "Tirth Raj" – the king of pilgrimage sites – and has in recent years become a popular destination for foreign tourists.

 

Pushkar is one of the oldest existing cities of India. It lies on the shore of Pushkar Lake. The date of its actual origin is not known, but legend associates Brahma with its creation.

 

Pushkar has many temples. Most of the temples are not very old because many temples were destroyed during Muslim conquests in the area. Subsequently, the destroyed temples were rebuilt. The most famous among all is the Brahma Temple built during the 14th century CE. Very few temples to Lord Brahma exist anywhere in the world. Other temples of Brahma include Bithoor in Uttar Pradesh, India; Khedbrahma in Gujarat, India; village Asotra near Balotra city of Barmer district in Rajasthan; Uttamar Kovil (one of the Divya Desams) near Srirangam, Tamil Nadu; Mother Temple of Besakih in Bali, Indonesia; and Prambanan in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. The Pushkar lake has 52 ghats where pilgrims descend to the lake to bathe in the sacred waters.

 

Pushkar is also famous for its annual fair (Pushkar Camel Fair) held in November.

 

ETYMOLOGY

Pushkar in Sanskrit means blue lotus flower. Hindus believe that the gods released a swan with a lotus in its beak and let it fall on earth where Brahma would perform a grand yagna. The place where the lotus fell was called Pushkar. Pushkar word may be derived from word 'Pushkarni'means- lake. It may be derived from word Pushpa means flower and Kar means hand.

 

HISTORY

Pushkar is one of the oldest cities of India. The date of its actual founding is not known, but legend associates Brahma with its creation.

 

According to legend, Brahma was in search of a place for Mahayagna and he found this place suitable. After a long time, Brahma came to known that a demon, Vajranash, was killing people here so the Lord intoned a mantra on a lotus flower and killed the demon. During this process the parts of flower fell on three places which were later known as Jyaistha, Madhya and Kanistha Pushkar. After this Brahma performed a yagna to protect this place from demons. The consort of Brahma, Saraswati, were needed to offer Ahuti for the yagna but she was not there that time so Gayatri, a Gurjar girl, was married to brahma and performned yagna. This act made first wife of Brahma, Saraswati, angry and she cursed Brahma saying that he would be worshiped in Pushkar only.

 

The Mahabharata says that while laying down a programme for Maharaja Yudhishthara’s travel, “Maharaja after entering the Jungles of Sind and crossing the small rivers on the way should bathe in Pushkara". And, as per Vaman Purana, Prahlada on his pilgrimage to holy places visited Pushkarayana.

 

A Gurjara Pratihara ruler of Mandore, Nahadarava, restored this tirtha in the seventh century. He got the place cleared and the lake restored by making an embankment on the side of the river Luni. He rebuilt old palaces and built twelve dharmashalas (resting places) and ghats on three sides of the lake.

 

According to Rajputana Gazetteer Pushkar was held by Chechi Gurjars until about 700 years ago.Later Some shrines were occupied by Kanphati Jogis.

 

There are still priests from the Gurjar community in Pushkar temple, known as Bhopas.

 

The sage Parasara is said to have been born here. His descendants, called Parasara Brahamanas, are found in Pushkar and the surrounding area. The famous temple of Jeenmata has been cared for by Parasara Brahmans for the last 1,000 years.

 

It is also the venue of the annual Pushkar Camel Fair. In 1901, the town was part of the Rajputana Agency had a population of 3,831.

 

PUSHKAR FAIR

Pushkar fair continues for five days and these five days are a period of relaxation and merry-making for the villagers. This fair time is the most busy time for them, as this is one of the largest cattle fairs in the country. Animals, including over 50,000 camels, are brought from miles around to be traded and sold. Trading is brisk as several thousand heads of cattle exchange hands. All the camels are cleaned, washed, adorned, some are interestingly shorn to form patterns, and special stalls are set up selling finery and jewellery for the camels. Camels at the Pushkar fair are decorated with great care. They wear jewellery of silver and beads. There are silver bells and bangles around their ankles that jangle when they walk. An interesting ritual is the piercing of a camel's nose. It has more than 400 temples including the only one temple in India dedicated to the Hindu God Lord Brahma, the Creator of the Universe.

 

According to Indian mythology, after visiting all the Hindu pilgrim towns and temples (Four Dhams), if Pushkar is not visited for worship, then salvation is not achieved. According to the Hindu calendar Pushkar Fair commences in Nawami (ninth day of fortnightly phases of moon) and ends in Purnima (Full Moon) in the month of Kartika (October or November according to the lunar calendar). In Pushkar, one of the biggest Cattle Fair is also held for trading purposes and the best cattle in all categories are awarded. Countless people in their colourful attire gather to take a dip in the Holy Lake and pray to the deities. The whole town comes alive with vibrant folk music and dances, magic shows, horse and camel races and various other traditional entertainment competitions.Pushkar, with more than 12 local fairs and festivals of 10–15 days duration is a year round destination. It is a mellow town by the great lake of Pushkar amidst the perfume of jasmine and rose flowers. About 4,000 to 6,000 visitors from all over the world come to Pushkar everyday.

 

PUSHKAR LAKE

The prime attraction of Pushkar is the Pushkar Lake which is considered sacred like the Mansarovar Lake in Tibet. Pushkar has become a place of Hindu pilgrimage because of this holy lake. Legend has it that this lake was consecrated to Lord Brahma, the creator of the universe when a lotus dropped from his hand into the vale and a lake emerged in that place.

 

BRAHMA TEMPLE

The most important temple in Pushkar is the Temple of Lord Brahma, one of the holy trinity of Hinduism. The temple enshrines a life-size idol of Lord Brahma.

 

SAVITRI TEMPLE

This temple that is located at the top of the Ratnagiri Hill is dedicated to Savitri, the wife of Lord Brahma. The temple houses a statue of Goddess Savitri.

 

WIKIPEDIA

Just your average R Mack mixer

"Society Hill is a historic neighborhood in Center City Philadelphia, with a population of 6,215 as of the 2010 United States Census. Settled in the early 1680s, Society Hill is one of the oldest residential neighborhoods in Philadelphia. After urban decay developed between the late 19th and early 20th centuries, an urban renewal program began in the 1950s, restoring the area and its many historic buildings. Society Hill has since become one of the most expensive neighborhoods with the highest average income and second-highest real estate values in Philadelphia. Society Hill's historic colonial architecture, along with planning and restoration efforts, led the American Planning Association to designate it, in 2008, as one of the great American neighborhoods and a good example of sustainable urban living.

 

The neighborhood hosts one of the largest concentrations of original 18th- and early 19th-century buildings in the United States. Society Hill is noted for its Franklin street lamps, brick sidewalks, cobblestone and Belgian block streets bordered by two- to four-story brick rowhouses in Federal and Georgian architecture, and public buildings in Greek Revival architecture such as the Merchants' Exchange Building and the Old Pine Street Church.

 

Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City, and the 68th-largest city in the world. Since 1854, the city has been coextensive with Philadelphia County, the most populous county in Pennsylvania and the urban core of the Delaware Valley, the nation's seventh-largest and world's 68th-largest metropolitan region, with 6.245 million residents as of 2020. The city's population as of the 2020 census was 1,603,797, and over 56 million people live within 250 mi (400 km) of Philadelphia.

 

Philadelphia was founded in 1682 by William Penn, an English Quaker. The city served as capital of the Pennsylvania Colony during the British colonial era and went on to play a historic and vital role as the central meeting place for the nation's founding fathers whose plans and actions in Philadelphia ultimately inspired the American Revolution and the nation's independence. Philadelphia hosted the First Continental Congress in 1774 following the Boston Tea Party, preserved the Liberty Bell, and hosted the Second Continental Congress during which the founders signed the Declaration of Independence, which historian Joseph Ellis has described as "the most potent and consequential words in American history". Once the Revolutionary War commenced, both the Battle of Germantown and the Siege of Fort Mifflin were fought within Philadelphia's city limits. The U.S. Constitution was later ratified in Philadelphia at the Philadelphia Convention of 1787. Philadelphia remained the nation's largest city until 1790, when it was surpassed by New York City, and served as the nation's first capital from May 10, 1775, until December 12, 1776, and on four subsequent occasions during and following the American Revolution, including from 1790 to 1800 while the new national capital of Washington, D.C. was under construction.

 

During the 19th and 20th centuries, Philadelphia emerged as a major national industrial center and railroad hub. The city’s blossoming industrial sector attracted European immigrants, predominantly from Germany and Ireland, the two largest reported ancestry groups in the city as of 2015. In the 20th century, immigrant waves from Italy and elsewhere in Southern Europe arrived. Following the end of the Civil War in 1865, Philadelphia became a leading destination for African Americans in the Great Migration. In the 20th century, Puerto Rican Americans moved to the city in large numbers. Between 1890 and 1950, Philadelphia's population doubled to 2.07 million. Philadelphia has since attracted immigrants from East and South Asia, Eastern Europe, and Latin America.

 

With 18 four-year universities and colleges, Philadelphia is one of the nation's leading centers for higher education and academic research. As of 2021, the Philadelphia metropolitan area was the nation's ninth-largest metropolitan economy with a gross metropolitan product (GMP) of US$479 billion. Philadelphia is the largest center of economic activity in Pennsylvania and the broader multi-state Delaware Valley region; the city is home to five Fortune 500 corporate headquarters as of 2022. The Philadelphia skyline, which includes several globally renowned commercial skyscrapers, is expanding, primarily with new residential high-rise condominiums. The city and the Delaware Valley are a biotechnology and venture capital hub; and the Philadelphia Stock Exchange, owned by NASDAQ, is the nation's oldest stock exchange and a global leader in options trading. 30th Street Station, the city's primary rail station, is the third-busiest Amtrak hub in the nation, and the city's multimodal transport and logistics infrastructure, including Philadelphia International Airport, the PhilaPort seaport, freight rail infrastructure, roadway traffic capacity, and warehouse storage space, are all expanding.

 

Philadelphia is a national cultural hub, hosting more outdoor sculptures and murals than any other American city. Fairmount Park, when combined with adjacent Wissahickon Valley Park in the same watershed, is 2,052 acres (830 ha), representing one of the nation's largest contiguous urban parks and the 45th largest urban park in the world. The city is known for its arts, culture, cuisine, and colonial and Revolution-era history; in 2016, it attracted 42 million domestic tourists who spent $6.8 billion, representing $11 billion in total economic impact to the city and surrounding Pennsylvania counties.

 

With five professional sports teams and a hugely loyal fan base, the city is often ranked as the nation's best city for professional sports fans. The city has a culturally and philanthropically active LGBTQ+ community. Philadelphia also has played an immensely influential historic and ongoing role in the development and evolution of American music, especially R&B, soul, and rock.

 

Philadelphia is a city of many firsts, including the nation's first library (1731), hospital (1751), medical school (1765), national capital (1774), university (by some accounts) (1779), stock exchange (1790), zoo (1874), and business school (1881). Philadelphia contains 67 National Historic Landmarks, including Independence Hall. From the city's 17th century founding through the present, Philadelphia has been the birthplace or home to an extensive number of prominent and influential Americans. In 2021, Time magazine named Philadelphia one of the world's greatest 100 places." - info from Wikipedia.

 

The fall of 2022 I did my 3rd major cycling tour. I began my adventure in Montreal, Canada and finished in Savannah, GA. This tour took me through the oldest parts of Quebec and the 13 original US states. During this adventure I cycled 7,126 km over the course of 2.5 months and took more than 68,000 photos. As with my previous tours, a major focus was to photograph historic architecture.

 

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Inspired by the amazing work of Jason Salavon.

 

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LAKE KIVU

 

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

Lake Kivu

 

Coordinates 2°0′S 29°0′ECoordinates: 2°0′S 29°0′E

Type Rift Valley lakes, Meromictic

Primary outflows Ruzizi River

Catchment area 2,700 km2 (1,000 sq mi)

Basin countries Rwanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo

Max. length 89 km (55 mi)[1]

Max. width 48 km (30 mi)[1]

Surface area 2,700 km2 (1,040 sq mi)[1]

Average depth 240 m (787 ft)

Max. depth 480 m (1,575 ft)

Water volume 500 km3 (120 cu mi)

Surface elevation 1,460 m (4,790 ft)

Islands Idjwi

Settlements Goma, Congo

Bukavu, Congo

Kibuye, Rwanda

Cyangugu, Rwanda

Lake Kivu with Goma in the background

 

Lake Kivu is one of the African Great Lakes. It lies on the border between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda, and is in the Albertine Rift, the western branch of the East African Rift. Lake Kivu empties into the Ruzizi River, which flows southwards into Lake Tanganyika. The name comes from kivu which means "lake" in some Bantu languages, just like the words tanganyika or nyanza.[citation needed]

 

Contents

 

1 History

2 Geography

3 Chemistry

3.1 Methane extraction

4 Biology and fisheries

5 See also

6 References

 

History

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (February 2012)

People on the shore at Gisenyi

 

The first European to visit the lake was German Count Adolf von Götzen in 1894. Since then it has been caught up in the conflict between Hutu and Tutsi people in Rwanda, and their allies in DR Congo, which led to the 1994 Rwandan Genocide and the First and Second Congo Wars. Lake Kivu gained notoriety as a place where many of the victims of the genocide were dumped.

Geography

 

The lake covers a total surface area of some 2,700 km2 (1,040 sq mi) and stands at a height of 1,460 metres (4,790 ft) above sea level. Some 1 370 km2 or 58% of the lake's waters lie within DRC borders. The lake bed sits upon a rift valley that is slowly being pulled apart, causing volcanic activity in the area, and making it particularly deep: its maximum depth of 480 m (1,575 ft) is ranked eighteenth in the world.

 

The world's tenth-largest inland island, Idjwi, lies in Lake Kivu, as does the tiny island of Tshegera, which also lies within the boundaries of Virunga National Park; while settlements on its shore include Bukavu, Kabare, Kalehe, Sake, and Goma in Congo, and Gisenyi, Kibuye, and Cyangugu in Rwanda.

Chemistry

 

Lake Kivu is a fresh water lake and, along with Cameroonian Lake Nyos and Lake Monoun, is one of three that experience limnic eruptions. Around the lake, geologists found evidence of massive biological extinctions about every thousand years, caused by outgassing events. The trigger for lake overturns in Lake Kivu's case is unknown, but volcanic activity is suspected. The gaseous chemical composition of exploding lakes is unique to each lake; in Lake Kivu's case, methane and carbon dioxide due to lake water interaction with a volcano. The amount of methane is estimated to be 65 cubic kilometers (if burnt over one year, it would give an average power of about 100 gigawatts for the whole period). There is also an estimated 256 cubic kilometers of carbon dioxide. The water temperature is 24°C, and the pH level is about 8.6.[2] The methane is reported to be produced by microbial reduction of the volcanic CO2.[3] The risk from a possible Lake Kivu overturn is catastrophic, dwarfing other documented lake overturns at Lakes Nyos and Monoun, because of the approximately two million people living in the lake basin.

 

Cores from the Bukavu Bay area of the lake reveal that the bottom has layered deposits of the rare mineral monohydrocalcite interlain with diatoms, on top of sapropelic sediments with high pyrite content. These are found at three different intervals. The sapropelic layers are believed to be related to hydrothermal discharge and the diatoms to a bloom which reduced the carbon dioxide levels low enough to precipitiate monohydrocalcite.[4]

 

Scientists hypothesize that sufficient volcanic interaction with the lake's bottom water that has high gas concentrations would heat water, force the methane out of the water, spark a methane explosion, and trigger a nearly simultaneous release of carbon dioxide.[5][6] The carbon dioxide would then suffocate large numbers of people in the lake basin as the gases roll off the lake surface. It is also possible that the lake could spawn lake tsunamis as gas explodes out of it.[7][8]

 

The risk posed by Lake Kivu began to be understood during the analysis of more recent events at Lake Nyos. Lake Kivu's methane was originally thought to be merely a cheap natural resource for export, and for the generation of cheap power. Once the mechanisms that caused lake overturns began to be understood, so did awareness of the risk the lake posed to the local population.

 

An experimental vent pipe was installed at Lake Nyos in 2001 to remove gas from the deep water, but such a solution for the much larger Lake Kivu would be considerably more expensive. No plan has been initiated to reduce the risk posed by Lake Kivu.[dubious – discuss] The approximately 500 million tonnes of carbon dioxide in the lake is a little under 2 percent of the amount released annually by human fossil fuel burning. Therefore the process of releasing it could potentially have costs beyond building and operating the system.

Methane extraction

Methane extraction platform.

 

Lake Kivu has recently been found to contain approximately 55 billion cubic metres (1.94 trillion cubic feet) of dissolved biogas at a depth of 300 metres (1,000 ft). Until 2004, extraction of the gas was done on a small scale, with the extracted gas being used to run boilers at a brewery, the Bralirwa brewery in Gisenyi.[9][10] As far as large-scale exploitation of this resource is concerned, the Rwandan government has negotiated with a number of parties to produce methane from the lake.

 

In 2011 ContourGlobal, a U.S. based energy company focused on emerging markets, secured project financing to initiate a large-scale methane extraction project. The project will be run through a local Rwandan entity called KivuWatt, using an offshore barge platform to extract, separate, and clean the gasses obtained from the lake bed before pumping purified methane via an underwater pipeline to on-shore gas engines. Stage one of the project aims to build and supply three "gensets" along the lake shore, totaling 25MW of electrical capacity. Initial project operations are scheduled to commence in 2012.[11] In addition to managing gas extraction, KivuWatt will also manage the electrical generation plants and on-sell the electrical power to the Rwandan government under the terms of a long-term Power Purchase Agreement (PPA). This allows KivuWatt to control a vertically integrated energy offering from point of extraction to point of sale into the local grid. Extraction is said to be cost-effective and relatively simple because once the gas-rich water is pumped up, the dissolved gases (primarily carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulphide and methane) begin to bubble out as the water pressure gets lower. This project is expected to increase Rwanda's energy generation capability by as much as 20 times, and will enable Rwanda to sell electricity to neighboring African countries.[10] The firm was awarded the 2011 Africa Power deal of the year for innovation in the financing arrangements it obtained from various sources for the KivuWatt project. [12] .[13]

 

A problem associated with the prevalence of methane is that of mazuku.

Biology and fisheries

Fishing boats on Lake Kivu, 2009.

Reflection of the sky on Lake Kivu

 

The fish fauna in Lake Kivu is relatively poor with 28 species, including four introduced species.[14] The natives are the Lake Rukwa minnow (Raiamas moorii), four species of Barbus (B. altianalis, B. apleurogramma, B. kerstenii and B. pellegrini), an Amphilius catfish, two Clarias catfish (C. liocephalus and C. gariepinus), Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) and 15 endemic Haplochromis cichlids.[14] The introduced species are three cichlids, the longfin tilapia (Oreochromis macrochir), O. leucostictus and redbreast tilapia (Coptodon rendalli), and a clupeid, the Lake Tanganyika sardine, Limnothrissa miodon.[14]

 

The exploitable stock of the Lake Tanganyika sardine was estimated at 2000–4000 tons per year.[15] It was introduced to Lake Kivu in the late 1959 by a Belgian Engineer A. Collart. At present, Lake Kivu is the sole natural lake in which L. miodon, a sardine originally restricted to Lake Tanganyika, has been introduced initially to fill an empty niche. Prior to the introduction, no planktivorous fish was present in the pelagic waters of Lake Kivu. In the early 1990s, the number of fishers on the lake was 6,563, of which 3,027 were associated with the pelagic fishery and 3,536 with the traditional fishery. Widespread armed conflict in the surrounding region from the mid-1990s resulted in a decline in the fisheries harvest.[16]

 

Following this introduction, the sardine has gained substantial economic and nutritional importance for the lakeside human population but from an ecosystem standpoint, the introduction of planktivorous fish may result in important modifications of plankton community structure. Recent observations showed the disappearance during the last decades of a large grazer, Daphnia curvirostris, and the dominance of mesozooplankton community by three species of cyclopoid copepod: Thermocyclops consimilis, Mesocyclops aequatorialis and Tropocyclops confinis.[17][18]

 

The first comprehensive phytoplankton survey was released in 2006.[19] With an annual average chlorophyll a in the mixed layer of 2.2 mg m-3 and low nutrient levels in the euphotic zone, the lake is clearly oligotrophic. Diatoms are the dominant group in the lake, particularly during the dry season episodes of deep mixing. During the rainy season, the stratified water column, with high light and lower nutrient availability, favour dominance of cyanobacteria with high numbers of phototrophic picoplankton.[19][20][21][22] The actual primary production is 0.71 g C m-2 d-1 (~ 260 g C m-2 y-1).[23]

 

A study of evolutionary genetics showed that the cichlids from lakes in northern Virunga (e.g., Edward, George, Victoria) would have evolved in a "proto-lake Kivu", much older than the intense volcanic activity (20,000-25,000 years ago) which cut the connection.[24] The elevation of the mountains west of the lake (which is currently the Kahuzi-Biega National Park, one of the largest reserves of eastern lowland (or Grauer's) gorillas in the world), combined with the elevation of the eastern rift (located in eastern Rwanda) would be responsible for drainage of water from central Rwanda in the actual Lake Kivu. This concept of "proto-lake Kivu" was challenged by lack of consistent geological evidence,[25] although the cichlid's molecular clock suggests the existence of a lake much older than the commonly cited 15,000 years.

 

Lake Kivu is the home of four species of freshwater crab, including two non-endemics (Potamonautes lirrangensis and P. mutandensis) and two endemics (P. bourgaultae and P. idjwiensis).[26] Among Rift Valley lakes, Lake Tanganyika is the only other with endemic freshwater crabs.[26]

Nigerians protest against fuel subsidy loss at London embassy - 06.01.2012

 

Around 200 Nigerian students and emigres representing "Nigerian Students In Diaspora", "Nigerians In Diaspora" and their supporters protested on 06.01.2012 outside the Nigerian High Commission on Northumberland Avenue against the abolition by the government of Nigerian president Goodwill Jonathan of fuel subsidies which has seen the average price of petrol in Nigeria since January 1st 2012 rocket - with no prior warning - from $0.40 per liter to $0.89 per liter with black market prices as high as $1.25 per liter, which, in a country where the national average wage is around $2 per day, with two-thirds of Nigerians living on less than $1.24 a day and pre-January inflation at 10.5%, is having an immediate negative impact on the cost of living for millions of Nigerians.

 

Transport fares have already increased by 150% causing huge resentment amongst the general population who regard it as a devaluation of the minimum wage, triggering protests in several Southern cities and towns, including Lagos (on January 3rd), Ilorin and Kano (on January 4th) which provoked a violent response from government forces which resulted in several injuries and one death after protesters blocked access to gas stations.

 

The largest producer of oil on the African continent, Nigeria nevertheless lacks the infrastructure to refine oil to make petroleum and so imports $16 billion of fuel a year. The fuel subsidies have been adding a further $7.5 billion to the budget, and the Government - which is accused by activists and Human Rights Watch of squandering and stealing much of the nation's vast oil wealth, leaving very little for health services and education - now claims that this money would be better spent on improving national infrastructure and social programs. Most Nigerians, however, are convinced this is little more than a lie to further enrich the corrupt politicians and government officials at their expense.

 

Speaking earlier this week, Minister of Petrol Resources, Diezani Allison-Madueke said "We are looking not in fact at necessarily at subsidy removal, if you want to call it. It is actually a subsidy transfer, because we are looking at the real benefits to the economy and to Nigerians, that can be handed over to Nigerians, that all Nigerians across the spectrum will feel and see from the get go".

 

Following talks in the capital Abuja on Wednesday 4th January Nigeria's two main unions, the Nigeria Labour Congress and Trade Union Congress called for nationwide demonstrations and labour strikes starting on Monday 9th January unless the government restores the subsidy which is, they say, the only tangible benefit that ordinary Nigerians receive from the huge oil wealth flowing through the government's coffers. Despite being quickly labelled as "Hooligans" by the government, the unions say the mass rallies, street protests and general strikes targetting oil production sites, sea and air ports, banks and markets will be peaceful, and have advised ordinary Nigerians to stockpile supplies for their basic needs, including food and water.

 

The tension is further exacerbated by a presidential declaration of a state of emergency in fifteen locations relating to the long-running conflict with Southern militant group Boko Haram who, since 2009, have been attacking the oil industry and government in the North for many years as they demand more oil wealth is shared with the poor communities. The militants had carried out a bombing campaign recently to mark the end of a three-day deadline which Boka Haram had given for Southerners living in Northern Nigeria to move away, and had caused explosions in the Northern cities of Maiduguri and Damaturu, though there were no casualties. In a separate incident gunmen attributed to Boka Harem shot and killed two people in Damaturu, and on Christmas day they infamously bombed a catholic church in the capital, Abuja.

 

Community leader Chief Okoro Samson, a community leader in Delta state, said last week that the rising costs come at a very bad time in Nigeria: “Just take a walk around the city and you know everyone is angry. You risk demonstration in this country and protests are breaking out. You can't contain it because the terrorists, the so-called Boko Haram, will take advantage of it and launch their attacks everywhere,” he said.

 

The fuel subsidy protests continued on Tuesday in Lagos, which has not experienced the attacks of Boko Haram in the north. For many in the south, the enemy is the government of President Jonathan. Seun Kuti - son of legendary musician, the late Fela Kuti - addressing protesters in the southern city of Lagos said this week "Goodwill Jonathan is Nigeria's only terrorist. We cannot agree to this kind of financial IMF terror. Nigeria cannot pay the same price of petrol as Americans. We don't have American minimum wage".

 

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Namchi (Nepali : नाम्ची) or Namtse is the capital of the South Sikkim district in the Indian state of Sikkim. The appellation Namchi means Sky (Nam) High (Chi) in Sikkimese.

 

GEOGRAPHY

Namchi is located at 27.17°N 88.35°E. It has an average elevation of 1,315 metres.

 

Namchi is situated at an altitude of 1,675 m above sea level. It is situated at a distance of 78 kilometres from the state capital Gangtok and 100 kilometres from the town of Siliguri, the nearest railhead and airport. Namchi lies off the road between Melli and Jorethang. Namchi is well connected to other towns in Sikkim and West Bengal. Jeeps and buses regularly ply between Namchi to Gangtok, Pelling, Jorethang, Kalimpong and Siliguri.

 

DEMOGRAPHICS

As of 2011 India census, Namchi has a population of 12194. Males constitute 52% of the population and females 48%. Namchi has an average literacy rate of 78%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 81%, and female literacy is 73%. In Namchi, 9% of the population is under 6 years of age. Most of the people of Namchi are Hindus and Buddhists. Languages spoken are Nepali, English and Hindi.

 

EDUCATION

Namchi has more than half a dozen private schools with quality education (Mt. Carmel School, Namchi Public School, Tendong Educational Institute, Victory Educational Institute, New Light Academy etc.) and government Higher Secondary Schools for Boys and Girls and world valid computer institute (MULTIMEDIA COMPUTER INSTITUTE) an authorized study center of Manipal Group. Just few kilometers away from the town is a reputed Government College for Arts and Education. People give a lot of importance and focus on education with a reverence. Namchi Public School run by catholic missionaries is one of the respected educational institute in the State and one of the best in the south district of Sikkim.

 

TOURISM

Namchi is fast becoming a major tourist spot and pilgrimage centre. The Namchi monastery, Ralong monastery and Tendong Hill are important Buddhist pilgrimage centres. The world's largest statue (36 m) of the Buddhist Padmasambhava, also known as Guru Rinpoche, the patron saint of Sikkim, is on the Samdruptse hill (The Wish Fulfilling well) opposite Namchi. It was completed in February 2004. It is also said that the Samdruptse hill is actually a Dormant Volcano. Myths say that the buddhist monks have been going on top of the hill and offering prayers to the volcano to keep it calm. There is also a Rock Garden just few kilometers up from the town on the way to Samdruptse.Sikkim Best Home Stay Dong Busty Home Stay just 8km away from Namchi Bazar. The Rock Garden displays a wide variety of Flora and is a local recreation and picnic spot. It offers a magnificent view of Mt. Kanchendzonga (aka Mt. Kangchenjunga, the world's third highest peak). Recently inaugurated (November 2011) Siddhesvara Dhaam is a unique pilgrimage tourism venture of the Sikkim Government developed as “Pilgrim cum Cultural Centre” having a 26,52 m statue of Lord Shiva and replicas of four Dhams of the country at one place at Solophok hilltop in Namchi. The four most revered Dhams of the Hindus Jagannath, Dwarika, Rameshawaram, Badrinath have been replicated in this fantastic complex to benefit the devotees and tourists. The dream project of Chief Minister Pawan Chamling which was conceived by him and started in the year 2005 stands promisingly amidst the breadth taking surrounding of Solophok hill, befitting the mythological setting behind the establishment of the original Dhams. For the consecration of the Dham Shri Jagadguru Sankaryacharya Swami Swarupananda Saraswati in the presence of the Chief Minister Shri Pawan Chamling and his wife Smt Tika Maya Chamling did the “Pran Prastisha” of the Dham. There are replicas of the “Dwadash Jyotirlingas” (the twelve jyothirlinga) of Somnath, Mallikarjuna, Mahakaleswar, Omkareshwar, Kedarnath, Bhimashankar, Viswanath, Triambakeshwar, Vaidyanath, Nageswar, Rameshwar at Rameswaram and Grishneshwar surrounding the statue of Lord Shiva and the Char Dhams. There is a grand statue of Kirateshvar Mahadev and a temple of Shirdi Sai Baba too. One can have a view of the Mt Kanchenjunga, Statue of Guru Padmasambhava at Samdruptse, Darjeeling and other such locations from here. The Dham has stay facility for the devotees at “Yatri Niwas” which can accommodate more than 90 people at a time. The Dham has won the National Tourism Awards 2010–11 under the category of “Most Innovative/Unique Tourism Project” by the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India. A helipad is located 5 km away from town at an altitude of around 1524 m. From here one can get the most panoramic view of Mt. Kanchanzonga with the surrounding mountain a part of Darjeeling Kalimgpong and the rolling plains of Bengal. The visitors can savour the view of temi tea garden the one and the only tea estate in the state which produces top quality tea in the international market.

 

Near the town, Sikkim's sole tea estate — the Temi Tea Garden is situated. The tea carries a premium the world over and costs around Rs. 800/- a kg. The tea is marked by its exotic odour and flavour.

 

In the month of February, the Namchi garden hosts it annual flower show. The flower show is the largest in Sikkim with flowers in a riot of colours. The prime attraction of this show is the display of exotic and rare orchids.

 

One of the highlights of the town is the football stadium – the Baichung Stadium built by the Sikkimese government in honour of its most famous citizen, footballer Baichung Bhutia. "The Gold Cup" football tournament is held in Bhaichung Stadium almost every year. Football teams from all over India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Bhutan vie for the honour which draws lot of crowds from all over Sikkim. Namchi is also the base of the chief minister of Sikkim, Pawan Kumar Chamling.

 

Historically, Namchi was the place where Pende Ongmoo, the trecherous princess who poisoned one of the Chogyals of Sikkim, was caught and killed for her deed. Legend says her spirit still haunts the foothills of Ghurpisey.

 

WIKIPEDIA

Namchi (Nepali : नाम्ची) or Namtse is the capital of the South Sikkim district in the Indian state of Sikkim. The appellation Namchi means Sky (Nam) High (Chi) in Sikkimese.

 

GEOGRAPHY

Namchi is located at 27.17°N 88.35°E. It has an average elevation of 1,315 metres.

 

Namchi is situated at an altitude of 1,675 m above sea level. It is situated at a distance of 78 kilometres from the state capital Gangtok and 100 kilometres from the town of Siliguri, the nearest railhead and airport. Namchi lies off the road between Melli and Jorethang. Namchi is well connected to other towns in Sikkim and West Bengal. Jeeps and buses regularly ply between Namchi to Gangtok, Pelling, Jorethang, Kalimpong and Siliguri.

 

DEMOGRAPHICS

As of 2011 India census, Namchi has a population of 12194. Males constitute 52% of the population and females 48%. Namchi has an average literacy rate of 78%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 81%, and female literacy is 73%. In Namchi, 9% of the population is under 6 years of age. Most of the people of Namchi are Hindus and Buddhists. Languages spoken are Nepali, English and Hindi.

 

EDUCATION

Namchi has more than half a dozen private schools with quality education (Mt. Carmel School, Namchi Public School, Tendong Educational Institute, Victory Educational Institute, New Light Academy etc.) and government Higher Secondary Schools for Boys and Girls and world valid computer institute (MULTIMEDIA COMPUTER INSTITUTE) an authorized study center of Manipal Group. Just few kilometers away from the town is a reputed Government College for Arts and Education. People give a lot of importance and focus on education with a reverence. Namchi Public School run by catholic missionaries is one of the respected educational institute in the State and one of the best in the south district of Sikkim.

 

TOURISM

Namchi is fast becoming a major tourist spot and pilgrimage centre. The Namchi monastery, Ralong monastery and Tendong Hill are important Buddhist pilgrimage centres. The world's largest statue (36 m) of the Buddhist Padmasambhava, also known as Guru Rinpoche, the patron saint of Sikkim, is on the Samdruptse hill (The Wish Fulfilling well) opposite Namchi. It was completed in February 2004. It is also said that the Samdruptse hill is actually a Dormant Volcano. Myths say that the buddhist monks have been going on top of the hill and offering prayers to the volcano to keep it calm. There is also a Rock Garden just few kilometers up from the town on the way to Samdruptse.Sikkim Best Home Stay Dong Busty Home Stay just 8km away from Namchi Bazar. The Rock Garden displays a wide variety of Flora and is a local recreation and picnic spot. It offers a magnificent view of Mt. Kanchendzonga (aka Mt. Kangchenjunga, the world's third highest peak). Recently inaugurated (November 2011) Siddhesvara Dhaam is a unique pilgrimage tourism venture of the Sikkim Government developed as “Pilgrim cum Cultural Centre” having a 26,52 m statue of Lord Shiva and replicas of four Dhams of the country at one place at Solophok hilltop in Namchi. The four most revered Dhams of the Hindus Jagannath, Dwarika, Rameshawaram, Badrinath have been replicated in this fantastic complex to benefit the devotees and tourists. The dream project of Chief Minister Pawan Chamling which was conceived by him and started in the year 2005 stands promisingly amidst the breadth taking surrounding of Solophok hill, befitting the mythological setting behind the establishment of the original Dhams. For the consecration of the Dham Shri Jagadguru Sankaryacharya Swami Swarupananda Saraswati in the presence of the Chief Minister Shri Pawan Chamling and his wife Smt Tika Maya Chamling did the “Pran Prastisha” of the Dham. There are replicas of the “Dwadash Jyotirlingas” (the twelve jyothirlinga) of Somnath, Mallikarjuna, Mahakaleswar, Omkareshwar, Kedarnath, Bhimashankar, Viswanath, Triambakeshwar, Vaidyanath, Nageswar, Rameshwar at Rameswaram and Grishneshwar surrounding the statue of Lord Shiva and the Char Dhams. There is a grand statue of Kirateshvar Mahadev and a temple of Shirdi Sai Baba too. One can have a view of the Mt Kanchenjunga, Statue of Guru Padmasambhava at Samdruptse, Darjeeling and other such locations from here. The Dham has stay facility for the devotees at “Yatri Niwas” which can accommodate more than 90 people at a time. The Dham has won the National Tourism Awards 2010–11 under the category of “Most Innovative/Unique Tourism Project” by the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India. A helipad is located 5 km away from town at an altitude of around 1524 m. From here one can get the most panoramic view of Mt. Kanchanzonga with the surrounding mountain a part of Darjeeling Kalimgpong and the rolling plains of Bengal. The visitors can savour the view of temi tea garden the one and the only tea estate in the state which produces top quality tea in the international market.

 

Near the town, Sikkim's sole tea estate — the Temi Tea Garden is situated. The tea carries a premium the world over and costs around Rs. 800/- a kg. The tea is marked by its exotic odour and flavour.

 

In the month of February, the Namchi garden hosts it annual flower show. The flower show is the largest in Sikkim with flowers in a riot of colours. The prime attraction of this show is the display of exotic and rare orchids.

 

One of the highlights of the town is the football stadium – the Baichung Stadium built by the Sikkimese government in honour of its most famous citizen, footballer Baichung Bhutia. "The Gold Cup" football tournament is held in Bhaichung Stadium almost every year. Football teams from all over India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Bhutan vie for the honour which draws lot of crowds from all over Sikkim. Namchi is also the base of the chief minister of Sikkim, Pawan Kumar Chamling.

 

Historically, Namchi was the place where Pende Ongmoo, the trecherous princess who poisoned one of the Chogyals of Sikkim, was caught and killed for her deed. Legend says her spirit still haunts the foothills of Ghurpisey.

 

WIKIPEDIA

This map was created by an anthropology/genealogy blogger, who took between 10 and 24 photos of athletes from each of these European countries and mathematically averaged them to come up with what an "average" person (er, average male athlete) from that country would look like.

 

His blog entry is here:

 

dienekes.blogspot.com/2006/03/geography-of-european-pheno...

Arbroath Cliffs, the Deil's Heid.

  

Not got a dark enough ND filter? Take 64 shots in timelapse mode, and average them.