- MYSTERIOUS PLACES
In AD 600 Teotihuacán in Mexico was the sixth largest city in the world and about 200,000 people lived there. Just 150 years later, Teotihuacán was almost deserted, and plants had begun to grow over the city’s huge pyramids. Nobody knows why Teotihuacán was abandoned, but a huge fire may have devastated it in AD 650.
The Nazca Lines
The Nazca Lines are enormous drawings on the ground (called geoglyphs) that stretch across the Nazca Desert in southern Peru. - The Empire State Building
New York’s tallest building is the Empire Sate Building, which stands on Fifth Avenue, New York, between 33rd Street and 34th Street. It was built on the site of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel and took 410 days at a rate of 4 ½ floors a week to complete. The building was opened on 1 May 1931 by remote control, when President Herbert Hoover pressed a button in Washington DC.
The Empire State Building towers 381m above ground-and measures 443.2m to the top of the TV tower. - The Empire State Building
New York’s tallest building is the Empire Sate Building, which stands on Fifth Avenue, New York, between 33rd Street and 34th Street. It was built on the site of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel and took 410 days at a rate of 4 ½ floors a week to complete. The building was opened on 1 May 1931 by remote control, when President Herbert Hoover pressed a button in Washington DC.
The Empire State Building towers 381m above ground-and measures 443.2m to the top of the TV tower. - Famous bridges
Pont d’Avignon, France
This bridge was built in the 12th century. It was made famous by the song “Sur le Pont d’Avignon” (On Avignon Bridge).
Bridge of Sighs, Venice, Italy
The Bridge of Sighs was designed in 1560. It connects the Doge’s Palace with the city jail, and prisoners who had been sentenced to death had to cross the bridge to reach the jail. Its name is said to come from their sighs of despair. - Famous trains
Orient Express
The orient Express began trips from Pars, France, to Bulgaria on 5 October 1883 and from 1889 went as far as Constantinople (now Istanbul), Turkey. It was the first trans-European train and traveled a total of 2,736km across six countries in great style. It stopped running in 1977, but was re-launched five years later. - Concorde fact file
Concorde, the only passenger aircraft ever to fly faster than the speed of sound, was first named in a speech by general de Gaulle on 13 January 1963. The Anglo-French project began the following year. - Money facts
The first coins
Coins made from gold and silver were used in Lydia, an ancient Middle Eastern kingdom, in about 687-652 BC. The coins were known as staters.
Largest coins
Swedish 10-daler copper coins (made in 1644) weighed 19.71km. - Christian festivals
Epiphany (also known as Twelfth Night)
6 January (18 January in Russia; 1 February in Ethiopia). The Epiphany (Epiphaneia: Greek for manifestation) celebrates three events that are all thought to have happened on this day: Jesus’s appearance as a newborn to the Magi (three wise men); Jesus’s baptism, when God acknowledged his son; Jesus’s first public miracle, when he turned water to wine in Galilee. - Famous cars
Mercedes
The German luxury car, which has been made since 1901, took its name from Mercedes, the daughter of Daimler car company director Emil Jellinek. - THE LEOPARD
The leopard (Panthera pardus) is dispersed over a wider area today than that of any of the other large cats. It is one of the roaring cats, capable of producing a deep sawing roar similar to that of the jaguar. The leopard coat pattern has a clear yellow coat with dark spots or rosettes. Some leopards’ coats may vary in colour, and the jet-black melanistic type is also popularly called the ‘Black Panther’
. - The Flower Valley
In 1931, Frank S. Smythe was one of six British mountaineers who climbed Kamet. On his return to the plains, he crossed the Bhyundar Pass, standing at 5,086m, “with the intention of exploring the mountainous region at the source of the two principal tributaries of the Ganges, the Alaknanda and Gangotri rivers’. The next day, Smythe descended to “lush meadows… embowered amidst flowers. - The magical world of ferns
• Ferns, of which there are now about 12000 species, have been on our planet for more than 300 million years in the Carboniferous Period (about 369-280 million years ago), they grew abundantly; the period was known as the ‘Age of Ferns’. Most ferns of this period became extinct but, later, some evolved into our modern ferns. - The Garden of Eden
Smythe recorded some 262 species of flowers in 1937 and 29 more were added to the list a few years later. You will find anemones, geraniums, marsh marigolds, Primulas, potentilla, geum, asters, lilium, ranunculus, corydalis, inula, Brahma kamal, campanula, pedicularis, arisaema, morina, impatiens, bistorta, ligularia, anaphalis, saxifragus, sibbaldia, thermopsis, trollius, codonopsis, dactylorhiza, cypripedium, strawberry epilobium and rhododendrons. Many of the flowers found here have medicinal - The Asian elephant
Many species of elephant once roamed the Earth. Today, they are limited to just two species in Africa and the Asian elephant (Elephas maximus). In India, the wild Asian elephant population is estimated to be 25,000-27,000. Weighing 3,000 kg, the Asian elephant differs from the African one in a number of ways: - HORSLEY HILLS OF INDIA
Yes it’s in the state of Andhra Pradesh of India.
In an earlier avatar when Horsley Hills was not the commercial hill station it is now, it used to be an undeveloped rustic hillock. According to local legend, a pious woman called Mallamma used to live on the top of the hill where she was protected and looked after by an elephant. Word soon got around and the place was rather simplistically dubbed Yenugu Mallamma Konda (hill). - WATER ADVENTURES IN INDIA
Chilika Lake, Orissa
Located 100 km from Bhubaneswar, this lake covering 1100 sq km is Asia’s largest salt and fresh water lake. It attracts a large number of migratory birds, like the flamingo, teal, bareheaded goose, shoveller and white- bellied sea eagle. The winter migratory populations come in from as far as Siberia. You will also see cheetals, blackbucks, fishing cats, and dolphins. - RELIGIONS IN INDIA-FOR TRAVELERS
India has seven major religions and many minor ones, six main ethnic groups, and countless holidays.
Religion is central to Indian culture, and its practice can be seen in virtually every aspect of life in the country. Hinduism is the dominant faith of India, serving about 80 percent of the population. Ten percent worship Islam, and 5 percent are Sikhs and Christians; the rest (a good 45 million) are Buddhists, Jains, Bahai, and more. - INDEPENDENCE OF INDIA
The Rajs demise was partially a result of its remarkable success. It had gained control of the country by viewing it as a source of profit. Infrastructure had been developed, administration established, and an entire structure of governance erected. India had become a profitable venture, and the British were loath to allow the Indian population any power in a system that they viewed as their own accomplishment. The Indians didn’t appreciate this much, and as the 20th century dawned there were in - GHOST TOWN
It’s a ghost town. But don’t panic in Detroit.
Twenty years ago Detroit was the sixth biggest city in America. Today it’s the umpteenth. Everybody left in the 1980s. So why would you go there? In transit; a lot more people pass through Detroit airport (35 million) than live in the city (1million). And Northwest Airlines’ new S1.2 billion ‘World Gateway’ hub means that thousands more will catch a connection here. Detroit is bizarrely proud of being “about a 90 minute flight from 60 percent of th - Sound Waves-For Norway’s visitors
A new waterfront landmark opera house is poised to put the Norwegian capital on the world stage.
Oslo has never been known as one of Europe’s operatic centres, but that may soon change. Den Norske Opera & Ballet-Norway’s biggest producer of opera, dance, and symphony concerts -has a brand –new, world-class home. Designed by the Norwegian architectural firm Snohetta (whose resume includes Egypt’s Bibliotheca Alexandrina), - Sikkim-Nature’s Paradise
Rugged mountains. Snow blizzards. Deep gorges. Breathtaking terrains. Fresh blooms. Fragrant meadows… welcome to Sikkim and discover the virgin beauty of this mystical dreamland.
Spread in the lap of the mighty Himalayas, the snow capped mountains and gusting winds seem to whisper the generosity of Mother Nature. Te timelessness of these cool, lofty, majestic mountains echoes the magic & grandeur of the Himalayas or the ‘abode of snow.’ - 15 MEMORABLE INDIAN TRAINS (PART-1)
1.GRAND TRUNK EXPRESS: -
This one’s an understated classic. At least three generations of cosmopolitan Indians have traveled on this grand old train--The Grand Trunk Express has been running up and down the midriff of the subcontinent since 1930.This was the vital ‘fast’ link between the capital city, in the north, and Madras, the pre-eminent metro of the south. In fac - Walk in Old Calcutta- INDIA-For Travelers
In Calcutta, each street has a story, by every cornice hangs a tale. And a trip to the Heritage-heavy city is wasted if you miss the significance of the grand old edifices that fill it. Charlock’s city is notorious for its humid summers but winters are miraculously mild. Welcome to the heritage walks of Calcutta - 15 MEMORABLE INDIAN TRAINS-PART-II
9. Palace on Wheels
Rated one of the ten best luxury trains in the world, inspired by the original wood- panelled saloons of the maharajas. These days, it only takes $200 per person per night. For six nights a trip, about six months every year, the Palace on Wheels tours Rajasthan’s major tourist centres. - ECOTOURISM- Now in India…
In India, ecotourism is still mostly hype and inaction. The National Tourism Policy of 2002 is quite ambitious about eco-tourism. Himachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh also have ecotourism policies. But these are plans in government files. Outside the red-taped files, most of India’s forests are battlefields, with wildlifers/ conservationists on one side and forest-dwelling communities on the other. - Ecotourism Knowledge
There are two basic requirements for ecotourism: 1) a basic understanding of ecological issues and 2) a conscience.
Let’s get one thing clear: there is a lot of emphasis in definition. Ecotourism is a novel concept, an effort to make the global-rambler politically correct and free of guilt. No, Traveling to Johannesburg for the World Summit on Sustainable Development doesn’t constitute ecotourism. Neither does merely ogling at tigers from the safely of an elephant’s back.
|
