NATURE OF THE WORLD

Li River , China

noreply@blogger.com (Lightning) — Mon, 05 Feb 2018 19:37:00 +0000

The Li River or Lijiang is a river in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China. It flows 83 kilometres from Guilin to Yangshuo, where the karst mountains and river sights highlight the famous Li River cruise.

The Li River originates in the Mao'er Mountains in Xing'an County and flows in the general southern direction through Guilin, Yangshuo and Pingle. In Pingle the Li River merges with the Lipu River and the Gongcheng River and continues south as the Gui River, which falls into the Xi Jiang, the western tributary of the Pearl River, in Wuzhou.

The upper course of the River Li is connected by the ancient Lingqu Canal with the Xiang River, which flows north into the Yangtze; this in the past made the Li and Gui Rivers part of a highly important waterway connecting the Yangtze Valley with the Pearl River Delta.

The 437-kilometre (272 mi) course of the Li and Gui Rivers is flanked by green hills. Cormorant fishing is often associated with the Lijiang (see bird intelligence).

Tourist cruises in different boats (varying from small bamboo-like rafts to larger, air-conditioned ships) are offered on the Li River throughout the year and are one of the major attractions of Guilin.

Features

Reed Flute Cave: a limestone cave with a large number of stalactites, stalagmites, stalacto-stalagmites, rocky curtains, and cave corals.

Seven-Star Park: the largest park in Guilin.

Mountain of Splendid Hues: a mountain consisting of many layers of variously colored rocks.

Elephant-Trunk Hill: a hill that looks like a giant elephant drinking water with its trunk. It is symbol of the city of Guilin.

Lingqu Canal: dug in 214 BC, is one of the three big water conservation projects of ancient China and the oldest existing canal in the world.

Other attractions include: Duxiu Peak, Nanxi Park, the Taohua River, the Giant Banyan, and the Huashan-Lijiang National Folklore Park.

Origin Wikipedia...

NATURE OF THE WORLD

Nepal Kathmandu

noreply@blogger.com (Lightning) — Sun, 16 Nov 2014 09:27:00 +0000

Kathmandu is the capital and largest municipality of Nepal. It is the only city of Nepal with the administrative status of Mahanagarpalika (Metropolitan City), as compared to Up-Mahanagarpalika (Sub-Metropolitan City) or Nagarpalika (Municipality). 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 has a population of close to 1 million people. The municipal area is 50.67 square kilometres (19.56 sq mi) and has a population density of 3000per km² and 17000 per km square in city.

The city stands at an elevation of approximately 1,400 metres (4,600 ft) in the bowl-shaped Kathmandu Valley of central Nepal. It is surrounded by four major mountains: 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.

The city of Kathmandu was named after Kasthamandap temple, that stands in Durbar Square. In Sanskrit, Kastha means "wood" and Mandap means "covered shelter". This temple, also known as Maru Satal, was built in 1596 by King Laxmi Narsingh Malla. The two-storey structure is made entirely of wood, and uses no iron nails nor supports. According to legend, all the timber used to build this pagoda was obtained from a single tree.

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 . 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 , and Patan and Bhaktapur are known as Yala Desa and Khwopa Desa . "Yen" is the shorter form of Yambu , which originally referred to the northern half of Kathmandu.

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"

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Lake Brienz , Switzerland

noreply@blogger.com (Lightning) — Sun, 16 Nov 2014 07:50:00 +0000

Lake Brienz is a lake that lies to the north of the Alps, in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. It has a length of nearly nine miles, a wide of 1.7 miles, and a maximum depth of 850 feet. Its area is roughly 11.5 square miles, and the surface is nearly 2,000 feet above sea level. The lake is fed by the upper parts of the Aar River at the eastern side and by the Lutschine River, flowing in from the valleys of Lauterbrunnen and Grindelwald, at its southwestern corner. It flows out into a further part of the Aar river at the western side.

Brienz is also the name of a village, and that is where the lake gets its name. That village is at the eastern side. The lake ends on the western side with the Bodeli, a bit of land that divides it from Lake Thun. Bonigen is a village that takes up the lake frontage of the Bodeli, and the bigger resort town of Interlake is on the Aar river in between those lakes. Iseltwald is a village on the southern shore, and Oberried, Niederried, and Ringgenberg are on the northern shore.

The lake has a poor nutrient composition, and fishing is not that popular as a result. However, there was more than 10,000 kg of fish caught in 2010.

Passenger ships have been out on the lake since the late 1830s, and there are five passenger ships out on the lake right now.

The Burnig railway line follows along the lake’s northern shore, and there is a local road as well, and the A8 motorway uses an alternate, and somewhat tunneled, route over the southern shore.

Lake Brienz is a truly beautiful lake. It has crystal clear waters, and it is set against a backgroup of towering mountains. Some of the settlements have some amazing places to eat fresh fish from the lake. Make sure that you take a digital camera along because you’re not going to get a chance to see lakes like this back home. The crystal clear blue waters are not unique to Switzerland, but they definitely leave a major impression.

NATURE OF THE WORLD

Easter Island - Chile

noreply@blogger.com (Lightning) — Sat, 09 Aug 2014 05:19:00 +0000

Easter Island (Rapa Nui: Rapa Nui, Spanish: Isla de Pascua) is a Polynesian island in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, at the southeasternmost point of the Polynesian Triangle. Easter Island is famous for its 887 extant monumental statues, called moai, created by the early Rapa Nui people. In 1995, UNESCO named Easter Island a World Heritage Site, with much of the island protected within Rapa Nui National Park.

Polynesian people settled on Easter Island in the first millennium AD, and created a thriving culture, as evidenced by the moai and other artifacts. However, human activity, the introduction of the Polynesian rat and overpopulation led to gradual deforestation and extinction of natural resources, which caused the demise of the Rapa Nui civilization. By the time of European arrival in 1722, the island's population had dropped to 2,000–3,000 from a high of approximately 15,000 just a century earlier. Diseases carried by European sailors and Peruvianslave raiding of the 1860s further reduced the Rapa Nui population, down to 111 in 1877.

Easter Island is one of the most remote inhabited islands in the world. The nearest inhabited land (50 residents) is Pitcairn Island 2,075 kilometres (1,289 mi) away, the nearest town with a population over 500 is Rikitea on island Mangareva 2,606 km (1,619 mi) away, and the nearest continental point lies in central Chile, 3,512 kilometres (2,182 mi) away.

Easter Island is a special territory of Chile that was annexed in 1888. Administratively, it belongs to the Valparaíso Region and more specifically, is the only commune of the Province Isla de Pascua. According to the 2012 census, it has about 5,800 residents, of which some 60% are descendants of the aboriginal Rapa Nui.

The large stone statues, or moai, for which Easter Island is famous, were carved in the period 1100–1680 CE (rectified radio-carbon dates). A total of 887 monolithic stone statues have been inventoried on the island and in museum collections so far. Although often identified as "Easter Island heads", the statues have torsos, most of them ending at the top of the thighs, although a small number are complete figures that kneel on bent knees with their hands over their stomachs. Some upright moai have become buried up to their necks by shifting soils.

Almost all (95%) moai were carved from compressed, easily worked solidified volcanic ash or tuff found at a single site on the side of the extinct volcano Rano Raraku. The native islanders who carved them used only stone hand chisels, mainly basalt toki, which lie in place all over the quarry. The stone chisels were sharpened by chipping off a new edge when dulled. The volcanic stone was first wetted to soften it before sculpting began, then again periodically during the process. While many teams worked on different statues at the same time, a single moai took a team of five or six men approximately a year to complete. Each statue represented the deceased head of a lineage.

Only a quarter of the statues were installed, while nearly half remained in the quarry at Rano Raraku and the rest sat elsewhere, presumably on their way to intended locations. The largest moai raised on a platform is known as "Paro". It weighs 82 tons and is 9.8 m (32.15 ft) long. Several other statues of similar weight were transported to several ahu on the North and South coasts.

Possible means by which the statues were moved include employment of a miro manga erua, a Y-shaped sledge with cross pieces, pulled with ropes made from the tough bark of the hau-hau tree, and tied around the statue's neck. Anywhere from 180 to 250 men were required for pulling, depending on the size of the moai. Some 50 of the statues were re-erected in modern times. One of the first was on Ahu Ature Huke in Anakena beach in 1958. It was raised using traditional methods during a Heyerdahl expedition. Another method that might have been used would be to attach ropes to the statue and rock it, tugging it forward as it rocked. This would fit the legend of the Mo'ai 'walking' to their final locations. This might have been managed by as few as 15 people. This is supported by the following evidence:

The name "Easter Island" was given by the island's first recorded European visitor, the Dutch explorer Jacob Roggeveen, who encountered it on Easter Sunday (5 April) 1722, while searching for Davis or David's island. Roggeveen named it Paasch-Eyland (18th century Dutch for "Easter Island"). The island's official Spanish name, Isla de Pascua, also means "Easter Island".

The current Polynesian name of the island, Rapa Nui "Big Rapa", was coined after the slave raids of the early 1860s, and refers to the island's topographic resemblance to the island of Rapa in the Bass Islands of theAustral Islands group. However Thor Heyerdahl argued that Rapa was the original name of Easter Island, and that Rapa Iti was named by refugees from there.

The phrase Te pito o te henua has been said to be the original name of the island since William Churchill (1912) gave it the romantic translation "Land's End" in his Voyage à l'Île de Pâques, published in 1877. William inquired about the phrase and was told that there were three te pito o te henua , these being the three capes (land's ends) of the island. He was unable to elicit a Polynesian name for the island itself, and concluded that there may not have been one.

According to Barthel (1974), oral tradition has it that the island was first named Te pito o te kainga a Hau Maka "The little piece of land of Hau Maka". However, there are two words pronounced pito in Rapa Nui, one meaning 'end' and one 'navel', and the phrase can thus also mean "the Navel of the World". This was apparently its actual meaning: Alphonse Pinart gave it the actual translation "the Navel of the World". Another name, Mata ki te rangi, means "Eyes looking to the sky".

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NATURE OF THE WORLD

Victoria & Alfred Waterfront

noreply@blogger.com (Lightning) — Thu, 15 May 2014 03:51:00 +0000

The Victoria & Alfred Waterfront in the historic heart of Cape Town's working harbour is South Africa's most-visited destination, having the highest rate of foreign tourists of any attraction in the country. Situated between Robben Island and Table Mountain and set against a backdrop of sea and mountain views, it offers a variety of shopping and entertainment options to visitors, intermingled with office locations, the Somerset Hospital, hotels (such as the historical Breakwater Lodge - once a 19th-century prison) and luxury apartments in the residential marina.

It houses the Nelson Mandela Gateway which offers boat trips to Robben Island, as well as the Two Oceans Aquarium and Chavonnes Battery museum. The SAS Somerset is used as a museum and moored within the inner basin.

Prince Alfred, second son of Queen Victoria, began construction of the harbour in 1860. The first basin was named after himself, the second after his mother, hence the name.

The Victoria & Alfred Waterfront development is a renewal project that incorporates much of the historic harbour infrastructure. The whole complex is managed by a private company owned by Transnet. An international consortium of Dubai World and London & Regional Properties acquired the development in 2006 at a record value in South African terms of 7.4 billion rand. They sold the completed attraction to South African owners Growthpoint, the country's largest property company, and the Public Investment Corporation in 2011.

Origin Wikipedia...

NATURE OF THE WORLD

Li River , China

Nepal Kathmandu

NATURE OF THE WORLD

Lake Brienz , Switzerland

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Easter Island - Chile

NATURE OF THE WORLD

Victoria & Alfred Waterfront

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Chillon Castle, Switzerland

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Dunnottar Castle Scotland

Andaman and Nicobar Islands

Galápagos Islands 1

Gaiola Island - Italy

Iguazu Falls - Argentina

Vernazza, Italy

Thousand Islands - Canada

Melbourne Victoria Australia

Kilyos Beach Turkey

Antananarivo Madagascar

Negril Jamaica

Annecy, France

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Gozo , Malta

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Great Zimbabwe National Monument

Republic of Malawi

Positano, Italy

Santorini, Greece

Ponte Vecchio in Florence, Italy

Geghard Armenia