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Date: 2008-06
Isle of Skye, Scotland
By Simon Laroche
Skye or the Isle of Skye (Scottish Gaelic An t-Eilean Sgitheanach pronounced [əɲ tʰʲelan s̪kʲiə.anəx]), is the largest and most northerly island in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. Its population is around 9,000 inhabitants.
Sometimes referred to in Gaelic poetry and song as Eilean a' Cheò (The Misty Isle), Skye is renown for its natural beauty, history and wildlife. Although it has been suggested that the Gaelic name describes this shape there is no definitive agreement as to its origins.
At 1,656 km² (639 mi²), Skye is the second-largest island in Scotland after Lewis and Harris. The coastline of Skye is a series of peninsulas and bays radiating out from a centre dominated by the Cuillin Hills (Gaelic:An Cuiltheann). The Cuillin Hills, the Red Hills and Blaven have long been favourites with climbers and walkers. If you don't fancy the high places, the deeply indented coastline means you are never far from the sea.
Wildlife abounds on the Island, with birds from the tiny Goldcrest to magnificent Golden Eagle, mammals from Pygmy Shrew to Red Deer and fish from Saithe to Salmon. If you are lucky you might catch sight of the elusive Otter playing on the shore. The wide range of geology and topography provides habitats for many wild flowers.
As you travel around the Island it's not unusual to hear snatches of Scottish Gaelic, the indigenous language of the area. Gaelic culture and heritage pervade the atmosphere, each part of the Island having its own tales of times past and plans for the future.
The heritage of Skye & Lochalsh surrounds us in the landscape, from the dinosaur footprints in the rocks at Staffin Bay in North Skye, to the Neolithic chambered cairns and stone circles scattered in the countryside, and up to the present day peat banks, still utilised by the community.
The area can be seen as a microcosm of Highland life.
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The Temple of Preah Vihear, Cambodia
By Simon Laroche
To date, Unesco's 1972 Convention on the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage protects 851 properties of outstanding universal value, including 660 cultural, 166 natural and 25 mixed properties in 141 State Parties.
The sacred sanctuary of Preah Vihear Temple (ប្រាសាទព្រះវិហារ), built for the Hindu god Shiva in the first half of the 11th Century AD during the reign of King Su ryavarman, is on the list for consideration for new sites by the World Heritage Committee (WHC) during their annual meeting in July in the Canadian city of Quebec.
The property is situated on a promontory of the Dangrek Range (Dângrêk Mountains - Thai: ทิวเขาพนมดงรัก), 547m above the Cambodian Plain, known as Phnom Preah Vihear (Sacred Hermitage Mountain), on the modern border with Thailand.
The Temple of Preah Vihear is a unique architectural ensemble made up of a series of sanctuaries linked by a system of pavements and staircases on an axis 800m long.
This ensemble testifies to the Khmer genius for domesticating vast territories and adapting to the landscape. The property offers the visitor a magnificent landscape embracing nearly 360 of the plain below, a landscape opening out in front of the hermits' grottoes in the cliffs.
Like many Cambodian monuments, this sanctuary consists of a succession of courtyards on a common axis (though the north-south axis here is somewhat unusual).
The only access at present is by means of a steep, recently constructed track through the forest from a village, which houses soldiers and their families, as well as some Buddhist monks living at a pagoda, which also serves as a school.
From here two paths lead to the temple, one passing through a village (Pjum Prasat) comprised of Cambodians wholly dedicated to shops and other facilities for visitors. Some 550 people live here. The presence of this Cambodian community has been protested by the Thai government on the grounds that it sits inside Thai territory.
The other path comes through Thailand's Si Sa Ket province (Sisaket province - Thai: ศรีสะเกษ) by means of a monumental stairway with 159 steps, leading to a 25m long pavement flanked by enormous rampant na gas (snakes).
The sanctuary is enclosed by two groups of galleries laid out in cloister form, foreshadowing the cruciform cloisters of Angkor Wat. The central enclosure is accessible only by the three passages coming from Gopura No.1 and two small openings to east and west. The southern side is closed by Gopura No. 1 and the northern side by a structure which is in effect a false gate. Instead of opening out on the vast spaces of the Cambodian plain, it presents a blank face. The layout thus presents an increasingly closed aspect, until at the end all that is visible is the sky.
bangkokpost.com
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Saint Petersburg, Russia
By Simon Laroche
Saint Petersburg (Russian: Санкт-Петербу́рг, tr.: Sankt-Peterburg, Russian pronunciation: [sankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk]) is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city's other names were Petrograd (Петрогра́д, 1914–1924) and Leningrad (Ленингра́д, 1924–1991). It is often called just Petersburg (Петербу́рг) and is informally known as Piter (Пи́тер).
Founded by Tsar Peter I of Russia on May 27, 1703, it was the capital of the Russian Empire for more than two hundred years (1713-1728, 1732-1918). Saint Petersburg ceased being the capital in 1918 after the Russian Revolution of 1917. It is Russia's second largest and Europe's fourth largest city (by city limit) after Moscow, London and Paris. 4.6 million people live in the city, and over 6 million people live in the city's vicinity. Saint Petersburg is a major European cultural center, and important Russian port on the Baltic Sea.
Saint Petersburg has been dubbed the Venice of the North for its palace-lined waterways. It managed to escape the architectural incursions of Stalinism and its grandiose relics of tsarist days are largely intact. Sculpted by islands and the sinuous Neva River, the city is a vista of geometric elegance.
Within Saint Petersburg's geometry is a dust-devil of influences and styles and a bewitching vortex of life's extremes. It's breathtakingly gorgeous, it's ruefully falling apart; it's viscerally sensual, it's crude and vulgar; its very essence gets under your skin, but remains forever outside your grasp.
Less than three centuries have passed since Peter the Great began building his grand city, but it is difficult to visit its vast, crystalline squares and palaces without feeling the enormity of the gulf that separates that time from our own. All of which, of course, makes St. Petersburg more evocative of Russia's past than any place except perhaps the Moscow Kremlin. This impression is only deepened by a more familiar acquaintance. The enigmatic homeliness of Peter's cottage and the city's placid canals may contrast with the brooding grandeur of the Winter Palace, but they share with it a graceful stillness that is difficult to forget.
Visit St. Petersburg and Russia now on The World In Photos.
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Tongariro National Park, New Zealand
By Simon Laroche
Tongariro National Park is the oldest national park in New Zealand. It has been acknowledged by UNESCO as one of the 25 mixed cultural and natural World Heritage Sites.
Established in 1887, Tongariro National Park was the first national park in New Zealand and the fourth in the world. It is also a dual World Heritage area, a status which recognises the park's important Maori cultural and spiritual associations as well as its outstanding volcanic features.
It is a place of extremes and surprises, a place to explore and remember. From herb fields to forests, from tranquil lakes to desert-like plateau and active volcanoes - Tongariro has them all.
There are a number of Māori religious sites within the park, such as one at the grave to Te Heuheu Herekeikei. The summits of Tongariro, Ngauruhoe and Ruapehu are tapu (sacred).
Location:
Tongariro National Park is located in the central North Island of New Zealand. The nearest towns are Turangi, National Park and Ohakune.
The three andesitic volcanoes at the heart of the park - the mountains Tongariro, Ngauruhoe and Ruapehu form the southern limits of the Taupo Volcanic Zone. Volcanic activity in the zone started about 2 million years ago and is on-going today. Ruapehu and Ngauruhoe are two of the most active composite volcanoes in the world. In 1995 and again in 1996 Ruapehu has erupted in spectacular fashion sending clouds of ash and steam skyward and mantling the surrounding snow fields and forest with a thick film of ash.
Tongariro is home to many amazing native creatures including New Zealand's only native mammals, the short and long tailed bats. Birds you might see during daylight include North Island robins, fantails, parakeets and even a kereru (native pigeon) or two. Smaller, but no less interesting are the numerous insects that live in the park.
Activities in Tongariro National Park include treks and walks, mountaineering and climbing and snow sports (Two of New Zealand's largest ski fields, Whakapapa and Turoa, are located within the park).
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Dhammakaya temple, Pathum Thani, Thailand
By Simon Laroche
Located 28 km northeast of Bangkok city center, near Bangkok former Airport of Don Mueang, in Pathum Thani Province, the Dhammakaya temple was founded 20 years ago to offer instruction in Thamathayard meditation. The central bot is a marvel of modern Thai architecture which, unlike that of most Siamese temples, is characterized by pure, simple lines rather than highly ornate decoration.
The theme of simplicity continues in the interior, where a black marble floor and plain white walls accent the presiding Buddha image illuminated with a single spotlight. Dhammakaya temple honors the legendary meditation techniques of a Bangkok monk named Pra Mongkol Thepmooni. As taught by the monk from Wat Paknam, meditation involves initial concentration on an imaginary crystal ball, then transferring that focal point to the center of the student's mind. There, the sphere expands to incorporate the universe and ultimately induces Dhammakaya, the visible Buddha.
The Memorial Hall
Located opposite to the main entrance of Dhammakaya temple, the dome-shaped shrine was built on a circular form of construction, resembling the sphere that spreads the dhamma teachings of Lord Buddha.
The Great Memorial Hall of Phramongkolthepmuni was built in 2002, funded by donations from disciples of the late Ven. Phramongkolthepmuni, in honour of the highly revered monk whose rediscovery of the Dhammakaya tradition of meditation in 1914 had greatly revived the public interest in meditation and Buddhism.
Also known as Luang Pu Wat Paknam (the abbot of the Paknam Temple), the Most Venerable had dedicated himself to the study, practice and teaching of meditation. His famous concept that stillness of the mind is the key to material and spiritual success has helped many to discover the purpose of life and to experience inner peace and self-sustaining happiness.
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Angkor and Phnom Penh, Cambodia
By Simon Laroche
Angkor and Phnom Penh pull in two million visitors as Cambodia's tourism industry looks for its place in the sun
ACHARA ASHAYAGACHAT
The Angkor Wat and temples at its periphery constitute Cambodia's premier major tourist attractions and together with Phnom Penh, its capital, pulled in more than two million foreign visitors last year, a record for the country that is still smarting from decades of internal strife and a war-torn past.
Visitors from Japan, China, the US, South Korea, France and Thailand travelled to Cambodia in ever greater numbers bringing in US$140 million in foreign currency to the impoverished country, accounting for 10 percent of its gross national product (GNP) last year.
Angkor, the world's biggest temple complex sits within a 64-km radius straddling several villages in Siem Reap, was built from the eighth to the 13th century, with the most famous Angkor Wat constructed during 1113-50 by King Surayavarman II.
In recent years it has become easier for tourists to travel to Siem Reap, the biggest city in Cambodia after Phnom Penh, and especially so for Thais as there are better roads and more choice of transportation.
Terms of entry have been eased. Thais travelling by land can apply for visa on arrival at the border, a facility that also extends to foreign tourists travelling to Cambodia from Thailand, which has led to a remarkable surge in the number of Europeans visiting Siem Reap.
Visitors these days will find life in Cambodia is easier and more convenient. A number of souvenir shops have sprung up in Siem Reap. Vendors can be seen hawking post cards and ancient replicas to tourists, while restaurants, taxi or tuk-tuk service as well as medical facilities are more reliable.
Phnom Penh, the capital city has been refurbished with more monuments to national heroes such as Monk Chuon Nath and linguist Phirom Ou or Kram Ngouy, while the dykes and the riverfront avenue overlooking the Chaktomuk, the confluence of lake Tonle Sap, Mekong and Bassac rivers has been beautified.
The riverfront area which boasts landmarks such as the Royal Palace and National Museum is dotted with trendy pubs and restaurants, boutiques and galleries.
Places like the dome-shaped Phsar Thmey central market and Phsar Toul Tom Poung, the Russian market, are full of local and foreign shoppers, including Thais who can be seen buying anything from fake DVDs to handicrafts, silverware and silk souvenirs.
The grim reminders of Khmer Rouge's genocidal rule - Choeung Ek Memorial (The Killing Field) and the Toul Sleng torture camp (S-21 Museum) - are also popular tourist draws, so is Wat Phnom that houses a small pagoda marking the founding place of the current capital in 1372.
But by far it is Angkor that captures the imagination of every visiting tourist. It became the focus of interest in the late 19th century after its discovery by French naturalist Henri Mouhot. The city of Angkor was founded by King Yasovarman I who ruled from 889-990, but the monument associated with Khmer greatness - the Angkor Wat - was not built until 200 years later.
King Suryavarman II built a temple dedicated to Hindu god Vishnu at Angkor Wat, marking the high point of Khmer civilisation which stretched from Cambodia to parts of Thailand and northern Vietnam until the mid-14th century.
The end of Angkor civilisation was partly brought about by a change of faith that swept the region, from Hinduism and animism Buddhism to more democratic and principled Buddhist practices and by the marauding armies of neighbouring states.
Recent excavation with help of advanced remote sensing radar to map the ancient civilisation and its environs reveals a complex measuring about 200-400 square kilometres surrounded by farmlands, villages, temples and ponds, all connected by a web of earthen-walled canals crisscrossing the Khmer empire covering an area of 3,000 square kilometres. The canals were used for irrigation as transport arteries.
In the past, restoration and excavation was restricted by political instability in the country, but with funding now pouring in from Japan, India, France and Unesco the work has picked up and more tourists can now be seen visiting the historical ruins.
Apart from the ruins reachable within less than an hour's drive from downtown, Siem Reap also boasts other attractions, such as the Royal Independence Garden near Grand Hotel d'Angkor, several ancient pagodas and the newly-opened Angkor National Museum.
Shoppers will enjoy night markets selling handicrafts, beers and snacks, clothes, silk and stuff similar to what you will find at the night bazzar in Chiang Mai or Chatuchak in Bangkok. All tricycle and taxi service operators can guide tourists there and they will find out that bargaining the prices down is as much fun as a challenge.
If you come with friends, you will feel less insecure and don't feel disheartened if the stuff you come across there is similar to what you find in Thailand or Vietnam. This is globalisation!
Bangkokpost.com
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Copyright © 2004-2013 TWIP | twip.fr | The-World-In-Photos.com | Photo-of-the-World.com, all rights reserved.
Users of this site agree to be bound by the Terms of Use of the The World In Photos Web Site.