Middle pic is the fort's main gate - which defenders would leave open when invaders approached. Bottom pic is 2nd fortress gate. They would close both the main & 2nd gates trapping invaders between gates where they would be "dispatched". Note stone cannon balls on walls in front of 2nd gate. There are 2 more gates beyond the 2nd gate - total = 4 gates!
Showing posts with label UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Show all posts
Showing posts with label UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Show all posts
21 July 2010
Golden Fort - Jaisalmer
Middle pic is the fort's main gate - which defenders would leave open when invaders approached. Bottom pic is 2nd fortress gate. They would close both the main & 2nd gates trapping invaders between gates where they would be "dispatched". Note stone cannon balls on walls in front of 2nd gate. There are 2 more gates beyond the 2nd gate - total = 4 gates!
05 October 2008
Cambodia FAQs
As one might expect, I have received many questions about Cambodia. So - I decided once again to use the FAQ format to respond;
Cambodian Government? Technically, Cambodia is a Constitutional Monarchy with almost all of the elected officials either being part of or closely affiliated with members of the royal family. What exists today is the result of what evidently a very bloody coup that occurred in 1999. In reality, the government is evidently a very oppressive, strong-armed dictatorship. This was corroborated by what few Cambodians would speak openly about it and 2 Europeans I met who are ex pats working in Phnom Penh.
Cambodia vs Kampuchea? My official world pocket atlas says that "Cambodia" is the English word for the country and that "kampuchea" is its "official local name". With no exceptions, the Cambodians I spoke to referred to it as Cambodia - of course this may have been because I was a westerner!? However, interestingly all Vietnamese and Thai refer to it as Kampuchea. When the Khmer Rouge were in power they referred to it only as Kampuchea. Btw - the Vietnamese, Thais and Lao all consider Cambodians almost "sub humans" probably because many believe that are "black Indians" (as in India)!? And of course, for centuries, there have been many wars between Indochinese countries and Cambodia.
Mixture of Tourist? 98% of the tourists I saw were Asians - about an equal mixture of Koreans and Japanese with some obvious presence of Chinese (mainland). The remainder for the most part were Aussies and Kiwis _ only a very few Europeans. I met no Americans!?
Money = "Reils" not "reals" as previously reported!
Angkor sites and restorations? The entire, massive Angkor area is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Many parts of it have been "restored" and many more areas are constantly being restored. Each of these multi-year, multi-million-$ restoration projects are undertaken by various countries funded by both the sponsoring countries and UNESCO. As you tour the sites, guides note both the country involved and years of restoration activities of past, current and future projects.
Bacon? Yes - the perfect food was available daily on the breakfast buffet. Of course everyday it was served almost raw. But no problem - I just took it to the omelet cook who properly fried it up in his omelet skillet - giving me weird looks while doing so!?
Stupas are mausoleums where Buddhist deposit bone or cremation remains of their dead. Monks actually "live" or "reside" in many of these stupas and say/recite daily prayers for the souls of the stupa residents. Note the pagoda's 7-headed serpents' interlocking curled tail to the right whose bodies surrounds the pagoda!
Cambodian Government? Technically, Cambodia is a Constitutional Monarchy with almost all of the elected officials either being part of or closely affiliated with members of the royal family. What exists today is the result of what evidently a very bloody coup that occurred in 1999. In reality, the government is evidently a very oppressive, strong-armed dictatorship. This was corroborated by what few Cambodians would speak openly about it and 2 Europeans I met who are ex pats working in Phnom Penh.
Cambodia vs Kampuchea? My official world pocket atlas says that "Cambodia" is the English word for the country and that "kampuchea" is its "official local name". With no exceptions, the Cambodians I spoke to referred to it as Cambodia - of course this may have been because I was a westerner!? However, interestingly all Vietnamese and Thai refer to it as Kampuchea. When the Khmer Rouge were in power they referred to it only as Kampuchea. Btw - the Vietnamese, Thais and Lao all consider Cambodians almost "sub humans" probably because many believe that are "black Indians" (as in India)!? And of course, for centuries, there have been many wars between Indochinese countries and Cambodia.
Mixture of Tourist? 98% of the tourists I saw were Asians - about an equal mixture of Koreans and Japanese with some obvious presence of Chinese (mainland). The remainder for the most part were Aussies and Kiwis _ only a very few Europeans. I met no Americans!?
Money = "Reils" not "reals" as previously reported!
Angkor sites and restorations? The entire, massive Angkor area is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Many parts of it have been "restored" and many more areas are constantly being restored. Each of these multi-year, multi-million-$ restoration projects are undertaken by various countries funded by both the sponsoring countries and UNESCO. As you tour the sites, guides note both the country involved and years of restoration activities of past, current and future projects.
Bacon? Yes - the perfect food was available daily on the breakfast buffet. Of course everyday it was served almost raw. But no problem - I just took it to the omelet cook who properly fried it up in his omelet skillet - giving me weird looks while doing so!?
Stupas are mausoleums where Buddhist deposit bone or cremation remains of their dead. Monks actually "live" or "reside" in many of these stupas and say/recite daily prayers for the souls of the stupa residents. Note the pagoda's 7-headed serpents' interlocking curled tail to the right whose bodies surrounds the pagoda!
17 September 2008
Hoi An
After many, many attempts .... I am finally, remarkably, miraculosly linked to a tower someplace!
A typical Hoi An street - no cars or trucks are allowed.
Perhaps Hoi An's most photographed site and therefore trademark treasue, is - the Japanese Covered Bridge. No one really knows how old it is - like so many sites in the city. There is a still active Japanese Buddist temple in the middle of it <- probably the reason it was originally covered
Hoi An, 42 kilometers SE of Da Nang, was established by Japanese, Chinese, Indian, and Dutch traders as an international trading center in the mid-1500s. It has changed little over the centuriess and UNESCO declared it a World Hertage site in 1999. It is now known not only for its architectural history but also for its building, wood carving, lacquer-ware, and paper lattern artisans. I found it to be an incredible place.
I love my Chinese temples/community houses and any Asian dragons. .Both attracted me to this structure! The Cantonese temple had a striking dragon motif - inside and outside. This is the exterior main entrance.
The many dragons throughout were intrically detailed - many appeared to be made of glazed terracota - including thr roof tiles. This pic is of the large dragon fountain in the open center (located in front of the main alter) of the hiu quan. Note intricate glazed tile dragons on roof. To me, this is amazingly interesting stuff - I spent more than an hour in this tiny structure - most tourist stay < href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbFNwy5LXFJgPDr5Qv_OnNP8Sl3UR5w-47QGY_XYtg7BFlkcMzKHus6X50Q6CdW5IHUgLIVqctFuhDUq7R3_C64HNaG5ONERjMoDgKi1W47jBiXi0fpXGufoH7wlk_qrnGrPUs1RqzOYeh/s1600-h/48+Hoi+An+-+Phung+Hung+House+Exterior+Built+1780.jpg" target="_blank">
Exterior of Phung Hung (Vietnamese) house built in 1780 - has been owned by the same family for 8 generations. Incredibly preserved wood structure - and still being lived in by descendents of original builders!
Interior of Phung Hung house, 2nd floor shrines - to family ancesters on left and Budda on right.
Entry gate to a 300+ yo Chinese Phus Kien temple - with a major dragon motif. I hope you will be able to discern glazed dragons adoring gate roofing - all supposedly original!
Phuc Kien temple itself and a happy man with even more dragons. Again, I hope you can see the many glazed dragons on the roof!
A typical Hoi An street - no cars or trucks are allowed.
Perhaps Hoi An's most photographed site and therefore trademark treasue, is - the Japanese Covered Bridge. No one really knows how old it is - like so many sites in the city. There is a still active Japanese Buddist temple in the middle of it <- probably the reason it was originally covered
Hoi An, 42 kilometers SE of Da Nang, was established by Japanese, Chinese, Indian, and Dutch traders as an international trading center in the mid-1500s. It has changed little over the centuriess and UNESCO declared it a World Hertage site in 1999. It is now known not only for its architectural history but also for its building, wood carving, lacquer-ware, and paper lattern artisans. I found it to be an incredible place.
I love my Chinese temples/community houses and any Asian dragons. .Both attracted me to this structure! The Cantonese temple had a striking dragon motif - inside and outside. This is the exterior main entrance.
The many dragons throughout were intrically detailed - many appeared to be made of glazed terracota - including thr roof tiles. This pic is of the large dragon fountain in the open center (located in front of the main alter) of the hiu quan. Note intricate glazed tile dragons on roof. To me, this is amazingly interesting stuff - I spent more than an hour in this tiny structure - most tourist stay < href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbFNwy5LXFJgPDr5Qv_OnNP8Sl3UR5w-47QGY_XYtg7BFlkcMzKHus6X50Q6CdW5IHUgLIVqctFuhDUq7R3_C64HNaG5ONERjMoDgKi1W47jBiXi0fpXGufoH7wlk_qrnGrPUs1RqzOYeh/s1600-h/48+Hoi+An+-+Phung+Hung+House+Exterior+Built+1780.jpg" target="_blank">
Exterior of Phung Hung (Vietnamese) house built in 1780 - has been owned by the same family for 8 generations. Incredibly preserved wood structure - and still being lived in by descendents of original builders!
Interior of Phung Hung house, 2nd floor shrines - to family ancesters on left and Budda on right.
Entry gate to a 300+ yo Chinese Phus Kien temple - with a major dragon motif. I hope you will be able to discern glazed dragons adoring gate roofing - all supposedly original!
Phuc Kien temple itself and a happy man with even more dragons. Again, I hope you can see the many glazed dragons on the roof!
14 September 2008
Off to Hoi An and Nha Trang
Just in case I go missing - I leave Saigon tomorrow, Monday, Sep 15th on Vietnames Airline's 11:30AM flight to DaNang. Then an immediate 1-2 hour bus ride to Hoi An - a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
I will stay there 2-3 days and then go to Nha Trang.
Of course I will be in touch!
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