Places For Tour - Your Guide to the World

Lijiang in China, Yunnan

China - Yunnan Comments Off

Apr 252013

Introduction :
Lijiang is a prefecture level city located in the province of Yunnan in China. Lijiang is home to more than 1.2 million people and has an area of 21219 square kilometres in area. The main attractions in Lijiang is the Old Town which is a World Heritage Site together with scenic natural and man made attractions which made the prefecture of Lijiang a popular attraction for tourists in the Yunnan province of China.

Overall aerial view of Lijiang City
Image attribution to bluebulgaria @ Flickr

The Black Dragon Pool linked by a bridge to a historic building
Image attribution to mulliganstu @ Flickr

The Jade Dragon Mountain just behind the Black Dragon Pool
Image attribution to azotesdivinos @ Flickr

Night time at the Black Dragon Pool
Image attribution to adifromusa @ Flickr

The Wangu Pavilion in Lijiang Old Town
Image attribution to bluebulgaria @ Flickr

Some attractions :
Black Dragon Pool – Great nice natural scenery with some historical buildings and a beautiful mountain serving as the background.

Old Town of Lijiang – World Heritage Site since 1997 and is famous for the orderly system of water canals and bridges around the city. The old town has a history that dates back to more than 800 years ago.

Lugu Lake – Around 200 km away from the Lijiang city centre, the Lugu Lake shores are inhabited by many minority ethnic groups and is considered home of the Moso Tribe. It is a natural lake with a horseshoe shaped and is located on a high plateau within the Xiaoliangshan Hills with an elevation of 2685 metres.

Jade Dragon Snow Mountain – A mountain capped with a glacier peak named Shanzidou at an elevation of 5596 metres. The view of the gardens at Black Dragon Pool together with the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain forms one of the most scenic views in China and is classified as a AAAAA scenic area by the Chinese government.

Mu Palace – The palace of the Mu Clan and the Naxi people which have ruled Lijiang for over 400 years with a Daoist temple at the top of the palace.

Canals linking the Lijiang Old Town
Image attribution to Jpatokal @ Wiki

Walking along the streets at the Lijiang Old Town

Courtyard at Shuhe Town which is part of the Old Town
Image attribution to bricoleurbanism @ Flickr

Water Wheels at the old town
Image attribution to Colegota @ Wiki

Women of the Naxi tribe
Image attribution to Colegota @ Wiki

History :
When the Mu Clan ruled from the Lijiang city, it was known as the Baisha Old Town and was the political and commercial center for the Naxi people since 658 AD for 400 years. The city began to take shape during the Southern Song Dynasty era and was named as Dayan County during the Ming Dynasty. The Lijiang Old Town was also a distribution center using for trading along the Ancient Tea-Horse Road which is also referred to as the Southern Silk Road.

Scenic view of the Lugu Lake
Image attribution to blokeonabike @ Flickr

Palace of the Mu Clan which ruled Lijiang region for over 400 years
The Impressions Show at the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain

The glacier peak of the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain
Image attribution to chensiyuan @ Wiki

Palace of the Mu Clan which ruled Lijiang region for over 400 years
Image attribution to chinatravelgo @ Flickr

Getting there :
The nearest airport to Lijiang is the Lijiang Sanyi Airport (LJG) which is located 25 km south from the city center of Lijiang and is served by most local airlines from major cities all over China. The nearest international airport would be from the Kunming Changshui International Airport which is 591 km away from Lijiang.

Fingal’s Cave in Scotland – Inner Hebrides

Scotland - Inner Hebrides Comments Off

Apr 222013

Introduction :
The Fingal’s Cave is a sea cave located the uninhabited island of Staffa, amongest the archipelago of islands in Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The main features in Fingal’s cave is the arching of basalt columns forming a ceiling and shaping it like a natural catheral emanating eerie sounds produced by the echo of waves. The cave measures 85 metres in depth and 23 metres in height and is formed entirely from Paleocene lava flow of hexagonally jointed basalt columns. Due to the natural sounds from the cave, it is also known as Uaimh Bhinn in Gaelic, which means the “Cave of Melody”.

Entrance to Fingal's cave
Entrance to Fingal’s cave
Image attribution to wanderingz @ Flickr

Basalt columns that make up the cave surroundings
Image attribution to carron @ Flickr

Closer look from inside the cave out
Image attribution to dinksi @ Flickr

History :
Little was known about the Fingal’s Cave until 1772 when it was made known to the English by naturalist Sir Joseph Banks. It was named after the hero of an epic Scottish Gaelic poem by Scots poet-historian James Macpherson and also has a part to play in Irish mythology.

Slippery route towards the cave
Image attribution to dinksi @ Flickr

Viewing the Fingal's Cave from on top
Viewing the Fingal’s Cave from on top
Image attribution to hotgingeranddynamite @ Flickr

A measure of the cave size with tourists around the area during departure
Image attribution to corncolonel @ Flickr

Getting there :
The nearest airport to the Fingal’s Cave is the Glasgow Airport (GLA) which is around 160 km away from the Isle of Mull where boat trips can be easily arranged to the Fingal’s cave

Giza Necropolis in Egypt, Cairo

Egypt - Cairo Comments Off

Apr 192013

Introduction :
The Giza Necropolis is situated on the outskirts of the capital city of Cairo in Egypt. The Great Pyramid of Giza is the landmark attraction in the Giza Necropolis is also the oldest Seven Wonders of the Ancient World and the only existing one, which is famous world wide and firmly rooted into the memories of everyone in the world. Other attractions in the necropolis include the Great Sphinx of Giza, the Khafre’s pyramid complex, the Tomb of Queen Khentkaues as well as many tombs of ancient Egyptian royalty.

The Khufu Pyramid is the only oldest and only existing Seven Ancient wonders of the World
Image attribution to steveinleighton @ Flickr

Aerial view of the Giza Necropolis
Image attribution to Robster1983 @ Flickr

The Great Sphinx is the oldest monumental sculpture in the world
Image attribution to superblinkymac @ Flickr

Closer look at the Great Pyramid
Image attribution to superblinkymac @ Flickr

Closer look at the Great Pyramid
Close up of the Great Sphinx
Image attribution to steveinleighton @ Flickr

History :
Great Pyramid of Giza – Also known as the Khufu pyramid, it took a period of 20 years to be constructed and remained the tallest building in the world for more than 3800 years after completion at around 2560 BC.
Great Sphinx of Giza – This largest monolith statue in the world was build around 2558 BC and represents a mythical creature with a lion’s body and a human head at 73.5 meters tall and 19.3 metres wide.
The building of the Giza necropolis was one of the largest project in ancient times and when a Greek historian visited Giza in 450 BC, he was told by the priests that the Great Pyramid alone had taken 400,000 men and 20 years to build.

Ancient tombs around the necropolis
Image attribution to bobthemagicdragon @ Flickr