Monday, February 23, 2009
Tahiti
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Land of the Thunder Dragon
The Kingdom of Bhutan is a landlocked nation in South Asia, located at the eastern end of the Himalaya Mountains and is bordered to the south, east and west by India and to the north by the Tibet Autonomous Region of the People’s Republic of China. Bhutan is a small country (same size like Switzerland) and it doesn’t connect to the ocean.
Since Bhutan is a small country and is not well-known by people. It used to be “one of the most isolated nations in the world”, but when all the technology changed, this country has opened the door. In 2006 business week rated Bhutan the happiest country in Asia and the eighth happiest country in the world. The state religion of this country is Vajrayana Buddhism. If you go to travel in Bhutan, the things that you can buy are handmade products and imported from India and Nepal. Bhutan doesn’t have big a factory in the country, that’s why they have to import products from neighbors. If your main purpose is to shop, Bhutan might not be a good destination, but if you are a stamp collector, you are in the right place. The stamps in Bhutan have various styles such as rectangular, triangle, circle, or 3D. Most travelers in Bhutan will spend most of the time looking around this small country to see their beautiful culture. The major activity in this country is hiking and trekking. People said the regular time of one hiking/trekking trip will take 11 days.
I found many fantastic pictures of this country in a Thai website. I can’t post all the pictures in my page. So, I just put the link under “Related blogs & Links” for you guys to check it out. You might not be able to understand the language above the pictures but just look. I think the pictures already have the meaning itself.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Maya Bay – Paradise on earth (The beach filmed)
Some places in Thailand still have perfect nature. There is no commercial building but only local people (fisherman) who live there. Most of people in the south of Thailand are Muslim and they are very friendly. Most tourists fly to Bangkok and stay in Bangkok for a few days and fly or bus to the south. If you fly to the south, it will take time only couple hours. The bus will take 10 – 13 hours drive. The price to travel in Thailand is not expensive (The most expensive will be plane tickets). Hotel is about $10 - $50 per night. If you want to live in the hut (no air-conditioning) it will cost $10 – $20 per night. Even if it is not convenience like staying at five stars hotel but the advantage is you will feel the nature very closely!!
Tourists from Scandinavian like to go to there and stay during winter in their country. A lot cheaper and warmer!! Night life is inexpensive as well. You can hang out with friends at the bar and spend only $30 to get drunk. Fresh seafood is a lot cheaper than America (you can’t compare). I went to south beach last summer and I had a big meal with lobster, big crabs, big shrimp, oysters, steaks, fish, and drinks with five people, it only cost $200. Oh…Maya bay was filmed movie “The beach” in 2000 as well!
I just checked tour package from Bangkok to Phi Phi. It cost $200 including plane tickets from Bangkok to Phi Phi, hotel, scuba diving, foods, and boat for 3 days and 2 nights!!! Is that amazing?
Monday, February 9, 2009
K2 Killer Mountain – the world’s most difficult and dangerous climb
K2 is the second-highest mountain on Earth (after Mount Everest). Although the summit of Everest is at a higher altitude, K2 is a much more difficult and dangerous climb. Due to its terrible weather and comparatively greater height above surrounding terrain and a peak elevation of 8,611 meters. K2 is part of the Karakoram segment of the Himalayan range, and is located in the northern Areas of Pakistan, on the border between Pakistan’s northern territories, and County of Xinjiang, China. K2 is known as the Savage Mountain due to the difficulty of ascent and the fact that for every four people who reach the summit, one dies trying. Among the” Eight-thousanders”, K2 has the third highest climbing mortality rate.
The mountain was first discovered in 1856 by the Western world and it took another 100 years before the first men reached the summit in July 1954, an Italian expedition succeeded in ascending the summit. The first woman to reach the summit was Wanda Rutkiewicz, of Poland 1986. The next four women to reach the summit were all killed in climbing incidents. Three of them died descending from K2 itself, among them feted British mountaineer Alison Hargreaves in 1995, and Rutkiewicz herself died on Kanchenjunga in 1992. This led to the legend that K2 carried a “curse on women”. However, the “curse” was broken in 2004 when Edurne Pasaban reached the summit and descended successfully, and again in 2006 when Nives Meroi of Italy and Yuka Komatsu of Japan became, respectively, the seventh and eighth women to summit K2, both descending successfully.
In August 2008 25 climbers reached the summit but nine died on descent after the avalanche swept away their ropes. Even though it is very dangerous, K2 seems to call to the mountaineers for the challenge of the life time. It is considered mountaineering’s greatest challenge!! Even though people face the risk of death, they will risk it to show the athletic ability, endurance and cheer strength of will to say that they have climb the most difficult mountain on planet earth!! The people who have accomplish this tasks their name will be recorded in history for all time. Do you want to try?