"Crazy House" To Visit In Dalat

This "Crazy House" can be visited in Dalat, it was built by a daugther of Ho Chi Minh's successor. 

You can stay in the rooms of the house for $30-60 per night.

There lived a girl who once decided to go to the Soviet Union to study where she obviously went mad and when returned to Vietnam she started building her "Moon House" that people began to call "Crazy House".

Now madam - architect sometimes sits at the entry of the house, sells tickets to her creation and never minds taking to visitors.

The architecture resembles "Alice in the Wonderland" style, it's not simple to describe.

There are caves here, giant spider nets made of wires, concrete "tree trunks", one nude statue, a concrete giraffe with a built-in tearoom inside etc.

You'll certainly be impressed by the Crazy House.

The hotel is not finished and what will come to its designer's mind we can only guess...

She's not Gaudi, of course, but she has made the main sight to visit in Dalat.

Taroudant: Feel the Moroccan Way of Life

Taroudant is a small city in the south of Morocco. It is often compared with Marrakesh as they both are ancient and have the same red houses on the streets. But frankly speaking, except for these two facts, there is nothing similar between them.

Unfortunately, the earthquake of 1960 happened in the neighboring city sightly damaged Taroudant as well, having destroyed almost all the remnants of the ancient times.

Local music shop.

In some places one can see such posters appealing to the people to take care of their district and not to throw about the garbage. And they are indeed very clean.

In each district of Morocco taxis are different in colors. Here they are olive green.

A local cemetery.

The center of Taroudant is two neighboring squares around which numerous cafes and hotels are located. This is the view from the roof of one of its hotels.

Some wandering musicians play traditional Moroccan instruments and sing folk songs right on the streets.  

And these are evening meetings on the other square.

Taroudant is a rather quiet and sleeping city. But when its residents know about a forthcoming visit of the king, they start fussing and preparing for such an important event. The streets are cleaned and decorated with flags.

Two most favorite football clubs of all Moroccans are Real Madrid and Barcelona.

Around Taroudant there are many farm fields. Though the nature here is not very remarkable some places look really nice.

The main river of Taroudant is now shallow. But the locals say there had been much water in it just a week before the picture was taken.

A neighboring village.

A shepherd and its herd coming back home.

There is no alcohol in the city but several kilometers far from it, in the bushes, one can buy a local bathtub gin. It is made of dates and tastes like the mixture of rum and acetone. A plastic bottle (0.33 liters) costs 4.5 euros.

Every provincial center of Morocco organizes huge markets once or twice a week. People all over neighborhood come there to buy or sell something. In Taroudant such a market is held in the country. It begins in the early morning and ends in the afternoon. This is the road from the city to the market 

Market parking lot.

The goods of three types are sold here. The first is clothes and various everyday objects.

The second type is fruit and vegetables which are usually piled right on the ground.

And the last type is animals (obviously, the most interesting part for tourists).

Local mutton costs about 2 euros per kilo and camel meat - 6 euros. Nanny goats are kept in such folds probably because of their excessive energy.

While sheep stand freely on the ground.

Sometimes they are fastened in this way.

Cows stay separately.

Adult cows have special labels on their ears.

And this is Moroccan traditional means of transport.

Zhouzhuang - Chinese Venice

Zhouzhuang Town, Jiangsu province, China

From the snowy real Venice we move to another Venice... in China.

This is the city that is often also called "Venice" ...

Snowy Venice In Waking Life

Snow in Venice is something you are sorry to miss. Maybe for the citizens of Venice it's a reason to go immediately home from bad weather, but for a photographer - it's euphoria, a chance to take rare and beautiful photos cause maybe he will NEVER have another opportunity like this.

But when the snow melts so fast, and leaves no trace, you think that it was just a dream and only these photos in your hands prove you that sometimes dreams may come true...

Slutwalk in Toronto

On 24 of January, 2011, in the York University, Toronto, Canada at the seminar on safeguard a conflict took place. One Canadian officer, addressing to law department students had the imprudence to say “Women can avoid sexual assault by not dressing like ‘sluts’.” The phrase had incurred displeasure and later the policeman was made to write a letter of apology to the university, where he wrote that he felt confused and embarrassed about what he had said.

But for the organizers of the protest march, Sonya Barnett and Heather Jarvis, it was not enough.

At 2 p.m. the big crowd moved straight to the Toronto Police Department.

The marchers applied to the Toronto Police authorities for improving the policemen's "behavior" about their lack of political correctness.

Even dogs were dressed in the extraordinary way.

Some were even such thoroughgoing.

Pink Flamingos of Oleidon

A morning walk along the shore of Oleigon Lake, Kenya, may become the brightest impression of your life. These beautiful birds will certainly amaze you. And to watch them is absolutely free.

Samurai Castle Matsue

 

Today our destination is a real Samurai Castle!

As the main building material of that time was wood such constructions were always in danger of fire. Matsue Castle was built after the Japanese feudal wars so it never was used during battles as a defensive base though it had been built exactly with this purpose.

Tea Making In Sri Lanka

Tea is the trademark of Sri Lanka. About 10% of the world produced tea is made here. More than half a million people work on plantations. Practically all the tea produced here is exported. Plantations of the famous Ceylon tea are also located in Sri Lanka.

Row materials for tea are leaves of tea bushes.Tea growing requires the warm and damp climate. The tea picking  in Sri Lanka is made four times in a year, but the most valuable tea is picked during the first time.

Tales of The Crypt

The creepier a story is the more it impresses kids. You will get added evidence to it if you visit this Celtic feast in The French Disneyland.

Tramway Museum In Porto

There is the tramways museum in Porto and its exhibits are in very good conditions, so you can easily sit on some coaches or even go for a ride in one of tramways.

Paradise Terraces of Bali

There is much interesting to see in Bali, but today we'll show you only the rice terraces, the absolutely must-see thing there. They are especially beautiful on panoramas. Hold your breath and see...

Here is a nice place to live after death, and a bit before it...

The Brain of Berlin

This is not the first cool library we write about. But there is some majic in these awesome buildings breathing with history, clever thoughts, sciences... It's something nearly sacred you always want to touch.

"The Brain of Berlin" — that is how an English architect sir Norman Foster called a new philological library of the Free University of Berlin in 2005. The building resembles a huge glass egg put on one side. It is actually hollow inside, and the storeys are made by four tiers of undulating galleries whose pattern looks like brain convolutions.

Sands of Qalansiya Beach

This awesome Qalansiya Beach is a place in Yemen.
Even if you are not under the sun of Qalansiya, simple looking at the photos of this beach is pacifying.

Ostankino Tower Russia - Images n Detail

Ostankino Tower is a free-standing television and radio tower in Moscow, Russia. Standing 540 metres (1,770 ft) tall, Ostankino was designed by Nikolai Nikitin. It is a member of the World Federation of Great Towers, currently the tallest in Europe and 4th tallest in the world.[4] The tower was the first free-standing structure to exceed 500 m (1,600 ft) in height. The tower was constructed to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the October Revolution. It is named after the Ostankino district of Moscow in which it is located. 

Unseen Sun Set Photography

Look the real beauty of sun set is so difficult if you are living in crowded cities, Because the pollution of cities make a dust layers on sky and nature cant give you the real beauty. In these days human also so busy in work they have no time to see on sky so we bring s beautiful nature beautification pictures collection. These scenes are so rare to sea because these sky colors only appear in villages and or on open grounds. This is collection of sunset when sun going down then its give adorable light and with that light some adorable colors make in clouds and sky. Sometimes the whole sky look alike red and sometime the blue color appear, every day sunset give different views so its better to see from eyes from high place. But if you have no time then you should see below pictures which give you the real beauty of nature of sunset.

Giza Necropolis Ahram Miser - Images n Detail

The Giza Necropolis is an archaeological site on the Giza Plateau, on the outskirts of Cairo, Egypt. This complex of ancient monuments includes the three pyramid complexes known as the Great Pyramids, the massive sculpture known as the Great Sphinx, several cemeteries, a workers' village and an industrial complex. It is located some 9 km (5 mi) inland into the desert from the old town of Giza on the Nile, some 25 km (15 mi) southwest of Cairo city centre. The pyramids, which have always loomed large as emblems of ancient Egypt in the Western imagination, were popularised in Hellenistic times, when the Great Pyramid was listed by Antipater of Sidon as one of the Seven Wonders of the World. It is by far the oldest of the ancient Wonders and the only one still in existence.

Children Face Formidable Path to School - Amazing Pictures

In the remote northwestern Chinese village of Pili, children are scooped up at the beginning of each school term to begin the long, arduous and very difficult journey to their classroom. Approximately 80 kids are taken along a 125-mile route through the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region. They face almost sheer rock faces, freezing roiling river waters, narrow pathways and single wood plank “bridges.” The treacherous passage takes an entire two days, during which they have little water to drink despite having the surging river next to them.

The Most Amazing and Wonderful Blue Lagoon Iceland

The Blue Lagoon geothermal spa is one of the most visited attractions in Iceland. The steamy waters are part of a lava formation.

The warm waters are rich in minerals like silica and sulphur and bathing in the Blue Lagoon is reputed to help some people suffering from skin diseases. The water temperature in the bathing and swimming area of the lagoon averages 37-39 °C.

The lagoon is fed by the water output of the nearby geothermal power plant Svartsengi and is renewed every 2 days. Then the water is fed into the lagoon for recreational and medicinal users to bathe in.

Crocus Festival In Germany

Krokusblütenfest is Crocus Festival in Husum city, Germany.

To enjoy sakura blossom people go to Japan, to enjoy all the beauty of crocuses blossom they go to a little city Husum, in the north of Germany.

On the territory of a small castle there are more than 4 millions of crocuses. And the flowers are wild, it is the only place of such "crocus paradise" on Earth. No wonder that such an unremarkable usually place incredibly changes in March and for some weeks attracts lots of lovers of spring beauty.

In the period of crocus blossom an annual festival is held. It is not limited to wonderful flowers only, but we are going to concentrate on them in the post.

Souvenir No. 2 From Holland

What is the second Dutch souvenir after tulips usually brought from Holland? Klomps, of course!

Near Amsterdam there is an ethnographic museum where one can trace the history of klomps development, to see the fully automated production process of this unique wooden shoes.

On the territory of the museum there are houses where visitors may look the traditional Dutch culture.

This house is devoted to the history and production of klomps, besides one may find a necessary for all museums gift shop there and buy klomps of all possible colors and sizes.

The first thing to see is an exposition of historic klomps. In each of 12 provinces of the Netherlands there exists a special design of the shoes. This map tells all the datails about it.

Initially such wooden shoes were intended for feet protection from mechanical impact while work with heavy devices.

The Dutch made wooden shoes not only for themselves but also for horses in order they do not sink in soft soil.

Later they began to make klomps not only for work but for holidays too.

And for sport, like these ancient skates.

More modern ones.

These are intended for walking on ice.

Such heels prototypes.

Wedding klomps.

Modern design...

But let us look at the process of klomps production. Here it is semiautomatic, one shoe is produced for 5-6 minutes. Manual production takes about 4 hours...

If you've seen how a copy of a door key is produced you already understand the principle. On the right a sample is fixed, on the left - a preliminary soaked cottonwood log.

Two minutes rest...

...and half of the shoe is ready.

When the upper is ready it is fixed in another machine that cuts out an inside in the same way.

Here a sample is on the left.

And now the shoe is ready. The wood is so wet that if you blow strongly in the shoe it starts dripping. They say that you may squeeze out up to 50 ml of water this way.

To be dried and painted.

Here you may buy klomps of all colors and sizes. If you wear them every day they will surve you for about a year!

Choosing your size it's better to have some space around a foot, approximately for one finger. And you'll wear the shoes with pleasure.

If you think you can't wear such shoes in your everyday life, just buy some model as a souvenir from Holland. They will surely remain when your souvenir No. 1 - tulips, will fade.

Along the Omo River

Traveling through this amazing country, you quickly realize that many North Americans have a pre-conceived image of Ethiopia; one that’s molded by frequent news stories about drought and hunger along with the crushing poverty that exists in some places.

But while these remain serious issues (particularly in the country’s north), Ethiopia is also a land with an intriguing history, many diverse and unique landscapes, and stunning, centuries-old monuments.

The country’s south-western sector, bisected by the Omo River, is also widely known as one of Africa’s most unique and intact cultural landscapes.

Iron Beauty of Paris

The Eiffel Tower is a symbol of France and main sightseeing of Paris. Every year it is visited by millions of tourists who take tons of photographs of it. Here is another portion of its photos taken in the evening and a brief story about its creation.

As many know, the tower was originally erected as temporary. But why was it left standing in the very heart of Paris? You may guess, the giant black colossus completely spoiling the panorama of the city wasn't probably the thing the Parisians of that time dreamed about. Further we will know the answer.

The history of the tower began with the Paris World's Fair by which the tower had been built in 1889. Then it was a great and immediate success.

People were so astonished with its beauty that dropped their hats and cylinders onto the pavement right from the open carriages.

More than 2 million visitors had come to see the "iron lady" over the half a year of its exhibition.

But local intellectuals were against its construction from the very beginning. They stamped their feet and sent their outrage to the Paris City Hall demanding to stop its construction. "We will be forced to look at the ugly shadow of the hated iron columns and screws, which extends over the city like an ink-blot," they said.

Among those who wrote the shameless libels was Guy de Maupassant. This fact though didn't stop him from regular dinners at the restaurant at the first level of the tower. By the way, the current cafe is pretty lousy.

To the question of why he does it if he really does not like the tower, the writer answered: "was the only place in Paris from which it could not be seen". The story that is certainly known to many.

During its construction, the builders faced a difficult problem of transportation the future visitors.

Elevators should have moved on a curved trajectory with the changing radius of curvature.

The problem was solved and even nowadays two elevators of the "Fives-Lill" company established in 1899 operate in the tower.

Eiffel, of course, was pleased with his creation and absolutely did not want to take it to pieces. Besides, he rent the tower from the city authorities.

As for the Parisians... They reluctantly became accustomed to it. 

In 1906 the radio station was placed in the tower. Having made sure that his child was not in danger anymore, Gustave Eiffel safely died in 1991.

This is the third level, 247 meters high, it has almost no protection from bad weather. Views of Paris amaze. Those who want can enjoy some champagne here. 

Icons, postcards and other souvenirs are sold annoyingly nearby the tower. All the goods are quite similar - iron and plastic towers illuminated with different colors.

Inspection having fun.

Another, one of 243 million the same photographs of the Eiffel Tower.

View from the tower.

This is the left bottom of the previous picture. The square of Ecole Militaire (Military School, it's easy to translate). Looking at this photograph one can make some conclusions about Parisian life in general: architecture is beautiful, compact cars are compactly parked in the streets and the trees are tried to be preserved. But what is the most remarkable - it's the lack of street wires. In Paris they are hidden underground.

View of the Palais Bourbon.

The history of a ferris wheel is similar to the history of the Eiffel Tower. The wheel was also erected as a temporary construction to celebrate the Millennium. But its master refused to demolish his offspring. Nevertheless, the court decided to remove the wheel from the city, so it started its long trip about different European areas and fairs so that many years later to come back to Paris, to the Place de la Concorde.

There, in the distance, on the highest point of Paris (the hill of Montmartre) the Basilica of the Sacred Heart (Basilique du Sacré-Cœur) is located.

On further left there is an arch. Well, who does not know it?

The north-west. La Defence, the Paris downtown, was wisely built on the outskirts of the city.

The relatively young (built in 1937) Palais de Chaillot.

Closer. Varsovi Square in front of the palace.

The south-western direction. Somewhere in the distance is Versailles, and at the bottom - the Seine.

One of the numerous stadiums of the city situated at the foot of the tower.

10 pm and there are still some players on the field.

One more stadium.

The Montparnasse Tower.

Red Canyon of Vietnam

This red canyon is one of the Vietnamese sights, it is located in Mui Ne village.

Here annoying boys will do everything to accompany you along the river.

A curious natural formation - ravines with queer "ragged" edges, washed up in the clay loam.

This waterfall is not probably the best thing you've seen, but the way here is full of picturesque views.

Essaouira - When a Small Village Becomes A Tourist Resort

About 30 years ago, Essaouira was a quite fishing village, but now it's another place for tourists. The streets of the old town look like endless lines of gift shops and cafes overcrowded with tourists.

The town has an ancient history. The place was first occupied by Phoenician merchants and  the Romans. In the 16th century here came the Portuguese but two ages later a local sultan decided to turn the town into a big merchant port. At the beginning of the 20th century the French renamed the Essaouira into Mogador and reduced the trade. And finally, after the re-establishment of Morocco's  independence, it became a quiet place Essaouira again. In the 60's here came hippies and then came mass tourism as well.

Among the souvenirs there is a lot of colorful pottery...

...paintings of local craftsmen, depicting national subjects...

...and African fetishes typical of the Sub-Saharan part of the continent.

Such cats-leopards are very popular souvenirs in Morocco.

The puppet International!

Non-tourist marketing goes ahead mainly in the central street. It also looks like a long stretched marketplace.

There are small pigeonholes branching off the cental street - specialized markets. Here is, for example, the jewelers' street entrance.

Fish market.

Not all the fish is so tiny...

The majority of tourists live in the walled-off old town built in the 18th century.

A single room in the new town costs 60 Dh (about 5,5 Euro).

Horse taxi is even today popular in many towns and cities of Morocco.

The local industrial area.

A good view of Essaouira opens from the stronghold in the port. Admission costs about 1 Euro.

One more classical view.

It's very hard NOT to catch a flock of seagull in shot.

The reason for such a great amount of gulls here is probably this place, where fish scalers of local restaurants do their work...

... or maybe this small fish market in the port.

Local boats are all painted blue.

In the evening one can enjoy beautiful sunsets from the town-walls...

Joiner's shops in the town.

Lesson In a Cambodian School

Now we are going to an ordinary village school to see how works the educational system in the poorest country of Southeast Asia.

Each society starts from a school desk so it's always interesting to visit a class at school of some definite country.

"SIT International School" in Kampong Cham village, Cambodia is a private school with advanced study of English and computer technologies. This school stops working only for two months in summer. State education is free in the country, but in this private school it costs 10-12 USD per month.

Officially legacy rate among adults of the country is 70%. At this school children of neighbouring villages study. Lessons start at 8 a.m. After-school club also works - where children do homework or get additional classes.

These desks are small for three pupils but still they sit and study ...

Poster on the wall

This school also has advanced study of IT. Here's a computer classroom. The Internet is available only in the teacher's common room. 

Staff organogram

Another classroom

Faces of the party hang in each classroom.

For Europeans this map seems unconventionally oriented where Asia is in the centre. 

Class all together.

Kids playing a popular in Asia game - stones tossing.

And here is a sailing school in a sailing village.

In a classroom there is a poster offering to buy stationery, 10 thin copybooks cost $25!

Yunak Evleri Cave Hotel in Turkey

It would seem that people have long since done away with living in caves, and even now no intention of returning to them. However, in Cappadocia (Turkey) is a cave, a room in which people are willing to pay more and more. It is a cave hotel Yunak Evleri Cave Hotel. The hotel consists of 6 separate systems, which in total has 30 rooms carved into solid rock.

Most expensive house in America is sold

 This 57,000-square foot Los Angeles home, listed at $150 million, was sold to a 22-year-old U.K. heiress.
Photo: Realtor.com

The long-running drama over the sale of the highest-priced home in the U.S. appears to be heading to its finale.

The 57,000-square foot Los Angeles mansion built by the late TV producer Aaron Spelling is slated for sale to a 22-year-old heiress to a Formula One racing fortune. The home on five acres of property in Holmby Hills has a bowling alley, beauty salon, several gift-wrapping rooms and parking for 100 cars.
"The Manor," as the property is known, had a list price of $150 million that didn't budge during the real-estate downturn that sent prices in Los Angeles down by more than a third. The sales price was not disclosed.

Marble Village of Dhee Ayn

Dhee Ayn or, as it is also known, Aqabat al-Baha, is visible for several kilometers as one approaches the village. Even from a distance the place can easily be located by the white glow it surrounds. The houses of the village itself are not made of marble, but of flake stones and slate. Instead, the village got the moniker "Marble Village," for the rocky outcrop it is built upon. 

Band e Amir - Lake Of Afghanistan - Images n Detail

Band-e Amir is a series of six deep blue lakes separated by natural dams made of travertine, a mineral deposit. The lakes are situated in the Hindu Kush Mountains of Central Afghanistan at approximately 3000 meters of elevation, west of the famous Buddhas of Bamiyan.

Paris Disneyland - A Paradise Kids

The Paris Disneyland includes some parks grouped around the castle of Sleeping Beauty, the symbol of Disneyland, and surrounded by narrow railway.



Paris Disneyland Park

Unusual Village House - Russia

A psychedelic house of Russian blacksmith in a Russian village near Yekaterinburg city. They say the blacksmith himself has already passed away and his wife gets offers to sell it regularly but she denies them.