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24 Sep 2011

SYDNEY – OPERA HOUSE – AUSTRALIA

ARCHITECTURAL MASTERPIECE

INTRODUCTION

Australia is a beautiful country. Where there are number of things which make the country beautiful, Sydney Opera House is known as the recognition of the Australia as a country and Sydney as a city. Sydney Opera House is a venue of performing arts. Sydney is the largest and most populous city of Australia. City is the capital of New South Wales. Opera house is considered as one of the most distinctive buildings made in 20th century and stands with dignity among the most famous performing arts centers of the world. Sydney Opera House is situated close to the Sydney Harbour Bridge at Bennlong Point. SOH is surrounded by harbour from three sides. It is located on the northeastern corner of the Sydney Central Business District.

In the building there are number of performance venues. Sydney opera House is rated as one of the busiest performing arts centers in the world. You can imagine from the fact that how busy is the place throughout the year that 1500 performances are performed each year and 1.2 million people attend these performances. It is the most popular tourist attraction in Australia which attracts about seven million people each year. Sydney Opera House has been recognized as World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

ABOUT THE BUILDING

The award winning design of the building was made by a Danish architect Jorn Utzon. The architect received the Pritzker Award in 2003 for designing the Sydney Opera House. The citation of the award stated that the design is really a masterpiece and a symbol for the continent, country and city of Sydney.

The building covers the area of 4.5 acres (1.8 hectares). To support the building in sea water, 588 concrete piers are sunk as much as 25 meters below sea level. We believe that the roof structure of the Sydney Opera House is one major factor which makes the building distinctive. Generally the roof the building is referred as composed of concrete shells but these are precast concrete panels which are supported by the concrete ribs. On the roof, 1,056,006 tiles are used which are infact Swedish made. The colour of the tiles is glossy white and matte crème which looks white from a distance. The exterior of the building is marvelous. The low edges of the building are a great appeal for people to visit the place. Another remarkable thing about the design and structure of the building is that is it doesn’t make any reference to the classical architectural form. It is unique in its structure.

There are number of different performance venues in the Sydney Opera House. The concert hall is the biggest venue among all the others with seating capacity of 2679. In this concert hall there is the world’s largest mechanical tracker action organ which contains 10,000 pipes. This hall is the home of Sydney Symphony which is a symphony orchestra. Besides the concert hall there is Opera theatre, Drama theatre, Playhouse, Utzon room and forecourt.

The building is not just a performance venue but there are number of other things to facilitate the visitors and performers. There are cafes, restaurants, bars and a recording studio. Guided tour is a big facility for the visitors to see the wholesome beauty of the building. Guided tour can bring an advantage for the visitors that they can go backstage and see the performers.

Initially the cost of the project was estimated $7 million when it was started in 1957. But at the completion cost was much higher than the expected cost. When the project completed in 1973 its cost was raised to $102 million.

There is nothing missing in the building which attracts you as a visitor. Location is beautiful, structure is just awesome and the performances are really world class.

 

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10 Sep 2011

THE CITY OF ANGKOR – cambodia


 “LOST CITY”

INTRODUCTION
Sometimes I ask to myself that how wonderful thing is the human mind. This mind has created wonders in the wonder. Brilliant and intelligent minds are not the legacy of modern generations. Even the ruins of the old civilizations are such marvelous pieces of art and craft that you remain surprised. The city of Angkor is the best example to argue the statement. This historical city is located in the Cambodia. The city of Angkor is the legacy of Khmer Empire which was the most powerful empire in Southeast Asia. Angkor was the capital city of the empire. This ancient city was built between 879 AD and 1191 AD. The city of Angkor give the testimony that how powerful and wealthy the Khmer Empire was. The people of the city, at that time, were the followers of different believes which is shown from the temples and other religious places. The unique about the city of Angkor are the temples in numbers of thousands.

CITY OF ANGKOR

The origin of the word Angkor is Sanskrit which means a city. This historical city is on the list of UNESCO World Heritage sites. Angkor Wat which is a complex of temples is considered to be the largest single religious monument in the world. The city has a developed infrastructure because it was the largest city of the world before industrial revolution. The urban sprawl of the city is spread over 1000 sq.km.

HISTORY
Shortly after the 800 AD the Angkorian period was started. It was the time when Jayavarman who was the king of Khmer declared independence and formed Kambujadesa, currently Cambodia. In 889 Yasovarman took the throne and he proved himself a great king and accomplished builder. The time went pass and between the 300 years time, from 900 to 1200 AD this powerful empire constructed the world’s most significance architectural masterpieces in the area which are standing with great glory till today in the form of Angkor. It would be surprising for the readers that Angkor has no formal boundary so you can not tell the extent of the city. Form the main temples in the area, 1000 sq.km area is considered as the main area of the city which has the great connectivity infrastructure. This historic city was lost in jungle and remained lost for 1000 years. City was rediscovered in 1860 by a French explorer. After the establishment of peace within Cambodia, now this city is easily accessible.

ATTRACTIONS
The main attractions of the Angkor region are temples of Angkor Wat. This is basically a complex of temples and was built between 1113 and 1150 AD by the King Surayavernam. These temples are great masterpieces of stone carving. These carving wonders are centuries old which show the hard efforts of the people of Khmer civilization. This great city has four gateways in the city face wall from east, west, south and north and lead to the geometric centre of the city which is called Bayon. Each gateway tower has giant faces which keep an eye on all four cardinal points. The gateways are decorated with three headed carved stone elephants.

 These temples are indeed masterpieces of stone carving and everyone must see that how beautifully the stones have been carved. This is one of the major tourist attractions in Cambodia. Approximately 2 million people visit the place annually. No doubt it’s a huge number of visitors and is expected to reach upto three million but this number has made some threats to the temples. So much visitors exert pressure on the sandstone monuments by walking and climbing. There is a threat of cracks to these beautifully carved temples and monuments.

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16 Apr 2011

PUERTO PRINCESA RIVER – Best Natural Places To Visit in philippines


“UNDERGROUND RIVER”

INTRODUCTION

It would definitely be a matter of interest for the readers to know about the underground rivers. When we say Underground River it means a river that flows or runs beneath the ground surface which may be wholly or partly. This kind of rivers flow through the cave systems and are all natural. You can find the underground rivers which are man made. These are made by covering over the river or by diverting the flow of the river with the help of culverts. This is done normally for the development in urban areas. One example of man made underground rivers is Fleet River in London.

Puerto Princesa Under ground River philippines

Puerto Princesa Under ground River philippines

ABOUT PUERTO PRINCESA

Among the number of natural underground rivers, there is a very famous Puerto Princesa River which has been declared National Park. Puerto Princesa is located in the city of Puerto Princesa which is the capital of Palawan Province in Philippines. When you reach the Island, at the northern coast of the Island you will find the national park which is in the Saint Paul Mountain Range. About 90% of the park consists of the sharp, karst limestone ridges. It is also known with the name St. Paul Underground River. This place has been among the 28 finalists which were selected for the New Seven Wonders of Nature competition. The part of the river which is underground is about 8.2 kilometers. This river enters directly into the South China Sea but before entering the sea it flows through a cave. The cave is about 120m wide and 60m high. This is the distinguishing feature of Puerto Princesa river. This was the longest underground river in the world till 2007 but this distinction came to end by the discovery of an underground river in Mexico. This site is a full combination of mountains and sea ecosystem. It is a World Heritage Site declared by UNESCO.

Puerto Princesa River philippines

Puerto Princesa River philippines

Puerto Princesa Under ground River

Puerto Princesa Under ground River

BEAUTY OF PUERTO PRINCESA PARK

The landscape of the park is based upon the limestone karst mountains. This park has some most important forests of Asia. There are thirteen types of forests in Asia out of which eight are in the Puerto Princesa National Park. This is a huge formation of forests. The eight forest types found here are named forest over limestone soil, forest over ultramafic soil, montane forest, freshwater swamp forest, mangrove forest, lowland evergreen rainforest, riverine forest and beach forest. You will find 800 plant species in the park.


Same is the case with birds. Puerto Princesa is located in the Palawan Island. There are about 252 bird species found on the island out of which 165 are recorded in the Puerto Princesa Park. There are about 15 bird species which are endemic. Birds like Blue napped parrot, Tabon scrub fowl, Hill myna and White breasted eagle are seen most in the park. When you enter the cave you find nine species of bats, two species of swiftlets and whip spider. When you come to the coastal areas of the Puerto Princesa National Park you find Sea cow and Hawksbill sea turtle.

If you want to have unique and adventurous experience in life then this could be an ideal site to fulfill your wish. If you want, that you must, to visit the river in the cave then you can hire boats for this marvelous experience.

 

Category: philippines, PUERTO PRINCESA RIVER NATIONAL PARK, Tourism Guide  Tags: , , , , , , , , ,  One Comment