Vintage Theatre Converted into Spectacular Bookstore in Argentina

If you’re a book lover, then your next travel destination should be Buenos Aires, Argentina. The city has more than 734 bookstores, including second most beautiful bookstore in the world. Almost 100 year old Grand Splendid Theater, opened in 1919 was converted into cinema in 1920’s, but then eventually converted into El Ateneo Grand Splendid bookstore in 2000. The bookshop is tucked away in Barrio Norte, Buenos Aires welcomes more than one million book lovers each year. Architects Pero and Torres Armengol, designed the building, but architect Fernando Manzone converted into bookshop. 

The building retained several parts of the theatre, including the stage and balconies.  In 2008, the Guardian has named El Ateneo Grand Splendid named second most beautiful bookstore in the world. The elaborated décor and classic 1920’s theater contains stunning red curtains. The book lovers definitely lost in the shelves for many hours, for history and nostalgia lurk behind every corner.

The Banaue Rice Terraces of Philippines

The Banaue Rice Terraces are approximately 2,000-year-old terraces that were beautifully carved into the mountains of Ifugao in the Philippines by ancestors of the native people. Due to its stunning natural beauty, it is commonly referred as the 8^th Wonder of the World built with minimal equipment, mainly by hand. The Rice Terraces are located about 5000 feet above sea level, fed by ancient irrigation system from the rainforests. 

The exaggerated statement is that, if the steps were put end to end, it would encircle half the earth. These rice terraces were first constructed as a practical solution to the problem of growing rice on land that falls away in front of you at vertigo-inducing angles. The younger generation of Ifugaos is no more interesting in farming, often captivate lucrative industry associate with terraces, however the older people still prefer to plant rice and vegetables in their terraces. Although with the passage of time, gradual erosion and drought cut down the terraces steps, which need constant care. The terraces are found in the province of Ifugao and their culture revolves around rice and the culture displays an elaborate array of celebrations linked with agricultural rites from rice cultivation to rice consumption. 

The harvest season usually calls for thanksgiving feasts, whereas the concluding harvest rites called tango or tungul entails a firm taboo on any agricultural work. Partaking of the bayah, rice cakes, and betel nut constitutes an indelible practice during the festivities. The native peoples still like traditional farming, hiring labour at their terraces and forest tending to root crop cultivation. In March 2009 the Ifugao rice terraces were declared free from genetically modified organisms (GMO). The Ifugaos generally cultivate edible shells, fruit trees, and other vegetables. The rice terraces building consist of blanketing walls with stones and earth, designed to pull water from a main irrigation canal above the terraces clusters. The Ifugao’s peoples using indigenous technologies for water irrigation, stonework, earthwork and terrace maintenance.

Moreover, tourism is another industry which is thriving in the Banaue Rice Terraces, developed number of activities for visitors. This includes traditional sightseeing of the terraces and visits to the tribes at the foot of the terraces. Also refer spiritual healing rituals by traditional Ifugao doctors. Furthermore, the most prevalent place to look at the rice terraces is called the “Sunrise Viewpoint”, where local Igarot tribe’s people pose for photographs and sell wood carvings.

So far, Banaue Rice Terraces are not in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Site due to the presence of various modern structures. However, Philippine government declared Banaue Rice Terraces are National Cultural Treasure. The five clusters inscribed as part of the Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras are Batad, Bangaan, Hungduan, Mayoyao Central and Nagacadan. Aside from the Banaue Rice terraces there are 4 other similar terraces, in this mountainous province are the Batad Rice Terraces, Mayoyao Rice Terraces in Mayoyao, Hapao Rice Terraces and Kiangan Rice Terraces. 

Moreover, it’s a great place whenever you go to Philippine. It is also recommended to hire a guide to take you for rice terraces adventure. The terrace valleys are absolutely breathtaking and in one or two places you can see some waterfalls and natural swimming holes. The best visiting time is any time of year, but preferred time is between Feb to Mar when the cleaning the planting time occurs and June and July when the harvest occurs.

The rice that is harvest in Ifugao is only for personal consumption, but occasionally short due to large family system. The average consumption is 120kig per family for a year. Though the commercial rice, as it is known up in the Cordilleras, is grown in mass quantities in the lowlands with the use of fertilisers, and is exported mainly abroad.

The Gateway to Hell, Ethiopia

A daring 38 years photographer captures rare images of Lava Lake that's been flowing for more than 100 years in Afar Ethiopia. The Lake is one of world’s oldest continuously active lava lakes flowing since 1906. The Portuguese photographer Joel Santos, piloted a drone over the bubbling lake just a meter from the edge. The temperatures exceeding 1,100 degrees Celsius, lies inside the 2,011 foot high Erta Ale volcano.  The last threating eruption occurred in Sep 2005, almost killed 250 livestock and forced people to evacuate the area. The photographer was well aware of life threating chance of devastating natural phenomenon at such close quarters. The Joel Santos said, this was one of my dangerous projected I’ve done so far, because I was just 20 meters away from the Lava and one meter from the edge. The crater rim is changing lava moves up and down, particularly when it overflows. You have to be very careful, the ground you’re standing is solid, but could be soft, make you plunge into Lava Lake. I used a drone camera to capture the 4K footage, which could handle the scorching condition around the Lake rim. The heat waves are so strong, could cause it melt or crash. After every 2 or 3 minutes I heard a small hiss of pressure beneath the volcano, which I can’t predict when a crack just opens wide.

The entire volcano begins to bursting with lava into the air. The Danakil Desert is officially the hottest inhabited place on earth. In spite of intense heat, I took the chances to make film in early morning and late at night. In fact it’s a basaltic shield volcano and there are only 6 in the world. This is actually an unbelievable experience, amazes me how nature works. In 2012, various tourists were kidnapped, injured and some of them killed in this area. So, my passion and aim didn’t hurt with these facts. However, now Ethiopian military camp site has been established there to protect visitors. In 2009, BBC TV show The Hottest Place on Earth went there to record a world first 3D laser image of the volcanoes, provide a unique window into our planet's interior. The Gateway to Hell is the incandescent bubbling lava lake hisses like some badly burned porridge cauldron, overturning and occasionally belching molten lava. 

Karakoram Highway: The Highest Paved International Road in the World

The KKH (Karakoram Highway is one of the highest paved international road in the world. The road is popular tourist attraction across Pakistan and China. The KKH connects the Xinjiang Uyghur, China and Gilgit–Baltistan of Pakistan across the Karakoram mountain range, located at an elevation of 15,397 feet (4,693 metres). Due to its extreme elevation and the difficult conditions in which it was constructed, it is referred to as the Eighth Wonder of the World. It's the road to heaven if you like exploring the mountains, that is. It's considered as one of the world's hardest alpine climbs. In Pakistan it is known as KKH while in China it is known as China National Highway 314. Pakistan and China has strong friendship relations from last 65 years or so, hence the KKH is also known as Friendship Highway between two neighboring countries.  In 1959, Pakistan and China has made an agreement to construct KKH, and after so many scarification of Pakistan / China workers. More than 1000 peoples lost their lives, make the mega project open for public in 1979. The Karakoram Highway is one of the greatest engineering accomplishments of the 20th century. Moreover, be ready for heavy snowfalls and landslides can occur anytime and can sometimes block some sections of the road for several hours. 

  

KKH is a real challenging road and a real test of your stamina and vehicle because the road abounds in twists and turns with wheels sometimes hanging above the precipice. The KKH is highly land sliding area, trace one of the many paths of the ancient Silk Road, connecting Gilgit-Baltistan of Kashmir with 1300 KM from Kashgar China, to Abbottabad of Pakistan. Karakoram Highway has strategic and military importance to Pakistan and China. The KKH cuts through the collision zone, where China, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan come within 250 kilometers of each other. Due to heavy laden vehicles and extreme weather conditions KKH has badly damaged, however in 2006 Pakistan and China decided to rebuild and upgrade the KKH. The new proposed width is expanded to 33 to 98 ft, which will increase the transport three times to its current capacity with a new designed to accommodate all vehicles and conditions. Moreover, another mega project is linking with KKH, by planning to connect KKH to Southern port of Gwadar in Balochistan. This project is named economic corridor of Pakistan / China trade route and reconstruction and upgrade works on the Pakistani portion of the Karakoram Highway are underway. China has bigger problems in wanting to use Gwadar port as an economic corridor, ironically lie more than 2,000 kilometers away, high in the cloud-tipped Karakoram mountain range in northern Pakistan.

In 2010, a massive 15 km landslide cut off KKH in Hunza valley; created unstable Attabad Lake, when water flowing over the landslide dam.  The Attabad Lake reached 22 KM in length and over 100 meters in depth. The massive landslide destroyed many villages while killing many inhabitants.  The subsequent lake completely displaced 20 KM of KKH including 310 meters of long Bridge on KKH.  Therefore, goods transported over the lake by small vessels to be reloaded onto truck at the other side. So, in 2012 Pakistan started constructing a revised route around the lake at a higher elevation with 5 new tunnels the longest tunnel is 3360m, followed by 2736m, 435m, 410m and 195m and 2 new bridges. The 24 km long series of bridges and tunnels was completed in September 15. Therefore, the realignment restored the road link between Pakistan and China. The highest paved international road on the globe doesn't come without its dangers.

The KKH total length is 806 KM, starts from Hassanabdal, of Pakistan section, meets Indus River and continues along the river till Jaglot, where Gilgit River meets the Indus River. This is the place, where great mountain ranges meet, The Himalaya, Hindukush, and Karakoram. The Nanga Parbat, The 9^th highest Peak in the world can be seen from KKH. Moreover, The KKH passes through Gilgit Baltistan and continues through the valleys of Nagar and Hunza. Thus, some of the highest mountains and famed glaciers in the Karakoram can be seen in this section. The highway meets the Pakistani-Chinese border at Khunjerab Pass. The KKH is exceptionally treacherous and requires a vehicle that can hold its own against some of the most challenging terrain in the world.

The KKH covers the major towns of Pakistan, Hassanabdal, Abbottabad, Besham, Chilas, Gilgit, Nagar, Aliabad, Gulmit, Passu, Sost, Tashkurgan Town, Ghizer, Upal and Kashgar. The terrorist instability cause becomes a niche adventure tourism destination. Since, 2001 Pakistan is no go area for tourist, tend to only Pakistani and overseas citizen visit these areas. Those who have been visit these areas are captivate the beauty of nature and KKH.  In 2006, KKH was ranked third best tourist in Pakistan by the Guardian. The unbelievable views of K2 along the way make it a popular tourist route; the 800-mile highway is a nightmare for people who are prone to altitude sickness. With absolutely no barrier on one side, and shear rock wall on the other, the margin of driver error is fairly slim. 

The KKH has given mountaineers and cyclists easier access to the many high mountains, glaciers, and lakes in the area. Karakoram Highway provides the pathway to expeditions for almost all peaks in Gilgit–Baltistan, Kashmir and several peaks in Xinjiang China. The region includes some of the world's largest glaciers like the Baltoro Glacier, Nanga Perhbat and K2. Five of the Eight-thousanders, mountains taller than 8,000 metres of the world that are in Pakistan are accessible by the highway. The KKH is best traveled in the spring or early autumn, when heavy snow during severe winters can shut the highway down for extended periods. Moreover heavy monsoon rains around July and August cause infrequent landslides that can block the road for hours or more. The Karakoram Highway is one of the most popular roads to travel in Pakistan if you're an adventure lover looking for a thrill.