The Forever Bent Trees of Slope Point, New Zealand

Slope Point is the southern point of New Zealand’s South Island, famous due to consistently lashed with fierce and cold southwesterly winds that blow up from Antarctica. In this region the wind is so strong and persistent, that caused the trees twisted, warped and constantly bent along the direction the wind blows. The Slope Point is mainly used for sheep farming, and aside from a few sheep, no humans or other animals live on this part of the island.

However, there’re some derelict shacks built under the protection of the windswept trees, but even those are abandoned. The marvelously steep cliffs drop down to the sea below. Here, the scenes are truly astonishing over the rocky coastline and surrounding cliffs. Although, there is a slight signpost that shows the distance to the Equator and the South Pole, and a small solar-powered lighthouse stands on the farmland. Yet like virtually everywhere else in New Zealand you will find hardy creatures need some shelter from the elements and so, many decades ago, local farmers planted saplings which they hoped would meet the expense of their animals some respite from the often savagely inclement weather.

Please keep in mind that there are no proper roads to Slope Point, but it can be reached by a 20-minute walk following dilapidated yellow markers. It is maybe hard to believe this challenging micro-climate is only a few hours’ drive from the fiords and rain forests of Milford Sound.  As such Slope Point contributes to the excellent and idiosyncratic beauty of New Zealand - the broad diversity of landscapes in the vicinity each other. There is no public access during the lambing season starting September to November.

Terraces of the Bahá’í Faith, Isarel

The Terraces of the Bahá'í Faith, are garden terraces around the Shrine of the Báb on Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel. It is also known as the Hanging Gardens of Haifa, rest in the neighborhoods of Wadi Nisnas and Hadar HaCarmel. This is one of the most visited tourist attractions in Israel, along with the Baha'i Holy Places in Western Galilee. In July 2008, the Bahá’í Gardens in Haifa and ‘Akko were inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List, in recognition of their “outstanding universal value” as holy places and places of pilgrimage for the followers of the Bahá’í Faith.

The architect was Fariborz Sahba of Iran and the structural engineers were Karban and Co. of Haifa. Fariborz started work in 1987 designing the gardens and oversaw construction; initially the gardens extend almost one kilometer up the side of Mount Carmel, covering some 200,000 square metres of land. The different parts of the gardens offer a variety of experiences, the graveled paths, hedges and flower beds groomed and nurtured by dedicated gardeners frame panoramic views of the city, the Galilee Hills and the Mediterranean Sea.

The terraces represent the first 18 disciples of the Báb, who were designated "Letters of the Living", though no individual terraces are associated with individual Letters. Moreover, 9 concentric circles provide the main geometry of the 18 terraces, as the identification of a circle pre-supposes a center, so the terraces have been conceived as generated from the Shrine of the Báb. The 18 terraces plus the one terrace of the Shrine of the Báb make 19 terraces total. However, 19 is a significant number within both the Bahá'í and Bábí religions. The terraces were opened to the public in June 2001. The gardens are linked by a set of stairs flanked by twin streams of running water cascading down the mountainside through the steps and terrace bridges. As the Bahá’í religion and temples all around the world are open for every single person, no matter the religion and skin color that person has, this attractive site is one of the most peaceful ones in the world.

In addition, the irrigation system based on a computer which meteorologic data receives controls hundreds of valves to allocate water throughout the gardens by sprinkling and dripping. Hence, this process is completed at night and in the early morning, to avoid wasting water by evaporation. The water that flows alongside the stairs is flowing in a closed system within each terrace; to avoid little water is wasted. Furthermore, the gardens have elements of the Persian paradise gardens, separating the site from the noise of the surroundings and linking the different Bahá'í buildings on Mount Carmel together.

El Caminito del Rey Path, The Most Dangerous Foothpath in Spain’s

The world’s most dangerous footpath is set to reopen for the tourist season on 22 April 2017. This is one of Spain’s most prevalent tourist attractions, El Caminito del Rey Path, slices through the Gaitanes Gorge providing thrill seekers with dramatic views 330ft above Gualdalhorce River. The reinforced King’s Little Pathway, as it is known in English, is now more of a beauty spot than a danger zone after a £4million restoration project. The dangerous walkway was revamped and re-opened in 2015 after 5 people plunged to their deaths between 1999 and 2000. The attraction was so popular among peoples, as path has welcomed more than 600,000 tourists before re-opening two years ago.  

The attraction is so popular that it has set a limit of visitors per year at 300,000, with 1,100 admitted per day. The four-mile network of paths will open from Tuesday to Friday, depends upon weather conditions, and it is estimated that it will take the average visitors 4 to 5 hours to walk the full route. For the security point of view, it was restored and security fences were installed, El Caminito del Rey was a dangerous climbing spot, enticing daredevil holidaymakers from around the world thanks to its state of disrepair. The narrow concrete path, supported by steel stanchions at around 45 degrees into the rock face, had wide gaps and rickety hand rails that posed a massive challenge even for experienced climbers. However, accessible from the towns of Ardales and Alora (El Chorro), the footpath is a century old and was built for workers at two nearby hydroelectric plants. It is now managed in a joint venture by Hermandos Campano and Bobastro 2000.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Old Dragon’s Head: Where The Great Wall of China Ends

The Great Wall of China is one of the most wonderful pieces of architecture and the most aspiring building project ever make an effort in the history of mankind. The construction of Great Wall of China is formidable defensive structure, built toward off invasion and to protect the Chinese Empire, goes back by more than 2,000 years to the 7th century BC during the Chunqiu period. Therefore, the construction continued up to the Ming dynasty (1368–1644), when the Great Wall became the world's largest military structure. Particularly well-known is the wall built between 220 - 206 BC by the first Emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang, but little of that wall remains. However, after that, the Great Wall has on and off been rebuilt, maintained and fortified.

Therefore, one of the more fascinating places to visit The Great Wall is where it meets the Bohai Sea near Shanghaiguan in Qinhuangdao City about 300 kilometers east of Beijing. Shanhaiguan or Shanhai Pass is one of the main passes of the Great Wall of China located south of Yan Mountain, and north of the Bohai Sea. Moreover, the Great Wall lengthens 5 kilometers north of Shanhai Pass where it juts into the sea. This is where The Wall starts and from here it stretches to Lop-Lake in the west, along an arc that jaggedly delineates the southern edge of Inner Mongolia. Thus a length of about 8,850 km ends depending on how you look at it. So, this captivating part of the wall is well-known as Laolongtou or the Old Dragon’s Head, because it looks like a long dragon dipping his head drinking water from the sea. This section of the Wall extends about 23 meters out into the Bohai Sea, and it is likely to walk out onto the Wall and look over the edge directly down into the water below. Laolongtou was built in 1579 in the Ming Dynasty.

Nevertheless, the Laolongtou Great Wall is mostly formed by 7 parts, which are the Estuary Stone City, Chenghai Tower, Nereus Temple, Jinglu Beacon Tower, Nanhaikou (Southern Estuary) Pass, Ninghai City and Binhai (Seafront) Walls. So, between them, Chenghai Tower is the most famous structure. Chenghai The tower is a two-storey building built with bricks and wood, mainly functioned as a defensive arrow tower. Further, Emperors of the Qing Dynasty once visited it while on their way to Northeast China, worshipped their ancestors and left various poems and writings. There are also poems by well-known literary figures inscribed on the tablets embedded on the walls.

Moreover, in July 1904, Japanese troops landed at Shanhai Pass, prior to marching on Peking to relieve the siege of the legations during the Boxer Uprising. A pre-landing bombardment of the area, which was completely needless as few Chinese troops were present, destroyed this section of the wall. What stands nowadays is a 1980s effort by the authorities to imitate the original. By the shore, the Changtai Tower, and the Temple to the Sea Goddess that sits in its center, was initially built in 1579, but is now covered with replica soldiers in Qing Dynasty costumes. Furthermore, most excitingly the original wall was built using a mixture of glutinous rice soup mixed with sand, earth and lime.