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Carlsbad Caverns National Park USA

Carlsbad Caverns National Park is located in the southeast region of New Mexico, United States. The most famous part of this National Park is the show cave, Carlsbad Caverns, which is open to the public and tourists can hike by themselves via the natural entrance. One can also take the elevator that take you to the Underground Lunchroom which is 230 meters (750ft) beneath ground level.

Carlsbad Caverns Park is open every day except on the 25th of December every year. It has two distinct entries, one is the Cacesern Historic District and the other is called the Rattlesnake Springs Historic District. Out of the entire park, almost two-third has been restored in terms of its habitat and no further change will be allowed under any circumstance. The most visited day of the year is on July 4th, U.S. Independence Day.

Jim White discovered this place and gave some of the rooms their names, including the Big Room, King’s Palace, New Mexico Room, Papoose Room, Queen’s Chamber, and Green Lake Room. Jim also named others important formations, including Totem Pole, Giant Dome, Witch’s Finger, Bottomless Pit, Iceberg Rock, Fairyland, Temple of the Sun, and Rock of Ages. There is a lot of natural and untapped beauties present in Carlsbad Caverns. Quite a few chambers in the cave have white stalagmites, which resembled angels to the room’s discoverers. There are 17 different species of bats that lived within the park.

Balloon Ballroom
Located in the ceiling above the main entrance hall, this small room was first accessed by tying a rope to a bunch of balloons and floating them up into the passage.

Bat Cave
A large, unadorned rocky passage connected to the main entrance corridor that was mined for bat guano in the early 20th century. The majority of the cave’s bat population lives in this portion of the cave.

Bell Cord Room
Named for a long, narrow stalactite coming through a hole in the ceiling, resembling the rope coming through a church steeple to ring the bell. This room is located at the end of the Left Hand Tunnel.

Bifrost Room
Discovered in 1982, it is located in the ceiling above Lake of the Clouds. Its name refers to a Norse myth about a world in the sky that was accessed from Earth by a rainbow. The room was given this name because of its location above the Lake of the Clouds and its colorful oxide-stained formations.

Big Room or The Hall of the Giants
The largest chamber in Carlsbad Caverns, with a floor space of 33,210 m2 (357,469 sq ft).[10]

Chocolate High
A maze of small passages totalling nearly a mile in combined length, discovered in 1993 above a mud-filled pit in the New Mexico Room known as Chocolate Drop.

Green Lake Room
The uppermost of the “Scenic Rooms”, it is named for a deep, malachite-colored pool in the corner of the room. In the 1940s, when the military was testing the feasibility of Carlsbad Cavern as an emergency fallout shelter, the Green Lake was used to look for ripples caused by a nuclear bomb test many miles away. None appeared.

Guadalupe Room
Discovered by a park ranger in 1966, this is the second largest room in Carlsbad Caverns. It is known for its dense collection of “soda straw” stalactites.

Hall of the White Giant
A large chamber containing a large, white stalagmite. Rangers regularly lead special wild cave tours to this location.

King’s Palace
The first of four chambers in a wing known as the “scenic rooms”, it is named for a large castle-like formation in the center of the room.

Lake of the Clouds
The lowest known point in the cave. It is located in a side passage off the Left Hand Tunnel. It is named for its large lake containing globular, cloud-like rock formations that formed under water when the lake level was much higher.

Left Hand Tunnel
A long, straight passage marked by deep fissures in the floor. These fissures are not known to lead anywhere. The Left Hand Tunnel leads to the Lake of the Clouds and the Bell Cord Room.

Mystery Room
A small room located in the lower part of the cave, named for a mysterious and as of yet unexplained noise heard only in this room.

New Mexico Room
Located adjacent to the Queen’s Chamber and accessed by means of a short slope.

New Section
A section of fissures east of the White Giant formation and paralleling the Bat Cave. New discoveries are still being made in this section.

Papoose Room
Located between the King’s Palace and Queen’s Chamber.

Queen’s Chamber
Widely regarded as the most beautiful and scenic area of the cave. Jim White’s lantern went out in this chamber while exploring and was in the dark for over half an hour.

Spirit World
Located in the ceiling of the Big Room, this area is filled with white stalagmites that resembled angels to the room’s discoverers.

Talcum Passage
A room located in Lower Cave where the floor is coated with gypsum dust.

The Rookery
One of the larger rooms in Lower Cave. A large number of cave pearls are found in this area.

Underground Lunchroom

Located in the Big Room at the head of the Left Hand Tunnel. It contains a cafeteria that was built in the 1950s, and is where the elevators from the visitor center exit into the cave.Carlsbad Caverns

Carlsbad Caverns

Carlsbad Caverns

Carlsbad Caverns

Carlsbad Caverns

Carlsbad Caverns

South Padre Island, Texas

South Padre Island is a resort town in Cameron County Texas, and a most popular Spring Break place. During the summer the island remains a popular spot, primarily because of its beautiful blue water.

Unlike Galveston island in Texas, which has a murky brown coast line, the cool, very beautiful waters of South Padre give a serene experience for families or couples looking for a nice getaway.

Island of the Big Lion

No one knows why this Langkawi island is called "Island of the Big Lion" - the island does not has any physical resemblance of a lion at all. Limestone outcrops are prominent on the north eastern part of the island.

Pulau Singa Besar is located about 17km from Kuah, nestled between the smaller island of Pulau Beras Basah to the west and Pulau Dayang Bunting to the east. The sedimentary rocks on this island are reputed to be among the oldest in Malaysia going back 500 million years. The flora and fauna here differ greatly form that on the mainland, with lush abundance of the Diptherocarp, kelubi and cycas.

This island is a wildlife sanctuary where you can find lizards, mouse deer, macaques, eagles and hornbills roam freely. Wooden walkways and paths have been delineated on the islands shores for for you to trek around the island which normally takes about 8 hours.

At low tide, parts of the coral bed of Pulau Singa Besar is exposed. Although rich in coral beds, some of the reefs are dead due to muddy sediments brought by currents from the Straits of Malacca. However, there are also signs of coral regeneration in some places.

You can have a picnic on the pristine beaches and enjoy swimming in the surrounding waters. There are no hotels or chalets on this island but you are allowed to camp here. However, you'll have to bring along your own tents and camping equipment if you wish to spend the night on the Big Lion of Langkawi islands.

Pantai Tanjung Rhu - Tanjung Rhu Beach

Tanjung Rhu is one of Langkawi best beaches. This beautiful beach fringed with tall casuarina trees is located 22 km away from Kuah - on the northernmost tip of Langkawi island. During low tide, you can actually walk across a sandy stretch to the rocky outcrop of Pulau Chabang. There are also a number of caves as well as mangrove swamp that you can explore nearby.

Tanjung Rhu is safely sheltered by the curve of the bay. The water is shallow and calmly blue. This beautiful secluded bay of white sand is constantly caressed by the gentle breeze blowing in from the vast Indian Ocean.

You can hire a boat to cruise around the islands. There is also the Tanjung Rhu Riding Centre which offers equestrian sports. The exclusive Tanjung Rhu Resort, set on its edge is one of the resorts on this bay.

Fansipan Mountain-Vietnam

For mountain climbers, Fansipan Mountain is one of the greatest mountains to climb. This tourist spot is now ranked number 12 in the list of the New Seven Wonders of the world. Fansipan is located 9 km south-west of Sapa Townlet in the Hoang Lien Mountain Range. Fansipan is branded “the top of Indochina” with a towering height of 3,143 m. Fansipan had been proposed to be one of the very little eco-tourist spots of Vietnam, with about 2,024 floral types and 327 faunal species.

Shark Feeding

The underwater world in Tahiti is an extraordinary experience. It is unique not only for water clarity, fish species, and gorgeous living reefs but also one of the few places left in the world rich with big animals.

Species include; Humpback Whales, Dolphins, Manta Rays, Giant Wrasse, Moray Eels, and of course multiple types of sharks. Depending on the Island you are staying on you will be able to swim with; Black Tip, Grey Reef, White Tip, Nurse, Lemon, Hammerhead, and even Tiger Sharks.

Begun in the mid 80s, shark feeding tours are now commonplace in French Polynesia and a great way to experience these most perfected of fish species. Normally these are half-day tours whereby you are taken out to an outer reef, don snorkel and flippers, slip into the water and watch Tahitian divers hand feed Black Tip reef sharks right before your eyes!

The Road Of Death

I think i will not say anything after i knew about this dangerous and most dangerous road in the world. Exactly, it runs in the Bolivian Andes, 70 km from La Paz to Coroico, and plungs down almost 3,600 metres in an orgy of extremely narrow hairpin bends and 800 metress a gaping chasm which ready to pounce on anything that falls. Every year it is estimated 200 to 300 people die on a stretch of road less than 50 miles long. In one year alone, 25 vehicles plunged off the road and into the ravine. That is one every two weeks. This Journey blog never recommend you to go there, but if you curious you might enough see it from far.

It seems so weird and fear that one of the main roads out of one of the highest cities on Earth should actually climb as it leaves town. Then climb it does sapping 5 kilometres (three miles) above sea level, where even the internal combustion engine is forced to toil and splutter. Then it pauses for a while on the snow-flecked crest of the Andes before pitching - like a giant white knuckle ride - into the abyss.

That dangerous road is starting from Bolivia's main city, La Paz to a region known as the Yungas. The "road of death"-that it's name-was built by Paraguayan prisoners of war back in the 1930s.

Then about the hairpin bends. Perched on hairpin bends over dizzying precipices, crosses and stone cairns mark the places where travellers' prayers went unheeded. Where, for someone - the road ended. But even these stark warnings are all too often ignored. Because of impatient motorist.

When the dry season in Bolivia gone, soon the rains will come cascading down the walls of the chasm and huge waterfalls will drench the road turning it's surface to be slime.

Then will come those heart-stopping moments when wheels skid and brakes fail to grip. There are stories told of truckers too tired - or too afraid - to continue, who pull over for the night, hoping to see out an Andean storm. But they have parked too close to the edge. And as they sleep in their cabs, the road is washed away around them.

But for now the road is a ribbon of dust. Every vehicle passing along it churns up a sandstorm in its wake.

Choking, blinding clouds obscure the way ahead. Around one hairpin, a cloud of debris was beginning to clear.
As it did, it seems people milling around in the road. Passengers from one of the overloaded and decrepit buses which run the gauntlet of this road.

There was nothing anyone could do. Mobile phones do not work here. In any case, who would you call? There are no emergency services. It is so fear. And no way of getting help through, even if any were to be found. The bus driver bled to death.

Thats way the road is named the "Road of Death".

Bangkok - Siam Paragon

Siam Paragon is the poshest shopping mall in Bangkok. It is located along the famous Soi Sukhumvit, next to the Siam MRT Station. 

The exterior design is quite standard, essentially a square box building with a bit of decoration and nice landscaping to differentiate itself from the rest. The most striking feature of this shopping mall is the main entrance lobby - the walls and balconies are covered with verticle planted walls filled with exotic plants. There is a water feature right in the middle of the lobby, with a few planted archways providing a truly unique and beautiful interior.

The rest of the shopping centre is quite standard - predominently white design with polished floors and spacious shopping concourse. Besides shops, there is also a huge cineplex, and the Siam Ocean World, one of the biggest aquariums in Asia.

The beautiful entrance lobby.

The white interiors.

Huge crowds are a common sight at the plaza outside the shopping mall.

Bangkok - Protests

As I'm composing this blogpost, I can't stop thinking about what I have heard on the news. Thais have always been admired for their peace-loving nature, and I really hope that the protests will remain peaceful. 

It's been a wild ride for Thailand these past few years. The courage of the people to stand up for their rights - and to do it peacefully, is a rare quality among Asian cultures. Lets all hope that the differences can be worked out soon, and that things will return to normal. 

To those travellers stranded in the airport and all over Thailand - the whole world is with you, and we hope that you will be able to return home soon to be with your friends and loved ones. Have patience, and take heart that you are witnessing democracy at work, a country trying to grapple with it's growing pains. This will be a part of Thai history, and you are a part of it. 

Phuket - Amanpuri Resort

The World is lucky to have somebody like Adrian Zecha - a rich person who has the vision, means and determination to create extraordinary projects. I'm a bit biased of course - as an architect we are always dreaming about landing a client like him. Instead of just kicking back and enjoying life, he chose to take on the challenge of creating some of the most interesting resorts in some of the most unusual places in the World. Every Aman resort is a unique and visionary creation.

Amanpuri was the resort which started a whole new trend of travel and lifestyle. Not many people thought a small ultra-exclusive boutique resort - one charging more then USD 1,000 per night, would be able to survive. Aman resorts proved that it could be done, and now there are even "Aman Groupies" who would only visit a destination if there is an Aman resort there. We are talking about mostly millionaires here.

For mere mortals like me, a visit is as close as I would ever get to an Aman experience. In Bali we managed to visit Amandari and Amanusa, both very beautiful resorts in stunning locations. They were also much more accommodating and we managed to visit the villas to see what it's like to stay in ultra-luxury. Here in Phuket, I only managed to get to the reception and the main pool deck. Amanpuri is located at Pansea Beach, sharing an entrance driveway with The Chedi.

Immaculate landscaping.

The beautifully crafted stone walls - a signature at all the Aman resorts.

The villas nestled on the hill sides.

The architectural design for Amanpuri was based on traditional Thai architecture which has been stripped down to it's most basic. At the time when it was built, it was a revelation. 20 years down the road, trends have moved on and most of the exclusive resorts now are minimalist in design. Compared to that, Amanpuri looks a bit old fashion, but it's charm is still undeniable.

The Oldest Civilization at Lake Toba

The largest lake in Indonesia which located in North Sumatera Indonesia i.e lake Toba is not only give an interest natural view. Here, in the vulkanic lake of lake Toba was saved a civilization of the ancient Batak before the arrival of missionaries Nommensen 1862. The lake Toba has 200 metres in depht. The trail of this civilization is easy to found in samosir island, an island which located amid lake Toba. if you want to reach this island is so easy, it can be reached by ferry boat from Aji Bata harbor in Parapat. If you depart from Medan(The Capital of North Sumatera), it will spend 4 hours.

The adventure of the old village civilization at Samosir can be easier with transportation rental from Parapat. Because the public transportation in Samosir is still rare and limited, so that the children on the island should be piles on the roof of the vehicle during the hours go out or go home from school.

if you take a ferry boat, you should bring a float by yourself while you was sailing the lake. Because it will be feared if in boat there are not floats. The adventure destination in Tomok village is begin.

Tomok village

Tomok is the village with population 6.000 souls.This village had built by King Sidabutar in hundreads time ago. In a centuries ago, the Samosir island is controlled by some small king that lead in several village area. The kings are imagined like the head of village in nowdays. They often doing wars, thes way they are build bastion or citadel to save their village themselves which indeed is the king's family and his descendant. This ancient villages are funcionate to be museum now.

In Tomok, there are original house of the king Sidabutar. It is the stage house made from iron wood, the house is still look so sturdy, supported by large wooden pillars that serve as the main pillar. The Batak traditional houses are built with peg system which Wooden rods to interlock with pegs its carved directly on the wood.

Not far from the house is tomb of the descendants of King Sidabutar, and in front of tomb complex stands a large gate with a rich ornamentation carved in red, black, and white. The three colors that became the spiritual symbol of the Batak. In the gate carved lizard is facing four breasts. According to the customary head of Tomok village said that the lizard is mean that the Batak people should be life like as lizard, it mean they can life anywhere and easy to adaptation. Then the breast is symbol of mothers, so that while the Batak people going anywhere they should have remember their mothers and so does their homeland.

While we entrance to the tomb complex, there are stone coffin carved human head which not buried underground but on the land, there are inside the coffin was King of Sidabutas and his descendant buried.

The Old Village of Huta Bolon Simanindo

"Huta Bolon" is the large village in local translation. This village had built by King Simanindo. The Huta Bolon located at 20 km from Tomok. While we entrance to the village we are greeted by the gate with dull paint it mean the gate is so old. In the gate wrote the name of the village. Then we see the tombs of King Simanindo and family in line on the road.

If Tomok village built the stone rail to protect the village, but the Huta Bolon built the land rail to protect the village from the enemies. That rail was be planted by a grass over the rail closely. In the village there are two rows of houses were built facing each other. One series is home to the king and his family, while the other is a row of houses barn, home guards, and family room king.

In the central pillar of wood stuck to tie the buffalo that are used in ritual offerings. days when tourists are still a lot of visiting Lake Toba, in Huta Bolon Simanindo often held traditional arts, like dance sigale-Gale and single-tor-tor panaluan. The show was a reconstruction of a ritual that held ancient Toba Batak society.

The Oldest history of Batak
It is in the old village of Huta Siallagan Ambarita, Samosir, North Sumatera, Indonesia. In there, before Batak people knew Christian religion, the King Siallagan use to lynch his enemies as a punishment.

The village was surrounded by a wall built of natural stone composition. In the middle of the village, there is a table of stone with stone seats arranged in a circle. That site is called a stone court. It was already more than 200 years old. In the past, before punishing criminals or enemy, King Siallagan and village elders held a hearing on a stone court. After the trial, the enemy or criminals brought to the place of execution which is behind the village.

The place of execution's layout is similar to the stone court. It's just that there is a large rock and boulders elongated shape with a hollow in the middle. Large rock that extends it to lay the enemy king before her body slashed to eliminate immunity of his enemies bodies. After slashed, the head of enemies were decapitated in a hollow stone.

In the end of the adventure you still can enjoy the beautifull natural view of lake Toba, the largest lake in Indonesia. Happpy Journey.