South East Asia – Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam

The South East Asia – Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam

On my first trip to the South East Asia in November 2004, I spent one week in Thailand, two weeks in Cambodia and two week in Vietnam. I started the trip in Bangkok, where I did acclimatization and got visas for Cambodia and Vietnam. From Bangkok I took bus to Thailand/Cambodia border (Aranya Prathet – Poipet). From Poipet it took 18 h on 140 km of dirty, dusty road to reach Siem Reap. I dedicated three days for Angkor complex to explore Angkor Wat, Ta Prohm, Phnom Bakheng, Banteay Samre, Banteay Srei, Angkor Thom, Bayon and to admire Tonle Sap Lake. Tonle Sap Lake is the biggest inland lake in South East Asia. The Tonle Sap Lake is a natural phenomenon: its flow changes direction twice a year and the portion that forms the lake expands and shrinks dramatically with the seasons. From November to May, Cambodia’s dry season, the Tonle Sap drains into the Mekong River at Phnom Penh. However, when the year’s heavy rains begin in June, the Tonle Sap backs up to form an enormous lake. When the Tonle Sap River changes direction, in early November, there is a Celebration of the Seven-Headed snake. The festival lasts three days and begins on the last day of the full moon. Because of the variation of the monsoon seasons, the reversal of the river does not always coincide exactly with the festival. In the simplest form, the celebration is a series of canoe races and victory brings good fortune for the coming fishing season. When I came on pick up truck to Phnom Phen, Capital of Cambodia, the city was decorated with flags. The young king Norodom Sihamoni was just coroneted (29 October 2004) and took over the Kingdom of Cambodia, after his father Nhorodom Shikanuk abdicated in 2004. In Phnom Pehn, I visited the Killing Fields (Choeng Ek) and infamous S-21 – Tuol Sleng Museum, where during the Khmer Rough regime (1975-1979) around 20.000 people was detained, tortured and murdered. On the boat on Mekong River I entered Vietnam, visited some tourist spots in Mekong Delta and Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). On the train from Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) to Hanoi, 1700 km, 40 hours, they stole my cam with film rolls, while I was sleeping. So from the north of Vietnam (Hanoi, Halong Bay, Sapa), I don’t have photos.

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The Birth and the Rise of the Volcano Paricutín

The Birth and the Rise of the Volcano Paricutín

The surrounding of Uruapan, a town in the Michoacán, one of the most dangerous federal states in Mexico, is much more interesting than the town itself. It is full of heaped volcanic hills, pine forests and avocado plantations, which grow very well in mild climate on fertile volcanic soil. There are also many corn fields. At one of them, located 35 km west of Uruapan, a farmer Dionysio Pulido was working with his wife and son on a hot day (February 20th, 1943). Suddenly the earth began to shake underneath. A smoke and ash started to puff out from the crack in the soil beneath his feet. Dionysio started fearlessly to fight the invisible enemy with his hoe and tried to seal the hole. Quickly, he realized his helplessness and with his family, he ran for help to its village of San Salvador Paricutín. When the villagers, armed with farmer’s tools and old muskets, came some hours later, the “molehill” in Dionysius’s corn field was more than one meter high! Within a next week it reached the height of five storey building. A new volcano, named Paricutín, was growing on and in one year time, it was already 336 m high. The lava flooded Dionysius’s village San Salvador Paricutin and also nearby village called San Juan Parangaricutiro. The villagers had managed to save their lives and movable property, but everything else included their humble houses and churches were buried with the lava and ash. The volcano Paricutín finally extinguished in 1954. In ten years of its activity, it had grown to 424 m above the level of corn fields and reached an altitude of 2,800 m!
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Articles:
Paricutin – ognjenik s koruznega polja (SL, 6.2014)

Russia – Saint Petersburg, Petrograd, Leningrad, Petersburg

Russia – Saint Petersburg, Petrograd, Leningrad, Petersburg

In May 2009 I spent a couple of days in Saint Petersburg, the second largest city (4,8 million inhabitants) in Russia. The city was founded by Tsar Peter the Great on May 27, 1703, with an ambition to have Russia gain a seaport in order to be able to trade with other maritime national. The Nyenskans, a fortress at the mouth of the Neva River in the Gulf of Finland, seemed perfectly located for this purpose, because Arkhangelsk, the other seaport, was far too North on the White Sea and was therefore closed to shipping for months during the long winter.

Because of many canals and bridges, this northernmost city with population over one million, is often called “Amsterdam or Venice of the North”. During the navigation period from April to November, twenty two bridges across Neva and main canals are drawn to let boats pass in and out of the Baltic Sea. Consecutive opening and closing for each bridge is calculated and maintained to guarantee passage of ships at a precisely controlled speed, in order to have at least one bridge at a time staying connected to ensure passage for ambulance, firefighters, police and other ground transportation. Because of the geographical location (59°57′N, 30°18′E) of Saint Petersburg, White Nights phenomena (almost 24 hours of daylight in Midsummer) occurs from June 11 to July 2 and has become a symbol of Saint Petersburg.

In 1914 the name of the city was changed from Saint Petersburg to Petrograd, in 1924 to Leningrad and in 1991 back to Saint Petersburg or shortly “Petersburg” or even “Piter”. Saint Petersburg was the capital of imperial Russia from between 1713-1728 and 1732-1918, than the central government bodies were moved to Moscow. On November 7, 1917 (October 25 according Orthodox calendar), the Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Ilich Lenin, stormed the Winter Palace and started the October Revolution. During World War II, German forces besieged Leningrad from September 1941 to January 1944. The 872 days long Siege of Leningrad was one of the longest and most destructive sieges of a major city in modern history. The only way to provide supplies was through the Road of Life across Lake Ladoga. During the siege more than one million civilians died, mainly from starvation.

Saint Petersburg is an important Russian port on the Baltic Sea and a major European cultural center with many galleries, theatres and museums. The most famous museum is The Hermitage, considered one of the largest art museums in the world. The Historic Centre of Saint Petersburg constitutes a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
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Mexico – Ruta Maya

In June 2003 I traveled the “classical route” also know as “Ruta Maya” from Mexico City, Puebla, Oaxaca, Puerto Angel, Tuxtla Gutierrez, San Cristobal de las Casas, Palenque, Chetumal, Tulum, Chichen Itza and La Venta. Photos were taken on dia rolls with my old, analog Minolta camera (which was stolen one year late, on the train between Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) and Hanoi). At that time I was very proud on all those photos, now, I like only a couple from that trip…
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