Tag Archives: Unesco

Kazakhstan

By ilyani | Published 17 June, 2009

Kazakhstan! :D It’s really interesting, coz in Postcrossing the definition of exotic and rare countries is totally about how many users (who actively send postcards) from a country. Malaysia = not exotic. Kazakhstan = exotic. And the lack of a card from somewhere exotic and not familiar always make me wonder if there actually exist people in the country at all? And what kind of activity they’re doing that they’re not really exposed to internet and other people? Though actually, I have met a number of Kazakh people in KSA last time, and even took some pics of them :P and believe me, they are normal people like us! But how come they are not in Postcrossing?

Still I did not have a Kazakhstan postcard at that time -_____-  So how do you expect I would ever get a card from there, if it wasn’t our Jo Russianruby the traveler went to live in Kazakhstan for a while recently. And she sent me a card! Or in fact, two! But the one she sent from the country didn’t seem to reach me -____- and after months, who would have thought, Jo was in Kuala Lumpur for a few days before heading Cambodia, and she mailed again a card from KL in envelope! So I received a Kazakhstan postcard from Malaysia :P Nevermind! Here’s the finally arriving card!

Something nature and archaeological here. These images belong to the Charyn Canyon National Park and the Tamgaly Tas Nature Reserve, which is one of the 3 UNESCO heritage sites in Kazakhstan. It’s now an open air museum which is home to over 4000 cave paintings date from the 14th to 16th century BC. Those unique petrogliphs show images of ancient inhabitants of Kazakhstan, their culture, home and way of life. And there’s also the Valley of King Burial Mounds, which are the tallest in Semirechye region and still have a lot of mysteries.

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Temples in Japan

By ilyani | Published 5 June, 2009

I am not sure if it’s kind of surprising, that many of my postcards from Japan do not actually picture its modern city views but rather the old parts of it where the ancient temples have been around since centuries ago. And these temples are located in some kind of beautiful garden with colorful trees and flowers, with small neat paths… they seem to be preserved well to give an atmosphere as if you really come back to the era of historic Japanese Emperors. And it really reminds me the Sohma family in the Fruits Basket anime.. especially the fact that they live in a traditional huge house inside a garden.. and that guy wearing kimono..

shigure

Shigure: “Hi! Are you talking about me??”

OK OK.. nevermind. Let’s go back to postcards!!!

From Anzuume. This is the Rokkakudo Temple in Kyoto. Rokkaku mean hexagon, and if you look from above, the roof is hexagonal. This temple is said to be founded in thr 6th century, while the main hall was rebuilt in the 19th century.

From Cockie. Another temple in Kyoto.. this is the Kenniji temple. It was founded in 1202. And these bush are tea plants! I have seen tea farm in Cameron Highlands here, but I didn’t know that they can actually blossom with flowers!

From Little_Flower. The Nikko Toshogu shrine was built in 1617, during the Edo period. And this is its Kara-mon Gate. It was made with various kinds of foreign timbers with exquisite carvings. This shrine is part of the “Shrines and Temples of Nikkō”, a UNESCO World Heritage site in Japan.

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Croatian coastline towns

By ilyani | Published 2 June, 2009

My first Croatia entry.. though my postcards from there are from different scattered places, they are actually located along the coastline of the Adriatic sea. The Adriatic sea is part of the Mediterranean sea that separates the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan Peninsula.

From Dorilys. I love this old fortress and buildings! I am amazed with the fact that they’re standing juse a few inches from the water… I can’t help thinking if it’s safe?? Because here the sea water is never at the same level, it can go down in daytime and at night part of the beach will be flooded. It’s never a good idea to make a building or house very near to the beach.. even there’s been a proverb saying more or less, “Dont build a house near the beach if you don’t expect a danger”… well maybe it doesn’t apply in Croatia at least, since this Dubrovnik city has been standing since the Middle ages, being the centre of the development back in the 15th and 16th centuries and home to many great artists, scientists and other scholars  in Croatian language and literature. Between its golden ages in the 14th century and 1808, Dubrovnik was a free state Republic and only became part of Croatia during the WWI. Needless to say, Dubrovnik old city has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1979.

From AJDonkey. Now comes Murter, a Croatian island and this view shows the old parts where you can see typical fisherman villages like this.

HR-138 from Mijo. This is actually the first postcard I received from Croatia.. back in 2006. And it’s funny that I only knew Hrvatska as Croatian name for the country just after I got this card! I mean.. I was a bit puzzled with the ID saying HR.. and thanks goodness the stamps helped me from being ignorant for too long :P (well the same way I felt dumb realizing Switzerland as Helvetica yet having CH as the ID code) anyways Makarska is another coastline town.. it’s a tourist center with beaches and hotels, yet also an old town from the middle ages. It used to be conquered by the Republic of Venice in the 13th century. (Oh yeah? Venice was a republic too!)

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