Showing posts with label Travel (Not Synth Related). Show all posts
Showing posts with label Travel (Not Synth Related). Show all posts

Thursday, 24 April 2014

Peru - Cusco




 My Hotel, Arequipa





Santa Catalina Monastery 

 

Just out of Arequipa... known as Ciudad Blanca.(The White City). It was built in 1579 and was enlarged in the 17th century.

Inca terraces.
These agricultural terraces were build by the Incas. They allowed farming on otherwise unusable land. The terraces also allowed the Incas to take advantage of different ecological zones created by variations in altitude.
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Cusco was the site of the historic capital of the Inca Empire.
12th - 13th century walls ?? in Cusco city.
Incredible precision


Francisco Pizarro officially arrived in Cusco on 23 March 1534.The many buildings constructed after the Spanish invasion have a mixture of Spanish influence with Inca indigenous architecture,




The Spanish conquistadors (as is often the case with victorous invaders) built their "temple" over the ruins
of the conquered. The Cathedral of Saint Domingo is built on top of a Incan temple known as Kiswarkancha. Construction began in 1559. It has the shape of the Latin Cross and was built with the intention of replacing the Incan religion with Spanish Catholic Christianity.

 

Ahhh... nothing like a pint of Guinness. 11,156 ft .... that's  3,400.3488 metres

A good many nights were spent in Paddy's Bar trying to adjust to my altitude sickness. :-)



Anyone for roasted guinea pig?
These animals are not in the pig family, nor are they from Guinea.
A Peruvian delicacy.

View of Cusco from my Hotel.


Ollantaytambo
The stronghold of the Inca Resistance against the conquistadors. Altitude 2.792 metres. The terraces were built by the Emperor Pachacuti. 
Manco Inca, leader of the native resistance fortified the town and its approaches in the direction of the former Inca capital of Cusco, which had fallen under Spanish domination. In 1536 he defeated a Spanish army by blocking their advance from the terraces and flooding the plain below.


For more travel links click here:
http://djjondent.blogspot.com.au/2015/03/travel-postcards-index-my-travel.html

Monday, 24 March 2014

Syria - Travel pics - 1999 - Aleppo before the War

It's upsetting when I hear all the bad news coming out of Syria these days.
More refugees, more killing, heart break & suffering.

I first visited Syria back in 1999.
I had wonderful experiences. The people were gracious, warm and friendly.

Here are some pics taken during those times. Seems like it was 1000 years ago.

Aleppo. The citadel ...  (Arabic: قلعة حلب‎) is a large medieval fortified palace in the centre of the old city. It is considered to be one of the oldest and largest castles in the world. It is listed by UNESCO World Heritage.


These pics were taken before digital panoramas. So please excuse my rather primitive attempts to paste them together (David Hockey style).

Below is a recent video of the citadel. Makes be very sad to see it's current state.




 View of the theatre ...inside of the citadel, Aleppo, Syria. 1999.

The Citadel bridge.. crosses the "moat".

Several famous crusaders were imprisoned in the citadel, among them Count of Edessa, Joscelin II & the king of Jerusalem, Baldwin II. It was never captured by the crusaders.
 




View from inside the citadel looking over the city of Aleppo.

The Tea Vendor, Aleppo, 1999.

Aleppo street scene.

Aleppo Grand Bazzar



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For more travel postcards click here

Friday, 7 February 2014

Petra Panoramas

Some pics taken in Petra, Jordan. Capital city of the Nabataeans. 

The Treasury. Al Khazneh. dated around 1st century BC. Cut right out of the sandstone cliff.
A nice fusion of Greek & Middle Eastern Architecture.
It's quite amazing how well preserved it is. Probably due to its well protected location in the valley.
The details in the upper capitals are still crisp... like they were carved yesterday.


Petra was discovered as late as 1812 by Swiss explorer Johann Ludwig Burckhardt.

 Felt pen drawing done on an earlier 1999 trip.

This is the eastern entrance to the city. Its a dark, narrow gorge called the Siq (The Shaft). About 1.2 Km long it at times opens up into large sunlit spaces. Dotted with trees here & there, you walk over ancient Roman/Nabatean road.

The famous Indiana Jones view.




The place of high sacrifice. Perched high above Wadi Musa there are dramatic views over Petra below.
The two 6m obelisks  probably probably represent the chief male and female Nabatean deities, Dushara and al-Uzza. Whats amazing is that these are solid. The mountain top was removed to leave them standing.

Most likely animal sacrifice, ritual exposure of the dead (as practiced by Zoroastrians of Persia) and offerings to the god Dushara took place here. Did human sacrifice occur?  Maybe, though no one is certain.

This is the view from the place of high sacrifice as are the two directly below.




The amphitheatre has been cut directly into the hillside. Dated to the 1st Century AD its most likely
Hellenistic not Roman. The Greeks tended to build their theatres into the natural hillside.
The Romans probably restored the theatre after they took over. Seats about 9,000.



Roman road ... about 106 CE

The Monastery ... 1st century BC. Dedicated to the god Obodas. Getting here is a hour's hike from the city centre (1.5 hrs from the Treasury). It's well worth the effort.... hiking up through rocky gorges. Lots to see along the way.

The name "Monastery" is a misnomer. It was probably a temple dedicated to King Obodas I. He was worshiped as a god after his death.

Though not as ornate as the Treasury it looks like it's much bigger. Carved out of the side of the mountain it dominates the surrounding landscape.

View of the Monastery from the "High Place". Breathtaking views over Petra.


Petra Byzantine Church