Virtual Tripping » Asia

This is Christmas time in Bethlehem, Palestine, near Israel.

Mark — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 10:13:43 +0000

Visiting Jesus Birthplace (Bethlehem) on Christmas Day
Jesus Birth Place Bethlehem

This is a picture taken from flickr of the an angel talking to shepherds.

This is a picture taken from flickr of the three kings giving gifts to the baby jesus.
Christmas is a special time for many christian families and so as christmas is now almost upon us, then i thought i should bring up this previous post that i did and we can learn alittle bit about the christian story, whether it is true or not, it comes down to your own belief’s.
Most of us would have heard the story sometime in our lives, so it should not come to a surprise, when you read this post. The Christmas story begins with the birth of Jesus Christ to Mary and Joseph. I am going to take you through the town that Jesus was born into. Bethlehem was under Roman control and the leader Julius Ceasar. Has you can imagine, the times were hard and people were always looking for some kind of inspiration. So when this little boy was born, a cloud lifted off Bethlehem and Palestine. But of course many people were unsure of this baby and what this baby could and would do for the peoples of Bethlehem, Jerusalem and other towns and villages within the area. Most of us know that Jesus was born in a stable , as there was no room at the inns. But how people new about this birth is a mystery to me. The three kings following the star of Bethlehem and bringing with them gold, frankincense and myrrh. The shepherds and Angels come to visit, worship and help as well. Below we have satellite images, pictures and videos of Bethlehem, the Christmas celebrations and the birth place of Jesus Christ.

Photo by javaturtle

This is a picture taken from flickr of Baby Jesus in the manger.

Photo by kudumomo

This is a picture taken from flickr of The Birth Place of Baby Jesus.
Bethlehem is a small town south of Jerusalem, also known as Bayt Lahm in arabic.
This town has moved from Palestine to Israeli control and finally back to Palestine. This town as seen alot of trouble for many years, after the state of Israel exsisted. Will there ever be peace?, now the problem is that Bethlehem has a mixture of Israeli and Palestinans. They both believe that Bethlehem belongs to them.
First mentioned in the Egyptians records of the 14th century. Back then it was known as the native city of King David. The more common known fact is that Bethlehem is the birth place of Jesus and in the year 330 Constantine built and church over the possible site of his birth.
I wish you all a very merry christmas and a happy new year. All the best Mark.

Learn about Bethlehem on Wikipedia:
Learn about the Christmas Story on Wikipedia:
Learn about the West Bank, Palestine on Wikipedia:
Find Bethlehem on Google Maps:
Find the West Bank on Google Maps:

The christmas drink of Punch and it’s origins.

Mark — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 09:06:38 +0000

Thane Prince Christmas punch for the family
Hot rum punch

Photo by dreamo

I always look forward to christmas, but one of the things i look forward to is a nice hot cup of Punch. This can be an assortment of drinks, you can either have non-alcoholic or alcoholic punch. This is a very nice drink, it normally contains fruit or fruit juice. The name punch came British documents in 1632. Back then most of the drink was known as Wassail type and it was made with a wine or brandy base. But then around 1655, Jamaican rum became in use and the ‘modern’ punch was born. By 1671, documents make references to punch houses. But the drink was not a british idea, oh no, it firstly came from India and was passed on to England in the early seventeenth century, and then it continued to spread further a field to other countries. Today you will find that the drink is usually served at parties or at the festive season of christmas and people put it in to large, wide bowls, known as punch bowls.

Photo by joana hard

There are two very popular and well-known punch drinks, the first happens to be the Bajan (Barbadian) which is a Rum Punch is one of the oldest rum punches in the world. This punch a simple recipe enshrined in a national rhyme: “One of Sour, Two of Sweet, Three of Strong, Four of Weak.” That is: one part lime juice, two parts sweetener, three parts rum (preferably Barbados), and four parts water. It is served with a dash or two of Angostura bitters and nutmeg. The other punch is the Planter’s Punch varies, because it contains a much more wider variety of ingredients like rum, lemon juice, pineapple juice, lime juice, orange juice, grenadine, soda water, curaçao, Angostura bitters, and cayenne pepper. So it is a much more interesting and tasty drink. So whatever you are doing this christmas, then if you have the chance to try a punch drink, you really must, it may take a short time to adjust to the flavours, but the spices are usually not to strong. So whether you have a “hot or cold” or alcholic or non-alcoholic punch enjoy it.

Photo by ~!

Lets visit Lahore Fort in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan, Asia.

Mark — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 17:03:04 +0000

A Passage Through Time – Pakistan – Lahore Fort (Shahi Qila)

Photo by NotMicroButSoft (Back in town)

This is a picture taken from flickr of Lahore Fort.

Photo by Shaun D Metcalfe away in Thailand

This is a picture taken from flickr of the badshai mosque from lahore fort.
Welcome to my post about the Lahore Fort, the locals call it Shahi Qila it happens to be a fortress in the capital city of Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. You will find the citadel in the northwestern corner of the Walled City of Lahore. The trapezoidal or a trapezium composition which happens to be spread for over 20 hectares. This fort does go back as far as beyond the middle ages, but today the existing base structure was built in the reign of Mughal emperor Akbar between 1556–1605. This man was known as a Secular Emperor of Hindustan (India) and he became the emperor due to regular upgrading by subsequent rulers, having thirteen gates in all.

Photo by Shaun D Metcalfe away in Thailand

This is a picture taken from flickr of the fort in lahore.

Photo by Shaun D Metcalfe away in Thailand

This is a picture taken from flickr of the fort in lahore.
They do say the architects and historians that the fort was first built around the year 800B.C. And because of this, the fort has alot of historical rich traditions that of the Mughal architecture.And if you get the chance to visit the fort, then you will find some very interesting and well known sites inside the fort like the: Sheesh Mahal, Alamgiri Gate, Naulakha pavilion, and Moti Masjid. Because of the history and treasures of this fort, in 1981 it was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site along with the Shalimar Gardens (Lahore). This fort appears to be very important to the country of Pakistan and definately the capital city Lahore, because they designed a replica of the fort known as the Pakistan Pavilion at Expo 2010. There have been many a battle at this fort some of the dates and battles were the: 1241 AD – Destroyed by Mongols, 1398 AD – Destroyed again, by Amir Tamir‘s army, 1432 AD – The fort is occupied by Shaikh Ali of Kabul who makes repairs to the damages inflicted on it by Shaikha Khokhar, 1846 AD – Occupied by the British and then in 1927 AD – The British hand over the Fort to the Department of Archaeology after demolishing a portion of the fortification wall on the south and converting it into a stepped form thus defortifying the fort. So lots of things have happened within and outside the Lahore Fort and that was only some of the timeline history. So to learn more about this extraordinary fort and it’s walled city then refer to Wikipedia links below.

The creation of Pakistan after 1947 on Virtualtripping.com.

Mark — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 19:59:56 +0000

The Creation of Pakistan – 1947

LAST BRITISH TROOPS LEAVE PAKISTAN (1947)

Pakistani victory from India in 1947, Partition

Photo by Swamibu

Photo by Omer Wazir

This is a picture taken from flickr of View of Minar-e-Pakistan from the fort.
I was at work a few days ago when a collegue of mine, told me the story of how pakistan became the country it is today, I was quite surprised to learn that, well, lets write about and you will find out why i was surprised. Well i had no idea that Pakistan was once apart of India, well it was British India. Well where the country is now set, it used to be a site of several ancient cultures, these were the neolithic Mehrgarh and the bronze era Indus Valley Civilisation. These cultures came to own the land before pakistan due to invasions and/or settlements, the cultures were: Hindu, Persian, Indo-Greek, Islamic, Turco-Mongol, Afghan and Sikh. And because of what had happened within the region, you will find that the area has remained a part of numerous empires and dynasties including the Indian empires, Persian empires, Arab caliphates, Mongol, Mughal, Durrani Empire (Afghan Empire), Sikh and British Empire. It was in 1947, when Pakistan recieved independence from the British Empire, this was because of the struggle for independence which was led by Mohammad Ali Jinnah, he wanted to get away from British India and to create a new independent state for the Muslim majority populations of the eastern and western regions of India. The leaders of Pakistan wanted to create their own law and adopt its constitution in 1956, this then made Pakistan an Islamic republic. But as if it was not enough that the country had broken free and had now got it’s own independance, pakistan then in 1971, then had an armed conflict in East Pakistan and the result of this was to create the nation of Bangladesh. So i was to find out that the countries of Pakistan and Bangladesh were both parts of British India. Until they broke away.

Photo by mrehan

This is a picture taken from flickr of the V Shade Mountain.

Photo by Omer Wazir

This is a picture taken from flickr of a map of Pakistan.
During the years of 1947 to 1956, the country of pakistan was to be a Dominion of Pakistan in the Commonwealth of Nations, this was brought apart by West-Pakistan who went on to claime an exclusive mandate for all of Pakistan. It was West-Pakistan who considered themselves to be the reorganized continuation of the country in the United Nations. Pakistan was to become a Parliamentary Republic in 1956, but problems occured when the civilian rule was stalled by a coup d’état by the then-Army Commander-in-Chief General Ayub Khan, he was the first Chief Martial Law Administrator and also the President during the years of 1958–69. But over thoses years many problems occured like there was a period of internal instability and a second war with India in 1965 and once General Ayub Khan, had gone his successor, General Yahya Khan who ruled during the years of 1969–71, and was an Army Commander, he then had to deal with a devastating cyclone—which caused 500,000 deaths in East-Pakistan—and he also had a civil war with East-Pakistan in 1971. Well the civil was was actually brought on, due to economic grievances and political dissent in East Pakistan which then led to violent political tension and military repression. This was to scale out of control causing a civil war.It appears that for nine months, there was a guerrilla warfare, this was between the Pakistan Armed Forces and the Indian backed Bengali Mukti Bahini militia, and when the Indian got involed, the war escalated into the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, and ultimately to the secession of East Pakistan as the independent state of Bangladesh.

Photo by radicaleye

Photo by Michael Foley Photography

This is a picture taken from flickr of a Pakistan man flying his flag at the Indian fans.

The city of Doha is the capital of Qatar in the Middle East, Asia.

Mark — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 10:53:42 +0000

Welcome to Doha on Youtube

Photo by Arend Kuester

Lets have a go at this city, well welcome to the capital city of the state of Qatar, it’s Doha. You will find the city located on the coast of Qatar in the middle east of the country next to the Persian Gulf, This is a small country it is connected to mainland Saudi Arabia in the south of Qatar and the island of Bahrain to the north west of the country. Not connected but not to far to the south east of Qatar is the country of the United Arab Emirates. The city has a small population of 998,651 which was taken in 2008, and is also one of the municipalities of Qatar. To prove how large the population is in Qatar, Doha is Qatar’s largest city, with over 80% of the nation’s population residing in Doha or its surrounding suburbs, meaning that the population of the country is 1,696,563, which mean roughly 700,000 people live within the rest of the country, but the population in total was taken in 2010, so there maybe more people there now. Doha has become the economic centre of the country.

Photo by toadie1951

Photo by Arend Kuester

This city is serves as the seat of government of Qatar, and is ruled by Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani. Who was the was the appointed Heir Apparent of Qatar between 1977 and 1995 and at the same time Minister of Defense. The city has also become the home to the Education City, this is an area which is devoted to research and education. But this city is very important to the citizens of Qatar, as it became the site of the first ministerial-level meeting of the Doha Development Round , (which meant its objective is to lower trade barriers around the world, which will help facilitate the increase of global trade) of World Trade Organization negotiations. This meant that Doha was involved in the organization that intends to supervise and liberalize international trade. Boosting Doha and making it become a very important city in the world, when it comes to trade. I am amazed how ell this city is doing, for such a small country to be involved in so much is extraordinary, because Doha has also been involved when it held the 2006 Asian Games, which was the largest Asian Games ever held. And on top of that it will also be involved when it hosts the 2011 Pan Arab Games which will be from December 9th to 23rd. The city has also been invloved when it hosted the AFC Asian Cup 2011 and will also host a large number of the venues for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Doha is currently bidding to host the 2020 Summer Olympics and the 2017 World Championships in Athletics. So this is a very confident and growing city, there are lots of places to visit within Doha and plenty of places to eat, drink and stay. You can shop till you drop at the Villaggio Mall and the Hyatt Plaza, there is alo the Souq Waqif in Doha. So with all the new events happening within the city and lots of things to do and see, this is a holiday of a lifetime and the sea and the warm weather will finish it off. Enjoy!

Photo by kenjipunzalan {http://www.kenginapunzalan.com}

This is a picture taken from flickr of the Qatar Museum of Islamic Art in Doha.

Photo by Arend Kuester

This is the Southeast Asia or Southeastern Asia on Virtualtripping.com.

Mark — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 10:05:59 +0000

This is a brillian video taken from Youtube of Southeast Asia.

Photo by rmlowe

This is a pictue taken from flickr of Singapore Botanic Gardens.

I do often write posts about tcountries, but today i thought i would write alittle about Southeast Asia or Southeastern Asia. This is part of the continent of Asia and is a subregion of Asia It consists of countries like, south of China, east of India and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic and volcanic activity. But this area is known to consist of two geographic regions, which are: Mainland Southeast Asia, also known as Indochina, comprises Cambodia, Laos, Burma (Myanmar), Thailand, Vietnam and Peninsular Malaysia, and Maritime Southeast Asia, which is analogous to the Malay Archipelago, comprises Brunei, East Malaysia, East Timor, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Singapore. But even though on maps you will find the countries of Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan, you will find that politically,it is rare, since in political usage the definition of Southeast Asia is overshadowed by ASEAN memberships and this is also the same when it comes to Andaman and Nicobar Islands of India, and occasionally regions of the Seven Sister States such as Manipur.

Photo by Pigalle

This is a picture taken from flickr of Independence Monument, Phnom Penh.

Photo by rmlowe

This is a picture taken from flickr of the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpar.
It has now been shown that Austronesian peoples make up most of this region and the religions are mainly, Buddhism and Islam, followed by Christianity. However, a wide variety of religions are found throughout the region, including many Hindu and animist-influenced practices.

Photo by rmlowe

Photo by druidabruxux

The population of this region is Population 593,000,000 and the Density 118.6 /km² or 307 /sq mi. The Area 5,000,000 km² or 1,900,000 sq miles are there are 12 Countries as seen below:Brunei, Cambodia,East Timor,Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Burma,Papua New Guinea,Philippines,Singapore,Thailand andVietnam. The time zones variy from UTC+5:30 (Andaman and Nicobar Islands) to UTC+9:00 (Indonesia), and there are many different languages within this region going from English, Mandarin Chinese, Thai, Malay, Portuguese, Tamil, Filipino, Indonesian, Tetum, Vietnamise, Khmer, Burmese, etc etc.

The Hanging Gardens of Babylon, did or did they not exist ?

Mark — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 11:29:38 +0000

This is a post about the historic or not The Hanging Gardens of Babylon, they are considered to be one of the original Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. But did they really exisit or not, the problem is that has they were living plants, they have all died, so there is no proof, that they were there. But i do not want to believe it, because they were amazing and the peoples of that time, were extraordinary, if they really did build this magnificent site. It was created in the ancient city-state of Babylon, near present-day Al Hillah, Babil, in Iraq. It has been said that they are also known as the Hanging Gardens of Semiramis, in reference to the legendary Queen Semiramis.

Photo by gustaf wallen

So what happened to start this project of, well it supposedly began, when the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II who lived around 600 BC. Was reported to have constructed the gardens to please his homesick wife, Amytis of Media, who longed for the trees and fragrant plants of her homeland. But sadly during the 2nd century B.C, the gardens were destroyed many times by earthquakes.

Photo by Carla216

It has been said that these gardens were lush Hanging Gardens, it was extensively documented by Greek historians such as Strabo and Diodorus Siculus. But has you can imagine, the location for these gardens, has been confused with gardens that existed at Nineveh, since tablets from there clearly show gardens. If you have seen these tablets it says that there were possible uses, similar to an Archimedes screw as a process of raising the water to the required height.

Photo by Greater Than Lapsed

So could this have been the Hanging Gardens. It is also been said that Nebuchadnezzar II he used massive slabs of stone, which was unheard of in Babylon, to prevent the water from eroding the ground. Has you can imagine, even with the bible, so places have been confused with other places, because of the changes of the earth of years and changes of names of places aswell over time. What i mean is that it is possible that these writters believed that the gardens were in Babylon, because people would have told them, the nearest places to where the gardens were. You also have to take into account, that kingdoms took large areas and some kingdoms today over crossed into different countries, but wether any of this is true, i do not know, these are only my thoughts and ideas. But i think that most historians have their own thought, so it is best to go with them. To learn more about the Hanging Gardens refer to the links below.

This is Sendai City in the Miyagi Prefecture in Japan, Asia.

Mark — Sat, 19 Mar 2011 13:37:05 +0000

This is a Youtube video showing the beautiful city of Sendai in Japan.
I wrote yesterday about the city of Fukushima, today i am writing about the city of Sendai, it is the capital city of Miyagi Prefecture, Japan, and the largest city in the Tōhoku Region and as now become very well known due to the tragedy caused byt the earthquake and tsunami on the 11th March 2011, coastal areas of the city suffered catastrophic damage from a magnitude 9.0 offshore earthquake and the 10-meter or 33-foot high tsunami. It has become a very sad story and so what have i found out about this city, well back in 2005 the sendai had a population of one million, and was also one of Japan’s 19 designated cities, until now, it was created in 1600 by the daimyo Date Masamune, it has become well known by its nickname, the City of Trees, this is because you will notice there are about 60 zelkova trees on Jōzenji Street and Aoba Street, I myself would like to know if any of those trees survived the tsunami. One of the nice things about Sendai is that they usually host a summer Sendai Tanabata Festival, this has become the largest Tanabata festival in Japan, and in the winter, the people of Sendai decorate the trees with thousands of lights for the Pageant of Starlights, lasting through most of December.

Photo by HyperLemon

This is a picture taqken from flickr of Sendai City at night.

This is the city of Fukushima, Fukushima Prefecture, Tōhoku Region in Japan, Asia.

Mark — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 18:01:54 +0000

Below are two Youtube videos showing Fukushima before the earthquake and tsunami in 2011, enjoy, such a nice place and interesting place to.

This is a post written about Fukushima, it is the capital city of Fukushima Prefecture in the Tōhoku region of Japan.You may or maynot know that the meaning for the name Fukushima is “good-fortune island”, but on friday 11th march 2011, it did not seem to be bringing much luck to the people in this city. Fukushima is about 250 km north of Tokyo and 80 km south of the large city of Sendai. Although the city is located inland, the prefecture has several Pacific ports such as Onahama and Sōma. Fukushima Airport is located in nearby Sukagawa. Back in 2003 there was a city population estimate of 290,866 and the density of 389.68 persons per km². The total area is 746.43 km², it may have risen, but after the earthquake and tsunami, i am not sure how big the population now is. These pictures below have been taken from flickr. They show pictures of the Fukushima Prefecture in Japan.

Photo by Nemo’s great uncle

It is very sad what has happened over in Japan and especially within this city, where the problems continue, due to it’s six nuclear reactors’ outer housings at the city’s nuclear powers station exploded followed by a meltdown and fires at three of the other units. But even though the actual Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant is in Ōkuma, which is about 50 miles away from Fukushima City, they have still had earthquake aftershocks, the city suffered a great deal of earthquake damage, including issues with water shortages and petrol rationing and still many people missing or even passed away, powercuts, shortage of food, god bless you all who were involved or know of someone who was involved in this tragedy.

Two tragic earthquakes and a Tsunami cause severe damage in Japan and New Zealand, 2011.

Mark — Sat, 12 Mar 2011 13:20:36 +0000

This is a Youtube video reporting on the devastation in Lyttleton Town, Christchurch, New Zealand.

I have been so deepl.y shocked to hear that our planet is causing problems around countries in the world and it is so sad to hear that to wonderful countries of Japan and New Zealand have been hit by devasting earthquakes, with hundreds dead or missing, it is awful, my love and prayers go to everyone who has suffered from these tragedies, thankfully for me dearest brother who lives in the southern part of Japan, he was not effected, thank goodness and neither were his family. But sadly for those in New Zealand, who were effected in the 2011 Canterbury earthquake and the Lyttelton earthquake, it became a 6.3-magnitude earthquake, which hit the Canterbury region in New Zealand‘s South Island at 12:51 pm on 22 February 2011 local time, it went on to cause serious and widespread damage and multiple fatalities. So where was the earthquake, well it was located near the town of Lyttelton, and 10 kilometres (6 mi) south-east of the centre of Christchurch, New Zealand’s second-most populous city. There had been a earthquake in canterbury in 2010, it was about six months before this earthquake and the magnitude was 7.1, it caused significant damage to the region but no direct fatalities. This earthquake has caused a death toll of at least 166 people, but it could sadly rise to over 200, making the earthquake the second-deadliest natural disaster recorded in New Zealand.

This is a Youtube video reporting on the devasting earthquake and tsunami in Sendai and Northern Japan.

Now in Japan, on the 11th March 2011, a megathrust earthquake off the coast of Japan, with a magnitude of 8.9 to 9.1, caused a serious tsunami,at 14:46 local time. It was reported by the epicenter to be 130 kilometers or 81 miles off the east coast of the Oshika Peninsula, Tōhoku, with the hypocenter at a depth of 24.4 kilometers or 15.2 miles. It was locally measured at the maximum possible 7 on the Japan Meteorological Agency seismic intensity scale in the northern Miyagi Prefecture, Japan, 6 in other prefectures and 5 in Tokyo. It really was a tradegy, with buildings, vechicles, trees, etc just being washed away, over a thousand deaths at least and people in a state of shock, what is going on with the world. The waves of the tsunami which had been created by the earthquake reached up to 10 meters or 33 feet, and these were what struck Japan and many other countries. But in Japan the waves are reported to have travelled up to 6 miles (9.7 km) inland.