Thursday, May 26, 2011

Lake Zurich beach-Switzerland

Switzerland s a landlocked country. Whats more, Switzerland is a cold country; even in the middle of summer temperatures can be downright chilly. But the Swiss, stoic to a fault, don’t let the lack of a coastline or the brisk winds sweeping down from the snow-clad summer Alps hinder their summer beach outings. Instead of the ocean they head for the lakes, and one of the more popular places to spend a day at the beach is Lake Zurich.

This 24-mile long lake, which was gouged out by a glacier during the last Ice Age, sits in a densely populated region, surrounded by a beautiful pre-Alpine setting. Although almost a million inhabitants live around the shores of Lake Zurich, a third of the its shoreline is still freely accessible, and residents flock city beach resorts to swim and sunbathe, making the most of the country’s short summer season. Giant Ferris wheel towers over city beach resort in Zurich

Strandbad Mythenquai resort, located in Zurich proper, offers a long stretch of sandy beach complete with diving platform, children’s playground, barbecue facilities, boutique, massage, aerobics, volleyball, and a good waterfront restaurant, all framed by the spectacular Alps. Close by, Seebad Enge is another popular lakeside resort that features floating rafts, designated women-only areas, massage, Yoga classes and saunas. There’s even a giant Ferris wheel at the resort, which at one time was the tallest in the world. Singapore claimed the title for highest Ferrris wheel in 2008, but Zurich’s wheel still provides stunning views across the lake.

Anjuna beach-GOA


The Anjuna beach in Goa is known for its full-moon (acid house) parties. Held for and by young tourists, these parties have attracted thousands of tourists. The trance party with dance, frolic, and merriment goes all night besides the fire. It is just the right place for lazing holidaymakers.

Besides the calm waters of the Arabian Sea lapping softly on the Indian shore, Anjuna comes alive with its ever-famous full-moon parties and the Wednesday flea market to take one onto a trance trip.

Anjuna Beach has been the haunt of the flower generation in the sixties and is now popular with the younger generations. It became popular because of its Trance Parties and the Hippies who tried to fuse the Eastern spiritual traditions with Western Music, ideas and art.

Anjuna is a small Village in north Goa and is popularly called the freak capital in the world. Its significant tourist spots are the magnificent Albuquerque Mansion built in 1920 (flanked by octagonal towers and an attractive Mangalore tile-roof), the Mascarenhas Mansion, and the Chapora fort

Every Wednesday, at around 11 a.m., Anjuna breaks into a riot of colors. Lines of vehicles full of tourists start virtually raising clouds of dust in this area. Whatever one needs, from a used paperback to a haircut, one would find it here. The flea market is a heaven for hardcore shoppers and good bargainers, to bid on wonderful blends of Tibetan, Kashmiri and Gujarati trinkets and handicrafts, European snacks, cassettes of a noisy brand of music called 'Goa Trance', artificial ornaments carvings and T-shirts. An elephant ride and a photograph with a fake sadhu or a fake snake charmer can also be found here.

There are plenty of guest house around the village, and even a couple of hotels. Someone planning a longer stay should look out for 'To Let' signs, as there are plenty of houses that are available on rent along the back lanes.

Al Khor beach- DOHA


Drive to Al khor, make your way along main street towards the sea and follow the road round Doha,the left and you'll come to Al Khor's Corniche. Unlike do below the Corniche is a sandy beach, dotted with play areas and a mock ship for children to play on and shaded areas provided for barbecuing.

The play areas could be in better nick, and the thatch on the beach shades are wearing a little thin, but in our opinion this is still one of the better beaches in Qatar. Unlike many other beaches, the sand seems relatively free of glass, and on Friday the beach is busy with residents playing football and volleyball or having a barbeque.

The promenade also makes for a pleasant walk, and has plenty of flowers to admire - Al Khor is proud of its gardens. Walk to the far end and you'll come to a small area of mangoves - great for the children to play in, and to see the small fish and crabs that inhabit the mangroves

Kovalam beach-Kerala


One of the most popular beaches in Trivandrum, Kovalam beach is situated at a distance of 16 kilometers to the south of Trivandrum city. The natural beauty of this beautiful beach is what attracts people from far and wide to come here. It takes an hour from Trivandrum to reach this scenic beach, which is famous for its beach resorts. The Kovalam beach in Kerala offers the best of facilities to its visitors like sunbathing, swimming, Ayurvedic massages and plenty of other options. Check out the Thiruvananthapuram Kovalam beach and come here to recharge your energy levels and feel refreshed once again.

One of the most famous and popular of all the beaches in South India, the Kovalam beach has many beach resorts lined up to cater to different tourists and their varied demands. The Kovalam beach is divided into two main beaches besides the many other private beaches. They are known as Eve’s beach and Lighthouse beach. The Eve’s beach is a semi circular beach and is a secluded spot lined with palm trees. The Lighthouse beach has a famous lighthouse that has been fighting the tempests since the British rule.

The beach offers many facilities for keeping tourists amused. Apart from sunbathing and swimming, the beach is ideal to take long walks and watch the magical sunset while the warm water softly laps at your feet. The fishermen in the beach offer to take you out in the sea while they go out to claim their catch for the day. Sail with them during sunrise and come back as the sun sets, painting the horizon a beautiful shade of ochre

Wonderla-Bangalore


Wonderla is an amusement park located near Bidadi, 28 kilometres (17 mi) Bangalore, spanning over 82 acres (33 ha) of land. It has been promoted by V-Guard Group, based in Cochin, Kerala. It is the second theme park project from the group and has been operational since October 2005. It has been set up with a total investment of over Rs. 105 crores.Wonderla has always tried its best to retain and utilize natural resources to the optimum. The company has planted more than 2000 trees in order to develop natural shade in the park. The park also has an extensive rainwater harvesting system that collects even roof rain water for drinking purposes. The rain water is collected in various tanks depending on the quality and intended usage, and has a combined capacity to collect over 2 crore liters. Wonderla also uses solar energy extensively to heat water in pools and kitchens. Wonderla is among few amusement parks in India to have ISO 14001:2004 certification for environmental friendly operatioWONDE

Araku Valley


Araku is located at 18.3333°N 82.8667°E.[2] It has an average elevation of 911 meters (2992 feet).
It is located 115 km from Vishakhapatnam, close to the Orissa state border. This place lures people with pleasant weather, hills and valleys. The natural beauty of this valley comes alive with its rich landscape. The area of the valley is roughly 36 km², and the altitude is between 600 and 900 meters above sea level.
The journey to this place on the Ghat road with thick forests on either side is in itself interesting and pleasant. One can have a wonderful trekking trip. Traveling on train gives you a memorable experience. A total of fifty-seven tunnels and numerous bridges will greet you on the way. The Ananthagiri hills on the way to Araku Valley are famous for coffee plantations. The Borra caves, located 29 km from Araku Valley, are a nearby tourist attraction full of stalactites and stalagmites.
Located on the Eastern Ghats of India, the valley is inhabited by tribal people. One of the other attractions of this valley is a Tribal Museum.
The valley is connected through both rail and road to the city of Vishakapatnam. There are two railway stations at Araku and Araku Valley on the Kothavalasa-Kirandul railway line of Visakhapatnam division of the East Coast Railway, on the Indian Railways network.

There is a Museum of tribal handicrafts and lifestyle, a Yatri Nivas and a Government Guest House, for accommodation; it's situated near the city of Visakhapatnam. One can relax while looking at the beautiful scenery and the lovely bonfires in the cottages.
Some of the important places to see are 1. Ananthagiri hills 2. Borra caves 3. Chaparai water channel 4. Katika waterfalls 5. Tribal museum 6. Padmapuram gardens

Vintage Car Museum

Ashvek Vintage World is a Vintage Car Museum situated in Nuvem, Salcete, Goa. It is Goa's first and only vintage car museum that showcases over a dozen vintage cars sourced from Goa or neighboring areas like Kholapur, Belgam and Sawantwadi.

Situated on the Panaji – Madgaon highway, the Ashvek Vintage World museum was set up by Pradeep Naik to spread awareness about vintage cars amongst the youth. It takes up restoration and preservation of vintage cars and some of the cars restored here are in excellent working condition and can be hired out for weddings, movie shoots or simply for joy rides.

At the Vintage Car museum one can see models such as the Chevrolet Fleet master that was popular in the 1930's America as Mafia staff car, Mercedes Benz 170 of 1939 vintage which was actually used in the movie Sea Wolves Morris Van Essex (1924), Ford V8, Peugeot 301, Austin 1928 and the Morris 8.

The museum also displays the Vidal Tempo of 1936 sourced from the Maharaja of Sawantwadi that is one of the most interesting one built as command car of the Nazi army. It is the car with two engines - the only in the world and is also the world's first four wheel drive.

The Ashvek Vintage World is also a pioneer in organizing vintage car rallies in Goa. The money sourced from restoration and preservation is reinvested in maintaining new and existing cars. The museum is open all days from 9am to 6pm except for Sundays.

Madei Wildlife Sanctuary

The Madei Wildlife Sanctuary is situated in the Sattari takula in North Goa. It is spread over an area of 208 sq km and is a link between the Bhagwan Mahaveer Sanctuary and the Sawantwadi forests in Maharashtra and the Netravali wildlife sanctuary in Eastern Goa.

The Madei Wildlife Sanctuary together with the Netravali wildlife sanctuary cover an area of 420 sq. km. The sanctuary supports a rich variety of wildlife and covers much of the north-eastern portions of Goa. It is also known to be a bird watcher's paradise where one can see a lot of species of birds.

The Mhadei wildlife sanctuary is also famous for its semi green and evergreen forests. The area has been notified as protected for wildlife. The sanctuary is also well known in Goa as a tigress and a cub were spotted here. A lot of other wildlife can also be seen here.

Carambolim Lake in Goa

The Carambolim Lake is situated approx 2 kms southeast of Old Goa in the Tiswadi taluka. It is excellent place of birding in Goa that supports a large population of herbivorous birds.

Built to facilitate irrigation of the nearby fields, the Carambolim lake is a man made freshwater lake that is situated within walking distance from the Karmali Railway Station. It is a famous bird watching spot in Goa where one can see a lot of species of migratory birds as well as a lot of waterbirds.

Due to the rich ecology at the lake at Carambolim, one can see birds such as waterfowls, egrets, jacanas, moorhens, herons, pintails, open-billed storks, lesser whistling teals, shovelers, garganeys and coots.

The Carambolim Lake is indeed a bird-watcher's paradise where one can see some exotic, migratory birds, which have been flocking here for hundreds of years. One can also see paddy fields, trees and woodland in the area that makes the place very picturesque.

Selaulim Dam

The Selaulim dam lies on the Selaulim river at about 5 km from the Sanguem town. it is Goa's biggest man-made water storage source that is also a favourite picnic spot for locals.

During the monsoons, the misty outlook of the western ghats against the backdrop of the dam is truly breathtaking. One can spend hours here in its scenic beauty.

For accommodation, an irrigation department rest house and a private resort are located nearby. The tourist department cottages lie unused and there is also a restaurant located in Chinchant.

To get to the Selaulim dam one can enjoy a 35 km picturesque drive from Margao. Once you cross Curchorem and reach Sanguem, the dam lies on Selaulim river.