Traveller/Adventurer/Explorer

AFGHANISTAN

Panoramio - Photos by Wind Rider

WINDOW OF THE WORLD by Wind Rider

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VIDEO: Man and moped embark on 15,000 mile road trip home

Who said small cc bike can't go Round the World ???

http://www.thisisdevon.co.uk/VIDEO-Man-moped-embark-15-000-mile-road-trip-home/story-15178193-detail/story.html

thisisdevon.co.uk AN ELECTRONICS engineer is riding 15,000 miles from Malaysia to North Devon on a step-through moped he bought for £150.Inspired by the television show Top Gear's Vietnam Christmas special,...

The Darién Gap

The Darién Gap is a large swath of undeveloped swampland and forest separating Panama's Darién Province in Central America from Colombia in South America. It measures just over 160 km long and about 50 km wide. Road building through this area is expensive, and the environmental toll is steep. Political consensus in favor of road construction has not emerged. Consequently there is no road connection through the Darién Gap connecting North/Central America with South America and it is the missing link of the Pan-American Highway.
The geography of the Darién Gap on the Colombian side is dominated primarily by the river delta of the Atrato River, which creates a flat marshland at least 80 km (50 mi) wide, half of this being swampland. The Panamanian side, in sharp contrast, is a mountainous rain forest, with terrain reaching from 60 m (200 ft) in the valley floors to 1,845 m (6,053 ft) at the tallest peaks (Cerro Tacarcuna).

The Pan-American Highway is a system of roads measuring about 48,000 km (30,000 mi) long that crosses through the entirety of North, Central, and South America, with the sole exception of the Darién Gap. On the South American side, the highway terminates at Turbo, Colombia near 8°6′N 76°40′W. On the Panamanian side, the road terminus is the town of Yaviza at 8°9′N 77°41′W. This marks a straight-line separation of about 100 km (62 mi). In between is marshland and forest.
Efforts have been made for decades to remedy this missing link in the Pan-American highway. Planning began in 1971 with the help of United States funding, but this was halted in 1974 after concerns raised by environmentalists. Another effort to build the road began in 1992, but by 1994 a United Nations agency reported that it would cause extensive environmental damage. There is evidence that the Darién Gap has prevented the spread of diseased cattle into Central and North America, which have not seen foot and mouth disease since 1954, and since at least the 1970s this has been a substantial factor in preventing a road link through the Darién Gap. The Embera-Wounaan and Kuna have also expressed concern that the road would bring about the potential erosion of their cultures.

People
The Darién Gap is home to the Embera-Wounaan and Kuna Native Americans (and the former home of the Cueva people before their extermination in the 16th century). Travel is often by dugout canoe (piragua). On the Panamanian side, La Palma is the capital of the province and the main cultural centre. Other Mestizo population centers include Yaviza and El Real. The Darién Gap had a reported population of 1,700 in 1980. Corn, mandioca, plantains, and bananas are staple crops wherever land is developed.

Natural resources
Two major national parks exist in the Darién Gap: Darién National Park (Spanish: Parque Nacional Darién) in Panama and Los Katíos National Park (Spanish: Parque Nacional de Los Katíos) in Colombia. The Darién Gap forests had extensive cedrela and mahogany cover at one time, but many of these trees were removed by loggers.
Darién National Park covers around 5,790 square kilometres of land and was established in 1980. It is the largest national park in Central America. (source : Wikipedia)

SEALAND - The Smallest Country in the Word ?

The Principality of Sealand is an unrecognised entity, located on HM Fort Roughs, a former World War II Maunsell Sea Fort in the North Sea 13 kilometres (7 nmi) off the coast of Suffolk, England, United Kingdom.

Since 1967 the facility has been occupied by family and associates of Paddy Roy Bates, who claim that it is an independent sovereign state. Bates seized it from a group of pirate radio broadcasters in 1967 with the intention of setting up his own station at the site.

He established Sealand as a nation in 1975 with the writing of a constitution and establishment of other national symbols. Bates moved to mainland Essex when he became elderly, naming his son Michael regent. Bates died in 2012 at the age of 91.

While it has been described as the world's smallest nation or a micronation, Sealand is not currently officially recognised by any established sovereign state. Although Roy Bates claimed it is de facto recognised by the United Kingdom (after an English court ruled it did not have jurisdiction over Sealand as territorial water limitations were defined at that time) this action does not constitute de jure recognition.

Panoramio - Photo of Wild Birds in Lost Lagoon, Stanley Park

http://www.panoramio.com/photo/81962373

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Panoramio - Photo of Pengong Tso - Himalayan Range

http://www.panoramio.com/photo/81117580

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Panoramio - Photo of Whytecliff Islet, West Vancouver

Whytecliff Islet, Vancouver

http://www.panoramio.com/photo/80837287

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Pangong Tso or Pengong Lake or Banggong Co (Tibetan) is an endorheic lake in the Himalayas situated at a height of about 4,350 m (14,270 ft).
It is 134 km (83 mi) long and extends from India to Tibet. 60% of the length of the lake lies in China. The lake is 5 km (3.1 mi) wide at its broadest point. All together it covers 604 sq. km. During winter the lake freezes completely, despite being saline water.
The lake is in the process of being identified under the Ramsar Convention as a wetland of international importance. This will be the first trans-boundary wetland in South Asia under the convention.

The World’s 10 Coolest Train Stations