‘Kim’ is recognised as the greatest work of famous author Rudyard Kipling. This is a cult novel especially in espionage circles. It is fiction but documents the widely popular Great Game between the British Empire and Tsarist Russia, a clandestine cat and mouse conflict between the two powers fought out on in British India and the border territories which separated the two great powers. Indeed…
Exploring the Enchantment: Kashmir Great Lakes Trek
Unveiling the Beauty
Introduction
Embark on an unforgettable journey through the mesmerizing landscapes of the Indian Himalayas with the Kashmir Great Lakes Trek. This legendary trek offers a unique opportunity to immerse yourself in the natural splendor of the Kashmir Valley, where pristine alpine lakes, lush meadows, and majestic peaks await.
Discovering Kashmir Great Lakes
Nestled amidst the snow-capped peaks of the Pir Panjal Range, the Kashmir Great Lakes Trek takes trekkers on a spellbinding adventure through some of the most picturesque scenery in the world. From the serene waters of Gangbal Lake to the pristine beauty of Tarsar Lake, each destination on this trek is a testament to the breathtaking wonders of nature.
Trekking Experience
Challenging Yet Rewarding
The Kashmir Great Lakes Trek offers a perfect blend of challenge and reward for trekkers of all levels. With its rugged terrain, steep ascents, and high-altitude passes, it demands physical endurance and mental resilience. However, the awe-inspiring vistas and unparalleled beauty that await at every turn make every step worth the effort.
Mesmerizing Landscapes
As you trek through the Kashmir Valley, you'll be treated to a feast for the senses at every turn. From verdant meadows carpeted with wildflowers to towering peaks that pierce the sky, the diversity of landscapes on this trek is truly awe-inspiring. Be sure to have your camera ready to capture the breathtaking scenery that unfolds before you.
Wildlife Encounters
Keep your eyes peeled for glimpses of Himalayan wildlife as you make your way through the pristine wilderness of the Kashmir Valley. From the elusive snow leopard to the graceful Himalayan ibex, the region is home to a diverse array of fauna that adds to the magic of the trekking experience.
Practical Tips
Essential Gear
Before embarking on the Kashmir Great Lakes Trek, ensure you are well-prepared with the necessary gear and equipment. This includes sturdy trekking boots, warm clothing, a waterproof jacket, a sleeping bag, and plenty of snacks and water to sustain you throughout the journey.
Permits and Regulations
Obtaining the necessary permits from the Jammu & Kashmir Tourism Department is essential for trekking in the region. Additionally, familiarize yourself with local regulations and guidelines to ensure a safe and enjoyable trekking experience.
Kashmir Great Lakes Trek offers a rare opportunity to embark on a journey of discovery and adventure through some of the most breathtaking scenery in the world. From the serenity of alpine lakes to the majesty of snow-capped peaks, every moment on this trek is a testament to the unparalleled beauty of the Kashmir Valley.
I've been away for some time, as we've been working really hard on something quite exciting:
let me present to you the world's first ever global ocean drainage basin map that shows all permanent and temporary water flows on the planet.
This is quite big news, as far as I know this has never been done before. There are hundreds of hours of work in it (with the data + manual work as well) and it's quite a relief that they are all finished now.
But what is an ocean drainage basin map, I hear most of you asking? A couple of years ago I tried to find a map that shows which ocean does each of the world's rivers end up in. I was a bit surprised to see there is no map like that, so I just decided I'll make it myself - as usual :) Well, after realizing all the technical difficulties, I wasn't so surprised any more that it didn't exist. So yeah, it was quite a challenge but I am very happy with the result.
In addition to the global map I've created a set of 43 maps for different countries, states and continents, four versions for each: maps with white and black background, and a version for both with coloured oceans (aka polygons). Here's the global map with polygons:
I know from experience that maps can be great conversation starters, and I aim to make maps that are visually striking and can effectively deliver a message. With these ocean drainage basin maps the most important part was to make them easily understandable, so after you have seen one, the others all become effortless to interpret as well. Let me know how I did, I really appreciate any and all kinds of feedback.
Here are a few more from the set, I hope you too learn something new from them. I certainly did, and I am a geographer.
The greatest surprise with Europe is that its biggest river is all grey, as the Volga flows into the Caspian sea, therefore its basin counts as endorheic.
An endorheic basin is one which never reaches the ocean, mostly because it dries out in desert areas or ends up in lakes with no outflow. The biggest endorheic basin is the Caspian’s, but the area of the Great Basin in the US is also a good example of endorheic basins.
I love how the green of the Atlantic Ocean tangles together in the middle.
No, the dividing line is not at Cape Town, unfortunately.
I know these two colours weren’t the best choice for colourblind people and I sincerely apologize for that. I’ve been planning to make colourblind-friendly versions of my maps for ages now – still not sure when I get there, but I want you to know that it’s just moved up on my todo-list. A lot further up.
Minnesota is quite crazy with all that blue, right? Some other US states that are equally mind-blowing: North Dakota, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming. You can check them all out here.
Yes, most of the Peruvian waters drain into the Atlantic Ocean. Here are the maps of Peru, if you want to take a closer look.
Asia is amazingly colourful with lots of endorheic basins in the middle areas: deserts, the Himalayas and the Caspian sea are to blame. Also note how the Indonesian islands of Java and Sumatra are divided.
I mentioned earlier that I also made white versions of all maps. Here’s Australia with its vast deserts. If you're wondering about the weird lines in the middle: that’s the Simpson desert with its famous parallel sand dunes.
North America with white background and colourful oceans looks pretty neat, I think.
Finally, I made the drainage basin maps of the individual oceans: The Atlantic, the Arctic, the Indian and the Pacific. The Arctic is my favourite one.
I really hope you like my new maps, and that they will become as popular as my river basin maps. Those have already helped dozens of environmental NGOs to illustrate their important messages all around the world. It would be nice if these maps too could find their purpose.
Masterplan 2050: tien soorten, acht gebieden, één doel
In het bijzijn van medewerkers, onderzoekers en zakenpartners heeft Diergaarde Blijdorp vandaag het Masterplan 2050 officieel gepresenteerd. Al enkele jaren is het park achter de schermen bezig met een fundamentele hervorming: van dierentuin met natuurbehoudsagenda naar natuurbeschermingsorganisatie met een levende have. Het nieuwe motto: Beleven, Beschermen, Blijdorp!
Daad bij woord
In 2020…
Ruled largely by long expanses of Scenic Mountains, the Valley of Kashmir covers an area of 224,739 sq km. The Great Himalaya range parts Kashmir from Ladakh, whereas, the Pir Panjal range limits it as a valley by drawing a border and parting it from the northern plains. Therefore expect an impressive sensual landscape that cherishes the valley as an ideal destination for Kashmir Holdiay.
The scenery along the way is breath-taking. It’s not just about seeing the snow-capped mountains, but also taking in all the other sights, like colorful flowers and butterflies. Plan Trekking And Camping with Jkone.net for lifetime experience.
Spectacular 1968 home perched on a rocky cliff in Big Sur, California. "Taktsang Big Sur" was originally inspired by a monastery high in the Himalayas of Bhutan, and later extensively remodeled by Big Sur architect Mickey Muennig. 2bds, 2ba, $25M.
Really, for $25M, I would rather have something like this than some fussy estate.
Very comfy and cozy with beautiful views inside and out.
Dining area with a view, plus a door to the patio.
Beautiful large kitchen with a fireplace and a view. Look at the unique ceiling.
On the 2nd level there's a great ceiling and family areas, plus a view of the main floor from the mezzanine.
The view is even better on the upper floor.
The open primary bedroom on the mezzanine.
There's a cave-like entrance to this bedroom with a fireplace. It looks like a covered outdoor patio.
Bath with a view.
Isn't this wonderful. Almost feels like you're on the deck of a ferry boat.
The 1.50 acre property has fabulous gardens and outdoor spaces.
The Great Game was a rivalry between the 19th-century British and Russian Empires over influence in Central Asia, primarily in Afghanistan, Persia, and Tibet. The two colonial empires used military interventions and diplomatic negotiations to acquire and redefine territories in Central and South Asia. Russia conquered Turkestan, and Britain expanded and set the borders of British colonial India. By the early 20th century, a line of independent states, tribes, and monarchies from the shore of the Caspian Sea to the Eastern Himalayas were made into protectorates and territories of the two empires.
[Image above: Gobajo statue with a crown of elephant, the largest animal on land, on its head. One of the Eight Legions.]
Legends of the humanoids
Reptilian humanoids (10)
The Eight Great Dragon Kings – Dragon tribes who listened to the Buddha's teachings.
They are the eight kings of the dragon races, who belong to the Eight Legions of Buddhist dieties. They protect the Buddha Dharma.
In Buddhism, Nagaraja (lit. 'king of the nagas') in Hindu mythology was incorporated as various dragon deities, including the Eight Great Dragon Kings.
Nagarajas are supernatural beings who are kings of the various races of Nagas, the divine or semi-divine, half-human, half-serpent beings that reside in the netherworld (Patala), and can occasionally take human form. The duties of the Nāga Kings included leading the nagas in protecting the Buddha, other enlightened beings, as well as protecting the Buddha Dharma.
Some of the most notable Nagarajas occurring in Buddhist scriptures are Virupaksa, Mucalinda, Dhrtarastra, and the following Eight Great Dragon Kings:
Nanda (Ananta, lit. joy): Ananta and Upananda were brother dragon kings who once fought against the Dragon King Sagara.
Upananda (lit. sublime joy): Brother of Nanda. Together with King Nanda, he protected the country of Magadha, ensuring that there was no famine, and when the Buddha descended, he sent rain to bless it and attended all the sittings where he preached. After the Buddha's death, he protected the Buddha Dharma forever.
Sagara (lit. 'Great Sea'): king of the Dragon Palace. King of the Great Sea Dragon.The 8-year-old Dragon Lady in the Lotus Sutra was the third princess of this Dragon King and was known as the Zennyo Ryuo (lit. "goodness woman dragon-king").
Vasuki (lit.'treasure'): sometimes referred to as the Nine-Headed Dragon King with the 'nine' meaning the extremity of yang and extremely large and powerful in number. Thus, he was thought of as the "Nine-Headed Dragon King". In the original legend, he was seldom called the 'Many-headed Dragon King' because there were a thousand of heads. Originally, he protected Mt. Meru (Ref1) and took tiny dragons to eat.
Takshaka (lit. ‘polyglot' or 'visual poison'): When this dragon is angrily stared at, the person is said to die out. From the Golden Light Sutra, the Seven-faced Tennyo is said to be the daughter of this Dragon King.
Anavatapta (lit. "cool and free from heat"): was said to live in the mythical pond in the northern Himalayas, Anuttara (lit. "free from heat"), which emitted great rivers in all directions to moisten the human continent of Jambudvīpa. A pond that stretches for approx. 3142 km, the banks of the pond were said to be made of four treasures, including gold, silver and others. This Dragon King was venerated as an incarnation of a Bodhisattva.
Manasvin (lit. 'giant' or 'great power'): When Asura (See2 & See3) attacked Kimi Castle with seawater, he twisted himself around and pushed the water back. Kimi Castle is the castle in Trayastrimsa at the top of Mt. Meru, where Sakra (Indra:Ref) resides.
Uppalaka (Utpala: lit. blue lotus flower): blue lotus flower dragon king. He is said to dwell in a pond that produces blue lotus flowers. In India, the shape of the petals and leaves is used metaphorically to represent the eye, especially the blue water lily (nilotpala), which is a metaphor for a beautiful eye. In Buddhism, the Buddha's eyes are considered to be dark blue (nila), one of the 32 phases (ref4) and 80 kinds of favourites (ref5), "eye colour ".
Welcome to the varied landscapes of India, my dear friends starting with the loftiest mountain range in the world called the Himalayas in the North to the grasslands of India in the South of Himalayan foothills, also spread across parts of central & western India.
We also have two big deserts in India.
A sandy, yellow desert called the Thar Desert/The Great Indian Desert in the North Western State of Rajasthan.
Then a salty desert or White Desert called the Great Rann of Kutch located in the western state of Gujarat.
The gorgeous backwaters of India are mostly found in the South Western state of India called Kerala.
Similarly the lush green tea gardens at Munnar is also located in the state of Kerala in South India.
The coastal areas with its gorgeous beaches spread in the West, East & South of India can be explored all round the year for some adventurous & fun filled activities.
Российский ювелир Ильги�� Фазулзянов из украшений создает предметы искусства.
Russian jeweler Ilgiz Fazulzyanov creates art objects from jewelry.
Ильгиз Фазулзянов — единственный российский ювелир и эмальер, получивший громкое международное признание. Он дважды обладатель ювелирного «Оскара», гран-при конкурса International Jewellery Design Excellence Award в Гонконге, сотрудничал с легендарным часовым домом Bovet и Van Cleef&Arpels, его галереи открыты в Москве и Париже.
Его коллекция «Великие вершины мира» — это пять колец, посвященных пяти известным всем с детства горам- это драгоценно-эмалевые миниатюры Фудзиямы, Килиманджаро, Арарата,Гималаи и Везувия.
Ilgiz Fazulzyanov is the only Russian jeweler and enameller who has received great international recognition. He is a two-time winner of the jewelry Oscar, the Grand Prix of the International Jewelery Design Excellence Award in Hong Kong, has collaborated with the legendary watch house Bovet and Van Cleef&Arpels, his galleries are open in Moscow and Paris.
His collection “Great Peaks of the World” consists of five rings dedicated to five mountains known to everyone since childhood - these are precious enamel miniatures of Fuji, Kilimanjaro, Ararat, the Himalayas and Vesuvius.
Кольцо Килиманджаро-золото, эмаль, бриллианты, сапфиры, танзаниты. Ring of Kilimanjaro-gold, enamel, diamonds, sapphires, tanzanites.
Кольцо Фудзияма -золото, эмаль, бриллианты, лунный камень. Ring of Fuji - gold, enamel, diamonds, moonstone.
Кольцо "Гималаи"-золото, эмаль, бриллианты. Ring "Himalayas"-gold, enamel, diamonds.
Кольцо "Везувий"-золото, эмаль, опал. Ring "Vesuvius"-gold, enamel, opal.
Сегодня Ильгиз Фазулзянов - один из немногих мастеров в мире, в совершенстве владеющий всеми известными ювелирными техниками: филиграни, гравировки, чеканки и эмали и сочетающий их самым неожиданным и оригинальным образом. Мастер использует яркие эмали для создания цветовых эффектов и реалистичного изображения природы в стилистике ар деко и ар нуво.
Today Ilgiz Fazulzyanov is one of the few craftsmen in the world who is fluent in all known jewelry techniques: filigree, engraving, embossing and enamels and combines them in the most unexpected and original way. The master uses bright enamels to create color effects and realistic images of nature in the Art Deco and Art Nouveau style.
Коллекции драгоценных колец вдохновленные природой. Collections of precious rings inspired by nature.
А также чудесные серьги, колье, броши и подвески в которых нашли свое отражение птицы, рыбы, бабочки. And also wonderful earrings, necklaces, brooches and pendants in which birds, fish, and butterflies are reflected.
Planting trees does not necessarily mean a forest is being restored.
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But efforts to increase global tree cover to limit climate change have skewed towards erecting plantations of fast-growing trees. The reasons are obvious: planting trees can demonstrate results a lot quicker than natural forest restoration. This is helpful if the objective is generating a lot of timber quickly or certifying carbon credits which people and firms buy to supposedly offset their emissions. [...] [I]ll-advised tree planting can unleash invasive species [...]. For more than 200 years India has experimented with tree plantations, offering important lessons about the consequences different approaches to restoring forests have on local communities and the wider environment. This rare long-term perspective should be heeded [...].
Britain extended its influence over India and controlled much of its affairs [...] from the mid-18th century onwards. Between 1857 and 1947, the Crown ruled the country directly and turned its attention to the country’s forests. Britain needed great quantities of timber to lay railway sleepers and build ships in order to transport the cotton, rubber and tea it took from India.
Through the Indian Forest Act of 1865, forests with high-yielding timber trees such as teak, sal and deodar became state property. To maximise how much timber these forests yielded, British colonial authorities restricted the rights of local people to harvest much beyond grass and bamboo. [...] Meanwhile plantations of teak (Tectona grandis), a species well adapted to India’s hot and humid climate and a source of durable and attractive timber, spread aggressively. [...]
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[G]rasslands and open scrub forest gave way to teak monocultures.
Eucalyptus and other exotic trees which hadn’t evolved in India were introduced from around 1790. British foresters planted pines from Europe and North America in extensive plantations in the Himalayan region as a source of resin and introduced acacia trees from Australia for timber, fodder and fuel.
One of these species, wattle (Acacia mearnsii), first introduced in 1861 with a few hundred thousand saplings, was planted in the Nilgiris district of the Western Ghats. This area is what scientists all a biodiversity hotspot – a globally rare ecosystem replete with species. Wattle has since become invasive and taken over much of the region’s mountainous grasslands.
Similarly, pine has spread over much of the Himalayas and displaced native oak trees while teak has replaced sal, a native hardwood, in central India. Both oak and sal are valued for fuel, fodder, fertiliser, medicine and oil. Their loss [...] impoverished many.
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India’s national forest policy [...] aims for trees on 33% of the country’s area. Schemes under this policy include plantations consisting of a single species such as eucalyptus or bamboo which grow fast and can increase tree cover quickly, demonstrating success according to this dubious measure. Sometimes these trees are planted in grasslands and other ecosystems where tree cover is naturally low. The result is that afforestation harms rural and indigenous people who depend on these ecosystems [...].
In the Kachchh grasslands of western India communities were able to restore grasslands by removing the invasive gando bawal (meaning “mad tree”) first introduced by British foresters in the late 19th century. [...]
The success of forest restoration efforts cannot be measured by tree cover alone. The Indian government’s definition of “forest” still encompasses plantations of a single tree species, orchards and even bamboo, which actually belongs to the grass family. This means that biennial forest surveys cannot quantify how much natural forest has been restored, or convey the consequences of displacing native trees with competitive plantation species or identify if these exotic trees have invaded natural grasslands which have then been falsely recorded as restored forests. [...]
Planting trees does not necessarily mean a forest is being restored. And reviving ecosystems in which trees are scarce is important too.
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Text by: Dhanapal Govindarajulu. "India was a tree planting laboratory for 200 years - here are the results." The Conversation. 10 August 2023. [Bold emphasis, some paragraph breaks/contractions, and italicized first line in this post added by me.]