Nalanda Gedige, Matale (Sri Lanka)

Nalanda Gedige, Matale (Sri Lanka)

Nalanda Gedige is an ancient times Hindu Temple located at about 1 km east of the A9 route 20 km north of Aluvihare near Kandy (Matale, Sri Lanka). It is one of the remarkable  archaeological sites in Sri Lanka. It is a site that has been shifted about 35 years ago from its original place. The new place is just few kilometers away from the previous one. The reason of shifting the site is that the area went under water with the construction of a Reservoir nearby. It was constructed in between 8th to 10th century and was a Hindu Temple but later on it is been used by Buddhists. It is one of the earliest stone buildings.

Nalanda Gedige is designed like a Hindu temple with a Mandapa, an entrance hall, a short passage to a bare cello, and an ambulatory round the holy center though there is no existence of the Hindu Gods today in the temple. It is not much big in size as you can see in image above but worth visiting because of its history, its design, cleanliness. Granite walls are in the surrounding of main entrance and faces are carved on it.

• Few Facts about Sri Lanka :

1. Sri Lanka is all famous for tea so it is also known as tea capital of the world.
2. The very first female prime minister in the world is Sirimavo Bandaranaike of Sri Lanka.
3. Until 1972, Sri Lanka was known as "Ceylon".
4. Some organizations there still use that name "Ceylon".
5. Sri Lanka's national flag is said to be the oldest flag of the world.
6. Literacy rate is around 92% which is highest in the south Asia.
7. The official languages been spoken in Sri Lanka are Sinhala and Tamil however English is also been spoken widely.
8. The 'Na Tree' is the national tree of Sri Lanka.

• Best Time to visit :

January to July

• Entry Fee :

Free of cost.

• 10 other places you wouldn't like to miss :

1. Old village spice and herbal garden
2. Sembuwaththa Lake
3. Sri Muthumariamman Temple
4. Colombo
5. Yala national park
6. Trincomalee
7. Kalutara
8. Mannar
9. Kandalama
10. Sinharaja Forest Reserve

• You can book cheap flights to Matale by Clicking here

Tiergarten Schönbrunn, Vienna (Austria)

Tiergarten Schönbrunn, Vienna (Austria)

Tiergarten Schönbrunn, also known as Vienna Zoo is located in Schönbrunn Palace, Vienna, Austria. It is the world's oldest zoo and was established in the year 1752. It took one year to get its construction done. It has also been awarded as the Europe's best zoo thrice before and around 2-3 million visitors go there every year to see the new-born panda, elephants, tigers, hippos etc. There are only 1500-1700 pandas left in the world so there are not much zoos who keep pandas. So this is in the list of rarer zoos who keep giant panda. The size of the zoo is manageable and it contains more than combined 600 species of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, insects, fish etc.

The names of the zoo Vienna's pandas are : Yang Yang (Female), Long Hui (Male), Fu Long (Male), and Fu Hu (Male). On July 14, 1906, the zoo saw the birth of the first elephant in captivity. It is a good sight-seeing for both adults and minors. There are only two places in the whole Europe where you can see panda i.e Vienna zoo & in Berlin (Germany). Some of the other attractions of zoo are an aquarium and the recently opened display of animals in unnatural habitats, like the ones found in the Arctic region.

• Best Time to visit :

September to November, not much crowded these days and during off season you will get hotel rooms on reasonable rates.

• Opening Hours :

9:00 am - 5:00 pm

• Entry Fee :

	Per Person	Group of 10 or more
Adults	16.50 €	14.50 €
Children and youth*	8.00 €	7.00 €
Handicapped	8.00 €	7.00 €
Children under 5	free	free

** You can save upto 1 Euro by booking online.

• Other places you wouldn't like to miss :

1. Prater
2. Millennium Tower
3. Ephesos Museum
4. Donaukanal
5. Donauturm
6. Schönbrunn Palace
7. Spanish riding school
8. Weiner Reisenrad
9. Stadtpark
10. St. Peter's Church

• You can book cheap flights to Vienna by Clicking here

Mandela House, South Africa

Mandela House, South Africa

The " Nelson Mandela National Museum" also known as Mandela House was the house of the first President of South Africa Mr. Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela.  It is located on Vilakazi Street, Orlando West, Soweto, South Africa. He lived in there from the year 1946 to 1962. Mandela was the leader who stood up against the racism, apartheid between black and white people when there was a rule of White people over South Africa. He donated the house to the Soweto Heritage Trust on 1st September, 1997 to be run as a museum. On February, 1999 it was declared as a National Heritage site/ National Monument.

You will get to know about how Mandela fought for their Independence and how he reduced the gap between racism/ discrimination. Mandela was also the founder of Soweto Trust. The house was built in the year 1945 and is a single storey red-brick building. Mandela returned to the house after he got released from the prison in year 1990 for short 11 days before he moved to Houghton and in year 1999 he handed over the place to Soweto Trust. He served 27 years of his life in Prison.

Soweto is also a place having most black inhabitant. Unfortunately he died on December 5, 2013 in Houghton Estate, Johannesburg, South Africa.

• Few Facts about Nelson Mandela :

1. He was the first man to go school in his family.
2. He had given a chance by the President to get out from the Prison but he denied.
3. When he finally got out, he stood up against the discrimination and apartheid.
4. He has won the most number of Awards (more than 250), which is more than anyone else.
5. He was on the U.S terror watch list.

• Best Time to visit :

September- December

• Entry Fee : Currency is South African Rand

Adults (African Union)	R 40.00
Adults (International)	R 60.00
Pensioners (African Union)	R 20.00
Children over 6 years	R 20.00
Students (Subject to proof of a valid student card)	R 20.00
School Groups (Learners and Educators) and Children under 6 years	R 5.00

• 10 other things you wouldn't like to miss :

1. Hector Pieterson Museum
2. Regina Mundi
3. Apartheid Museum
4. Johannesburg Botanical Garden
5. Lion Park
6. Johannesburg Art Gallery
7. Oppenheimer Gardens
8. Cradle of Humankind
9. Monte casino
10. Johannesburg Zoo

• You can book cheap flights to Soweto by Clicking here

Lighthouse of Alexandria, Egypt

Lighthouse of Alexandria, Egypt

Lighthouse of Alexandria, sometimes called as Pharos of Alexandria (Pharos is an Island) was the first light house built in the world. Alexandria is the second largest city of Egypt and its name is been given after the name of Alexander The Great. It is among the ancient seven wonders of world. The construction was made under the rule of Ptolemy Soter who was a Greek Macedonian general under Alexander the Great and after his death, he became the ruler of Egypt. The construction began in 290 B.C and the project was so daunting that it further completed by Ptolemy Philadelphus (s/o Ptolemy Soter). The architect behind its construction was Sostratus.

The lighthouse is a three level building. The lowest level is square with around 183 feet height, the middle or second level is Octagonal in shape and is 90 feet high and the top most level is Cylindrical and is 60 feet high. On the top there is a statue situated, so the height of the lighthouse from the bottom to the top of statues is near around 425 feet. There are stairs inside the lighthouse through which people can climb up to the top. It costs around 750 talents to built the structure. It is the second tallest man-made structure of that time and is among the list of most surviving monument. It was made up of stones & marble.

• Best Time to visit :

Spring : March - June
Autumn : September - November

• 10 other places you wouldn't like to miss :

1. Montaza Palace
2. Stanley Bridge
3. Pompey's Pillar
4. Alexandria Zoo
5. Maamoura Beach
6. Library of Alexandria
7. Alexandria National Museum
8. Fort Qaitbey
9. Antoniades Garden
10. Chatby & Anfushi Tombs

• You can book cheap flights to Alexandria by Clicking here

Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago

Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago

Port of Spain is the capital of Republic of Trinidad & Tobago since 1757. It has tall buildings, crowded streets and a multicultural Caribbean character. It is the main hub of Trinidad carnival and heaps of people from different cities as well get together to celebrate this such festivals. It is not the largest town though. You can go to Independence square which gets very much crowded in the evening time. Peoples wandering around, having street food as supper meal, talking to each other. Trinidad & Tobago are the most southern islands in the Caribbean.

Port of Spain has a population of around 49,000 inhabitants and the official language been spoken is English. It is the industrial & commercial center of the country. Trinidad is just 7 miles away from the South American coast that is why their language and culture are closely linked to North America, Britain. Trinidad is an oil producing nation and it is the fifth largest natural gas producer in the world. It supplies two third of all LNG imported to the USA.

• Some Points you should know :

-> Wearing camouflage clothing is against the law in Trinidad and Tobago.
-> Getting nude or topless in public beaches is strictly prohibited.
-> Apart from being on beach or during carnivals, you can not wear swim suit or bathing suit in the public places.
-> It is the fifth largest natural gas producer in the world.

• Best Time to visit :

January to April

• 10 other places you wouldn't like to miss :

1. Maracas Bay, Trinidad
2. Royal Botanical Garden
3. Caroni Bird Sanctuary, Trinidad
4. Wildfowl trust, Trinidad
5. Main Ridge Forest reserve, Tobago
6. Tobago Museum
7. Queen's Hall
8. Brian Lara Promenade
9. The Red House
10. Fort George

• You can book cheap flights to Piarco by Clicking here