Celebrate New Year 2011 in Potala Palace

The Potala Palace is located in Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region, China. It was named after Mount Potala, the abode of Chenresig or Avalokitesvara. The Potala Palace was the chief residence of the Dalai Lama until the 14th Dalai Lama fled to Dharamsala, India, after an invasion and failed uprising in 1959. Today the Potala Palace has been converted into a museum by the Chinese government.The building measures 400 metres east-west and 350 metres north-south, with sloping stone walls averaging 3 m. thick, and 5 m. (more than 16 ft) thick at the base, and with copper poured into the foundations to help proof it against earthquakes.

Thirteen stories of buildings – containing over 1,000 rooms, 10,000 shrines and about 200,000 statues – soar 117 metres (384 ft) on top of Marpo Ri, the "Red Hill", rising more than 300 m (about 1,000 ft) in total above the valley floor. The Potala Palace, with its vast inward-sloping walls broken only in the upper parts by straight rows of many windows, and its flat roofs at various levels, is not unlike a fortress in appearance. At the south base of the rock is a large space enclosed by walls and gates, with great porticos on the inner side. A series of tolerably easy staircases, broken by intervals of gentle ascent, leads to the summit of the rock. The whole width of this is occupied by the palace.

The central part of this group of buildings rises in a vast quadrangular mass above its satellites to a great height, terminating in gilt canopies similar to those on the Jokhang. This central member of Potala is called the "red palace" from its crimson color, which distinguishes it from the rest. It contains the principal halls and chapels and shrines of past Dalai Lamas. There is in these much rich decorative painting, with jeweled work, carving and other ornaments.

The stone-and-wood-structured Potala Palace consists of the White Palace and Red Palace. The White Palace, comprising halls, temples and courtyards, serves as the living quarters of the Dalai Lama. The Red Palace includes various chambers for worshipping Buddha and chambers housing the eight stupa that contain the remains of fifth through thirteenth Dalai Lama. All the stupas are covered with gold foil.

The most magnificent stupa belongs to the fifth Dalai Lama. It is 14.85 meters tall and inlaid with pearl and jade. The palace also collected a large number of sculptures, murals, scripture and other valuable cultural relics.

Travel Botswana for winter Holidays

The Republic of Botswana is a country located in Southern Africa. The citizens are referred to as Batswana (singular: Motswana). Formerly the British protectorate of Bechuanaland, Botswana adopted its new name after becoming independent within the Commonwealth on 30 September 1966. It has held free and fair democratic elections since independence. Geographically the country is flat and up to 70% of Botswana is covered by the Kalahari Desert. It is bordered by South Africa to the south and southeast, Namibia to the west and north, and Zimbabwe to the northeast. It meets Zambia at a single point.

A small, landlocked country of just over two million people, Botswana was one of the poorest countries in Africa at independence from Britain in 1966; Pure Travel has launched a new travel section featuring Botswana safaris. With individual arrangements through local tour operators, travel through Botswana is more exciting than ever, and all the information needed to learn about such tours can be found at this new website. Pure Travel is known for promoting adventure holidays all over the world, with a focus on engaging local tour guides and staff in order to ensure the most reliable and authentic adventures possible.

In the case of Botswana safaris, the tour operator is a genuine Maasai warrior that is based in Kenya. Visitors who book Botswana tours will be assured of trips that are rich with facts regarding the region, because the tour operators are local specialists. They know the most interesting places to visit and sights to see. And because the Botswana safaris are operated by locals, tourist money filters throughout the local economy. This enriches the area and its citizens as well as treating visitors to truly authentic adventures.

Through this new website, travelers to Botswana can select the vacation activities that appeal to them the most. They can explore the culture and history of the country, or take part in more adventurous activities such as climbing and trekking the countryside. Because the guides are local residents, visitors can take advantage of adventures that lead them off the regular tourist’s paths. There are also often special offers displayed on the website, and travelers can sign up to receive regular newsletter deliveries that tell what's coming next in this exciting land.

Scotland world amazing tourist locations

Scotland is one of the most amazing tourist places in the world. The word Scotland comes from (Scottish Gaelic: Alba) is a country that is piece of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the southwest. In addition to the mainland, Scotland includes over 790 islands. Including the Northern Isles and the Hebrides; ranging in size from Lewis and Harris at over 200,000 to Eilean Donan.

Edinburgh, the country's capital and second largest city, is one of Europe's largest financial centers. Edinburgh was the hub of the Scottish Enlightenment of the 18th century, which transformed Scotland into one of the commercial, intellectual and industrial powerhouses of Europe. Glasgow, Scotland's largest city was once one of the world's leading industrial cities and now lies at the center of the Greater Glasgow conurbation.

Scottish waters consist of a large sector of the North Atlantic and the North Sea, containing the largest oil reserves in the European Union. This has given Aberdeen, the third largest city in Scotland, the title of Europe's oil capital. As Scotland witnessed Shetland Islands, the third largest island of Scotland and the fifth largest island of British Isles, being ranked sixth among the top 10 tourist regions of the world, Harry Potter was doing even better to the country’s tourism in 2010.

Scotland is one of leading countries promoting movie tourism and there are many film locations like Glencoe and the Glenfinnan Viaduct where scenes from Harry Potter were shot. The famous Edinburgh cafes where J.K. Rowling wrote the books also attract tourists. Besides, Scotland is one of the top choices for skiing during winters. Cairngorm Mountain, Glenshee and The Lecht are the main ski areas in Scotland offering training as well as amazing stretch of natural skiing terrain down the hills.

Make merry Christmas in London

The Natural History Museum is residence to one of the largest natural history collections in the world from microscopic slides to mammoth skeletons. The building itself is impressive with cathedral like structure, frescoes and sculptures and the central hall is home to an astounding Diplodocus skeleton.

The museum is divided into four colored zones. The green zone concentrates on facts about life, the planet, environment and evolution. The red zone explores our ever changing planet, how it was shaped and its place within the universe. In the blue zone you can marvel at the diversity of life on our planet from blue whales to the smallest invertebrates.

Finally the orange zone takes you into the Wildlife garden (open between April and October) and to the Darwin centre although you need to book an explore tours to do this. They discover a wonderland of twinkling lights, mini-carnivals and a fab dinosaur exhibit.

Most young boys make a pilgrimage to the museum just to see the dinosaur exhibits but there are numerous daily activities, behind-the scenes tours and you can borrow an explorer backpack complete with binoculars and hat!

Plenty of places to eat, and you can take your own picnic. Come to enjoy this Christmas with family to London.

Amazing Mont Saint-Michel castle

Mont Saint-Michel is a rocky tidal island and a group home in Normandy, France. The Castle is located approximately one kilometer (just over half a mile) off the country’s north coast, at the mouth of the Couesnon River near Avranches. The population of the island is 41.

Mont Saint-Michel was previously connected to the mainland via a thin natural land bridge, which before modernization was covered at high tide and revealed at low tide. This connection has been compromised by several developments. Over the centuries, the coastal flats have been polderise to create pasture. Thus the distance between the shore and the south coast of Mont-Saint-Michel castle has decreased. The Couesnon River has been canalized, reducing the flow of water and thereby encouraging a silting-up of the bay. In 1879, the land bridge was fortified into a true causeway. This prevented the tide from scouring the silt around the mount.

Mont-Saint-Michel was used in the sixth and seventh centuries as an Armorican stronghold of Romano-Breton culture and power, until it was ransacked by the Franks, thus ending the trans-channel culture that had stood since the departure of the Romans in AD 460.

Before the construction of the first monastic establishment in the 8th century, the island was called monte tombe. According to legend, the Archangel Michael appeared to St. Aubert, bishop of Avranches, in 708 and instructed him to build a church on the rocky islet. Aubert repeatedly ignored the angel's instruction, until Michael burned a hole in the bishop's skull with his finger.

Access by car : From Saint-Malo — exit n° 2, secondary roads D 155 and D 797 towards Pontorson, and then secondary road D 976. We can also see various monastic buildings around the castle that has been there from 13th Century. It has become a tourist spot and an average of four million visitors is seen every year.

Ha Long Bay 2nd place for best boat journeys

Ha long Bay is one of the world’s most beautiful tourist destinations of Vietnam. Ha long Bay features more than one thousand awesome limestone karsts and islands of various sizes and shapes along the 120-km coastline of Bai Chay Beach. Vietnam’s Ha Long Bay listed as a UNESCO World Heritage spot has been ranked the 2nd among the 10 best boat journeys by the UK’s Lonely Planet Travel Magazine.

Ha Long Bay is a popular travel destination in the Northern Province of Quang Ninh. Covering on an area of around 1,553 km, including 1,960 islets, most of which are limestone. The core of the bay has an area of 334 km2 with a high density of 775 islets. The limestone in this bay has gone through 500 million years of formation in different conditions and environments. The evolution of the karst in this bay has taken 20 million years under the impact of the tropical wet climate.

The geo-diversity of the environment in the area has created biodiversity, including a tropical evergreen biosystem, oceanic and sea shore biosystem. Ha Long Bay is home to 14 endemic floral species and 60 endemic faunal species. Bobbing on the emerald waters of Halong Bay and moving through its 3000-odd limestone islands is simply sublime. The tiny islands are dotted with beaches and grottoes created by wind and waves, and have sparsely forested slopes ringing with bird tunes.

There are more than 300 boats based at Bai Chay Tourist Wharf waiting to sweep you away to the World Heritage waters. Day tours last from four to eight hours, though (recommended) overnighters are also available. In 1994, Ha Long Bay was recognized as a UNESCO World Natural Heritage site. It has jumped to second place among the 28 finalists of an online voting for the world’s new seven wonders and helping to bring 5.3 million visitors to Quang Ninh in the first eight months of the year.

The Kissing rock from Ha Long Bay Veitnam.