Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall - Taipei (Taiwan)

While just sitting and planning the next possible trips, I decided to put some light on my favorite places that I've been to. This time we'll go to the capital of Taiwan - Taipei.

Taiwan is a truly exotic Asian country and it matches the typical far Asian country stereotypes pretty well; crowded streets, flashy and colorful high-tech advertisements hanging everywhere, lots of traffic and motorbikes on the streets, smell of food from many nearby restaurants or food courts, Asian-style Peace (or Victory) posing in front of the cameras, street sellers, trendy and fashionably dressed youth, etc. I mean it's all about technology, gadgets, food, pretty Asian girls and noise...

If you've been to Taipei, you may easily get lost. Unless you speak bit of Chinese and understand all those Chinese signs. Or you need some local guide to take you around in this maze of streets and buildings, where even travel guide books may become helpless sometimes. Once you live there for a while and become able to find your way around, then that's the place to live and enjoy. In fact many foreigners don't know how much happening city is Taipei! How many interesting hidden secrets it has. I'll reveal some of them in my future posts. But for now, let's get to know more about the gem of tourist attractions in Taipei - CKS Memorial Hall.

aibek-on-bridge.jpg, originally uploaded by aibek_dunaev

Well, you should know about Chiang Kai Shek if you have studied your World History lesson at school. This far I can say here; he's the founder of Taiwan, and accepted as the country's "Father". But not all the people see him as national hero. He was the leader of the ruling party Kuomintang of ROC (Republic of China) which is current China. Then he lost the power to Communist Party inmainland China and escaped to Taiwan island with his government and continued ruling the ROC (another name of Taiwan) in this island. Check out the history sources to learn more about him.

What amazed me in this memorial hall was not the identity of Chaing Kai Shek himself, but the design and architecture of the memorial complex. Simply stunning! Chinese-style oriental architecture, beautiful Chinese gardens with a lake, grand buildings and mighty entrance gates in the same style. The complex consists of CKS's mausoleum and museum, national theatres, wide open square, lake with a bridge, and the grand entrance gates. Once you step into the area through the main gates, you feel that you are entering the imperial palace of some kind of forgotten kindgdom, and for a moment you are distracted from your reality that you are in a megapolis. Far in front of you above the stairs, and facing the gates, stands grand building with sky blue roofs. It has wide and very tall entrance, and if you look carefully you can notice the giant man sitting on his throne and looking at you ( That's Chiang Kai Shek. His grand statue. And the building is his mausoleum. There is a musem in the bottom floor) .



Right after the gates from both sides stand two great Chinese style buildings with beautiful roofs. These are the theaters. On the right side behind the theater there's Chinese lake with lotuses and a nice concave bridge. Other parts of the complex consist of gardens.

dsc00721ld, originally uploaded by aibek_dunaev

Whenever you go there, you can always find many people. You come in the very early morning, and you'll find many elderly people practicing Tai-chi under the melody of flute. No wonder why they live so long. You come during the day, and it's full of visitors. There's always something going on there; exhibitions, concerts, performances, festivals... You come in the evening, and it's the popular hang out place for Taiwanese youth and couples. Young people will be practicing their hip hop dances, and couples will be enjoying the quietness of the place. Just walking around the complex takes some time, and it's also good place to get lost in thoughts and wander around aimlessly... It was one of the places I loved to take my visitors.

More photos;

View from the stairs that leads to Chiang Kai Shek's mausoleum. Notice the ornaments on the grass lanes on the sides. You can also see how huge the square is.

Resized_DSC01150, originally uploaded by aibek_dunaev
Front gates of CKS Memorial Hall

P2160204, originally uploaded by aibek_dunaev
This was taken during the Lantern Festival

dsc01613br, originally uploaded by aibek_dunaev

Plane crash in Kyrgyzstan

Unfortunately, it happened. It's totally different feeling when it's happening in your home. Ironically, I wrote about insecureness of flying with Kyrgyzstan based airlines in my recent post. It was a flight from Moscow to Iran with a stop-over in Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan). Although the plane itself belonged to Itek Air (registered in Kyrgyzstan), it was rented by Iranian Asseman Airlines and was being operated by them. It happened in about 10 minutes right after the plane took off from International Manas Airport in Bishkek. So far they say that the reason was the failure in the ventilation systems of the plane, and due to the heat some systems of the plane failed. The plane returned back for an emergency landing but couldn't make it till the runway... The crash started the fire on the plane. Most of the passengers died, and only some of them survived.

The fact that all the Kyrgyzstan based airlines were banned to entering European airspace for past 2 years should reveal who should take the responsibility.

The photos of the tragedy can be seen here.

Olympic dream

(photo by Reuters)

Kyrgyz sportsmen came for the Olympics with serious ambitions this time! Since the first day I am following each of our participant's performance live () and cheering them quietly behind my work desk. And I came up with my own way of showing my tribute to our sportsmen; each time they win a medal, I put my desk Kyrgyz flag high above my work cubicle. Colleagues passing by are wondering why, and with great pride I tell them that our sporstman won an Olympic medal just now...

Ruslan Tiumenbayev won first bronze medal yesterday in Greco-Roman wrestling, and today Kanatbek Begaliyev (in the photo) took it one step ahead and won silver one. Next is gold!

Alga, Kyrgyzstan!

Seven Wonders of Russia!

Have you ever wondered what are the top travel destinations in Russia besides Moscow and Petersburg? After failing to get any place in Russia into the list of the Seven Wonders of The World, Russians came up with the project to identify and promote their 7 wonders. The result was spectacular and it will definitely attract many more tourists.

This is the translation of the post written by our guest-author Yusia. I am sure that this fresh piece of information will interest most of the travel enthusiasts. So traveling is Russia is more that Trans-Siberian Express Train adventure! The text is translated using Google Translate together with some corrections from my side. Google's translation service is getting better and better by each day. Good job, guys!

More than that, approximate expenses (from Moscow) are also provided. Great tip, Yulia!
(photo by www.io.com)

7 Wonders of Russia

1. "Valley of Geysers" - 5 km long canyon in one of the inaccessible gorges of Kronotsky biosphere reserve, which is located in Kamchatka. There are about 200 hot springs, including 90 geyser, which emit jets of boiling water and steam as high as tens of kilometers. The valley was discovered in 1914, but only open to tourists since 1993.
You can get there from the city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky (the central city of Kamchatka), is in a valley 160 sports city. Cost: airfare (from Moscow) - 30 thousand rubles (830 euros), a hotel in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky 2100 rubles per day (58 euros), and the helicopter tour - 15 thousand rubles (416 euros).

Check out the photos.


2. "Lake Baikal" - the lake of stunning beauty, it is located 55 km from the city of Irkutsk, the capital of the Irkutsk region, located in south-eastern Siberia. The lake is already very long exploited for tourism purposes: hiking on a horse, rafting, diving, cycling and helicopter tours, ethnographic and religious tours, fishing, spa treatments.
Cost: airfare to Irkutsk (from Moscow) - 14 300 rubles (400 euros), from there transfer to the Lake - 3000 rubles (83 euros), room in a hotel or tourist base - 1300 rubles per day (36 euros), trip around lake by boat - 1200 rubles (33 euros).

Photos of Baikal.


3. "Columns of Erosion" (a.k.a. as "Rock Pillars") - a unique natural monument, which is at 700 km from the city of Perm, the capital city of Perm Region, in the European part of Russia. These pillars were formed during 200 million years by the weathering of rocks shale. They decorate the plateau, called Man-Pupu-Ner (Hill stone idols) and also referred to as "mansyyskie bolvany" ("dumbs of Mansi"). Mansi people (minority group in Russia) devoted a lot of legends to these pillars. No regular tours are organized to that place, and the easiest way to get there is by helicopter from the town of Berezniki (near Perm).
Cost: airfare to Perm (from Moscow) - 6600 rubles (183 euros), transfer of Berezniki and back - 1880 rubles (52 euros), helicopter tour (scarves, food, guide) - 37 500 rubles (1042 euros).

Have a look at the pillars.


4. "Elbrus Mountain" - the highest mountain of Russia and Europe (5462 meters), located on the border of the republics of Kabardino-Balkaria and Karachayevo-Cherkessia (South Russia). Elbrus not only attracts climbers, but also winter sports enthusiasts and health tourism. Conquest to the peak of this mountain takes 6-7 peak days with overnight. For ordinary tourists there are sanatoriums from mineral sources, and for skiers and snowboarders there are lifts and tracks. Getting to Elbrus is possible from the city Mineralnye Vody, the capital of Stavropol Province (200 km from the city).
Cost: airfare to Mineralnye Vody - 7700 rubles (214 euros), room at tourist base - 1500 rubles / day (42 euros), transfer round trip back - 4000 rubles (111 euros).

Photos of this beautiful place, just like the mountains of Kyrgyzstan! ;)


5. Mamayev Kurgan and "the Statue of Motherland-Mother"
A historical and memorial complex built in commemoration of the Heroes of Battle of Stalingrad at Mamaev Kurgan in the center of Volgograd City. The complex consists of several sculptural compositions: "Memorial of the generations", "Square of those who stood till death", "Wall Ruins," "Heroes' Square" and the main monument "Motherland-Mother calls!", and right behind this monument is where memorial cemetery located.
Cost: airfare to Volgograd (from Moscow) - 5000 rubles (139 euros), the hotel - 2000 rubles per day (55 euros), the overview tour of "Hero City - Volgograd" - 170 rubles (5 euros).

Check out some photos of this enormous statue here.



6. "St. Basil's Cathedral" - famous cathedral, which is located in central Moscow on Red Square. The temple builders were blinded by Ivan the Terrible so that they couldn't build another similar cathedral somewhere else.
Cost: ticket to Moscow (on average 400 euros), a hotel room - 5000 rubles per day (140 euros), ticket - 100 rubles (2.7 euros), excursions - from 260 rubles (7.2 euros).
(photo by 1000petals.wordpress.com)


7. "Peterhof" - or "Russian Versailles" - located 29 km from the city of St. Petersburg. The magnificent beauty of the suburban residence of Peter The First with a lot of parks, luxury fountains, palaces, grottoes, museums and pavilions on the shores of the Baltic Sea.
Cost: airfare of St. Petersburg (from Moscow) - 4 000 rubles (111 euros), transferred to the city of Peterhof - 70 rubles (2 euros), the hotel - 3000 rubles per day (83 euros), a pass to visit all the museums - 2 670 rubles (74 euros).

If you are curious what sort of residences were preferred by Peter the First, click here.

Семь чудес России!

В октябре 2007 года, после объявления Новых Семи Чудес Света, куда не вошло ни одно из "российских красот", патриоты России объявили начало конкурса "Семь Чудес России", чтобы "донести" до всего мира, что Россия тоже богата на настоящие чудеса, и в следующий раз необходимо обязательно исправить эту ошибку!

В июне 2008 года Россия подвела итоги и выбрала свои чудеса! Представлю их тут, а также попытаюсь "проложить маршрут" и подсчитать ту сумму, которая необходима, чтобы туда добраться (сумма указана с учётом вылета из МОСКВЫ!)

1. "Долина Гейзеров" - пятикилометровый каньон в одном из труднодоступных ущелий Кроноцкого биосферического заповедника, которых находится на Камчатке. Действует около 200 термальных источников, в том числе 90 гейзеров, которые выбрасывают кипящие струи воды и пара на десятки километров. Долина была обнаружена в 1914 году, но для туристов открыта только с 1993 года.

Добраться туда можно от города Петропавловск-Камчатский (центральный город Камчатки), долина находится в 160 км.от города. Расходы: авиабилеты (из Москвы) - 30 тыс.руб. (830 евро), гостиница в Петропавловске-Камчатском - 2 100 р./сутки (58 евро), вертолётная экскурсия - 15 тыс.руб. (416 евро).

Долина Гейзеров

2. Байкал - потрясающей красоты озеро, которое находится в 55 км. от города Иркутск, столицы Иркутской области, расположенного в Юго-Восточной Сибири. Озеро уже очень давно эксплуатируется в туристических целях: конные походы, сплавы, дайвинг, велосипедные и вертолётные туры, этнографические и религиозные экскурсии, рыбалка, лечебные процедуры. Расходы: авиабилет до Иркутска - 14 300 руб. (400 евро), трансфер до озера - 3000 руб. (83 евро), номер в гостинице или турбазе - 1300 руб./сутки (36 евро), водная прогулка - 1200 руб. (33 евро). Байкал

3. Столбы Выветривания - уникальный природный памятник, который находится в 700 км. от города Пермь, столицы Пермского края, в европейской части России.

Столбы образовались за 200 млн.лет в результате выветривания сланцевых пород. Они украшают плато под названием Мань-Пупу-Нёр (Гора каменных идолов) и также называются "мансййские болваны" - народ манси (малочисленный народ России) посвятил им множество легенд. Регулярных экскурсий туда нет, проще всего добраться на вертолёте от города Березники (недалеко от Перми). Расходы: авиабилет до Перми - 6600 руб. (183 евро), трансфер от Березников и обратно - 1880 руб. (52 евро), вертолётный тур (платки, питание, гид) - 37 500 руб. (1042 евро)

Столбы выветривания

4. Эльбрус - самая высокая гора России и Европы (5462 м.), расположена на границе республик Кабардино-Балкария и Карачаево-Черкесия (Юг России). Эльбрус привлекает не только альпинистов, но также любителей горнолыжного спорта и оздоровительного туризма. Покорение вершины занимает 6-7 дней с ночёвками. Для обычных туристов - санатории у минеральных источников, для горнолыжников и сноубордистов - трассы и подъёмники. Добраться до Эльбруса можно от города Минеральные Воды, столицы Ставропольского Края ( 200 км. от города). Расходы: авиабилет до Минеральных Вод - 7700 руб (214 евро), номер на турбазе - 1500 руб./сутки (42 евро), трансфер туда-обратно - 4000 руб. (111 евро).

Эльбрус

5. Мамаев Курган и Статуя Родины-Матери - историко-мемориальный комплекс "Героем Сталинградской битвы" на Мамаевом Кургане в центре города Волгоград. Комплекс состоит из нескольких скульптурных композиций: "Память поколений". "Площадь Стоявших Насмерть", "Стены-Руины", "Площадь Героев" и главный монумент "Родина-Мать зовёт!", за которым начинается мемориальное кладбище. Расходы: авиабилет до Волгограда - 5000 руб. (139 евро), гостиница - 2000 руб./сутки (55 евро), обзорная экскурсия "Город-Герой Волгоград" - 170 руб. (5 евро).

Мамаев Курган

6. Собор Василия Блаженного - я уже рассказывала об этом уникальном соборе, который находится в центре Москвы на Красной площади, поэтому сейчас упомяну только один факт: строители храма были ослеплены Иваном Грозным, чтобы не смогли повторить подобное... Расходы: билет до Москвы (в среднем 400 евро) , номер в гостинице - 5 тыс.руб/сутки (140 евро), входной билет - 100 руб. (2,7 евро), экскурсии - от 260 руб. (7,2 евро).

Собор Василия Блаженного

7. Петергоф - или "Русский Версаль", как его еще называют, находится в 29 км. от города Санкт-Петербург. Великолепная по своей красоте загородная резиденция Петра 1 со множеством парков, шикарных фонтанов, дворцов, гротов, павильонов и музеев на берегу Балтийского моря. Расходы: авиабилет о Санкт-Петербурга - 4 000 руб. (111 евро), трансфер до города Петергоф - 70 руб. (2 евро), гостиница - 3000 руб. /сутки (83 евро), абонемент на посещение всех музеев с фотосъёмкой - 2 670 руб. (74 евро).

Петергоф

Добро пожаловать в Россию!! :)

Пост подготовлен Юлией Шаповаловой, yuliasha@blogspot.com

Fall of America Or the new Cost of Living Ranking

As the US dollar has been falling, so is the cost of living in US cities. According to the latest ranking done by Mercer, European and Asian cities now dominate Cost of Living Top 50 Cities ranking. New York, #1 most expensive city to live in the States, is only on the 22nd position. No other US city is in Top 50.

Website says that Mercer's survey covers 143 cities across six continents and measures the comparative cost of over 200 items in each location, including housing, transport, food, clothing, household goods and entertainment. It is the world's most comprehensive cost of living survey and is used to help multinational companies and governments determine compensation allowances for their expatriate employees.

Talking about Moscow over the past posts, it's still the most expensive city in the world, followed by Tokyo and London.

Interestingly, Almaty is in Top 50 as well. I could only guess that this is due to the high prices of real estate in Almaty, as well as due to the fact that Kazakhstan has huge oil reserves. It's even more important in recent increase in oil prices. Though it dropped from 30th position to 44th. That might be due to the global credit crisis that affected the real estate and construction business in Kazakhstan.

Also, Prague also had a huge jump from 49th position to 29th position in a year. Here in Prague, we felt the rise in prices as well, though I have to admit that it didn't hit much our pockets.

Top 10
1 Moscow Russia
2 Tokyo Japan
3 London UK
4 Oslo Norway
5 Seoul South Korea
6 Hong Kong China
7 Copenhagen Denmark
8 Geneva Switzerland
9 Zurich Switzerland
10 Milan Italy


See the full ranking here.

Moscow Metro

Yusia prepared interesting post about Moscow Metro in the previous post. As it's written in Russian, here I briefly summarize her post.

- It's the 2nd most intensively used metro system in the world (recently lost the pole position to Tokio metro, that's another whole topic!)
- Everyday about 9 million passengers use it. Geeezzz!!!
- 176 metro stations!
- Overall length of the rails last to 292 km!
- 10 thousand trains pass the stations everyday!
- Deepest metro in the world (together with Kiev and St.Petersburg metro), the deepest station is as low as 86 meters!
- Minimum interval is 90 seconds. So that would mean that every 1,5 minute during rush hours there's a train coming. Awesome!

Also, as you see in the photos, those gorgeous looking halls decorated with golden coverage, artistic glass mosaics, bronze and granite statues, expensive chandelier, paintings , etc., are not from the interior of some museum or Russian Tsar's residential castle...

Those are the metro stations in Russia!!!

(note that they were built during the Socialism. This is just one of the small examples on how much money was spent for Moscow at those years!) Well, I did small check and it looks like not all the stations are this posh. In fact, only some of them are. See more photos of fancy stations here.

And the last thing is Aquarelle Train (see last 3 photos). It's the art gallery on rails! Gallery of the paintings by Sergey Andriyaki and his students is located inside this train, and it operates as any other metro train. There you go!

Москвоский Метрополитен: километры подземного города

Московское Метро - это необычное метро, куда каждый день спускаются люди, где ходят обычные поезда и останавливаются на обычных станциях. Нет! Метро в Москве - это уникальное место, это одно из главных достопримечательностей столицы, это целый подземный город, где люди живут своей жизнью..

Для начала факты и цифры, некоторые из которых до сих пор поражают моё воображение и до сих пор я задаюсь себе вопросом : "Неужели это возможно?":

-Московское Метро одно из самых крупных метрополитенов мира и совсем недавно уступило Токийскому метро по интенсивности использования.

-Ежедневно Метро в Москве перевозит около 9 млн пассажиров!!! (только вдумайтесь в эту цифру!)

-Метро включает в себя 12 линий общей протяжённостью 292 км и состоит из 176 станций (почти все из которых москвичи знают наизусть! :)

-Ежедневно Московское Метро пропускает почти 10 тыс.поездов!! (это что-то невероятное)

-Минимальный интервал движения поездов - 90 сек.

-Метро в Москве - одно из самых глубоких (наряду с Метрополитеном Санкт-Петербурга и Киева) - самая глубокая станция достигает глубины 86 м.

Своё историческое начало Метро получило в 1935 году, когда была открыты первые станции Сокольнической линии Метро (так называемой, "красной ветки").

Сегодня метро продолжает расширяться - активно строятся станции уже за пределами Москвы, в Ближайшем Подмосковье, для того, чтобы облегчить передвижение огромной массы людей, которая там живёт (снова и снова задаёшься себе вопросом: "Как же потом будут садиться в метро те, ко ездит из Москвы, если поезда будут приходить из Подмосковья уже переполненные...?" - вот это проблема...)

Московский Метрополитен - действительно, уникальный архитектурный памятник России.

Вы больше нигде не найдёте станции, украшенные мрамором, причудливой мозаикой, позолотой, гранитными и бронзовыми статуями, высеченными на стенах стихами русских поэтов, великолепными огромными люстрами и светильниками в сочетании с современным модерном.

Метро в Москве - это целый музей, куда организуются специальные экскурсии, и по праву Московское Метро считается самым красивым в мире!

Ст.м. "Площадь Революции"

Ст. м. "Комсомольская"

Ст. м. "Киевская"


Ст. м. "Новослободская"


Ст. м. "Деловой центр"

Говоря о Московском Метро, невозможно не упомянуть особенный поезд под названием "Акварель", вагоны которого представляют собой картинную галерею художника Сергея Андрияки и его учеников.

Я очень рада, когда мне выпадает шанс ехать в этом поезде - сразу поднимает настроение и во время поездки имеешь замечательную возможность приобщиться к прекрасному искусству!

Метро - это непосредственная часть будничной, ежедневной жизни жителей Москвы, где, например, я провожу около 2,5 часов в день.

Изо дня в день я встречаю тысячи пассажиров, у каждого из них своя жизнь, свои радости, свои заботы... Каждый из них, совершая длинный путь по дороге на работу (или домой) думает о чём-то о своём, уставившись устало в одну точку, закрыв глаза и тихонечко засыпая или читая книжку... У каждого из них в глазах отражается своя собственная история.. Значит метро, как большая книга, как огромная энциклопедия, бережно хранит эти тайны, эти судьбы и терпеливо изо дня в день запоминает всё новые и новые...

Добро пожаловать в Москву!

Пост подготовлен Юлией Шаповаловой, http://yuliasha.blogspot.com

душа моя рвётся туда...

tea13.jpg, originally uploaded by aibek_dunaev.

Beijing 2008 refreshments

This summer is spoiling us with so many great sports events while boosting the dynamism inside us (okay, fine, at least it's true for me). I started watching these promotional clips and about to get addicted to them. So here's some top ones;

"Welcome to Beijing" song in Chinese with English subtitles(!) by the All-Star Chinese celebrity team. You'll find from singers to Hong-Kong movie stars here. Also, as the Olympic Games unite the nations, Taiwanese singers are cheerfully singing and welcoming you to Beijing as well. And the cream on the top is the master Jackie Chan showing off his singing skills!




Jackie tries even some other sports while promoting the visitors to use VISA card for the Olympics.

Another great clip is the official "One World One Dream" clip.

Also, have a look at the Promotion Video of the Torch for Beijing 2008.

Short video that highlights more or less everything about Beijing. And also another one promoting what is known and unknown about China as well.

Also, the five official mascots of Beijing 2008 games are named as BeiBei, JingJing, HuanHuan, YingYing and NiNi. It comes from the phrase "Bei-Jing Huan-Ying Ni" which means "Beijing welcomes you".

Finally, Chinese would never miss the chance to bring up their "Journey to West" folklore heroes - Monkey, Pig and Monk;




p.s. I have this feeling that Chinese are going to rock in these Olympics games both in its organization and in the number of medals. It's dragon time, baby!