Showing posts with label Video. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Video. Show all posts

Friday 16 August 2019

You’ve read the social media, now watch the TM30 debate in #Bangkok


A panel of Thai and foreign experts and commentators came together yesterday to discuss the enforcement of immigration rules, government policies and concerns, and recent shifts in official procedures and attitudes. They attempted to clarify the TM30 reporting process, analyse its impact and discuss the future of this unpopular law. The speakers were…

• Pol. Maj. Gen. Patipat Suban Na Ayudhya, Commander of Immigration Division

• Pol. Maj. Teerapong Jaiareerob, Inspector of Sub-Division 2, Immigration Division 1

• Pol.Col. Thatchapong Sarawannangkul, Superintendent of Sub-Division 2, Immigration Division 1

• Penrurk Phetmani, immigration lawyer with Tilleke and Gibbins International

• Chris Larkin, director of the Australian Chamber of Commerce and a member of AustCham’s Advocacy subcommittee where he works on customs alliance and immigration issues

• Sebastian Brousseau, lawyer and managing director of Isaan Lawyers, specialist in immigration issues and leading member of advocacy group reform-thai-immigration.com

• Richard Barrow, blogger and long-time Bangkok resident



VIDEO
 
Source - The Thaiger

Tuesday 21 August 2018

#Pattaya ‘sex orgy’ hotel named; party sponsored by #Singha


The hotel at the centre of claims it hosted a sex orgy has been named as the A-One The Royal Cruise in North Pattaya.

Earlier story from The Thaiger HERE.

On Monday morning, the resort’s police chief and local authority supremo were met by hotel executive Somchai Ratana-ophat, who admitted that the party had taken place at the hotel on Saturday between 3pm and 11pm. It had been organised by foreigners, and 1,000 participants paid between 550 and 1,100 baht a head. Thai female models were hired by the organizers.

Naris Niramaiwong, the district chief, said that the hotel had a valid licence, and that the police would handle the other matters. Pol Colonel Apichai Krobpetch admitted that the participants had all been wearing swimsuits, but the party still constituted an affront to public morals and was obscene. He promised a full investigation and possible action against the organisers, models, tourists, photographers and those who posted a video of the event.

 The “Kolour Beachside Party” was well advertised and was the second such event. The Thaiger notes that the poster advertising the event says ‘Singha Presents’ indicating the the Singha Corporation were one of the main sponsors. The Thaiger has a contact number for Singha Corporation when District Chief Naris needs to question the huge Thai food and beverage corporation.


 The We Love Pattaya news site on Facebook said the party had utilised state-of-the-art sound and light systems, had experienced deejays in attendance and featured a special stage in the centre of a pool.

Two beachfront pools were used for the party. A video of nearly one-minute duration was still being widely viewed and shared online, said We Love Pattaya. Naris warned people not to hold sex or drug parties in Pattaya.

Thai Visa notes that chief Naris is the man who walked in on an old British tourist in a short-time sex room on Valentine’s Day last year.


 A video published on YouTube exposes the full horrors of people at a pool party drinking, playing music and, even worse, enjoying themselves.

Two kilometres away is the family-themed Walking Street where young women wear skimpy outfits to lure men into consuming large quantities of alcohol and providing them with other wholesome family-related services.


https://12go.asia/?z=581915




 Source - The Thaiger

Friday 14 July 2017

On the bucket list, seeing #Thailand’s biggest tree

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Tourists continue to flock to the latest attraction in Phang Nga – a tree believed to be the country’s largest.

The 500-year-old tree, known as sapung in Thai (Tetrameles nudiflora), is more than 30 metres in circumference and above 50 metres in height.

It’s on Koh Yao Noi in the southern province’s Koh Yao district. 

The locale on the shore of Ao Khien Bay has several other large sapung trees, but none this big. 

 Ao Phang Nga National Park administrators have only recently begun promoting the site as a tourist attraction, seeking to get visitors involved in conserving the trees, which are accessible only by boat or after a trek through the woods.


 Tetrameles nudiflora – whose soft timber has been used to make matchsticks, canoes and ceiling boards – often grows to immense heights and widths. 

Famous specimens wrap around the Ta Prohm temple ruins at Angkor in Cambodia and are admired in Vietnam’s Cat Tien National Park. 

The last time a Thai sapung tree made headlines was last August, when a 40-metre-tall specimen was noticted in a cemetery in Tambon Chaiyapruk in Loei’s Mueang district.

Source - TheNation
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Friday 5 May 2017

Laos - Largest Forest in Xayaboury to be Opened as Tourist Attraction

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 Hoping to draw more people to experience its natural beauty and establish its profile as a tourist destination, Xayaboury Province is opening up its largest forest as one of its visitor attractions.
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An official has confirmed that provincial authorities surveyed the forest in Phieng District, which is 80 km from the provincial capital. After surveying the trees and the surrounding area, provincial authorities considered various ways  on how they could develop the forest into a tourist attraction and open it up to the public.
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The director of the province’s Information, Culture and Tourism Department, Mr Chanthi Simanichan, has stated that the biggest trees in Phieng district are maitaekha (Sindora cochinchinensis) and can grow up to an impressive 15 metres in width and more than 10 metres in height. The maitaekha are hundreds of years old and are highly valued for their solid wood.
The area will be of interest to those with an interest in nature and those who can appreciate the preservation of the towering trees surrounding them . There is potential for a variety of outdoor activities for visitors who enjoy the great outdoors, as well as for individuals wanting to study tree species in Laos.
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 Apart from observing the massive trees and the serenity of nature, there are fascinating caves waiting to be explored, including the beautiful Lobphai Cave.
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There are many officially designated tourist sites in Xayaboury Province but due poor road access, reaching tourist sites is difficult and dangerous, particularly during the wet season.
However, provincial authorities plan to build a road to the forest in an effort to bring development to impoverished Phieng District. Mr Chanthi stressed that it is essential to build roads to make more of the sites accessible.
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Due to poor road conditions, Mr Chanti urges anyone who is looking to visit the forest to plan ahead and contact the Phieng District Information, Culture and Tourism Office to find out current road hazards.
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“The provincial authorities plan to build a dirt road to the forest because there is no road access at present,” Mr Chanthi has stated. “Construction will start this year and then district authorities will officially open the forest area as a new tourist site. Locals and foreigners can visit at any time, but don’t forget to contact the Phieng district Information, Culture and Tourism Office so that officials can provide help”.
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SOURCE - Laotianpost





Friday 10 March 2017

Cambodia - The Monkey God’s last dance: Bidding a Lakhon Khol master farewell

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After the troupe of young boys had performed the Monkey Dance, and a group of Apsara dancers had left the stage, 67-year-old Royal University of Fine Arts professor Proeung Chhieng stepped up, shoulders hunched, to the microphone to address the several hundred mourners. Behind him, at the top of an elaborate funeral pyre set up in a field at the Secondary School of Fine Arts, was the body of his friend and teacher, Yit Sarin, who passed away at 91 on Saturday night. 
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“Today, at his funeral, I am so sad to lose someone so valuable for the country,” Chhieng told Post Weekend at the funeral on Monday. “However, I am also happy to see his students, for whom he devoted great effort in teaching, at his funeral … We are preparing to carry on his legacy and complete his unfinished mission.”
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Born on July 1, 1925, Sarin is renowned for being the first male dancer in Cambodia’s Royal Ballet and was the last surviving custodian of the knowledge, history and practice of the Khmer masked theatre dance known as Lakhon Khol. With his death, many fear an irreplaceable loss to the Kingdom’s cultural heritage. 
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Practitioners of the masked dance, relatives, and Minister of Culture and Fine Arts Phuong Sakonga paid their respects at the funeral service, but the overwhelming majority of those present were students at the Secondary School of Fine Arts, where Yit Sarin’s cremation was held. 
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All recalled Yit Sarin as a uniquely powerful teacher, dedicated to preserving and passing on the knowledge of Lakhon Khol.
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“To be honest, we could not afford such a big funeral, but his students, who adore him, have put together the money to make it happen,” his 62-year-old daughter Kao Amry told Post Weekend
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“He was both a family man and a great artist,” said cousin Sith Sothea, 50.
Sothea’s orphaned father was raised by Yit Sarin during the post independence Sangkum period, she said, and after the Pol Pot regime, when Sothea and her brother were orphaned, Yit Sarin took them in as well. “He adored his family and relatives, as much as he adored Lakhon Khol.”
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His only surviving son, 19-year-old Sarin Vathanak, recalled the utter devotion his father had for passing on the knowledge of the art form, even at the end of his life.
“My father had taught Lakhon Khol all his life until he was bedridden in 2015,” he said, weak from emotion. “I am grief-stricken to lose my father, but also proud of him.”
Grandpa White
Born “Keo Sar”, Sarin changed his name during the Khmer Rouge regime, although he later became known simply as Lok Ta Sar (Grandpa White) – a nod to his signature role: the Hindu deity Hanuman, who is represented as a white monkey.
The dramatic pre-Angkorian dance form involves masked characters performing episodes of the Reamker – the Khmer version of the Hindu epic Ramayana – while a director, speaking and singing in three distinct “voices”, narrates the play over music.
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According to Professor Aok Bunthoeun, vice dean of the Faculty of Choreographic Arts at the Royal University of Fine Arts, the theatre was practiced in palaces and pagodas for centuries, but only by one gender. 

“In the Royal Palace, it was said that officials would be jealous if male dancers were next to female dancers, so the male dancers of Lakhon Khol were relegated to pagodas,” he said. 
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READ CONTINUE  
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VIDEO
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 But this all changed in 1940 when Queen Sisowath Kossamak called Yit Sarin and three other boys from the Wat Svay Andet pagoda in Kandal to perform the Monkey Dance for three days at the Royal Palace. Delighted with the performance, she put the four under the tutelage of Royal Ballet master Mam Yan. However, all but Yit Sarin grew homesick and left the palace. 
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From that “revolutionary” moment, Bunthoeun said, the Royal Ballet became the first Lakhon Khol troupe with both men and women on stage, although the roles of men would be limited to monkey characters and “the hermit” in the Reamker. 
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Beyond establishing himself as a master of the art, teaching subsequent generations of dancers, Yit Sarin served as King Norodom Sihanouk’s personal assistant (or his Moha Tlik) during his quest for independence, for which he received several Royal Honours.

 

Saturday 23 July 2016

Car slams into Erawan Shrine, 6 injured (+VIDEO)

.Six people were injured last night when a driver had a seizure and her car plowed into the Erawan Shrine at Ratchaprasong intersection, a year after the Hindu shrine was hit by a fatal bomb.
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The light blue sedan veered off of Rama I Road in the middle of the city at about 8:20pm and slammed through a gate onto the grounds of Erawan Shrine, the site of a bombing in August 2015 that left 20 dead and scores injured.

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"It was an accident," Lumpini police commander Pornchai Chalodet told AFP of the car crash.
This afternoon, Post Today revealed the names of the injured people. They are two Singaporeans, two Indonesians, one Thai, and one Chinese.
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The two indonesians injured were Janto Kuriawan, 73, and Rosita Kuriawan, 56. The Singaporeans were Ong Cney, 70, and Ng Ican Leng, 35. The Chinese woman was Leena Bong, 81, and the Thai woman was Kanuengjit Taecholarn, 55.
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The shrine, a popular stop for East Asian tourists, was thronged with worshippers at the time of the accident, according to an AFP reporter at the scene.
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"We were praying and then suddenly we heard a big noise and we saw a car coming inside. We ran like crazy. It was very scary. At I first thought it was a car bomb but everyone was very calm around us," Kristy, a 21-year-old tourist from Vietnam, told AFP.

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In Friday's incident, police said the driver, who appeared to be about 40 years old, lost control of her Toyota Soluna and crashed through the sidewalk fence at the intersection beside the shrine before passing through the Erawan gate and stopping just before hitting the shrine.
The identity of the driver has not been revealed at the time of publication. The local media reported that she is currently receiving treatment in the intensive care unit.
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Also accompanying the driver in the car was her 20-year-old daughter, who told police her mom did not have a history of epilepsy. She had the seizure while she was about to take a turn at Ratchaprasong intersection.
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.Police will charge the driver with reckless driving leading to injuries of other people and will take the her medical diagnosis into consideration.
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VIDEO

Source: Coconuts.co 

*****

Tuesday 2 February 2016

Thailand - Sexy spirits: Topless paranormal YouTube show goes viral

Screenshot from the latest episode of "Hien Show." 


While Thai netizens have previously been known to criticize raunchy YouTube videos, a show where two topless girls visit a haunted house in Bangkok has become a recent hit.

Maybe it’s because it’s a surprise when the seemingly innocent girls suddenly strip off their clothes, or maybe it’s because Thais can’t get enough of all things spooky, but either way the latest episode of “Hien Show,” or “Haunted Show,” has clocked over 360,000 hits since it was posted Saturday.


 The latest episode features four hosts visiting a haunted house on Kaset Nawamin Road, with two sexy guests being tested on their observational skills. The forfeit for getting the questions wrong? Yep, taking their clothes off.



"There was a murder at this house. Locals say they hear the shrill of a woman's voice at night About the case, we cannot reveal any information," a male host in the video said in a lowered voice.
Yep, it’s as nonsensical as it sounds, but the feedback from viewers has been surprisingly mostly positive, with most liking what they saw or just amused by how ridiculous it is.

“Why don’t you just change the name of the show to ‘The Horny Show’?” one user commented.
The two ladies, Mia and Fone, were asked to light 50 joss sticks inside the house while playing a Buddhist incantation in the background to make the scene even creepier. The contestant who finished first, won the round.



The ladies were then asked questions testing their observational skills from being inside the house, for example how many shrines there were.

If they got a question wrong, they had to take off one item of clothing.
You can pretty much guess how it ends.


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Wednesday 23 December 2015

Let there be light

With a little help from the creators of the world-famous Amsterdam Light Festival, downtown Bangkok serves up a buffet of illuminations


Ratchaprasong, Bangkok's famous shopping strip, is well known for its annual festive lights that usually stretch from Siam Square up towards Chidlom.

This year the area is brighter than ever thanks to "Thailand Kingdom of Light II", an extravagant showcase of millions of lights plus world-class light art from the Amsterdam Light Festival.

The dazzling festival, which has as its theme "Thai's Enlightening Moments", is divided into five zones. The sacred Brahma shrine at the Ratchaprasong intersection has become a "Lighting Pavilion" to welcome visitors who come to pay their respects to Brahma and pray at the shrine. The Ratchaprasong Skywalk has morphed into tunnels of light and dubbed "Skywalk - The Garden of Light" under the concept "Fah Ngam Thee Plai Roong" ("Beautiful Sky at the End of the Rainbow"). The area beneath the Skywalk zone is decorated with a dazzling mesh of lights with a giant digital clock on the façade of CentralWorld. Now showing Thai numerals, the timepiece will change to Roman numerals on New Year's Eve so everybody can count down together.

The last zone is the International Zone and showcases world-class light art from Amsterdam Light Festival as well as collaborative masterpieces created by world-renowned lighting designers and their Thai peers.


 "The light festival in Bangkok features works that have come about from the sharing of expertise between world-renowned lighting designer Rogier van der Heide, who's the artistic director of the Amsterdam Light Festival, and Thai lighting designers, educators, computer researchers and developers from ESIC LAB, the Edutainment & Socio-Interaction Computing Research Group," says Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau president Nopparat Maythaveekulchai.

"Together they have created masterpieces in the International Zone with the aiming of raising light festivals in Thailand to international standards."



 The International Zone exhibits eight artworks selected by van der Heide, who is also a professor at the Technical University of Graz in Austria.

"We have installed eight artworks: three of them are from the Amsterdam Festival of Light and five have been newly made in cooperation with students here in Bangkok," van der Heide tells Explore.

"These works are very international and they promote knowledge exchange and innovation because we work with students on sophisticated technology and computer programming. I think it is a great initiative. For the visitors, the event creates a wonderful line up of artwork that is interesting to see. It demonstrates light as a universal language that can be understood all over the world.

"Ratchaprasong is a very busy area so a lot of people can come and see these works. Our aim is make people smile when they see the lights. The artists would like to show how important friendship and laughter are. Instead of doing it in their own languages, they do it with lights, which is basically understood by everybody. Light is a very great way to bring people together and unite them around something positive," he continues.

"I help to choose the artworks that are relevant to the location. The artists have to radiate the positive message to the public and they have to be imaginative. One of the criteria is their artworks should be understandable to everyone. Some works like 'Floating Light' are quite abstract but people can interact with the art and use their own imagination while they make the light tube 'dance'. I like it because it helps you make a connection with the art."

Van der Heide adds that to him, light creations are both art and science. "Lighting is very artistic and there are lots of stories about light. We have those 50 origami elephants that people like. The elephant is the symbol of Thailand; it is ancient and traditional. What the students put in there is sophisticated technology. We use laser cutting and drawing with 3D software in the computer. We bring together two worlds that are totally different and make it easy to understand.

"The heart-shaped work '195 Bottles, 1 Message' by Dutch artists Saskia Hoogendoorn and Lieuwe Martijn is made of 195 bottles with LED lights representing 195 countries in the world and the one message is that there is only one religion that is really important to this world - love," Rogier says.

The famous light designer admits with a rueful grin that in sleepless areas like Ratchaprasong, installing light art is hard but adds that LED technology makes it possible.

"It is very true that you cannot make light if there is no darkness. That is the basic concept in architecture. But LED technology gives us greater flexibility in creating light sculptures even in places that are not so dark.

"In the past, lighting technology was quite expensive and very difficult to install. You needed electricians, high voltage power, and it would be very hot. Now with LED, everyone can make a light sculpture. It is easy, flexible, affordable and it uses low power like batteries. You can use your smartphone to control it. Just download the app and you can control your LED lights.

Light is everything to van der Heide who used to look after the lighting for ballets and operas.

"The more I worked with electrical light, the more I became interested in the real light like the light from the sun. I wanted to know how it worked, how it touches us, emotionally and physically. There are so many things in our body that are regulated by light, like our biorhythms and our sleep. I feel very thankful for every morning even though I know that tomorrow the sun will always come up.

"Light has a long history in all cultures. It is something that never gets boring. I teach it at the university and there is always something new. When you teach, the students will always come up with some new questions and I think it is very interesting."

"We started working on the International Zone in September and in only two months we have these amazing artworks. It would be great to start working on the project earlier next year to engage the artists, the engineers and technicians so we can work together and exchange our knowledge and make better artworks. We would be a platform for these talents. Next year we will attract more artists and work with more universities and that will draw more partners," Rogier concludes.

Source: The Nation

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Thursday 26 November 2015

CHIANG MAI - Over The Hills And Far Away

Marigolds in full bloom with Saint Joseph Mae Chaem School in the background.

 Lost in time, the isolated northern valley of Mae Chaem is the perfect escape from the stresses of urban life.

The deer and bird dance celebrates the Chula Krathin ceremony in Mae Chaem.

 A long and winding road leads from the eastern side of Inthanon Mountain to the western side and the distance has kept Mae Chaem hidden for centuries. Part of Chiang Mai Province, which welcomes hundreds of thousands of tourists every year, Mae Chaem feels like a lost hinterland tucked deep in a valley beyond the high Thanon Thong Chai range.

Folks in the deep valley have Inthanon Mountain - at 2,565 metres, Thailand's highest - to thank or perhaps blame for the slow evolution of progress.

"Every morning small bands of monks, novices and children walk across the rice paddy fields to collect alms," says Pop, a travel journalist who relocated to Mae Chaem five years ago.

"The temple kids strike the gong to alert the villagers that the monks are heading to their homes, so they had better prepare their alms. You hardly see this outside Mae Chaem."

 Mae Chaem during the rice harvest.

It is possible to reach Mae Chaem by following the road from Hot district but this takes a lot longer than the four-hour drive over the hills and isn't nearly as pleasurable.

But whichever way you go, Mae Chaem is an ideal place to escape the city.

"When I opened a bakery here five years back, the locals were very surprised," says the travel writer turned baker.

"There had never been a bakery in the town and residents wanting a sugary treat would have to wait for deliveries, often stale, from Chiang Mai.

"The story of my moist chocolate cake has travelled way beyond my bakery to the district's most remote villages."
 A mural at the temple of Wat Pa Daed portrays the tale of the Lord Buddha and the story of Mae Chaem itself.
 We come to Mae Chaem in mid November, though we have to tell Pop that we are not here for his chocolate cake, yummy though it is.

Winter is approaching and the air is already cold. The hidden valley is taking a short break from rice harvesting to mark Chula Krathin - a ceremony that celebrates the end of the three-month Buddhist retreat. Here in Mae Chaem Buddhists traditionally offer the yellow robes to the monks to complete Vassa.

Residents of all ages gather at Wat Baan Tap on the eve of the ceremony, which is a big social event for this small valley. Earlier in the day, they will have gathered the cotton bolls from the plants and spun these into yarn. Now they are busy weaving and dyeing the yellow robe. Lanna folk singers take it in turns to entertain.

VIDEO

"Chula Krathin is a small and humble rite that demands big faith in Buddhism," says grandmother Chan, her hands and feet busy behind the spinning wheel. "The yellow robe, from gathering the cotton to the weaving and dyeing - must be completed within one day."

In Mae Chaem, making a yellow robe within a day is not a problem as everyone grows up with loom and spindle. The district is noted for - and has made a fortune from - its cotton sarongs boasting a unique pattern around the hem. The pha sin tin chok of Mae Chaem are the pride of the valley.

"This pha sin is about 50 years old," says Granny Kaew, her lips firmly gripping a home-made pipe, as she shows me her cotton sarong. "It was handed down from my mother, and I will pass it to my grandchild."

Mahatama Gandhi, I conclude, was right: if everyone in the world spun an hour a day there would be no more wars.

The valley is quiet, pristine and peaceful.
Source: The Nation
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Thursday 29 October 2015

Tram line 2 the most beautiful of Amsterdam


If you every day take Tram 2, then maybe it is not so noticeable. But this Amsterdam spree takes you pretty much all the top sights along which is our capital. Put your cell phone away and have a look through the window. Not for nothing did National Geographic Line 2 named one of the best tram rides in the world.

The Amsterdam tram line 2 has been set at December 28 1903 and drives therefore already 112 years by Mokum. The tram runs from the CS via the Dam, Leidsestraat, Willemsparkweg, Koninginneweg, Heemstedestraat and Johan Huizingalaan to the terminus in Nieuw Sloten.

 During your journey you'll see at the Museumplein the Stedelijk Museum, Van Gogh Museum and Rijksmuseum. Then head over to the Leidseplein with all the conviviality of restaurants, theaters and cinemas to by then drive towards the Royal Palace.

 The route from the Leidseplein to the dam goes through the center of Amsterdam; through the narrow Leidsestraat, along the famous Flower Market, on the Spui and you'll pass many historic buildings. And, do not forget, you cross the road all over canals that together form the canal. The endpoint then the CS.

Tram line 2 drives for over a hundred years through Amsterdam.

VIDEO

 The best tram rides according to National Geographic: 

1. Queen Streetcar, Toronto (Canada)
2. George Benson Waterfront Streetcar, Seattle (VS)
3. St. Charles Streetcar Tour, New Orleans (VS)
4. Tram F, San Francisco (VS)
5. Trams van Hong Kong (China)
6. Tram 96, Melbourne (Australië)
7. Tram 2, Boedapest (Hongarije)
8. Tram 68, Berlijn (Duitsland)
9. Tram 2, Amsterdam (Netherlands)
10. Tram 28, Lissabon (Portugal)

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