No.143 - The Beitou Hot Spring.

The Beitou Hot Spring

This is located in Beitou District, Taipei City.

Origin: Natural sulphur gas geyser.

Location: Inside Beitou 56 acres park land

Spring output: about 2,000 cmd

Temperature: 80 to 100deg centigrade

Quality of spring: Acid, Melanterite Spring, also known as green sulphur.

The ph level isbetween 1.2 to 1.6 and it is of strong acid spring and is

Corrosive to building and metals.

No.142 - JOURNEY of DREAMS - The Streets of Katmandu, Nepal.

The streets of Katmandu are filled with heavy potholes and were clogged with cars, bikes, people and animals. The cars blares their horns constantly. Cows cross the streets, and children squatted to relieve themselves. There are many small shops selling hot drinks and food. Huge piles of rubbish lie here and there and it seems nobody cares. The weather was cold with -10 deg C. on February, 2011. It seems the snow at the Himalayas has not yet melt. The rivers are dry. Everywhere, there is cutting down on electricity by the Nepal Government. Without water, the national electricity board cannot generate electricity. Bigs hotels can afford electrical generators, small hotels have to use candles.

School boys waiting for the buses.

A Nepal women selling her goods.

A typical foodstalls.

Electrical wires are haphazardly placed.

Noting is too big for her.

No.141 - Journey of Dreams - Pohkara Lake, Nepal.

Pokhara is a city of fine lakes with crystalline water. The lake in the immediate vicinity of the city is Phewa Tai with an island temple dedicated to Goddess Barahi in the middle. With its serene water reflecting the Annap;urna range and a nicely preserved forest on the adjoining southern slope, this lagendary second largest lake of the kingdom of Nepal remains a major source of attraction for the visiting tourists. It can be explored in canoes locally known as doongas.

 A Japanese tourist hired a boat out.

 Tourist having their means beside the beautiful lake.

 Boats for hire.

 A boat filled with tourist in the center of the lake.

 This is a small island in the center of the Phewa Tai lake, with an island temple dedicated to Goddess Barahi in the middle. One needs to cross the lake to reach the temple.

 A restaurant on the island.

 Another reutaurant.

No.140 - Journey of Dreams - Lumbini, the birth place of Lord Buddha.

Lumbini is the birth place of prince Siddhartha, later to be the Buddha Shakyamuni. He was born here in 623 B.C. Queen Maya, his mother, has been depicted in the stone sculpture of the Gupta period in a small temple just above the sacred site where Siddhartha was born.

This album contains genuine pictures of the monastery and is the crux of my travel ‘journey of dreams – Lumbini’ to see for myself the  birth place of my Lord Buddha.

Lumbini is spread in 1150 Bighas (770 Hectares) of land in an area of 2 Squares miles-3 Miles from North to South and 1 Mile from East to West divided into 3 one Square Mile areas.

The Southern North one Mile Square is the sacred garden. The middle one Mile Square is the Monastic Zone and the Northern one Mile Square is the new Lumbini Village.

The construction of Maya Devi Temple, Monasteries of different Countries, the Lumbini International Research Insititute(LIRI), The Lumbini Museums are all within this vast area.

I hope my album will give you a general idea of the Lumbini as it is today to all the people intending to visit Lumbini.

Mayadevi Temple, Buddha's birth place. On the south of the Maya Devi temple there is the famous sacred bathing pool known as Puskami. It is believed that Maha Devi took a bath in this pool before the delivery. 

  The tree where she rested after giving birth to the Buddha. 

                                                       The Eternal Peace Flame.

                                           Rows of waiting trishaws waiting for tourists.

                                                    The entrance to Lumbini Garden.

                                                    Sign at the Asoka Piller.

 In 249 BC, when the Emperor Ashoka visited Lumbini it was a flourishing village. Ashoka constructed four stupas and a stone pillar with a figure of a horse on top. The stone pillar bears an inscription which, in English translation, runs as follows: "King Piyadasi (Ashoka), beloved of devas, in the 20 year of the coronation, himself made a royal visit, Buddha Sakyamuni having been born here, a stone railing was built and a stone pillar erected to the Bhagavan having been born here, Lumbini village was taxed reduced and entitled to the eight part (only)".

 

                                                          Fifteen Chamber Site discovered.

Lumbini remained neglected for centuries. In 1895, Feuhrer, a famous German archaeologist, discovered the great pillar while wandering about the foothills of the Churia range. Further exploration and excavation of the surrounding area revealed the existence of a brick temple and a sandstone sculpture within the temple itself which depicts the scenes of the Buddha's birth. 

A visit to Lumbini, the birthplace of Buddha, is not only for spiritual enlightenment but also for solace and satisfaction that one gets in such a calm and peaceful place. 

No.139 - Journey of Dreams - Nepal.

Mountains: Pokhara is first and foremost a convenient point for mountain in Nepal. Mt.Annapurna, literally meaning the Goddess of Abundant Harvest, lies at the horizontal distance of 40 km from the valley of Pokhara which is at an elevation of just 900m. The first thing that takes you to immediate delight is the gorgeous view of the gigantic mountains.

The change of colour over the massif from purple to pink to red during the moment of sunrise can easily lift your heart.

For a long panoramic vies of the mountains from Dhaulagiri in the west to Ganesh Himat in the distant east, you can drive as far as Tutunga behind Institute of Forestry past Ram Bazaar in the south-eastern part of the Pokhara valley.