Oriens » Travel

Children From Mongolia Then and Now

admin1 — Sun, 02 Jan 2011 21:56:03 +0000

The humanity is changing. Here are some good examples of such changes. The children of Mongolian nomads several years ago…

2008, 2010

2005, 2010

2008, 2010

2006, 2010

2007, 2010

2008, 2010

2007, 2010

2006, 2008

2007, 2010

2009, 2010

2008, 2010

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The crypts of Capuchin friars decorated with the bones

admin1 — Sun, 17 Oct 2010 22:36:59 +0000

In 1775, the Marquis de Sade wrote of it, “I have never seen anything more striking.” Granted, the crypt was to his tastes.

Mark Twain wrote about it in his 1869 book Innocents Abroad. When Twain asked one of the monks what would happen when he died, the monk responded, “We must all lie here at last.” And lie there they do. Some 4,000 Capuchin friars who died between 1528 and 1870 are still lying, hanging, and generally adorning the Santa Maria della Concezione crypt in Rome.

In 1631, the Capuchin friars – so-called because of the “capuche” or hood attached to their religious habit – left the friary of St. Bonaventure near the Trevi Fountain and came to live at the Santa Maria della Concezione, of which only the church and crypt remain. They were ordered by the Pope’s brother to bring the remains of the deceased friars along with them to their new home, so that all the Capuchin friars might be in one place.

Rather than simply burying the remains of their dead brethren, the monks decorated the walls of the crypts with their bones as a way of reminding themselves that death could come at anytime; one must always be ready to meet God. A plaque in the crypt reads: “What you are now, we once were; what we are now, you shall be.”

The ossuary contains a crypt of skulls, a crypt of leg bones, and perhaps the oddest – a “crypt of pelvises.” Mummified monks were dressed in friar’s clothes and hung from the walls and ceiling. With the addition of electricity, light fixtures were incorporated into some of the hanging monks, bringing a new meaning to the phrase “the eternal light.”

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The church is free, though you are urged to give a donation, and all photography is prohibited.

Famous Building Models

admin1 — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 19:09:14 +0000

In the Japanese city of Nikko, Tochigi Prefecture, is an amusement park which has recently opened the “Tobu World Square” exhibition. It presents structures to the scale of 1:25, including 45 copies of buildings and structures that are on the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Amongst other things, it also includes the now non existent twin towers of the WTC.

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Ghost Town Kolmanskop Namibia

admin1 — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 19:00:11 +0000

Before World War I, Namibia came down on diamond fever. In the area now called Kolmanskop, the precious stones were found in abundance throughout 1908, activating an influx of new colonists hoping to capitalize on the riches.

For the most part, they were successful; resident of Kolmanskop accumulated enough wealthiness to build an entire town influenced by German aesthetics, replete with ballrooms, bowling alleys, mansions, and the first x-ray machine south of the equator.

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That said, history is a fickle mistress. The outbreak of the war caused a chain reaction reaching all the way to Kolmanskop as the diamond market slowly dried up. By less than 50 years after its inception, Kolmanskop had become a ghost town reclaimed by the desert. Today visitors can explore the structurally sound, completely vacant buildings, leaving poor in minerals but rich in aesthetic momentos.

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The Conch Republic

admin1 — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 20:21:10 +0000

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We hear the term “third world” tossed around with a much greater frequency than the other “worlds.” Based on an outmoded Cold War taxonomy in which the first world consists of capitalist NATO nations and their allies, the second world of the communist Soviet Union and its allies, the third of former colonies/developing nations, and the fourth rarely mentioned world of stateless nations or peoples.

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The Conch Republic in the Florida Keys has declared that is the world’s first “fifth world” nation: “We exist as a ‘State of Mind,’ and aspire only to bring more Warmth, Humor and Respect to a planet we find in sore need of all three.”

In the early 80s, South Florida became a conduit for illegal immigrants and illegal drugs. To stem the flow, the United States Border Patrol set up inspection points on the two roads connecting the Florida Keys to the mainland. Key West City was not happy. The federal government did not respond to their protests, and the mayor of the city, Dennis Wardlow, declared “independence” on April 23, 1982. Interpreting the roadblock as a national border, the city decided to become another nation.

Wardlow, though, is a bit of a joker. His protest was a tongue-in-cheek gambit for attention and a boost in tourism. Though the roadblock was shortly removed, the city continues to joke about its “secession” and hosts an annual Independence celebration each April.

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All residents are dual citizens of both America and the Conch Republic. But non-native Conch Republicans can buy a Conch Republic passport for a very reasonable $100. Though some tourists come for the Conch Republic, most come to see Ernest Hemingway’s House which is also located in the Conch Republic and home to its own oddity, 60 cats descended from Hemmingway’s famous six toed cat. Many of the descendant cats are also six toed.

San Zhi The Abandoned City

admin1 — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 22:02:55 +0000

Taiwan – San Zhi – is perhaps the second known abandoned city after Chernobyl.
It was built as a luxury resort, but construction stopped because of the incredible number of deaths on sites.

The Flat Streets of San Francisco

admin1 — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 22:23:45 +0000

The city of San Francisco is famous for it’s hills and impossibly inclined streets. But what would San Francisco be without its steep hills? Photographer Dan Ng attempts to “level” the streets of San Francisco by photographing it with a tilted camera, resulting in an altogether unique gallery of the city.

Dan Ng

Lopburi Monkey Festival 2009

admin1 — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 15:59:39 +0000

Long-tailed macaque monkeys are offered food during the one-year Monkey Buffet Festival, in front of the Pra Prang Sam Yot temple in Lopburi, 150km (94 miles) north of capital of Thailand Bangkok November 29, 2009. The festival provides diverse types of food and drink to the local monkey population, which numbers more than 2,000, giving thanks them for drawing tourists to the town.

Western tourists and others gathers to photograph Long Tailed Macaque Monkeys at the Lopburi, Thailand, Monkey Festival Sunday, Nov. 29, 2009. The annual festival, in its 21st year, began by businessmen as a way of showing appreciation for the long tailed mackak monkeys and the tourism they attract

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How to change Donkey into Zebra

admin1 — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 21:48:24 +0000

Here’s the method of transforming a Donkey (domestic ass) into a zebra in a Palestinian zoo.
Because kids should know what a zebra is.

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Welcome to Chapiteau

admin1 — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 17:33:58 +0000

No more loud music. Actors are hidden behind the curtain. A tent circus is empty. But it only seems to be – life never quiets down here.

Arena is the first thing seen by a circus child. They fall in love, fight and even pay their last tribute to the dead here. The author of these pics was lucky to come and see a real and unique circus wedding. And of course it was celebrated at the arena. It differed from a regular wedding only in one thing – its modesty due to plain conditions of a mobile circus. The first impression is that these circus people are similar to the others. They indeed are, but barring one feature – their devotion to their occupation.

It may sound ironic, but our hard times have caused one useful thing for circus – moved casual people from here. The ones who have left are the real circus fanatics, who continue working for beggarly payments. It’s even embarrassing to say how much these newlyweds get for their job but still they have no thoughts about leaving the arena. If asked a silly question about what the circus is, they’ll answer without any hesitations: “This is life”.

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