Kathmandu

How cruel is the Golden rule,

When the lives we lived are only golden plated...

So, do you know the way to Kathmandu?!

Apparently, only I know that its in Nepal, so I thought it needed explaining. =] It also gives me reason to procrastinate on my Geography Coursework. Albeit, surely learning about one of Earth's nations is geography. Silly school.

Kathmandu, Nepal then.

Being the capital of such a small country doesn't give Kathmandu much fame or recognition.

It is a great centre of Hinduism and Buddhism, with many pretty palaces in the 'old city'.

Some facts you may or may not have known about Nepal

• Nepal is the world's youngest republic, formed on May 28, 2008

• Nepal's first international fast food restaurants (KFC and Pizza Hut) were opened barely two weeks ago.

• More commonly known, eight out of the world's 10 tallest mountains above sea level are located in northern Nepal, thus giving its tourist industry a great amount of adventurous mountaineers. Time for some lovely pictures of mountains =]

These are meant to be pictures of Mount Everest. You can't really grasp the bigness of the mountain from pictures I guess. I don't think I'd enjoy the whole mountaineering up a vertical mountain and whatnot. However, I have hiked up Pen y Fan =]

I'd be happy with climbing Snowdon to be honest.

So back to Nepal, they have prettier bank notes than ours:

You may have heard on Have I Got News For You about the Maldivian government hosting a meeting underwater to make a point about climate change and the rising sea levels.

Nepal's minsters have followed suit by hosting a high altitude meeting to highlight how climate change has affected the Himalayas.

'Scientists say the Himalayan glaciers are melting at an alarming rate, threatening mountain communities downstream.' (Australia Network News)

Nepali Music

Music in Nepal isn't very well-known, surprisingly enough.

The traditional music is deep and cultural to each society in the country. Indian music has also become widely popular with more Westernised music arriving recently. Most musicians in Nepal do well in Kathmandu, while the rest of Nepal keep to their traditional music.

One of the most prominent bands in Nepal is the rock band, Cobweb.

So I hope I've done Nepal justice - everything you need to know is right here =]

Moi

Rhinos and Chernobyl

Light up, light up

As if you have a choice

Even if you cannot hear my voice

I'll be right beside you dear

Helps on happiness; Run by Snow Patrol.

Do you ever get so depressed over the whole animal issue?

I was reading up on rhinos because I love them and it really struck me. I really bloody hate poachers. Apart from the White Rhinoceros which has been heavily protected in South Africa the 4 other species of rhino are in such small numbers, the worst off being the Javan Rhino, less than a hundred left in the world.

It is despicable that people poach them for Chinese herbal medicine :s Just leave them alone. Its all nonsense, and there's other things you can do to save lives. I don't believe in killing anyone even to save other lives. Its disgusting. Even worse is that people kill them for sport. I can't see the enjoyment in killing something, to be quite honest. Anybody who does should be locked up. Freaks.

I want to do something for them, but I really don't have any idea what I could do. People can tell you all about the facts and statistics, but you can't do anything yourself except give money, but well that's not very reliable is it. =/

These are the statistics for the rhino population:

White Rhinoceros = 17500

Black Rhinoceros = 4240

Indian Rhinoceros = 2620

Sumatran Rhinoceros = 200

Javan Rhinoceros = 50

This has just really got to me. Not quite sure why I started reading about it but yeah. Just felt it shouldn't be ignored.

And of course, this is the same all over the globe. Humans ruining everything that lives on the globe, apart from the pests - pigeons, house mice, rats.

I also happily stumbled upon the Chernobyl story. You may associate Chernobyl with being a deathzone, after the explosion of the nuclear reactor. Radiation was exposed to over 5 million people, affecting mostly Russia, Ukraine and Belarus.

However, since the evacuation in 1986 of 135,000 people and 35,000 cattle, the complete lack of human presence has led to the Chernobyl area becoming a nature hotspot. The towns and villages have the look of a post-apocalyptic world, but in this nature has triumphed, clearly proving that without humans the world can bounce back easily in perhaps 20 years. And you have to remember that this happened after a major radioactive explosion.

Most of the animals have come back on their own accord to live in the odd paradise. There are signs of improving populations of lynxes, wild boars, wolves and even possibly a few bears in the area. The bird population has also rocketed; ironically, there are nests right next to the old nuclear reactor. =]

Here's some nature takeover photos:

A few wild Przewalski's horses were released into the zone. =]

So, in light of the nature explosion, on the evacuated Belarusian side of the border, the area has been made into a natural reserve. The Ukrainian side hasn't made it official; however, no humans will likely live there again for a long time, so I expect Chernobyl to really become a beautiful part of nature =] melding into the environment.

Moi

Trains

Yes, just yes to gravy.

Why, I have no idea why that came to my head....

Anyway, I feel like complaining. But I also don't feel like complaining =/ because I'd feel guilty because I'm going to have an excellent day tomorrow.

I'm going to Imperial War Museum for history. Shall be majorly interesting :) ... there shall be exhibits to enthral me; sitting down learning about it doesn't really give you what you want from history. I would so totally love to be involved in digs and whatever in Tunisia, Egypt, Greece, Iraq, albeit there are political hindrances, and also the bastard Americans fucked up Iraq's history, ta.

But yeah, museum =] Also, we may happen upon a few shops while we visit la ville de Londres. As it happens, EMA has finally forked over the moneys!! 'Bout bloody time. But now I may actually look around for something other than food x] oh, happiness. And Subway is finally in my budget, also!

So, we are venturing along the track to London, which I shall love. Trains are amazing, no doubt

about it. Who didn't spend early years without this bloke?

An inspiration. For me anyway; I remember when I was in year 2 we had to come in dressed as our favourite person off TV, and I came as the Fat Controller. =] Suited me, as I was pretty chubby at the time.

So, it shall be a great train journey travelling through the countryside for two hours with good music, pleasant conversation and sumptuous sweeties :D

And here is an example of where trains discuss the day's going's ons:

So, trains ... EMA ... museum.

Yeah, complaints. I'm feeling overall pretty good at the moment, but I am slightly annoyed at some things. I mean, do you get that feeling that you're just trying to be so obvious, so you can get an answer on something and the person is either stupidly oblivious (I really dislike that in a person) or they know you're trying to make a point but they don't want to answer. Its probably my fault somehow, but like grrrr. Annoying ;[

And, my mother keeps nagging me to take the bins out.

Also, UCAS is kind of stressing me out a bit now, I have my personal statement done, and I've asked Sandy to do the reference for me, but I won't be in very long at all tomorrow, so I don't see how I can get that done tomorrow, leaving it until Friday, and I'd really prefer nothing to go wrong....Never mind. I look ever onward to the next holidays :) however daunting it may be that after it will be our first A level exams, our penultimate term at St. Cenydd and the start of third decade I've had in my life.

And chavs are spreading like bloody rats in our school >:[

But yeah, tomorrow will be good.

By the way, John piss off with your blank texts.

And I plan to write a blog on the good things about Scotland on St Patrick's Day. =]

Nos da.

Moi

Dun Laoghaire

....is a not a country, its a place in Dublin.

So, Ireland.

What is there to Ireland?

There's a few Irish people, some Cider, some potatoes, some grass and clovers, and of course there's the scarily devout Catholics. (:

But what is Ireland really important for? How has it helped?

Well, its given a lovely name like Ciara to the world. Absolutely lovely, yes.

Posh Literature Stuff

Really quite fabulous works of literature have come from Ireland, perhaps unheard of in other areas, e.g. the world, but really now, Ireland hasn't done bad for itself. For example, Jonatha

n Swift, writer of Gulliver's Travels and A Modest Proposal, is considered to be the foremost satirist in the English language. Satire can be found in the forms of wonderful irony, sarcasm, exaggeration, juxtaposition, comparison or double etendre. Irish people have also found themselves acquiring the Nobel Prize for Literature, Seamus Heaney (Seamus! Another Irish name! C'est beau!) is an unknown example for you.

Music

La musique d'Irlande est particulièrement étonnant avec des exemples tels que U2, Westlife, The Script et The Pogues .... and some lesser known examples:

• The Thrills, a Dubliner Indie rock band, with interesting tunes I've now fallen in love with. I began with listening to Midnight Choir. Tis lovely.
  Also, here is one of their albums, Let's Bottle Bohemia.

• And some other bands

• Of course, Ireland has been the most successful country in the Eurovision Contest with 7 wins under their belt; you may want to look into that.

Some other thoughts of my own.

My other thoughts on Ireland include the greatness of Father Ted which I'm sure you must all love. Indeed, Dermot Morgan was an amazing actor, extremely hilarious. Ardal O'Hanlon is equally amazing, but my all-time favourite Irish comedian - Dylan Moran. Watch Black Books (a TV show he stars in with Bill Bailey) =] and his show, Monster ... or Like Totally.

Another thought of mine; Ireland did win 6 Nations this year, and as long as they beat England, we've got to be happy with that right. Sportswise, Ireland also has its hurling and Gaelic football. I am enthralled.

Oh My God! Ed Byrne is Irish :O how did I not think of that! Yes, I do love him whenever he's on HIGNFY et cetera et cetera.

Also in my interest

History and all that. Ireland has this interesting history of Celts and Vikings and so on and so forth; Dublin being founded by the Vikings as well as many other towns around Ireland.

One of the places I've visited in Ireland is Blarney, famous for its Castle and at the highest point of the castle, a so-called magic stone.

'At the top of the castle lies the Stone of Eloquence, better known as the Blarney Stone. Tourists visiting Blarney Castle may hang upside-down over a sheer drop to kiss the stone, which is said to give the gift of eloquence.'

(from Wikipedia)

When I visited the castle, I did not kiss the stone.

1. I was only 7 or 8 and the 'sheer drop' scared the shit out of me :)
2. The stone was being kissed by ewwww so many tourists =/ ....

And well also of interest in Ireland. The Giant's Causeway, a pretty formation in the rocks that has legends associated with it. In my opinion, the beach is better, but well I guess its a nice place to go.

Yes, so Ireland is really quite fabulous :) But of course, the best person on Ireland is Ciara Kinsella. Most interesting person Irish person I know. Wouldn't you agree Becky Connolly?

(:

But Wales is better.

Moi