TRAVELOG

  Bird’s Nest Stadium:            Built as the principal stadium for the 2008 Summer Olympic Games, the Beijing National Stadium seems as much sculpture as architecture.   Its angled, undulating form, created by seemingly random straps of steel, quickly earned it the nickname ‘Bird’s Nest’.   Swiss firm Herzog & de Meuron designed the stadium, and Chinese artist Ai Weiwei was the artistic consultant.   Despite is size, every aspect is tailored for the individual.   It holds more than 80,000 people, yet every seat has a direct sightline to the arena.   There is no single, grand entrance; instead, a multitude of entrances allow visitors to seep in.   Inside, the criss-crossing beams and stairways break up the vastness of the space.   It is a wonderful example of a public space with a huge capacity that yet retains a sense of intimacy. Colosseum:        ...

 Lighting the way:             The Bell Rock’s source of illumination was revolutionary for its era.  Smeaton’s Eddystone Light had attempted to penetrate the infamous Scottish fogs with nothing more than a chandelier mounted with candles.  For Bell Rock, Stevenson and his stepfather, Thomas Smith, a former lamplighter in Edinburgh, designed an apparatus of 24 silver-plated reflectors on a revolving frame, with panes of red glass fronting the reflectors on the two short sides.  Power to turn the frame was supplied by a drum wound with a weighted, descending rope.  As the rope unwound, the drum turned.  The resulting intermittently flashing red light became Bell Rock’s signature.               In February 1811, the first revolving light shone forth, visible for 35 miles (56km).  That original system operated for 30 years before the first upgrade, and the light has changed with technology ...

  Strength and precision:                            In planning the lighthouse, Stevenson and Rennie took note of the work of their engineering forebear, John Smeaton (1724-92).   Stevenson based the initial design on Smeaton’s Eddystone Lighthouse (completed in 1759), which had a broad base tapering to a slender tower.   Smeaton had been inspired by the shape of an old oak tree that could withstand the storms that toppled less stable trees.   Rennie’s experience now came into play, as he adapted Stevenson’s design for the rigorous conditions of the Bell Rock by insisting on a broader base and more gradual slope to deflect the battering forces of the waves.              Because of the violence of the sea and the surge of the tides, construction could proceed only in summer, when storms were less severe, and only during the few ho...

  Dangerous Shores:                   The Scottish coastline, with its submerged rocky moraines, is known for its hazards to navigation.   The Bell Rock (also known as Inchcape Rock) extends 427 m (1,400 ft) across the shipping routes between the firths of the Forth and Tay, and is particularly insidious because, except at low tide, it lies completely hidden by the waves.   From the earliest days of sail, shipwrecks here were common.   A local legend tells of a 14 th Century abbot of Aberbrothock (modern Arbroath) who ordered a bell to be hung on a timber buoy attached to the rock, where its clanging in the restless waves would serve as a warning.   The structure gave the rock its name, but did not last long.   By the 18 th Century, ship losses on the coasts around Britain were so frequent that merchants lobbied Parliament in Westminster to build lighthouses.   This led to the establishment, in 1786, of th...

  Bell Rock Lighthouse:                Against daunting odds, this elegant lighthouse was built miles offshore on a treacherous reef that is uncovered only at low tide.   It is the oldest sea-washed lighthouse operating in the world.                Since 1811, the lamps of the Bell Rock Lighthouse have warned North Sea sailors off the east coast of Scotland to beware the infamous sunken reef known as the Bell Rock.   Building on top of that rock was fraught with difficulties and danger.   The rock is 12 miles (19 km) off the coast in the fierce North Sea, and completely submerged except for a few hours each day.                 That the Bell Rock Lighthouse has endured the constant assault of the waves for 200 years without any significant deterioratio...

  Banff National Park:             Ice fields and exquisite blue lakes are set amid breathtaking Rocky Mountain scenery.  This is true wilderness country, with wildlife to match.             Among towering snow-capped mountains, a crown of permanent ice fields – the Waputik, Wapta and Columbia – feed glaciers that push down like huge white tongues against the dark rock.  The meltwater forms torrents that plunge through precipitous gorges and over thundering waterfalls.  Some of that meltwater feeds into glacial lakes, bringing with it a fine dust known as ‘rock flour’.  As sunlight hits the water, the dust absorbs all the colours of the spectrum except blue, which is reflected back from the surface.  This accounts for the many shades of turquoise seen in the lakes here: Moraine Lake, backed by the Valley of Ten Peaks, is a pale teal-blue; Peyto ...

  Ancient Egypt:           *    Made of all the more impressive by its desert location, the Step Pyramid of Djoser at Saqqara consists of six superimposed tiers rising to 62m (203 ft).   Built in 2667-2648 BC, it was a prototype of the Pyramids of Giza, which followed only a century later.            *     The three Pyramids of Giza on the outskirts of Cairo are the classic pyramid group.   Despite the encroaching suburbs, their stupendous scale still inspires awe today, as they have done for 4,500 years.   The mysterious Great Sphinx forms part of this complex.           *     The greatest temple complexes of ancient Egypt are those of Karnak and Luxor , with forests of huge, hieroglyph-covered columns and bold connecting avenues lined with sphinxes.   They were part of the ancie...

Agricultural traditions:                All the while, in their partial isolation, the Ifugoa observed a precisely honed pattern of rice growing.   Building, flooding, irrigating and cultivating rice terraces on steep terrain requires an unusual degree of social cohesion, and water – sourced from the rain forests above the terraces – has to be shared equitably between farmers.                 Until recently, Ifugoa shamans called mumbaki were at the heart of rice-growing communities.   They led the rites to ensure the blessing and protection of the gods and spirits.   The rituals, where still conducted, may involve incantation and chanting, rice wine, the sacrifice of chickens and dancing.   Wooden carvings, called bulol, represent the spirits of the rice fields and are the focus of devotions.   Kept in the granarie...

  Banaue Rice Fields:              Thousands of neatly manicured rice terraces, created more than 2,000 years ago, hug the hillsides of central Luzon, giving a serene, sculptural beauty to an otherwise densely wooded region.                From hilltop vantage points above the towns and villages, it is clear that whole hillsides have been carved into flights of terraces as far as the eye can see.  The low stone or mud walls that contain the terraces follow the natural contours of the landscape: this is a contour map made physical reality, each level crisply delineated.  The terraces are filled with water, so their surfaces are uniformly, spirit-level flat.  In places, summits of ridges are ringed by walls to create a top as flat as a wedding cake.                No...

 Unique wildlife:            Lake Baikal is rich in wildlife.  Nearly 300 species of birds nest around the lake, and many more stop off on their seasonal migration, especially in the marshy delta of the Selenga River.  White-tailed eagles patrol the shores for carrion, and brown bears are forest residents.  More than a third of plant and animal species living here, such as the Baikal sturgeon, are found nowhere else in the world.           Baikal’s most famous residents are the steel-grey nerpas, a species of freshwater seal.  How seals came to be here is a mystery, although scientists speculate that they swam up rivers form the Arctic Ocean and were cut off from the sea during the last Ice Age.  When the ice melted they never went back, but became isolated in the lake.  Nowadays, seals can be seen basking on rocks on the Ushkany Islands and other central...

 Wild Weather:             Summers at the lake are relatively short.  The warmest month is August, when the air temperature reaches 18C (64F) on the lake and 25C (77F) on the surrounding land.  It stays warm in September.  In early summer and late autumn, fogs are frequent.             High winds lash the lakeshore during autumn – at this time of year there are, on average, an incredible 18 storms a month.  The winds blow form different directions, each with a distinct character and local name.  The shelonnik blows from the southeast, the verkhovik form the northeast.  As the verkhovik wind strengthens, the water turns almost black, with white-capped waves that push towards the southern shore.  The kultuk blows form the southwest, accompanied by grey, leaden skies and low cloud.  The barguzin howls down the valley of the Barguzin ...

Sacred Beauty:              Local people have always recognised the special beauty of Lake Baikal – modern Russians call it ‘pearl of Siberia’.   The Buryats, who arrived in the region with the Mongolian warrior Genghis khan in the 13 th Century, practised Shamanism and chose the craggy rock outcrop now known as Shaman Rock, at the tip of Cape Burkhan on Olkhon Island, as a site for their rituals.   Practising shamans lived in a cave at the foot of the rock.   The Buryats also used Shaman Rock as a place of judgement, forcing those accused of crimes to stay here overnight in winter.   If a criminal survived exposure to the cold, he was set free; if he succumbed, he was clearly guilty.               In the 17 th Century, Tibetan Buddhism arrived in the area from Mongolia, partly absorbing and partly displacing Shamanism as the local religi...

  Lake Baikal:           The oldest and deepest lake on Earth is a place of outstanding natural beauty, often cloaked in fogs and violent storms.   It holds a fifth of the planet’s unfrozen fresh water and is home to some unique wildlife.            Set in the remote mountains and dense forests of southern Siberia in Russian Federation, this vast, crescent-shaped stretch of water extends for nearly 400 miles (640 Km), its slate-blue surface regularly churned up by the wind.               What it lacks in surface area – it is smaller than North America’s Lake Superior and Africa’s Lake Victoria – Lake Baikal more than makes up in depth, plunging to 1,642m (5,387ft) at its deepest point.   The creatures living in its lower regions, such as sponges and shrimp-like amphipods, are more reminiscent of those found in the...

  Where on earth?                  Astana is in north – central Kazakhstan.  It is served by a new airport and is on a rail junction connecting with the main cities of the country and the wider region, including Urumqi in western China.  As expected of a national capital, Astana has a range of high-class hotels. Still growing:                   Government buildings and apartment blocks have been similarly designed in inventive shapes and colours – such as a set of three wavy, blue-green skyscrapers entitled the Northern Lights.   Boulevards and green spaces are adorned with formal gardens, clipped hedges, and artificial trees that light up a night.                   Most of this new city is to the south of the Ishim River.  The old Soviet-style town to th...

  The Bayterek Tower:                     President Nazarbayev himself made the first sketches for Astana’s most famous monument: the Bayterek Tower.  The name means ‘tall poplar’ and the design embodies a popular legend.  The golden ball that tops the tower represents the egg of the samruk (or Simurgh), the mythical bird of happiness which, according to folklore, lays its magic egg each year in a poplar tree.  The observation deck provides views of the entire city.  Like all of Astana’s Key monuments, the tower is spectacularly illuminated at night.                     The President’s workplace is the handsome palace known as Ak Orda ( white Horde), overlooking the broad Ishim River.  This relatively conservative building finished in White Italian marble was loosely...

  Astana:               This cutting-edge showpiece of contemporary architecture on the wild steppes of Kazakhstan is the realisation of one man’s dream, outshining other modern cities such as Shanghai and Hong Kong.                Kazakhstan is a colossal country.  The ninth largest in the world by area, four times the size of France, it stretches from the Caspian sea virtually to Mongolia.  Its northern border with Russia is 4,650 miles (7,500 km) long.  The country’s original capital, Almaty, nestles in the far southeast, in the foothills of Tien Shan Mountains – closer to Kyrgyzstan and China than to most of its own nation.  In 1995, Kazakhstan’s king like president, Nursultan Nazarbayev, announced that he wanted a new capital in the heart of the country.  The site chosen was Akmola, a small industrial city on the Is...