During 2012 following the Silk Route of Alexander the Great I visited Iran, and persepolis and this great Necropolis; Naqsh-e Rustam where the great kings of Persia, Darius and Exercese and Artaxerxes I Makrocheir, Darius II Nothus. A beautiful landscape and a place I will always remember….
During my “Silk Route” journey in 2012 I travelled through Iran and of course the route Alexander the Great took to Persepolis the ancient City of Persia. Now in ruins, this UNESCO World Heritage is one that you really need to see to understand and get a feel of. The area of the site is vast and seems to just keep going and going. It is pretty amazing to walk around and imagine how it would have looked in the 4th century.
In 2016 just before y return to the UK I could not resist visiting the beautiful Country of Malaysia. On this occasion I spent some time in Pekan, where there are many traditional Malay wooden houses and some traditional wooden palaces, some are in great shape and some, well they are more like this one, how could i not fall in love with it and want to record it’s standing before it becomes so derelict that no one can see it’s former beauty.
In 2012 I crossed from Kyrgyzstan in the the Western corner of north China, along my one month journey across China, I stopped at many places and this is a quick snapshot of one of my favourite Chinese Cities, Ürümqi.
A very big city that has managed to keep hold of it’s historical architecture and modern buildings in an eclectic mix. Along with three amazing and beautifully landscaped parks along with their own historical buildings which have been made central features to value them and where they can be appreciated by many.
Hotan Sunday Market
Hotan’ s bazaar is also called The Sunday market. Local people call it Chukubaza (meaning is low location market) located in the north-eastern corner of Hotan city. It is one of the biggest markets in southern Xinjiang. It has many special sections for the market. The Bazaar in Hotan is active every day, but the Sunday is special day, when it gets flooded by hundreds and thousands of people on Sunday. The kind of people who come to the market are people from seven counties of Hotan and some other prefecture of Xinjiang. They sell all kinds of special local Hotan such as beautiful styled dresses can be seen or bought and many sweet fruits and delicious dishes as well as snacks can be tasted. Minority Products and Souvenirs local made carpets and roll jade. local people say that it is possible to find everything accept Chicken milk, cows egg in Europeans style.
While you are in the market, please remember the word “posh” that means get out of the way in Uyghur language, as soon as you hear this word, please watch yourself. The best time to go to the market is after 8:30 AM Xinjian time.
Back in 2006 when I had a owned a Canon EOS Rebel XT / 350D camera
I had a short weekend trip to Stockholm and I am so impressed with how crisp and clear the images are, but then again the air is super clean there!
You will see The centre /Palace/Government buildings as well as a ferry trip out to Skansen and the Islands.
In 2013, I visited Malaysia for two months, here in Perak one of my favourite provinces, on being so close to Ipoh , I visited kellies Castle. An amazing concept that never quite got finished, a shame as I suspect it would have been stunning even today!
Overlooking the picturesque view of Batu Gajah, Perak, is the unfinished castle of William Kellie Smith, better known as Kellie’s Castle. The brainchild of the Scottish rubber plantation owner to celebrate his child’s birth, the castle and surrounding ruins bear signs of Smith’s grand vision for his family home.
Originally, the castle would have boasted a 6-storey tower, an indoor tennis court, an entertainment area on the rooftop, a wine cellar, plus what would have been Malaya’s (later Malaysia) first elevator. It was designed in a Moorish and Indo-Saracenic Revival style with top quality craftsmanship in mind. To realise his dream home, Smith brought in 70 workers and imported bricks and marbles from India as well as exquisite tiles from Italy.
Besides its beautiful exterior, Smith had also instructed the construction of secret exit tunnels speculated to be utilised in case of emergencies. There is also a small secluded room near the wine cellar which people have dubbed as a secret room though it was reportedly planned to be a photography room.
Construction was halted however when Smith suddenly passed away at the age of 56 from pneumonia while he was on his way to Lisbon to pick up his elevator. His grief stricken wife, Agnes, sold the castle to Harrisons and Crosfield and the castle was left abandoned before being made into a tourist attraction years later.
In 2006 I took my daughter on her very first trip outside the UK, in fact her first aeroplane flight anywhere!
The destination? Barcelona, we stayed in Vilinova La Geltru, but it was so very close by train to Barcelona we could not resist showing her the amazing sights of Gaudi’s Barcelona.
This video will show the Casa Mila.
When Gaudi built the Casa Milà in 1912, most people had no idea what to think of it. The shape of the building is completely unique and like nothing the city had ever seen before. It is covered in limestone, glass and marble, and shaped by several waves that have an amazing effect on the interior of the building. Originally it was built as an apartment complex but now it functions as a museum and a venue that hosts several different art and cultural events.
The Golestan Palace (the Palace of Flowers) is the oldest historical attraction in Tehran and refers to a collection of buildings that were once held within the mud-thatched walls of Tehran’s historic citadel (Arg).
When we arrived here we were stunned at the tile work and grandness of this building, the oldest in Tehran at 400yrs old!
Beautifully landscaped and kept in the manner to which it should be we were free to walk around the buildings and gardens after paying for an assortment of tickets. Some of the buildings look newer and it was hard for me to reconcile that this was such an old building.
I loved the tile work at the best of times and this was no disappointment the intricacy of many of the paintings on them were breathtaking, especially as in Islam the depicting of people or animals is forbidden, I am so pleased that they state did not remove these.
One of my favourite and coolest buildings was the one where we descended some stairs into a basement which had been converted into a tea room with refreshing drinks.
Rayen Castle (Persian: ارگ راين Arg-e Rāyen) is an adobe castle in 100 Kilometers south of Kerman province, Iran. It is situated on the skirts of the mountain Haraz. The medieval mudbrick city of Rayen is similar to Arg-e Bam which was destroyed in an earthquake in December 2003.
Shazdeh Mahan Garden meaning Mahan Prince’s Garden is a historical Persian garden located near Mahan in Kerman province, Iran. The garden is 5.5 hectares with a rectangular shape and a wall around it.
About 2 hours drive out of Shiraz is another old city of Iran, Bishapur. Built by King Shapur (the second Sassanid King)it lies on the river Shapur and very close to Persepolis. The City itself is a cross of Persian Roman architecture, and the city consisted of a super castle perched up on the side of the mountain, and hills and hills of excavated ruins. Along with several bas-relief of the king and his battle.
one of the most remarkable things I’ve ever seen is Anahita’s temple, which was a massive, very tidy stone courtyard 7 meters underground where there would have been a pool for worshippers. I’ve never seen an old city with something so big and open below the level of the land, and it was so well constructed with massive stone blocks that fitted together almost without mortar. A square corridor around it disappeared underground. It would have been a beautiful building and a beautiful pool, but the fact that it was so complete and intact and underground as well (the underground bit was what allowed it to be intact) were quite amazing!
We hired a car and driver for the day and had the most amazing and solitary trip once outside in the open. although I am wearing a headscarf in one image it was not because I had to at that point. Again with no one around we could dispatch our scarves. The one thing I did wear it for was to cover my head from the relentless sun, so not always is it a law but a genuine practicality!
The Vank Cathedral was one of the first churches to be established in Isfahan by Armenian immigrants settled by Shah Abbas I after the Ottoman War of 1603-05.
Church construction is believed to have begun in 1606, and completed with major alterations to design between 1655 and 1664 under the supervision of Archbishop David.
Vank means “cathedral” in the Armenian language.
The cathedral has greatly influenced the architecture and decorative treatment of many subsequent and smaller Orthodox churches in the entire Persian-Mesopotamian region.
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Journeys From A Small Room 