Iran Part 2 by Poorya Mahdavi

Iran

Part 2 : Architecture

By Poorya Mahdavi

Hello and welcome to the second part of my blog, today we will be discussing Iran's breathtaking architectural talent, today I will show you a few places within Iran which are truely some sight seeing places.

Image source: http://danamotor.ir/Tehran_Azadi_Square_Flowers_2012.jpg

Pictured above is the Azadi tower, it is located in Azadi square within Tehran, it is a symbol of iran, and marks the entrance to the west of the city. Within the tower lies the Azadi museum, a theatre hall, and an art gallery, and sits 23 meters above the ground, and took almost 3 months to be completed and has a total of 286 steps within.

Before the tower was named "Azadi tower" it was known as Shahyad tower, however before the revolution it was a location for protest, and after the revolution had passed, the tower was renamed to Azadi translated to the freedom tower.

image source : http://whc.unesco.org/uploads/thumbs/site_1422_0005-750-0-20151104153828.jpg

The photo shown above is a photo taken within the Golestan palace it is a very important piece of memorabilia as it is one of the oldest monuments in Tehran, it was a sight which belonged to the royal people of iran, and was located within Tehran's citadel which was once closed to the public, it is now open to the public whom can visit the many sight seeing places within the palace such as the marble throne, the pond house and the famous Mirror Hall.

Image source : https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/6a/71/e0/6a71e05cb8aa8606151d121ba2ac6717.jpg

Pictured above is the ancient ruins of Persepolis, dating back to 515 BC, it is considered a world heritage site by UNESCO in 1979. The ruins were first commenced by Darius I, and the name Persepolis was given to it as it was the name of the town it resided in. The ruins was a place for surrounding countries to come together bearing gifts for the start of the new year to the residing king of the time.

Make sure to stay tuned for next weeks blog update where we will dive into more detail about the Iranian Culture and food.

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Incase you missed last weeks blog here is a link for it right here!

Part 1: Introduction

http://travelbuddiez.blogspot.com.au/2017/04/iran-by-poorya.html

Aurora borealis by Tori

The Aurora borealis is an amazing lights show, unique to the northern hemisphere which is caused by particles that have been released from the sun and are travelling 18 hours to reach our atmosphere and collide with the particles present in our atmosphere

This was outlined in my previous blog post (link to that post will be at the end of this post if you need a catch up!).

Image source: http://fjordtravel.no/destinations-norway/see-the-northern-lights-in-norway/

There are several contributing factors that make the chances of seeing these lights higher and lower like temperature and clouds, etc., but on my visit there, I was lucky enough to be able to witness this amazing dance in the sky first hand.

Our guide took us out into a large, open area, overlooking a short cliff at about 7:30pm local time where we began our wait. We made a small fire and spoke about the importance of the lights to the indigenous people of Norway, known as the Sami, and all about the culture of the area. By about 11:00pm, we had learned and questioned just about everything there was to know about the Norwegian way of life all while still waiting on the lights to appear.

Due to the light clouds that had formed, the lights weren't coming for us, so close to 1:00am, we decided to head back to the hotel. On the way back, our guide spotted a clearing and chose to try our luck one last time to see the lights. By this point it was 2:30am but we were able to see this amazing natural dance and the 7 hour wait was well worth it.

Stay tuned for next week to read more about Norwegian culture and food!

Image Source: http://sevennaturalwonders.org/index_/seven-natural-wonders/aurora-borealis

- Tori

Don't forget to read last weeks Norway post and stay updated: Introduction to Norway
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My details: Victoria Porreca (44920216)

Phnom Kulen National Park by Josh

Phnom Kulen National Park

What's up everyone its Josh again talking to you about Phnom Kulen National Park. If you're planning on going here from Phnom Pehn, it would definitely be a day trip, as the trip takes around as long as it takes to Angkor Wat ( around 5 hours) with most of the trip going offroad. However, it's only around an hours drive Angkor Wat, so a combined day trip to both destinations would definitely be a memorable one. Phnom Kulen itself is a large national park, boasting temples on the way in as well as a picturesque waterfall which visitors can swim under. The waterfall and surrounding park are also a photographers dream, whilst the tranquillity of the waterfall is great to experience both alone or with a group of friends. So if you're ever in Phnom Pehn and a have a day to spare, this is definitely a must go.