vineri, 9 octombrie 2009

Top 3 Sin Cities

No.3 - Amstedam, The Netherlands

Amsterdam has tons of cannabis cafes where you can buy hash and marijuana, smoke it, then order food to curb your munchies. Once you’ve peaked, walk over to the city’s red light district where you can look at prostitutes who are on display for anyone who is interested. Finish up your day by checking out a live sex show where various acts are performed on stage, including couples doing the real thing. The greatest part: It’s all legal. Not only can you sin, but you can do it paranoia-free.

No.2 - Tijuana, Mexico

Cross one of the busiest international border stations in the world, and you may think you’ve crossed into the Wild West. The 21-year-old drinking age drops to 18, illegal prostitution is now legal and zoned in its own red light district called “La Coahuila,” people on the street solicit prescription drugs and illegal drugs for sale, strip clubs encourage a “hands on” policy with its strippers, and tequila is dirt cheap. These reasons alone make Tijuana No. 2 on the list of sin cities and a huge party spot for American college kids at the city’s various nightclubs on Revolucion Avenue.

No.1 - Pattaya, Thailand

From “happy ending” massage p arlors, brothels, go-go bars, and cabarets with transsexuals to ping-pong dancing theatrics, everything is on display at this beachside resort city. Sex is the No. 1 activity (it’s called “entertainment” in Thai), and if you can imagine any variation, you’ll probably find it on Walk ing Street, a hub in South Pattaya. While you’re walking, prostitutes will call out to you and some will likely try to pull you into their brothel for services. If you’re tired of sex shows, however, you can always sit down to watch guys beat each other to a pulp in a Thai boxing match hosted at the outdoor bars. Since the city is right on the beach, you can sleep off your hangover and sin from the night before and get a tan -- just in time for the next evening’s “entertainment".

Sursa: Ask Men

duminică, 7 iunie 2009

Iasi - Iassy(french) - Jassy(german)



Iasi, with a population of 320,000 inhabitants, is the seat of the county with the same name, lies on seven hills and is crossed by the rivers Nicolina and Bahlui.
It was founded during the time of Alexander the Good, in 1408, but the existence of the city is prior to that date. Moldova's capital for three centuries, between 1564 and 1862, Iasi had a fundamental role in the culture of our country. Here it was founded, by Prince Vasile Lupu in 1640, the first school that used the Romanian as the teaching language, here appeared the first book printed in Moldavia and here was founded the first university in Romania. During World War I, for one brief period, Iasi was the capital of Romania.

The main tourist attractions are the Palace of Culture , inaugurated by King Ferdinand, with the impressive “Voivode hall” which contains in medallions portraits of the leaders in Moldova and Romania, the Metropolitan Cathedral, sanctified in 1887 in the presence of King Carol, where there are the relics of Saint Paraschiva, National Theatre building, creation of Viennese architects Fellner and Helmer, where it was played the first show in Romanian language, Roznovanu Palace, built in neoclassical style and elegance, Three Hierarchs church, with beautiful stone indenture, founded by Vasile Lupu. You can also visit the Copou park with the famous Eminescu's lime, house Pogor, kennel of Ticau, the memorial houses of George Toparceanu and Mihail Sadoveanu or the Botanical Garden, one of the most beautiful in Romania. Dimitrie Cantemir Nicolae Milescu Spatarul,Vasile Alecsandri , Ion Creanga, AD Xenopol and, of course, Eminescu represents only a small part of the list of personalities who were born or were formed in Iasi.
Even though Iasi is 600 years old, it is a city full of life and youth. It is the place were almost 1 milion students study every year in top universities. The students bring life to the city by organising different activities: concerts, parades, contests and many others.
Here is another presentation for Iasi.

duminică, 15 februarie 2009

The Romanian day for Love!


"Dragobete", the romanian celebration for LOVE, is celebrated on 24 th of february and it is a correspondent for the occidental Valentine's day. Dragobete is, like Eros or Cupidon, a mythological divinity, a very loving man considered to be the sun of Dochia. The legend says that he used to officiate the wedding for all the animals when spring began.
In Bucovina, romanian girls and boys get together on this day in a house to party and have a good time knowing that in this way they will remain in love all year long.
Another tradition, kept alive especialy in the country side, is when young people go together to pick up the first flowers from the forest, that are used to beautify religious icons and to make love spells.
Many romanians have forgotten this day and replaced it with Valentine's Day, but the spirit of Dragobete is stil alive in some regions of the country.

sâmbătă, 10 ianuarie 2009

Thanatourism

Thanatourism is derived from the Ancient Greek word thanatos in mythology, for the personification of death. Thanatourism is an extreme form of grief tourism that involves the dark contemplation of death at the time of its occurrence. Every religion has a different approach to death and in the mountains of Tibet, there is (from the western perspective) a strange and morbid sky burial ritual that has its basis in the Buddhist belief of rebirth after death.
There are 1,075 sky burial sites, where about 100 people called sky burial operators, are designated to perform the rituals. The largest sky burial site, Drepung Monastery, founded in 1416, has received an average of 10 bodies per day for thousands of years.
The sky burial takes place, usually at dawn, and tourists, if allowed, are bathed in juniper incense, while three or four attendants wrap the bodies of the dead and lay them on flat rocky ledges.Monks lead the procession to the burial ground where Tibetan prayer flags surround the area.
The vultures or lammergeyers, known as “dakinis,” or “sky dancers,” hover above the site while strange calls emanate from attendants summoning these birds of prey to devour the pieces of carcass that are tossed 10 to 15 feet in the air toward the sky. Bones are chopped and tossed aside in a methodical and solemn procedure, designed to emphasize the impermanence of life. Since Buddhists believe there is no purpose in keeping the body after death when the spirit has gone, the actual feeding to the vultures is considered a final act of charity, an essential part of the cycle of life and death.
For many, the visits to the sites of these rituals near Mt. Kailish, the home of the Buddhist God Kang Ringboche, are pilgrimages, firmly rooted in religious beliefs. For others, it is a way to connect with nature, to rejuvenate the mind and spirit, to regain a feeling of perspective between man and the universe. Tibet itself is a country so distant that its spirituality seems to be everywhere.
It is entirely possible that thanatourism in Tibet exists simply because of the unknown, mysterious phenomenon of death itself. Although the sky burial may seem primitive and bizarre, its apparent link between the living and the dead seems to provide an opportunity to experience death vicariously. Thanatourists are fascinated with symbolic encounters with death and the more realistic the ritual appears, the greater the fascination.
Sky burials were banned in the 1960s and 1970s to foreigners or Westerners; however, Chinese officials began allowing sky burials again in the 1980s. Again, in 1983, the sites were closed for a time when a group of tourists were stoned by grieving relatives.(Source : http://www.grief-tourism.com/thanatourism-skyburials-in-tibet/ )

Searching for information about this tipe of tourism and about sky burials, i was stoned to see pictures and short films like the one above. There is said that this kind of tourism is no longer practised, but in my reaserch i found photos with people visiting those places in 2007 and in one of the picture's descroption writen "me after the sky burial". The questions are... is it still practised today? and if so ... Can we really call it Tourism?
Some photos ( not for those with weak hearts)