Saturday, August 22, 2015

TRAVEL SPECIAL ..............TRAVELLING IN TIME TO ANCIENT WONDERS

TRAVELLING IN TIME TO ANCIENT WONDERS

There are several ancient sites across the world that ch allenge modern man's claim to technological and scientific superiority, and how! And the moment this is said, the mind strays to the Egyptian pyramids and the megalithic masterpiece called Stonehenge.But the list doesn't end there. There are thousands of archaeological finds across the world that can make the best modern engineers scratch their heads wondering how uncivilized, bark-wearing, hardly-evolved primitive humans could create such complex structures using coarse chisels and hammers. Looking at their handiwork, they don't look primitive at all! And most have withstood the vagaries of nature for thousands of years. So, if you are a travel freak with a nose for mystery and adventure, here's some inspiration to go the Lara Croft way...

THE OTHER SIDE OF INDIA
India is often considered home to some of the oldest civilizations in history, the one in Indus Valley being around 5,000 years old. But recent finds have pushed back the timeline by several millennia, though more research is required to confirm this. Two major finds -one 20 km off the Gujarat coast in the Gulf of Khambhat and another 5 km off Poompuhar in Tamil Nadu -could be of large cities that flourished anytime between 7,500 and 17,000 BC! These cities and other undiscovered ones could have gone underwater when global sea levels gradually rose by nearly 400 feet at the end of the last Ice Age -between 17,000 and 4,000 BC. In fact, most structures we consid er ancient are relatively young. The Great Pyramid in Egypt is just 4,500 years old, and the Stonehenge, just 5,000. The oldest excavated site in the world -Göbekli Tepe on a mountain ridge in Turkey -dates back to 13,500 BC and is considered the cradle of civilization. But if the city off the Poompuhar coast was built 19,000 years ago, and another couple of millennia went into reaching that level of architectural expertise, how old is the Indian civilization and how technologically advanced were our ancestors? No one has been able to truly explain how Indians could coat a wrought iron pillar with a complex chemical like iron hydrogen phosphate hydrate 2,500 years ago to make it almost rustresistant? Yes, we are referring to the iron pillar that stands in the Qutub Minar complex in Delhi. The mystery lies not in the chemical, but their knowledge about it. Then again, there's the mystery behind the Vedas. While history claims these scriptures originated after the Aryan invasion, several recent finds seem to point to a much more ancient origin -to ancestors who walked on Indian soil and created technological and archaeological wonders millennia before melting ice and rising oceans pushed Indians towards the Himalayas, building cities in places like Harappa and Mohenjo Daro.

THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA
Modern China has something for everyone -right from the gadget-hunting tech freak to the disturbed mind on a quest for inner peace. And the ancient Chinese invented most things we love to consider `modern'. Among other things and processes, they invented paper and printing, the compass, sericulture, gunpowder and bells! As for architecture, what could be a better example than the Great Wall -an odd 21,196-km structure that was built over several centuries, from around 700 BC through the reign of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 AD). The Ming rulers are said to have built most of this fortification structure, replacing the rammed earth, stone and wood of the earlier versions with bricks and mortar. The exact length of the wall is still not known, as new sections are being discovered every now and then. In fact, nine suspected wall sections measuring around 10 km were discovered along the border of Ningxia autonomous region and Gansu province in March and April this year. And if this wall, which runs over mountains, trenches, rivers and deserts, and yes, Beijing, is not impressive enough for you, try saying hi to the thousands of terracotta warriors who are still guarding Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of China, in his necropolis in Lintong district, Xi'an, Shaanxi province, since his death in 207 BC. According to recent estimates, there are more than 8,000 life-size soldiers, including taller generals, 130 chariots with 520 horses and 150 cavalry horses -all surrounding the burial mound of the emperor. And interestingly, each soldier has distinct facial features! Moreover, their 40,000 bronze weapons, including battle axes, crossbows, arrowheads and spears, are extremely well-preserved even after being buried for more than 2,000 years. The reason: protective chrome plating -a technique that the modern world used first in 1937 and the ancient Chinese, more than 2,000 years ago! The roughly 20-square-mile necropolis, which surrounds the emperor's pyramidal tomb mound at the foot of Mount Li, is a microcosm of his imperial compound. It consists of several offices, halls, stables and other structures. Quite an afterlife, huh, given the fact that no one has excavated the emperor's tomb yet fearing mercury poisoning?

TRAVEL  TIPS
It's China! So, you can head out as soon as you get your papers in place Obviously there are ATMs; they make most of those! And yes, 1 yuan is around `10 When you are moving in such a vast country, you need all types of cloth ing, so pack it all Best time to visit: October to April.

THE MAYAN CITIES IN MEXICO, GUATEMALA, BELIZE, HONDURAS AND EL SALVADOR
The Mayans are still around, as their last kingdom fell to the Spanish about three centuries ago, in 1697. But they are mere shadows of their ancestors, who thrived roughly between 2,500 BC and 1697. The Mayan civilization was known for its fully developed writing system, art, architecture and excellence in mathematics and astronomy. Their architecture was marked by precise geometry, use of massive stones and pyramids. And they left behind enigmas that belie modern logic. Take for instance, El Castillo -a 98-odd foot-high step pyramid in the ancient city of Chichen Itza in Mexico's Yucatan peninsula. It has nine 8.4 feet-high square terraces and a 20-foot Kukulkan (winged serpent) temple on its summit. Each face has 91-step staircases leading to the top.Add the total number of steps with one shared step at the top and you get 365 -the number of days in a year. Another fascinating feature is the shadow the northwest corner of the pyramid casts on the western balustrade on spring and autumn equinox afternoons. It looks like a serpent wriggling down the staircase! Moreover, if you stand facing the foot of the temple and shout, the echo comes back as a piercing shriek. A person standing on the top step can speak in a normal voice and be heard by those at ground level for some dis tance! The acoustics in the ball court -a 545 feet long and 225-feet wide open area close to the pyramid -is even more bewildering.s Whisper from one end, and you can be heard clearly at the other end 500-feet away and s through the length and breadth of the court! The sound waves are unaffected by wind direc tion or other physical disturbances. Then there's the now-famous Mayan calendar. For one, it never said the world would end on December 21, 2012. That date was simply the end of one calendar cycle and beginning of another. In fact, the calendar will com plete 20 more such cycles by October 13, 4772! And the Mayans could cal culate beyond that.r Some mathematical s proficiency for an `ancient' race, huh?

TRAVEL TIPS
Central America is a political cauldron, though things have been pretty stable of late. Still, check the news twice before heading out All major cities in the five nations offer all modern amenities, including easy access to ATMs. As for the expenses, 1 Mexican peso is around `4, 1 Guatemalan quetzal is around `8, 1 Belize dollar is around `32, 1 Honduran Lempira is around `3, while 1 US dollar (in El Salvador) is around `64. Weather varies from region to region, country to country, so pack both cottons and woollens. And remember to pack a pair of really good hiking shoes and a backpack -most Mayan sites are off-road! Don't forget to sample the food, especially in Mexico Best time to visit: November to April.

THE PYRAMIDS OF EGYPT
As we mentioned, the pyramids were built just 6-7 millennia ago, but our current knowledge of earth's technological history arms the ancient Egyptian builders with just chisels, hammers and loads of patience. It's only that the precision of the structures belie this assumption. Take for instance, the Great Pyramid of Giza -around two million precisely-cut multiple-tonne stone blocks fit together to cre ate this 480.6 feet tall monstrosity that covers 2.5 lakh square foot at the base. Legend goes that it was built in 20 years, which basically translates to cutting, moving and fitting together 800 tonnes of stone blocks every day, working 24x7! That's close to impossible using even the best engineering tech available today, let alone just chisels, hammers and hemp ropes. What adds to the challenge is the fact that the largest granite blocks were cut and transported from a quarry in Aswan, 800 km away! Moreover, the construction is so precise that the four sides of the base have an average difference in length of only 58 mm and the ratio of the structure's perimeter to its height is extremely close to 2pi. Such precision using just primitive tools and knowledge? Difficult to believe.... So, how did the Egyptians actually build the pyramids?
No one really has a clue, though theories abound regarding the subject. Another question that's often asked is, why pyramids?
Does the shape, somehow, contribute to the preservation of the mummified bodies inside? French hardware store owner Antoine Bovis claimed in the 1930s that miniature replicas of the pyramids could be used to preserve food and even retain the sharpness of razor blades. Though theories abound about the supernatural and other significance of pyramidal geometry, no scientific evidence has been found to prove these. But hey, every major theory has usually been laughed off in the beginning, right? So, who knows, maybe the pyramidal shape was not merely an obsession with ancient races, but a perfect science?

TRAVEL TIPS
Though Egypt is politically stable now, recheck before planning your trip There are ATMs in all major cities and an Egyptian pound is around `8 Stick to airy, light cotton clothing in conservative cuts.
Don't have any? Thrill yourself by shopping locally Best time to visit: October to April

Upam Buzarbaruah
BT13AUG15 

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