Is Your Destination Safe to Travel?
Worrying about the potential dangers which await you in a foreign land can be a little overwhelming particularly if you have not done a lot of travel. The best approach to this fear is to remember your worries are often exaggerated by the unknown element of travel overseas.
Dwelling on your safety while planning your trip will inevitably lead to further paranoia yet ignoring any potential risks only furthers your chance of being robbed or worse.
Look at it this way, Australia has many visitors and travellers arriving every year and they will have many worries about travelling in your home land. Speak to any British backpacker and they will be quietly shitting themselves about snakes and sharks, killer rips (thanks Bondi Rescue), jellyfish and huge unforgivable landscapes and don’t even mention the spiders. Many are seriously concerned that they will be bitten by any one of the many deadly insects which call Australia home and spend their last few minutes of life in unimaginable pain. It is not to say that the danger does not exist, but for those of us who live here it is not really a daily concern. The unknown and exaggerated can lead to this sort of worry.
What I am getting at is that any danger is amplified in our heads because it is sandwiched up in a big terrifying unfamiliar world. So when you are planning your trip to a far off land, how worried should you be about your safety?
Firstly, it is worth saying that there are some genuine risks out there and in some parts of the world these are so great you should consider whether travel to that location is worth it. These are normally caused by political instability, general high levels of violent crime, or it may be that a single girl might be at more risk than usual.
A Hong Kong Landmark
Standing majestically, in the business district of Wanchai North, Central Plaza is world renowned for its astounding height and amazing architectural features. The building is magnificently positioned at 18 Harbour Road in Hong Kong and is 374 metres in height.
It was the Sino Group and Sun Hung Kai Properties that jointly developed this brilliant masterpiece. The construction of this 78 storey skyscraper was officially completed in August 1995. From the land acquisition to the completion of the project it took nearly 44 months. It is also estimated that to build just one floor it took about 4 days.
Today Central Plaza is an important landmark in Hong Kong. Out of its 78 storeys, 58 are separated as office space. This state of the art structure is fitted with 39 automated high-speed elevators and the overall working population within the building is estimated at a staggering 6,000. The building consists of 2 main components. One is the office tower that stands 368 metres high while the other is the podium block standing 30.5 metres high. One of the most unique and noteworthy features of Central Plaza is its triangular shaped floor plan. It was created in such way to provide maximum office space as well as to enjoy the best views of the harbour.
At the peak of this impressive building stand a neon clock and about 1,000 neon transformers have been used for the front wall. Every fifteen minutes the clock changes its color and every quarter it blinks and displays the time. Every hour a different color appears on this exceptional four bar neon clock. Furthermore, the building is home to the Community Church Hong Kong which is the world’s highest church. It is positioned on the highest floor of Central Plaza.
Stone Forest
Driving 85 km from Kunming, we reached the town of Shilin. (Shilin means ‘stone forest’) This is home to the Sani ethnic minority people. Here, the Stone Forest sits on 350 sq. km area. The GPS location 24 49′ 27.95″ N 103 19’24.41 E will put you at the entrance.
My friend Rose was my guide through this amazing place. It took us about 4 hours to explore about half of this Unesco World Heritage site. It is also considered the first natural wonder of the world, being formed over 270 million years ago.
Walking through these giant stone karsks is a sensation for both your eyes and ears. The rock itself is an extremely hard stone. It feels like steel. Some of the stones make a musical sound when struck, while others make no sound at all. With our trusty map in hand, we worked our way through to the various points of interest along the way. The typical Yunnan weather of clear blue skies and sunshine only added to the unique lighting environment inside the stone forest.
I would consider this a must see stop during your tour of China. The park area has it’s touristy feel to it, but not to the extreme. It is easy to find yourself along exploring this unique forest of stone. After leaving the park and returning to Kunming, we stopped in Yi Yang and ate the best Peking Duck ever. I always stop in there when I am going in this direction from Kunming.
Ideal Hotels on Nashville
Many tourists opt to stay in Nashville for a different vacation experience. The trusty Nashville hotels always make their stay a bit more pleasant than usual.
Drury Inn and Suites Nashville Airport
This budget hotel lies about a half mile away from the Nashville International Airport and 5 miles away from downtown Nashville. It is close to some attractions such as the Opry Mills, the Country Music Hall Of Fame and the Grand Ole Opry. They offer complimentary hot and quick breakfast including Belgian waffles, sausage, biscuit, scrambled egg and free beverage.
It also features free airport shuttle services, an indoor and outdoor swimming pool as well as a whirlpool, exercise room, laundry facilities and a business room. All guestrooms have refrigerators, hairdryers, telephones with voice mail and cable television, coffee maker as well as free high speed Internet access, daily maid services and iron with ironing board.