Glacier parks

5.00 J_neveryes Canada - 04-Mar-24

"One to two hours, my ass!" I grumbled about the young Parks Canada ranger who had told me that Thechàl Dhâl (Sheep Mountain) Route was just an hour or two additional hike from the end of the Sheep Creek Trail.  I huffed and puffed as I had to stop every 20 steps or so up the mountain in order to catch my breath.  "I better see some freakin' Dall sheep on this mountain," I angrily muttered to myself as I slowly made myself upward.

Getting to Kluane National Park, Yukon, Canada

Old Town of Lijiang

3.00 J_neveryes Canada - 29-Feb-24

Memories are fickle beasts.  When I look at my photos from my 2019 trip to Lijiang, I see that it was a beautiful city with intriguing narrow water channels and narrower streets.  However, what I remember - at least on an emotional level - is that Lijiang was an old town that once had a soul, but it is now a fiction, a mere pretty setting for a sanitized version of Chinese history.  Lijiang is not a city; it is a souvenir shop.  

There are other cities in the world that long ago pushed [...]

Grand Pré

1.50 J_neveryes Canada - 23-Feb-24

In 1907, John F. Herbin, a jeweller from the nearby town of Wolfville, bought 5.5 hectare (13.6 acres) of land on which the original Grand Pré community had stood.  Herbin's mother was Acadian, and he knew the importance of the land to the Acadian diaspora, who treated it as a pilgrimage site.  When Herbin sold the property to the Dominion Atlantic Railway in 1917, he did so under two conditions: (1) that the site be developed as a memorial park to the deported Acadians, and (2) that a parcel of land be deeded to the Acadian people on which a memorial would be built.  After keeping its promise, the Railway sold the land to the Canadian government in 1957.  Great-great-grandchild of Herbin (fifth generation) still operates the Herbin Jewellers in Wolfville.

Pirin National Park

3.50 J_neveryes Canada - 26-Feb-24

Selective Background

Despite being declared a national park in 1962 and an UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983, this biodiverse hotspot was under attack by its own government in 2017.  The Bulgarian government planned to open up 66% and 48% of Pirin National Park's area to construction (for example, ski resorts) and logging respectively.  The Association of Parks in Bulgaria and other environmental organizations sued the government, and the Bulgaria's Supreme Administrative Court suspended the constructions and logging in 2020.

Tiwanaku

3.00 J_neveryes Canada - 22-Feb-24

Tiwanaku is a site with fascinating elements, but the sum of those elements do not result in a fascinating site. 

The individual elements, such as the Gate of the Sun, the monoliths, and the heads in the semi-subterranean temple (photo) are striking artifacts.  For some visitors, the Gate of the Sun, with a crack in its lintel that adds to its mysterious allure, alone may be worth the price of the admission.  However, other than the few interesting elements still standing (or fallen), the site is monotonous.