Jersey, Channel Islands

There is a small little island called Jersey known as Channel Islands and it is also known as St. Helier.  It was a normal island which was used for leisure activities till 80s and UK Government polished it and made it as tax haven. Beauty of the town is its fabulous coast and the great sound of ocean waves anywhere you roam.

I am lucky to visit the place in 2012 and I share some of my favourite thoughts about this place.

Jersey city centre is fairly small and located behind Liberty House and the Hotel Pomme D'Or. New Street has some offices and some retail shops; the place is filled with lot of restaurents too. It is always nice to walk from Liberty House to Grand Jersey. Fabulous harbour is located across the road and provides superb view of Elizabeth Castle too.

How can I ever forget the elaborate breakfast ofered at these hotels !! I used to like and stay at a quiet hotel called Norfolk ... just for the fabulous food I get there ! Norfolk used to arrange some live music also during dinner time and I enjoyed the performance of local artists.

Beaches are there at all 8 corners of Jersey... but every beach has got some flavour and some water sports. I loved St. Aubin the most, out of all I have seen there and St. Martin and St. Brelade might follow closely.

It is just food ! There are tour operators of Island like Tantivy and Waverly who does excellent job showcasing the beautiful island !

Jersey is known for their Cow and its related milk production, bewitching Pearl and Oyster farming. Do try out in your tours.

I always liked walking around St Brelade - Corbiere Lighthouse, Mont Orgueil Castle at Gorey harbour - it has different color and feel !

Enjoy your time around war tunnel and Museums; Recently they have added Wine Estate, Tamba Park and Kayak riding !!!

Sheikh Zayad Grand Mosque

Sheikh Zayad Grand Mosque is exceptionally attractive, has classy architecture and presents itself as larger than life when you walk inside.

Grand Mosque sits majestically at the entrance to Abu Dhabi City Island, distinctly visible from the three main bridges connecting the island to the main land, the Maqta, Mussafah and the Sheikh Zayed Bridge. 

There are 82 domes of various sizes and the largest is located in the centre of the main prayer hall.  The design elements include pure white marble cladding; onion shaped ‘crowns’ and crescent shaped finials decorated with gold-glass mosaic.

The pure white colour of the Mosque has become one of its most distinguishing characteristics.  White is a symbol of purity and piety. 

The main prayer hall houses the world’s largest hand-knotted carpet. The intricate Islamic medallion design was made by third generation carpet maker and artist, Dr. Ali Khaliqi.  The predominantly wool carpet was hand-crafted by approximately 1,200 artisans.

Its creation was a two year project, the design took approximately 8 months, the knotting 12 months and the remaining time to transport, trim and weave the pieces together. The final single piece carpet is 5,700 square meters, about 70% being wool and the rest of 30% is cotton. 

There are seven crystal chandeliers made by Faustig (Munich, Germany) situated inside the halls and foyers. The largest (located in the main prayer hall and considered one of the world’s largest in a mosque and is weighing approximately 12 tons.

Two smaller versions of the same design (located also in the main prayer hall) are weighing 8 tons each. All chandeliers are made from gilded stainless steel and gilded brass (approx. 40kg of 24 carat galvanized gold was used). Glass panels studded with Swarovski crystals were installed in all of them.

The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque has four minarets, each of which is around 106 meters high. The minaret has been the most significant component of Islamic architecture across the ages. Each minaret is made-up of three different geometric shapes. The word “Minaret” derives from the Arabic word “Manarah”, meaning lighthouse, so it is fitting that the library, a source of knowledge and education, is uniquely located at the minaret. It is the only library to be found in a minaret.

The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque has 1096 columns around the arcade. Each piece was hand-carved and inlaid by craftsmen here on site and they used a special inlay technique called “Pietra Dura” which began firstly in Italy 16th century and reached Mughals in the early 17th century, and perhaps the most exquisite example is the columns of “Taj Mahal” in India.

The courtyard (Sahan) is usually found in larger ‘Grand’ mosque structures. It is an open area, usually has a shape of square or rectangular. The courtyard is used by worshipers during significant Islamic prayers and large gatherings such as the holy month Ramadan. The courtyard can accommodate up to 31000 worshipers and the area is approximately 17400 square meters.

This is the best looking mosque of the world and the grandeur leaves you with sense of awesomeness. Don't miss making a visit when you visit UAE. Ideal to visit by evening.

Some of the content had been taken from official page of https://www.szgmc.gov.ae/en/architecture

Bempton Cliffs and Gannets

I worked in UK in 2011-12 and 2015. One of the treausre place I found was Bempton Cliffs ...
Why ? it is for bird watching ... thousands of Gannets, guilemots, razonbills and some puffins... flock to this place every year.

RSPB does a great job - https://www.rspb.org.uk/reserves-and-events/reserves-a-z/bempton-cliffs
There are boat rides to watch the birds and is well connected from Scarborough.

Best time to visit is between May to Early July.  Take your nice 300mm and othe long lenses. Enjoy the food and listen to the great noises of birds.

Immerse yourself in the telescopic cameras set up here and there and interact with volunteers. Dont miss the interesting update and the baby birds. Do hire and spend money in B&B and support local economy.

Historical Ayutthaya near Bangkok

There is a interesting and historical town called Ayutthaya near Bangkok ... you can go in cab as it is around 65KM from DMK Airport.

I stayed in a fabulous hotel called Sala Ayutthaya .. which is located along the banks of River Chao Phraya and oppsite to the famous Wat Phutthaisawan.

Because of the great location and boutique property, the stay is little expensive but worth it considering the great room, decor and fashionable bath facility. The stay could cost you around 260 SGD for 2 days based on demand and season.

History

Kingdom was very popular and had amazing trading connection with neighbouring countries. It was one the well established, connected rule between 1350 to 1750s. They were trading with Chinese, vietnamese, Indians and later with French, English and Dutch. The ruins of today present us to the great history and opportunity to understand and explore. This is one of the UNESCO heritage sites.

Tour

We took a car from Bangkok and it was comfortable for us to explore the ruins. We started the day at Wat Phra Sri Sanphet & Wat Phra Ram one of the holiest temple. Place and the ruins present us a great site of empire constructed between 1350 to 1450.

The three Chedis which are left now are wonderful. The whote site will take around 60-85 min to walk around and explore. I liked walking aroud Wat Chaiwatthanaram. You can climb to the top and enjoy the view also. I was told that this place is best suited to see sun set.

You can walk or hire bicycle to move around as they are not far away from each other.
I felt very odd at Wat Phra Mahathat where Buddha's head entwined in the roots of the banyan tree so much and I forgot to click the picture !

There are some entry fee and parking fee collected everywhere and they are affordable.

How many days:  I would say around 2 days, first day for river side dinner after checking in by afternoon, roam around next day and enjoy the sunset. Take some good sleep and enjoy little bit of reflxology or SPA before returning to Bangkok after lunch.