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Iran - Turkey


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Sunday, August 27, 2006

Some facts about Halong Bay

Halong Bay is a body of water of approximately 1,500 square kilometres in north Vietnam with a 120 kilometre coastline, in the Gulf of Tonkin near the border with China, and 170 kilometres east of Hanoi. "Vịnh Hạ Long" —Halong Bay—means "Bay of the Descending Dragon" in the Vietnamese language.

The bay consists of a dense cluster of 1,969 limestone monolithic islands, each topped with thick jungle vegetation, which rise spectacularly from the ocean. Several of the islands are hollow, with enormous caves. Hang Đầu Gổ (Wooden stakes Cave) is the largest grotto in the Halong area. French tourists visited in the late 19th century, and named the cave Grotte des Merveilles. Its three large chambers contain large numerous stalactites and stalagmites (as well as 19th century French graffiti). There are two bigger islands, Tuan Chau and Cat Ba, that have permanent inhabitants. Both of them have tourist facilities, including hotels and beaches. There is a number of wonderful beaches on the smaller islands. Some of the islands support floating villages of fishermen, who ply the shallow waters for 200 species of fish and 450 different kinds of mollusks. Many of the islands have acquired their names as a result of interpretation of their unusual shapes: such names include Voi Islet (elephant), Ga Choi Islet (fighting cock), and Mai Nha Islet (roof). 989 of the islands have been given names. Birds and animals including bantams, antelopes, monkeys, and iguanas also live on some of the islands.

The bay was World Heritage listed by UNESCO at the 18th meeting of the Committee of the World Heritages of UNESCO (in Thailand on December 17th, 1994). It is one of Vietnam's most popular tourist destinations.Local legend says that long ago when the Vietnamese were fighting Chinese invaders, the gods sent a family of dragons to help defend the land. This family of dragons descended upon what is now Ha Long Bay (hence the name "Bay of Descending Dragons") and began spitting out jewels and jade. These jewels turned into the islands and islets dotting the bay, linking together to form barriers against the invaders. The people kept their land safe and formed what later became the country of Vietnam.

History shows that Halong Bay has been the setting for local naval battles against Vietnam's coastal neighbours. On three occasions in the labyrinth of channels between the islands the Vietnamese army stopped the Chinese from landing. In 1288 General Tran Hung Dao stopped Mongol ships from sailing up the nearby Bach Dang River by placing steel-tipped wooden stakes at high tide, sinking the Mongol Dubhai Khan's fleet. During the Vietnam War, many of the channels between the islands were heavily mined by the navy of the United States, some of which pose a threat to shipping to this day. The surrounding land region of Halong City is rich with high grade coal deposits (anthracite), and is operated by the Vietnamese government.

Some facts about Sapa

Sa Pa or Sapa (Westernized spelling) is a town and district in the Lào Cai province in northwest Vietnam.

The town of Sa Pa lies at about 1600 meters of altitude. The climate is moderate and rainy in summer (May—August), and foggy and cold with occasional snowfalls in winter.

It is most likely that Sa Pa was first inhabited by highland minorities of the Hmong and Yao groups, as well as by smaller numbers of Tày and Giay, these being the four main minority groups still present in Sa Pa district today. The Vietnamese properly speaking had never colonised this highest of Việt Nam’s valleys, which lies in the shadow of Phan-Xi-Pǎng (Fansipan, 3143 meters), the highest peak in the country.

It was only when the French debarked in highland Tonkin in the late 1880s that Sa Pa, or Chapa as the French called it, began to appear on the national map. In the following decade, the future site of Sa Pa town started to see military parties as well as missionaries from the Société des Missions Etrangères de Paris (MEP) visit the site. The French military marched from the Red River Delta into the northern mountainous regions as part of Tonkin’s ‘pacification’. In 1894-96 the border between China and Tonkin was formally agreed upon and the Sa Pa area, just to the south of this frontier, was placed under French authority. From 1891 the entire Lào Cai region, including Sa Pa, came under direct colonial military administration set up to curtail banditry and political resistance on the sensitive northern frontier.

The first permanent French civilian resident arrived in 1909. With its attractive continental climate, health authorities believed the site had potential. By 1912 a military sanatorium for ailing officers had been erected along with a fully fledged military garrison. The remainder of the 1910s then gave rise to a steady correspondence within the colonial administration regarding the possibility of expanding the official use of Chapa into a hill-station which would be open to vacationing civil administrators and, perhaps, to some of the most affluent colonists who, at the time, were going back to France for their summer holidays. Initially, official villas were built only for the military ‘top brass’. Yet soon after, company villas were established by important corporations to be used as vacationing sites by deserving managerial staff. These industrial societies were forging ahead during this period of growth in Indochina, and consequently wanted to mark their economic success. The upper layer of the civil administration soon joined in with the Lào Cai Resident and the Tonkin Resident Superior having official residences erected. Then, from the 1920s onwards, several wealthy professionals with enough financial capital also had a number of private villas built in the vicinity.

Gradually, the privileged of colonial society were joined in Chapa by a less select group of French nationals. A few private entrepreneurs who ‘had the ear’ of the top administrators in Tonkin assessed that the hill-station could also be a profitable holiday destination for slightly less affluent, yet still desirable colonists, including an unknown but presumably small number of affluent Vietnamese vacationers. Three or four small hotels were erected and their owners jointly set up a promotional Tourist Bureau. Their target was modest in number and their guests always remained a minor proportion of Chapa’s benefactors.

Chapa’s Tourist Bureau launched a publicity campaign in 1924, publishing a Livret-Guide de Chapa. The booklet attempted to convince less affluent French clientele from the Delta to visit for short summer stays, with the healthy qualities of Chapa being praised, and the climate and contact with nature coming top of the list. Walking routes were indicated in the guide, as well as the local main attractions being highlighted including the town’s market to which ‘colourfully dressed Méo [Hmong] and Man [Yao]’ highlanders came to buy, sell and barter goods, and linger for social purposes. Walks or horse rides to the nearby picturesque Cát Cát waterfall were also keenly proposed. In 1928, according to information provided by transport businesses, 900 Europeans visitors answered this call, 90% of them for a stay of three weeks or less. A victim of its own success, the hill-station's hotels and the very few vacant villas that could be rented out were sometimes insufficient to accommodate all these visitors, and some years a number of families could not find a place to stay, not even in a ‘native house’.

With the early fall of the metropole in the Second World War, the the pro-Nazi Vichy government in France appointed Jean Decoux as Indochina’s Governor. Suspect in the Allies' eyes, the elite colonists living in Indochina no longer had the option of leaving for Europe for their summer holidays. After a short period of confusion, many turned their attention to the few holiday resort options within the Indochinese Union, with Chapa and Đà Lạt noticeably on the list. Thus, the Second World War constituted an unexpected and important cause of development for hill-stations in Indochina.

This new period of success was to be Chapa's colonial swan song however. At the end of the Second World War a long period of hostilities began in Tonkin that was to last until 1954. In the process, nearly all of the 200 or so colonial buildings that had been erected in Chapa were destroyed, either by Việt Minh sympathisers in the late 1940s, or, in the early 1950s by French air raids. The vast majority of the Viet population fled for their lives, and the former town entered a prolonged sleep. It was only in the early 1960s thanks to the New Economic Zones migration scheme set up by the new Socialist regime that fresh inhabitants from the lowlands started to instil new life in the site. Collective workers, farmers, and a few local Party cadres joined forces with the local minorities over the next thirty years to etch out a living from the difficult terrain. Of the town’s former colonial glory, only ruins remained, along with the memories of a handful of residents who dared to stay.

The short 1979 occupation of the northern border region by Chinese troops had virtually no impact on Sa Pa town besides forcing the Kinh population out for a month. Then, in the mid-1980s, major changes occurred at the national level that were to dramatically affect Sa Pa’s destiny. In 1986, the Vietnamese Communist Party introduced a range of reform measures known as Đổi Mới (economic renovation). The reforms, a process of moving away from central control towards a market economy while maintaining a Socialist state ideology, allowed for a multi-sector economy, decollectivisation, private ownership, and liberalised foreign trade and investment. The Đổi Mới era boosted the national economy and allowed for new employment opportunities in the private sector in Việt Nam, which in turn gave rise to new groups of affluent urbanites. Characterised by unparalleled levels of consumption, these groups are marked by a newly emerging lifestyle. Now, a metropolitan, nouveau riche increasingly engages in the consumption of luxury items, while expensive pleasurable pursuits have become central, not least of which is tourism.

As a counterpart, in 1992 the last obstacle to Sa Pa's full rebirth as a prominent holiday destination was lifted as, for the first time since the colonial period, the decision was made to open the door to international tourism from virtually all countries beyond the faltering Communist brotherhood. By the following year, Sa Pa was back again on the tourist trail, this time for a newly emerging local elite, as well as international tourists. Tourist arrival between 1995 and 2003 thus grew from a total of 4860 to 138,622. On average, this cohort is made of 79% Vietnamese and 21% foreigners.

Background to Vietnam

Overview
Vietnamese (kinh) is the official language of the country, although there are dialectic differences across Vietnam. There are dozens of different languages spoken by various ethnic minorities and Khmer and Loatian are spoken in some parts. The most widely spoken foreign languages in Vietnam are Chinese (Cantonese and Mandarin), English, French and Russian, more or less in that order.

Popular artistic forms include: traditional painting produced on frame-mounted silk; an eclectic array of theatre, puppetry, music and dance; religious sculpture; lacquerware and ceramics.

Vietnamese cuisine is especially varied - there are said to be nearly 500 different traditional dishes that include exotic meats (but consider carefully before you eat a rare animal) and fantastic vegetarian creations (often prepared to replicate meat and fish dishes). However, the staple of Vietnamese cuisine is plain white rice dressed up with a plethora of vegetables, fish (which is common in Vietnam), meat, spices and sauces. Spring rolls, noodles and steamed rice dumplings are popular snacks, and the ubiquitous soups include eel and vermicelli, shredded chicken and bitter soups. Fruit is abundant; some of the more unusual ones include green dragon fruit, jujube, khaki, longan, mangosteen, pomelo, three-seed cherry and water apple. Vietnamese coffee (ca phe phin) is very good; it's usually served very strong and very sweet.

Pre 20th Century History

The sophisticated Bronze Age Dong Son culture emerged around the 3rd century BC. From the 1st to the 6th centuries AD, the south of what is now Vietnam was part of the Indianised kingdom of Funan, which produced fine art and architecture. The Hindu kingdom of Champa appeared around present-day Danang in the late 2nd century and had spread south to what is now Nha Trang by the 8th century. The kingdom existed in part through conducting raids in the region. The Chinese conquered the Red River Delta in the 2nd century and their 1000-year rule, marked by tenacious Vietnamese resistance and repeated rebellions, ended in AD 938 when Ngo Quyen vanquished the Chinese armies at the Bach Dang River.

During the next few centuries, Vietnam repulsed repeated invasions by China, and expanded its borders southwards from the Red River Delta, populating much of the Mekong Delta. In 1858, French and Spanish-led forces stormed Danang after several missionaries had been killed. A year later, Saigon was seized. By 1867, France had conquered all of southern Vietnam, which became the French colony of Cochinchina.

Modern History

Pro-independence forces, dominated largely by the leadership of Ho Chi Minh, resisted French domination during and after WWII. Ho Chi Minh's declaration of Vietnamese independence in 1945 sparked violent confrontations with the French, culminating in the French military defeat at Dien Bien Phu in 1954.

The negotiation of the Geneva Accords of 1954 between the Vietnamese and the French temporarily divided the country into two zones (the Communists assumed control of the north and the anti-Communist, US-supported Ngo Dinh Diem took the south). Free elections were to have been held across the country in 1956, but Diem reneged on the plan - Ho Chi Minh seemed likely to win - and instead consolidated his own power in various ways, including fixing a referendum. Western powers embraced his government.

Political and ideological opposition quickly turned to armed struggle, prompting the USA (who'd been a covert presence since at least 1945)and other countries to commit combat troops in 1965. The Paris Peace Agreements, signed in 1973, provided an immediate cease-fire and the withdrawal of US troops - signalling a famous victory for Ho Chi Minh. Saigon eventually capitulated to the Communist forces on 30 April 1975.

Going straight from the fat into the frying pan, Vietnam had barely drawn breath from its war with America when it found itself at loggerheads with Khmer Rouge forces along the Cambodian borders. A protracted round of fighting eventually saw China enter the fray in support of Cambodia and the killings continued until the UN brokered a deal, with Vietnamese forces being pulled out of Cambodia in 1989. Although the Khmer Rouge continued to snipe from the borders, it was the first time since WWII that Vietnam was not officially at war with any other nation. The end of the Cold War and the collapse of the USSR in 1991 caused Vietnam and Western nations to seek rapprochement.

Recent History

In July 1995 even the intransigent USA re-established diplomatic relations with Hanoi, although Hanoi initially refused to sign trade agreements with the US in 1999 (this was finalised the following year). The US, on their part, talked about normalising relations but over 25 years later there's still a lot of soul-searching, hand-wringing and post mortems going on, accompanied by a slather of angst-ridden films and a handful of unplugged guitar tunes. John McCain, on a visit to Hanoi, talked about 'the wrong guys winning the war'. Vietnam went through something of a postwar economic boom, before suffering the economic setbacks that plagued the entire region when the foreign investment bubble burst in the late 1990s. It has recently recovered part of this ground, and some pundits predict it will be the next Asian 'tiger' economy.


Extracted from www.lonelyplanet.com

Sunday, August 20, 2006

PLAN A: 10 Days North Vietnam

Day 1
1 Dec/Fri: SIN-HANOI
- TR308 1745/2010

RESIDENTIAL PROJECT
______________________________
Day 1
1 Dec/Fri:
HANOI-LAO CAI
- 2210: sleeper non-aircon 4 pax per cabin overnight train to Lao Cai

Day 2

2 Dec/Sat: LAO CAI-SAPA-BINH LU
- Residential Project Day 1
- B/L/D
- Wash up
- biking to Binh Lu, Phong Tho & Tam Duong
- overnight in Binh Lu (village homestay; no tourists)

Day 3
3 Dec/Sun: BINH LU- SAPA
- Residential Project Day 2
- B/L/D
- biking from Binh Lu back to Sapa
- overnight in Sapa (Son Ha Guesthouse)

Day 4

4 Dec/Mon:
- Residential Project Day 3
- B/L/D
- trekking to villages of Su Pan, Thanh Phu, Ban Ho
- delivery of stationeries to village schools
- overnight in Ban Ho (village homestay; no tourists pls)

Day 5
5 Dec/Tue: , SAPA-LAO CAI-HANOI
- Residential Project Day 4
- B/L/D
- trekking to Seo Trung Ho, Ta Trung Ho & back to Sapa
- Wash up
- 2210: sleeper non-aircon 4 pax per cabin overnight train to Hanoi

ADVENTUROUS JOURNEY
_______________________________
Day 6
6 Dec/Wed: HANOI-HALONG BAY
- B/L/D
- kayaking in Halong Bay
- overnight in fish farm (no tourists pls.)

Day 7
7 Dec/Thu: HALONG BAY
- B/L/D
- kayaking in Halong Bay

Day 8

8 Dec/Fri: HALONG BAY
- B/L/D
- kayaking in Halong Bay

Day 9
9 Dec/Sat: HALONG BAY-HANOI
- B/D
- Return to Hanoi after breakfast

Day 10

10 Dec/Sun:
- B/D
- R&R
- TR309 2040/0100

Updated 1 Sep 1009

Saturday, August 19, 2006

National Youth Achievement Award (Gold) Requirements

Service
Aim : The aim of the Service Section is to learn how to give useful service to others.
Requirement: The requirement is to undertake the necessary training and give regular practical service for at least:

Gold: 60 hours spread over a period of 12 months

Adventurous Journey
Aim : The purpose of this section is to encourage a spirit of adventure and discovery.
Requirement : The requirement for this section is to plan, train for and undertake a venture. The venture must involve a defined purpose. The venture must involve travel by personal effort and may be on foot, cycle or on water. Expeditions should meet the following minimum requirements:

Gold: Four days out, including three nights in an unfamiliar setting, including at least 32 hours of effort and activity

Skills
Aim: The purpose of this section is to encourage the development of personal interests and practical skills.
Requirement: Participants are required to choose a skill and follow it regularly for the minimum required period of time. They must show individual progress and sustained interest, based on their own capabilities and potential.

Gold: 18 months

Physical Recreation
Aim: The purpose of this section is to encourage participation in physical recreation and improvement of performance.
Requirement: Participants are required to choose a form of physical recreation and follow it regularly for the minimum required period of time. They must show improvement of overall performance and genuine effort, relative to their capabilities and starting point.

Gold: 40 hours over 12 weeks

Residential Project (Gold Award Participants Only)
Aim: The purpose of this section is to broaden experience through involvement with others in a community project. This project should provide the opportunity to develop maturity, leadership and responsibility.
Requirement: Participants are required to undertake or initiate a project that will serve or have a beneficial impact on a community.

Thursday, August 17, 2006

NYAA for dummies

NYAA Crest


The aim of the NYAA Programme is to be a non-competitive programme that encourages and motivates young people between the ages of 14 and 25 to develop personal qualities of self-reliance, perseverance and sense of responsibility to themselves, society and the nation.

The criteria for an Award are self-improvement and effort. The participant is judged on personal achievement measured against original circumstances and potential capabilities. This allows for the less able and disadvantaged to participate on an equal opportunity basis.

The NYAA Programme is completely voluntary. Participants choose activities that they are interested in and complete them on their own free time. The NYAA Programme is a framework designed help young people improve themselves. It is essentially a do-it-yourself kit for youth development.

There are three levels of the Award - Bronze, Silver and Gold. Each level requires a greater degree of commitment and determination.

The NYAA Programme is a marathon, not a sprint and for each level minimum requirements are set. Participants can exceed the minimum requirements, but they cannot do less than the minimum requirements.

Each participant has until his or her 25th birthday to complete the programme.

Level of Award

Minimum Age

Minimum Time Period

Bronze

14 years & above

6 Months

Silver

15 years & above

12 Months

Gold

16 years & above

18 Months


Regardless of which level of the Award a young person is participating in, they are required complete projects in the following areas:

Gold Award participants are required to complete an additional project - the Residential Project.

Aim

The aim of the Service Section is to learn how to give useful service to others.


Requirement

The requirement is to undertake the necessary training and give regular practical service for at least:

Bronze: 15 hours spread over a period of three months
Silver: 30 hours spread over a period of six months
Gold: 60 hours spread over a period of 12 months
Aim
The purpose of this section is to encourage a spirit of adventure and discovery.

Requirement
The requirement for this section is to plan, train for and undertake a venture. The venture must involve a defined purpose. The venture must involve travel by personal effort and may be on foot, cycle or on water.

Expeditions should meet the following minimum requirements:

Level Miniumum Requirement
Bronze:

Two days out, including one night in an unfamiliar setting, including at least 12 hours of effort and activity
Silver:

Three days out, including two nights in an unfamiliar setting, including at least 21 hours of effort and activity
Gold:


Four days out, including three nights in an unfamiliar setting, including at least 32 hours of effort and activity

Explorations
Participants can undertake either an Expedition or Exploration.

Explorations involve less journeying and a greater proportion of time is spent on approved, first hand investigations or other specified activities. Explorations have to be undertaken in the context of an Expedition and involve a minimum of 10 hours journeying.

Participants are required to present a report or account of their venture.

Aim
The purpose of this section is to encourage the development of personal interests and practical skills.

Requirement
Participants are required to choose a skill and follow it regularly for the minimum required period of time. They must show individual progress and sustained interest, based on their own capabilities and potential.

Level Minimum Requirement
Bronze: 6 months
Silver: 12 months
Gold: 18 months

Aim
The purpose of this section is to encourage participation in physical recreation and improvement of performance.

Requirement
Participants are required to choose a form of physical recreation and follow it regularly for the minimum required period of time. They must show improvement of overall performance and genuine effort, relative to their capabilities and starting point.

Level Minimum Requirement
Bronze: 20 hours over 8 weeks
Silver: 30 hours over 10 weeks
Gold: 40 hours over 12 weeks
Aim
The purpose of this section is to broaden experience through involvement with others in a community project. This project should provide the opportunity to develop maturity, leadership and responsibility.

Requirement
Participants are required to undertake or initiate a project that will serve or have a beneficial impact on a community.

Assessment

When participants enroll in the NYAA Programme, they are given a Record Book and an Award Diary.

As participants complete each section of the programme, their supervisors or instructors or assessors endorse that they have completed that section in the Record Book. As they go through the programme, participants record their thoughts and reflections in the Award Diary.

Gold Award participants are required to prepare a report on their experiences in the NYAA Programme. This report is essentially an expansion of the Award Diary. Participants are free to include photographs, copies of certificates, etc. in the report.

When a participant has completed all projects for an Award, he or she submits the Record Book and Award Diary to the NYAA Council for endorsement.

Receiving the Award

Once the NYAA Council endorses that all activities have been completed and endorsed by the respective Operating Authorities, the participant is invited to an Award Presentation Ceremony to receive their Award.

The Gold Award is usually presented by the President of the Republic of Singapore. Bronze and Silver Awards are typically presented by a Minister.

The Ministry of Education awards Co-Curricular Activity bonus points to all students who have achieved the National Youth Achievement Award, which can aid in admission to polytechnics and universities.

How to Enrol in the Programme

To enroll in the NYAA Programme, please register with the NYAA Secretariat.

Submit your application using our Online Enrolment Form or

Download and print the Enrolment Form

Registration Fees:

Bronze Level: $7, Silver Level: $12, Gold Level: $17

Please submit your enrolment form with a cheque payable to: National Youth Achievement Award. Mail to:
NYAA Council, 5 Magazine Road #03-02 Central Mall, Singapore 059571.

Wednesday, August 16, 2006

INTRODUCTION

Dear Fusionoizees,

As your Award Coordinator (ahem!), I have started this blog for us to commune as you go on your NYAA Gold award journey in the next 18 months especially since all of you are busy with your prelim and o level preparaitons and will not be in vs in about 3 months time.

I will be posting the requirements and the activities we will be embarking together in this programme. Starting with information about the Adventurous Journey and the Residential Project. The progress of this blog is a good record of the conversations of your involvement in the planning and execution of the various activities we are embarking for the different sections of this award. So chip in and set-off!

Let the conversation begin!