Lagoons of New Caledonia

A stunning view of Lagoons of New Caledonia: Reef Diversity and Associated Ecosystems, a UNESCO site since 2008. The special stamp features the Year of Horse issued in Feb 2014 by OPT-NC . Many thanks to Georges for this gorgeous postcard with so special a stamp for me! It was sent on 28th Feb from
Calédoscope and arrived in the General Post Office of HK on 18th March.

Budapest & Year of Horse

It was really excited when I got this card in hand as the night view of the banks of the Danube in Budapest is so beautiful! Budapest is a very famous European city for Chinese, also the area shown on the card has been inscribed as a World Cultural Heritage site. What's more surprising and grateful is that there are two very special stamps - "The Year of Horse" on the backside! As you know, now many many countries issue the Chinese New Year stamps but it is the first time Hungary Post does. They chose some classical works by famous Chinese painter Xu Beihong who is known for his Chinese ink paintings of horses and birds. His Chinese name "徐悲鸿" is also shown on these stamps! Many thanks to Agata from Croatia, who sent me this wonderful card along with new year greetings from this romantic city! :)

Cuzco - Traditional Costume and Machu Picchu

A nice postcard shows local people wearing traditional costume in Cuzco region, southern Peru. Cuzco region was the center of the Inca Empire and now it is famous for the heritage sites left such as the well-known Machu Picchu as you can see from the postcard below (actually it is also shown on the backside of the first postcard too XD).I am so grateful to my friend (Juris of Latvia) and friend's friend (Ya'nan of China), who  traveled and sent me postcards from this amazing place..The view of Machu Picchu is really breathtaking and the traditinal costume is very colorful and impressive!  (It is strange the postmark on the first card does not have any  date..)

  

Rock Islands, Palau

An amazing view from Palau, an island country located in the western Pacific Ocean. The postcard shows you the Rock Islands, a huge ecological system with natural beauty. "Rock Islands Southern Lagoon" was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2012, making it the first site in the country and one of the 29 mixed heritages in the world. Many thanks to Guanyu's friend, who sent me it from Koror, the largest city of Palau.

Canaima National Park

Canaima National Park in south-eastern Venezuela is famous for its special even unique landscape of "tepui" formations. "Tepui" is a table-top mountain found in this area, characterized by the sheet cliffs and waterfalls. The postcard shown above depicts a nice view of Kukenán-tepui at sunrise. The view on the top of Kukenán-tepui has been a source of inspiration for the Disney animated film Up.

Auyán-tepui is the most visited tepui inside the national park because of the Angel Falls which drops from a cleft near the summit. An Indian village "Kavac" is located at the foot of the Auyán-tepui and the traditional house is called "churuata". A nice postcard shows the dawn in the Kavac community.

Angel Falls is the highest waterfall in the world, with a height of 979 m. It is not easy to arrive in this area, as the fact that the most beautiful views are always located in those hard-to-reach places. Just talked with a friend back from Venezuela, he told me  he finally saw the amazing fall after a long journey by plane, by canoe and then by foot.

The last card shows another special landscape in the eastern park of the national park: the Jasper formations. Jasper is the name of a river and some cascades and waterfalls in Venezuela based on the fact that the water flows over a smooth bedrock of mostly read and black jasper. In 1994, the Canaima National Park was named a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

Many thanks to my friend Luis for these wonderful postcards! :)

Stone Town of Zanzibar

                          

My friend Jing, who works in Dar es Salaam, took a trip to Zanzibar last month. He said the island has an amazing sea view, and also impressive heritages such as the "crazy doors". :) So he chose this postcard to share with me some well-decorated wooden doors inside the Stone Town (the old part of Zanzibar city). Actually the architectures in the old town, mostly dating back to the 19th century, reflects the diverse influences underlying the Swahili culture, with a unique mixture of Arab, Persian, Indian and European elements. "Stone Town of Zanzibar" was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2000.

Jing is a big fan of postcard, stamp and post office. He had prepared some stamps and matching postcards in advance, then went to the post office to get the postmarks of Zanzibar to make some maximum cards. The two he did for me show a Swahili woman and the Palace Museum of Zanzibar, respectively. Much appreciated!

Wooden church at Hervartov, Slovakia

The Roman Catholic wooden church dedicated to Saint Francis of Assisi at Hervartov, Slovakia was built around the end of the 15th century. As the oldest and the best preserved surviving wooden church in the country, it has been included on the UNESCO Word Heritage List along with several others under title "Wooden Churches of the Slovak part of the Carpathian Mountain Area".
I would like to thank Nataša for this gorgeous postcard sent on my birthday as a surprising gift! Greatly indebted. :-) It shows both the exterior and the interior ( most valuable Gothic pictures and wall paintings) of the church. The stamps of the same church and Pope John Paul II are definitively well-selected to match the theme as well! Thank you again Nataša!

BTW, this article provides a good tour to the church.

Patan Durbar Square at the time of Rato Machheendranath Festival

  

The postcard shows a view of Patan Durbar Square at the time of Rato Machheendranath Festival. Patan Durbar Square is one of the three Durbar Squares ( which is the generic name used to describe plazas and areas opposite the old royal palaces in Nepal and consists of temples, idols, open courts, water fountains and more) in the Kathmandu Valley, all of which have been UNESCO World Heritage Sites since 1979. Rato Machhendranath is a god of rain worshiped by both Hindus and Buddhists in Nepal. The temple of Rato Machchhindranath lies in the southern part of the Patan Durbar Square since 1673.

Many thanks to Tingting for this special postcard with an interesting stamp of "Elephant Football". :)

City of Graz – Historic Centre and Schloss Eggenberg

Received another postcard from Graz shows the Schloss Eggenberg (Eggenberg Palace) which is the most significant Baroque palace complex in Styria. In 2010, Schloss Eggenberg was recognized for its significance to cultural history in an expansion to the listing of the Graz Historic Old Town among UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Sites. Thanks again to Jasmin, she is kind enough to queue in the post office in order to get for me the hand postmark!:-)

Graz is the second-largest city in Austria after Vienna. Its old town is one of the best-preserved city centers in Central Europe and was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1999 due to the harmonious co-existence of typical buildings from different epochs and in different architectural styles. Situated in a cultural borderland between Central Europe, Italy and the Balkan States, Graz absorbed various influences from the neighboring regions and thus received its exceptional townscape. Today the old town consists of over 1000 buildings, their age ranging from Gothic to Contemporary. 

I am very grateful to have these two nice postcards sent from Graz with beautiful stamps. Thank you very much Jasmin! The first card features a panoramic view of the old town from the air. You can see the Schlossberg or Castle Hill located in the center, as well as some important sights in the old town such as the City Hall and the Landhaus. The famous Uhrturm clock tower is shown on the second card, which is on the top of Schlossberg and is the symbol of the city. 

Madriu-Perafita-Claror Valley

Many thanks to my friend “Postcardman”, who lives in the Netherlands and sent me this beautiful postcard from Andorra when he had a trip there. The only one UNESCO World Heritage Site “Madriu-Perafita-Claror Valley” in this tiny country is shown on the card. He also used a special mini-sheet “Europa 2012 – Visit Andorra” for my collection, much appreciated !

Santiago de Compostela (Old Town)

(Updated on 02/12/2013) Received another awesome postcard shows the full view of the old town from the air. Thank you so much Verónica ! ;-)

Santiago de Compostela is located in province of A Coruñais in northwestern Spain; it is also the capital of the autonomous community of Galicia. The city has its origin in the shrine of Saint James the Great, one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus. As the destination of the Way of St. James which is a major historical pilgrimage route since the Early Middle Ages, also as the reputed burial-place of Saint James the Great, the city’s cathedral is of great religious and culture significance. In 1985, the cathedral as well as the old town was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Actually the Way of St. James was one of the most important Christian pilgrimages during medieval times, together with Rome and Jerusalem, it played a fundamental role in encouraging cultural exchanges between the Iberian Peninsula and the rest of Europe that time, and thus it was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1993 too. I would like to take this opportunity, to thank my friend Verónica from this famous Spainish city, who sent me this gorgeous postcard shows the great cathedral at night. The beautiful stamps on the postcard are much appreciated too.

Belfries of Antwerp

In Antwerp, the second most populous city in Belgium famous for its diamond trading industry, there are two belfries on the list of World Heritage Sites: the Cathedral of Our Lady and the Antwerp City Hall. Actually, they are two of the totally fifty six historical buildings in Belgium and France which are designated together as a group under “Belfries of Belgium and France”. 

The two postcards were sent by Axel of France when he was visiting Antwerp, magnificent architecture! Nice special chocolate stamps were used, thank you so much Axel. ;-) The stamps smell nice just as those from real chocolate, I have one sheet for collection (many thanks to Anne of Luxembourg!).

Northern Light and Thingvellir Church

Thingvellir (Þingvellir) is of historical significance to Iceland : it was the birth place of the Alþingi, the oldest parliamentary institution of the world established in the year 930 AD. Major events in the history of Iceland have taken place at Thingvellir, such as in 1944 Icelanders declared their independent there and the new Republic established.  In 2004, "Þingvellir National Park"was inscribed on the World Heritage List under cultural category.

This beautiful postcard shows Thingvellir Church under northern light. This church was a present of the King of Norway after Iceland's acceptance of Christianity. I have to thank Kristín for this awesome postcard and a beautiful story behind it. :-) 

Sukhotai Historical Park

The Sukhothai Historical Park covers the ruins of Sukhothai, capital of the Sukhothai - the first Kingdom of Siam in the 13th and 14th centuries. It is located near the modern city of Sukhothai, capital of the province with the same name in the north of Thailand. Inside the park are the remains of the royal palace and twenty-six temples, the largest being Wat Mahathat (as shown on both the two postcards). In 1991, it was declared a World Heritage Site as part of the Historic Town of Sukhothai and Associated Historic Towns together with the associated historic parks in Kamphaeng Phet and Si Satchanalai (as shown on the stamps of the first postcard).

Thanks to Chatchawan and Jirasorn, two Thai friends who sent me the beautiful postcards with pretty stamps. There are many monks and nearby people come here to give them food, it is very often seen in Southeast Asia countries called “Alms Giving”. But it is very interesting to see it in boats on a beautiful lake full of lotus, what a peaceful scene!

Quebrada de Humahuaca

The Quebrada de Humahuaca is a narrow mountain valley located in the province of Jujuy in northwest Argentina. It was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2003. This postcard shows the Seven Colour Hill which is one of the bordering hills of Quebrada de Humahuaca and the village of Purmamarca at his feet. Purmamarca cradles millions of years of history, from the colors of hills, created by the effects of the marine sediments that tell of a post under the sea, or the typical architecture of the colonial age.

I would like to thank Jorgelina for sending me this gorgeous card from Argentina. Great stamps are used which are much more than appreciated! :)