Historic Centre of Prague

Prague is on the top of my list of cities that I want to visit and the more I read about it the more I want to go there

Old Town and New Town of Prague

This postcard was sent by Sam

Built between the 11th and 18th centuries, the Old Town, the Lesser Town and the New Town speak of the great architectural and cultural influence enjoyed by this city since the Middle Ages. The many magnificent monuments, such as Hradcani Castle, St Vitus Cathedral, Charles Bridge and numerous churches and palaces, built mostly in the 14th century under the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles IV. - in: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/616

Old Town Square

Old Town Square is a historic square in the Old Town quarter of Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic.

The square features various architectural styles including the Gothic Church of Our Lady before Týn, which has been the main church of this part of the city since the 14th century; the church's towers are 80 m high. Prague Orloj is a medieval astronomical clock located on the Old Town Hall. The clock was first installed in 1410, making it the third-oldest astronomical clock in the world and the oldest one still in operation. - in: wikipedia

Old Town and Charles Bridge

This postcard was sent from Portugal by José "Pombal"

The Old Town of Prague is a medieval settlement of Prague, Czech Republic. It was separated from the outside by a semi-circular moat and wall, connected to the Vltava river at both of its ends.

The Old Town is surrounded by the New Town of Prague. Across the river Vltava connected by the Charles Bridge is the Lesser Town of Prague. - in: wikipedia

Charles Bridge

The Charles Bridge (Czech: Karlův most) is an historic bridge that crosses the Vltava river in Prague, Czech Republic. Its construction started in 1357 under the auspices of King Charles IV, and finished in the beginning of the 15th century. The bridge replaced the old Judith Bridge built 1158–1172 that had been badly damaged by a flood in 1342. This new bridge was originally called the Stone Bridge (Kamenný most) or the Prague Bridge (Pražský most) but has been the "Charles Bridge" since 1870. As the only means of crossing the river Vltava (Moldau) until 1841, the Charles Bridge was the most important connection between Prague Castle and the city's Old Town and adjacent areas. 

The bridge is decorated by a continuous alley of 30 statues and statuaries, most of them baroque-style, originally erected around 1700 but now all replaced by replicas. - in: wikipedia

Lesser Town of Prague

This postcard was sent from Belarus by Marina 

Malá Strana (Czech for "Little Side (of the River)",  or more officially Menší Město pražské (English: Lesser Town of Prague) is a district of the city of Prague, Czech Republic, and one of its most historic regions.

Baroque architecture predominates in Malá Strana, but the history of the district dates back to far before the Baroque era. Baroque architecture eventually dominated when the style became successfully implanted on Malá Strana after the district was devastated by fires in 1541. - in: wikipedia

Western Ghats

This is a mountain range that runs parallel to the western coast of the Indian peninsula

Western Ghats

This postcard was sent by Nagi

Older than the Himalaya mountains, the mountain chain of the Western Ghats represents geomorphic features of immense importance with unique biophysical and ecological processes. The site’s high montane forest ecosystems influence the Indian monsoon weather pattern. Moderating the tropical climate of the region, the site presents one of the best examples of the monsoon system on the planet. It also has an exceptionally high level of biological diversity and endemism and is recognized as one of the world’s eight ‘hottest hotspots’ of biological diversity. The forests of the site include some of the best representatives of non-equatorial tropical evergreen forests anywhere and are home to at least 325 globally threatened flora, fauna, bird, amphibian, reptile and fish species. - in: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1342

Lion-tailed Macaque in Nilgiri Mountains

This postcard was sent by Vinay

The Nilgiri (Blue Mountains), form part of the Western Ghats in western Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala states in Southern India. At least 24 of the Nilgiri mountains' peaks are above 2,000 metres (6,600 ft), the highest peak being Doddabetta, at 2,637 metres (8,652 ft).

The lion-tailed macaque (Macaca silenus), or the wanderoo, is an Old World monkey endemic to the Western Ghats of South India.

The hair of the lion-tailed macaque is black. Its outstanding characteristic is the silver-white mane which surrounds the head from the cheeks down to its chin, which gives this monkey its German name Bartaffe - "beard ape". The hairless face is black in colour. - in: wikipedia

Manas Wildlife Sanctuary

This park is home of a great variety of wildlife, including many rare and endangered species, such as these lovely little monkeys 

Manas National Park or Manas Wildlife Sanctuary is a national park, UNESCO Natural World Heritage site, a Project Tiger reserve, an elephant reserve and a biosphere reserve in Assam, India.

The sanctuary has recorded 55 species of mammals, 380 species of birds, 50 of reptiles, and 3 species of amphibians. 

The fauna of the sanctuary include Indian elephants, Indian rhinoceros, gaurs, Asian water buffaloes, barasingha, Indian tigers, Indian leopards, clouded leopards, Asian golden cats, dholes, capped langurs, golden langurs, Assamese macaques, slow loris, hoolock gibbons, smooth-coated otters, sloth bears, barking deers, hog deers, black panthers, sambar deers and chitals. - in: wikipedia

Hoolock Gibbon in Manas National Park

This postcard was sent by Vinay

The hoolock gibbons are three primate species of genus Hoolock in the gibbon family, Hylobatidae, native to eastern Bangladesh, Northeast India and Southwest China.

In northeast India, the hoolock is found south of Brahmaputra and east of the Dibang Rivers. - in: wikipedia

Golden Langur in Manas National Park

This postcard was sent by Col Akhil

Gee's golden langur (Trachypithecus geei), or simply the golden langur, is an Old World monkey found in a small region of western Assam, India and in the neighboring foothills of the Black Mountains of Bhutan. It is one of the most endangered primate species of India. Long considered sacred by many Himalayan people, the golden langur was first brought to the attention of the western world by the naturalist E. P. Gee in the 1950s. - in: wikipedia

Great Himalayan National Park Conservation Area

This park is characterized by high alpine peaks, alpine meadows and riverine forests

Great Himalayan National Park

This postcard was sent by Prashanth

The Great Himalayan National Park Conservation Area is located in the western part of the Himalayan Mountains in the northern Indian State of Himachal Pradesh. The 90,540 ha property includes the upper mountain glacial and snow melt water source origins of the westerly flowing Jiwa Nal, Sainj and Tirthan Rivers and the north-westerly flowing Parvati River which are all headwater tributaries to the River Beas and subsequently, the Indus River. The property includes an elevational range from high alpine peaks of over 6,000m a.s.l to riverine forest at altitudes below 2,000m a.s.l. The Great Himalayan National Park Conservation Area encompasses the catchments of water supplies which are vital to millions of downstream users.

Great Himalayan National Park

This postcard was sent by Vinay

The property lies within the ecologically distinct Western Himalayas at the junction between two of the world’s major biogeographic realms, the Palearctic and Indomalayan Realms. Displaying biotic elements from both these realms, the Great Himalayan National Park Conservation Area protects the monsoon affected forests and alpine meadows of the Himalayan front ranges which sustain a unique biota comprised of many distinct altitude-sensitive ecosystems. The property is home to many plants and animals endemic to the region. The Great Himalayan National Park Conservation Area displays distinct broadleaf and conifer forest types forming mosaics of habitat across steep valley side landscapes. It is a compact, natural and biodiverse protected area system that includes 25 forest types and an associated rich assemblage of fauna species. - in: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1406

Mountain Railways of India

This first postcard was my first postcard from India, the second one was one of the last.

Kalka-Shimla Railway

This postcard was sent by Nagi

This site includes three railways. The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway was the first, and is still the most outstanding, example of a hill passenger railway. Opened in 1881, its design applies bold and ingenious engineering solutions to the problem of establishing an effective rail link across a mountainous terrain of great beauty. The construction of the Nilgiri Mountain Railway, a 46-km long metre-gauge single-track railway in Tamil Nadu State was first proposed in 1854, but due to the difficulty of the mountainous location the work only started in 1891 and was completed in 1908. This railway, scaling an elevation of 326 m to 2,203 m, represented the latest technology of the time. The Kalka Shimla Railway, a 96-km long, single track working rail link built in the mid-19th century to provide a service to the highland town of Shimla is emblematic of the technical and material efforts to disenclave mountain populations through the railway. All three railways are still fully operational. - in: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/944

Nilgiri Mountain Railway

This postcard was sent by Vinay

The Nilgiri Mountain Railway is a railway in Tamil Nadu, India, built by the British in 1908, and was initially operated by the Madras Railway. The railway relies on its fleet of steam locomotives.

The 'Nilgiri Passenger' train covers a distance of 26 km (16.2 mi), travels through 208 curves, 16 tunnels, and across 250 bridges. The uphill journey takes around 290 minutes (4.8 hours), and the downhill journey takes 215 minutes (3.6 hours). - in: wikipedia

San Marino Historic Centre and Mount Titano

San Marino is surrounded by Italy, so it's probably a good site to visit along with some Italian sites, like the sender of this card did

San Marino Historic Centre

This postcard was sent from Germany by Claas

San Marino is one of the world’s oldest republics and the only surviving Italian city-state, representing an important stage in the development of democratic models in Europe and worldwide. The tangible expressions of this long continuity as the capital of the Republic, its unchanged geo-political context and juridical and institutional functions, is found in the strategic position on the top of Mount Titano, the historic urban layout, urban spaces and many public monuments. San Marino has a widely recognised iconic status as a symbol of a free city-state, illustrated in political debate, literature and arts through the centuries. The defensive walls and the historic centre have undergone changes over time that include intensive restoration and reconstruction between the end of the 19th century and the first decades of the 20th century, a process that can be considered to be part of the history of the property and reflects changing approaches to conservation and presentation of heritage over time. - in: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1245

Lake Malawi National Park

Lake Malawi National Park was created to protect fish and aquatic habitats but also include a fair amount of land, including several small islands in Lake Malawi. This postcard shows MV Ilala, a ferry that crosses the lake leaving from Monkey Bay

MV Ilala leaving from Monkey Bay

This postcard was sent by Emerich

Located at the southern end of the great expanse of Lake Malawi, the property is of global importance for biodiversity conservation due particularly to its fish diversity. Lying within the Western Rift Valley, Lake Malawi is one of the deepest lakes in the world. The property is an area of exceptional natural beauty with the rugged landscapes around it contrasting with the remarkably clear waters of the lake. The property is home to many hundreds of cichlid fish, nearly all of which are endemic to Lake Malawi, and are known locally as "mbuna". The mbuna fishes display a significant example of biological evolution. Due to the isolation of Lake Malawi from other water bodies, its fish have developed impressive adaptive radiation and speciation, and are an outstanding example of the ecological processes. in: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/289/