TRAVEL TUESDAY 481 - AJANTA CAVES, INDIA

“Conquer the angry one by not getting angry; conquer the wicked by goodness; conquer the stingy by generosity, and the liar by speaking the truth.” - The Buddha

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The Ajanta Caves are 30 rock-cut Buddhist cave monuments dating from the second century BCE to about 480 CE in Aurangabad district of Maharashtra state in India. Ajanta Caves are a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Universally regarded as masterpieces of Buddhist religious art, the caves include paintings and rock-cut sculptures described as among the finest surviving examples of ancient Indian art, particularly expressive paintings that present emotions through gesture, pose and form.

The caves were built in two phases, the first starting around the second century BCE and the second occurring from 400 to 650 CE, according to older accounts, or in a brief period of 460–480 CE according to later scholarship. The Ajanta Caves constitute ancient monasteries (Viharas) and worship-halls (Chaityas) of different Buddhist traditions carved into a 75-metre wall of rock.

The caves also present paintings depicting the past lives and rebirths of the Buddha, pictorial tales from Aryasura's Jatakamala, and rock-cut sculptures of Buddhist deities. Textual records suggest that these caves served as a monsoon retreat for monks, as well as a resting site for merchants and pilgrims in ancient India. While vivid colours and mural wall paintings were abundant in Indian history as evidenced by historical records, Caves 1, 2, 16 and 17 of Ajanta form the largest corpus of surviving ancient Indian wall-paintings.

Shown in the photo above is the interior of Ajanta chaitya hall, in Cave 26. The inscriptions include a vision statement and the aim to make: “A memorial on the mountain that will endure for as long as the moon and the sun continue to shine.” The sculptures in Cave 26 are elaborate and more intricate than those in other caves. It is among the last caves excavated, and an inscription suggests it was built in the late 5th or early 6th century.

The Ajanta Caves are threatened by a number of factors, including water damage, biological effects, and human activity. These factors have caused significant deterioration to the cave paintings and sculptures, and have compromised structural integrity of the caves.

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TRAVEL TUESDAY 480 - SON DOONG CAVE, VIETNAM

"I'd rather live in a cave with a view of a palace than live in a palace with a view of a cave."  Karl Pilkington

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Sơn Đoòng cave (Vietnamese: hang Sơn Đoòng), in Phong Nha-Kẻ Bàng National Park, Bố Trạch District, Quảng Bình Province, Vietnam, is the world's largest natural cave. Located near the Laos–Vietnam border, Hang Sơn Đoòng has an internal, fast-flowing subterranean river and the largest cross-section of any cave, worldwide, believed to be twice that of the next-largest passage. It is the largest known cave passage in the world by volume.

Its name, Hang Sơn Đoòng, is variously translated from Vietnamese as "cave of the mountain river" or "cave of mountains behind Đoòng village”. As a solutional cave, it was formed in soluble limestone and is believed to be between 2 and 5 million years old.

The cave contains some of the tallest known stalagmites in the world, which are up to 80 m tall Behind the ‘Great Wall of Vietnam’ were found cave pearls the size of baseballs, an abnormally large size. The cave's interior is so large that it could fit an entire New York block inside, including skyscrapers, or could have a Boeing 747 fly through it without its wings touching either side.

The entrance to Hang Sơn Đoòng was found in 1991 by a local man named Hồ Khanh, while searching for agarwood, a valuable timber. Although he initially went to investigate further, he was discouraged upon approach by the sound of rushing water and the strong wind issuing from the entrance. Not thinking it to be of any great importance, by the time he returned to his home, he had forgotten the exact location of the entrance. Later, he mentioned his discovery in passing to two members of the British Cave Research Association (BCRA), who were exploring in the local area. They asked him to attempt to rediscover the entrance, which he eventually managed to do in 2008, and in 2009, he led an expedition from the BCRA to the entrance.

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TRAVEL TUESDAY 479 - SIDI-BOU-SAID, TUNISIA

“I dream of a free, democratic, peaceful Tunisia, a country that can protect its developing identity.” - Rashed al-Ghannushi

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Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is the northernmost country in Africa. It is a part of the Maghreb region of North Africa, bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares maritime borders with Italy through the islands of Sicily and Sardinia to the north and Malta to the east.

It features the archaeological sites of Carthage dating back to the 9th century BC, as well as the Great Mosque of Kairouan. Known for its ancient architecture, souks, and blue coasts, it covers 163,610 km2, and has a population of 12.1 million. It contains the eastern end of the Atlas Mountains and the northern reaches of the Sahara desert; much of its remaining territory is arable land. Its 1,300 km of coastline includes the African conjunction of the western and eastern parts of the Mediterranean Basin. Tunisia is home to Africa's northernmost point, Cape Angela.

Located on the northeastern coast, Tunis is the capital and largest city of the country, which is itself named after Tunis. The official language of Tunisia is Modern Standard Arabic. The vast majority of Tunisia's population is Arab and Muslim. Vernacular Tunisian Arabic is the most spoken, and French also serves as an administrative and educational language in some contexts, but it has no official status.

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TRAVEL TUESDAY 478 - BOSRA, SYRIA

“The age in which we live can only be characterised as one of barbarism. Our civilisation is in the process not only of being militarised, but also being brutalised. Alva Myrdal

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The Roman Theatre at Bosra (Arabic: المسرح الروماني ببصرى) is a large Roman theatre in Bosra, in the district of Dar'a in south-western Syria. It was built in either the second quarter or the second half of the second century AD, and is constructed of black basalt.  It is likely that the theatre was built during the reign of Trajan. The theatre was originally built outside the walls of the town, but was later completely enclosed by an Ayyūbid fortress. The city of Bosra had its fortifications expanded between 481 and 1251. When later integrated into the fortifications, its role was to serve as a citadel and to guard a road leading to Damascus.

The theatre is 102 metres across and has seating for about 17,000 people; it is thus among the largest of the Ancient Roman civilisation.  It served a city that once had 80,000 inhabitants. It is also one of the best preserved both in Syria and across the Roman empire. It was substantially restored between 1947 and 1970, before which it contained large quantities of sand, which may have helped to protect the interior.

Palmyra, a UNESCO world heritage site that once linked Persia, India and China with the Roman empire and the Mediterranean area, has already seen destruction at the hands of the Islamic State group. The ancient town first fell to IS militants in May 2015, when they held it for 10 months. During that time, IS damaged a number of its relics and eventually emptied it of most of its residents, causing an international outcry. 

In 2017, Islamic State militants destroyed parts of the amphitheatre, as well as an iconic monument known as the Tetrapylon in Syria's historic town of Palmyra. It was another of the group's latest attack on world heritage, an act that the UN cultural agency called a "war crime.” As of July 2018, the site is still on the UNESCO's list of World Heritage in Danger. The theatre was added to the list in 2013.

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