BY-410931

Another mexican card but this is actually an official card from Belarus!!

 Photo by A & P Giberstein

BY-410931, sent by Sergey.

Puerto Vallarta is a Mexican balneario resort city situated on the Pacific Ocean's Bahía de Banderas, in the state of Jalisco.

Around the Bay, beautiful beaches, lush jungles and sparkling waterfalls offer many opportunities for the adventurous, while five star resorts, world-class shopping and gourmet restaurants satisfy even the most sophisticated traveler. Stretching from the south end of Old Town to central downtown, a newly extended and refurbished boardwalk along the ocean, called the Malecon, passes by any number of shops, restaurants, and hotels, and often plays host to mimes, breakdancers, clowns and artists.

The residents of Puerto Vallarta are very friendly and generally willing to help with directions and other requests. Old TownVallarta (or the Zona Romantica district) south of the River Cuale is more like a Mexican town and less like a tourist trap.

English is widely spoken, and as a tourist destination prices are higher than many other places in Mexico. - in: wikitravel

Mexican Unesco cards

Yesterday i've received my 650th Unesco site, none of these from Mexico though. These were sent by Nan "ConEtoiles". The 1st is from the Pre-Hispanic City and National Park of Palenque and the 2nd from Guanajuato.

Photo by Vicente Kramsky

Palenque is prime example of a Mayan city state in southern Mexico that flourished in the 7th century. The elegance and craftsmanship of the buildings, as well as the lightness of the sculpted reliefs with their Mayan mythological themes, attest to the creative genius of this civilization. The card shows the Palace and the temple of the Inscriptions.

The Palace, actually a complex of several connected and adjacent buildings and courtyards built up over several generations on a wide artificial terrace. The Palace houses many fine sculptures and bas-relief carvings in addition to the distinctive four-story tower.

The Temple of Inscriptions was begun perhaps as early as 675 as the funerary monument of Hanab-Pakal. - in: wikipedia

 VISUALDI

Guanajuato is a city and municipality in central Mexico and the capital of the state of the same name. The Historic Town of Guanajuato and Adjacent Mines are a World Heritage Site since 1988.

Founded by the Spanish in the early 16th century, Guanajuato became the world's leading silver-extraction centre in the 18th century. This past can be seen in its 'subterranean streets' and the 'Boca del Inferno', a mineshaft that plunges a breathtaking 600 m. The town's fine Baroque and neoclassical buildings, resulting from the prosperity of the mines, have influenced buildings throughout central Mexico. - in: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/482

The building in the card is the Juárez Theater, built from 1872 to 1903.

Churches in Colombia

In the last weeks i've received new cards from Colombia. The 1st, was sent by Claus and it shows the Las Lajas Sanctuary and the 2nd, the San Francisco Church in Cali, was sent by Katelin "thebluemorpho".  

Photo by Omar Bechara

Las Lajas Sanctuary is a minor basilica church located in the southern Colombian Department of Nariño, municipality of Ipiales and built inside the canyon of the Guáitara River.

The present church was built in Gothic Revival style in 1949. The name Laja comes from the name of a type of flat sedimentary rock similar to shale.

The existence of a shrine in this location was recorded in the accounts of friar Juan de Santa Gertrudis's journey through the southern region of the New Kingdom of Granada between 1756 and 1764. The first shrine was built here in the middle of 18th century from straw and wood. It was replaced with a new, larger shrine in 1802, which in turn was extended and connected to the opposite side of canyon with a bridge.

Current church was built in the time period from January 1, 1916 to August 20, 1949, with donations from local churchgoers. It rises 100 m high from the bottom of canyon and is connected with 50 m tall bridge to the opposite side of the canyon. - in: wikipedia

 © Copyright by Humberto Castaño de Narvaéz

Cali, is a city in western Colombia and the capital of the Valle del Cauca Department. Cali is the third largest city in the country.

The San Francisco Church is a neoclassic temple built between 1803 and 1827. The church is part of the San Francisco Religious Complex, owned by the franciscan community in Cali.

Sumatran Orangutans

I've received these two cute orangutans today and i'm so in love with them. The animals are super cute and this card is super special because with this card, sent by Dee, i've now all the indonesian Unesco sites.

These animals live in the Bukit Lawang reserve, which is an animal sanctuary of Sumatran orangutan, located inside the Gunung Leuser National Park. Together with two other national parks, this park forms a World Heritage Site, Tropical Rainforest Heritage of Sumatra.

Photo by: Alain Compost

The Sumatran orangutan (Pongo abelii) is one of the two species of orangutans. Found only on the island of Sumatra, in Indonesia, it is rarer than the Bornean orangutan.
The average interbirth rates for the Sumatran orangutan is 9.3 years
Infant orangutans will stay close to their mother for up to three years. Even after that, the young will still associate with their mother. Both orangutan species are likely to live several decades; estimated longevity is more than 50 years. The average of the first reproduction of P. abelii is around 15.4 years old.
The Sumatran orangutan is endemic to Sumatra island and is particularly restricted to the north of the island.

The species has been assessed as critically endangered on the IUCN Red List since 2000. It is considered one of "The World's 25 Most Endangered Primates."

A survey in 2004 estimated that around 7,300 Sumatran orangutans still live in the wild. - in: wikipedia

KR-35233

An official from South Korea.

KR-35233, sent by Jinee.

I've no idea where in South Korea is this building located. There's no information about it on the card.

When i receive a postcard i really like to know a bit more about the place, building, monument on the card. Looking at the picture is not enought, i always want to learn something.

RU-819713

An official from St. Petersburg, Russia showing the Monument to Peter I, the Bronze Horseman.

RU-819713, sent by Lena.
The Bronze Horseman is an equestrian statue of Peter the Great in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Commissioned by Catherine the Great, it was created by the French sculptor Étienne Maurice Falconet. It is also the name of a narrative poem written by Aleksandr Pushkin about the statue in 1833, widely considered to be one of the most significant works of Russian literature. The statue came to be known as the Bronze Horseman because of the great influence of the poem. The statue is now one of the symbols of Saint Petersburg, in much the same way that the Statue of Liberty is a symbol of New York City. Both of them were designed and built by French artists.

The statue's pedestal is the enormous Thunder Stone, claimed to be the largest stone ever moved by man (1,250 t). Before carving, the stone weighed about 1500 tonnes. It was carved during transit to its current site. - in: wikipedia

NL-1136511

An official from the Netherlands showing Amsterdam typical houses.

© Grégoir Hoppenbrouwers

NL-1136511, sent by Liesbeth.

These tall and narrow houses typify Amsterdam and come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes but with the recurrent high gable fronts. Inside, the stairways are very tight and narrow. To get furniture to the top floor, the hooks you see at the tops of the buildings are used to winch the furniture up the outside of the house.