sky - Blogs - Tripatini2024-03-29T07:05:13Zhttps://tripatini.com/profiles/blogs/feed/tag/skyxining golmud lhasa railwayhttps://tripatini.com/profiles/blogs/xining-golmud-lhasa-railway2019-08-10T01:06:55.000Z2019-08-10T01:06:55.000Zgreattibettourhttps://tripatini.com/members/greattibettour201<div><p>Xining, the start of the <a href="https://www.greattibettour.com/tibet-train/xining-to-lhasa-train.html" target="_blank">Qinghai-Tibet Railway</a>, is the main starting point for many trips to Tibet. Sitting at the crossing of the Lanzhou-Qinghai and Qinghai-Tibet Railway lines,it is the most important station for all trains going to Tibet. The railway to Lhasa was finished until 2006 while the station was completed in 1959. It now serves as the main station for trains to Lhasa, and all trains to Tibet pass through the city.</p><p><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}9009388481,original{{/staticFileLink}}" target="_blank"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}9009388481,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-full" alt="9009388481?profile=original" /></a></p><p>Sitting at an altitude of 2,275 meters above sea level, Xining is the capital of Qinghai Province. It is now possible to take the train to the Tibetan Plateau from Xining. The distance from Xining to Lhasa is 1972km/1233 miles. It is the ideal place to start your Tibet tour, with an altitude of 2261 meters, which makes you acclimatize easily when you get to Tibet. You also can spend 1~2 days in Xining, touring the various sights such as <a href="https://www.greattibettour.com/qinghai-lake.html">Qinghai Lake</a>, <a href="https://www.greattibettour.com/ta-er-monastery.html">Ta er Lamasery</a>, etc.</p><p>The Z6801 is the only train that runs between Xining and Lhasa. It departs from Xining at 14:01 from Xining Train Station every day, and arrives in Lhasa at 11:20 on the next day. The train running from Xining is pressurized, supplied with artificial oxygen, and sealed. The windows have ultraviolet filters to protect passengers from UV radiation.</p><p><strong>Cabins on Tibet Trains</strong></p><p>There are two kinds of cabins on board where you can sleep overnight during your train journey to Tibet. The first-class cabin is the soft sleeper cabin, with 4 beds in one compartment; And the second-class cabin is the hard sleeper with 6 beds in one compartment.</p><p><strong>Facilities on board</strong></p><p>There is one dining car offering food and drinks on each train to Tibet. At the end of each coach, there are toilets and washing basins. The train offers spoiled water 24 hours so you can bring some instant noodles, coffee, and tea with you.</p><p><strong>Oxygen Supply on board</strong></p><p>The altitude sickness is always an important and considerable issue for travelers who are <a href="https://www.greattibettour.com/tibet-train-tour">planning the train tours to Tibet</a>. As a matter of fact, there are two kinds of oxygen supply systems which can relatively reduce the effect of high altitude in the train. So there is no need to worry too much about suffering from altitude sickness on board.</p><p><strong>The advantage of taking Tibet train from Xining</strong></p><p><strong>1. The Shortest way to Lhasa by train within 24 Hours</strong></p><p>Xining is the ideal choice for travelers who want to travel to Tibet by train but not willing to stay too long on the train. The train to Lhasa takes around 21 hours across the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau with a distance of 1,972km. It is the shortest train journey to Tibet that only takes one night on the train. and travelers can see most of the beautiful sceneries along the Qinghai-Tibet railway in the daytime.</p><p><strong>2. More Helpful to Acclimate Altitude Changes</strong></p><p>It is ideal for travelers to get to Xining (2261 meters) first, stay there at least 1 day and then take a train to Lhasa. It is not helpful to accumulate the altitude changes from Beijing (44 meters), Shanghai (16 meters), Chengdu (485 meters) and other cities cos the altitude of those cities are too low for people to acclimate.</p><p><strong>3. More Chances to Get a Train Ticket to Lhasa from Xining</strong></p><p>The demands for the train tickets from Xining to Lhasa is the largest among all the other trains going to Tibet. And it is much easier to get a ticket meeting your required departure time from Xining than from any other city in China. There are about 6 trains from other cities with larger transportation capacity heading to Lhasa passing from Xining each day.</p><p>There are many other attractions for travelers to visit in Xining except the amazing scenery that can be seen along the Qinghai-Tibet Railway. As the east gate of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, there are many top attractions to keep your eyes busy in Xining. In the southwest part of the city is the Ta’er Monastery, one of the six Great Monasteries of the Gelugpa Sect of Tibetan Buddhism. And a 600-year-old Dongguan Mosque, one of the top 4 mosques in Northwest China, just in the Xining city zone. And it’s big enough to hold over 300 Muslims in prayer.</p><p><strong>4. Numerous Tourists Attractions around Xining and Qinghai-Tibet Railway</strong></p><p>Outside the city lies the Qinghai Lake, with the famous Bird Island in the northwest of the lake. The island is small but becomes the home to millions of migratory birds twice a year, making it an excellent place for bird-watching and seeing several rare species of non-native birds.</p><p></p></div>Stargazing in Guanacaste, Costa Ricahttps://tripatini.com/profiles/blogs/stargazing-guanacaste-costa-rica2016-03-06T15:03:38.000Z2016-03-06T15:03:38.000ZShannon Farleyhttps://tripatini.com/members/ShannonFarley<div><p><b><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}9009038891,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img width="400" class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9009038891,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9009038891?profile=original" /></a><br /></b></p><p>Whether or not you can name the constellations or planets, it is always fascinating to look up at a clear night sky and get lost among the stars.<br /> <br /> <b>Anyone can enjoy stargazing</b>. The best places to go, of course, are where the sky is wide open and very dark, with no distracting city lights. Up in the mountains, or in the desert, or out on the open ocean; it is breathtaking to stare upwards at night at millions and millions of twinkling stars and planets in a blue black sky.</p><p><b><br /> Costa Rica is one of the <a href="http://www.travelandleisure.com/articles/the-worlds-top-10-stargazing-spots" target="_blank">top places in the world for stargazing</a></b> according to <em>Travel+Leisure</em> magazine; especially now during Costa Rica summer (December through April). <b>February and March are the best months</b> for clear star-filled night skies. These dry season months offer astronomy buffs incredible opportunities to see the constellations of the <b>Southern Cross, Omega Centauri, the Magellanic Clouds, the Eta Carinae Nebula</b>, and countless other spectacles in the Milky Way.<br /> <br /> Astronomically, <b>Costa Rica’s location at 10 degrees north latitude</b>, just above the equator, allows you to <b>easily see <a href="https://www.fourmilab.ch/cgi-bin/Yoursky?z=1&lat=10&ns=North&lon=84.4&ew=West" target="_blank">northern and southern hemisphere constellations</a></b>, the moon and planets.</p><p></p><p><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}9009039475,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9009039475,original{{/staticFileLink}}" width="360" alt="9009039475?profile=original" /></a><br /> Stargazers traveling to Costa Rica also get the added bonuses of <b>watching the night sky in a warm tropical climate</b>, and during the day enjoying spectacular natural scenery, abundant wildlife, fun adventure activities and friendly local people.<br /> <br /> <b>Guanacaste, Costa Rica</b> is a superb stargazing location. <a href="http://www.guachipelin.com/en/" target="_blank">Hotel Hacienda Guachipelin</a> at the foot of the colossal, active <b><a href="http://www.guachipelin.com/en/location/map.html" target="_blank">Rincon de la Vieja Volcano</a> in Guanacaste</b> is a particularly excellent place. There are no city lights near the family-owned hotel, set on a 3,460-acre ranch, to wash out the night sky. And the unique surrounding dry tropical forest trees lose their leaves like in northern autumn and winter, opening the sky even more to see stars. You can be inspired by an immense sky filled with millions of stars and listen to the symphony of tropical life at night.<br /></p><p><b><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}9009039855,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img width="400" class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9009039855,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9009039855?profile=original" /></a><br /> Best times for stargazing in Costa Rica:</b> from 7:00 to 10:00 p.m. and again at 4:00 a.m.<br /> <br /> <b>More stargazing opportunities:</b> You can view the sky as seen from various cities around the globe at the <a href="https://www.fourmilab.ch/yoursky/#Skymap" target="_blank">Your Sky</a> website. <a href="http://www.stellarium.org/" target="_blank">Stellarium</a>is a free open source planetarium for your computer that shows a realistic sky in 3D. If you are in San Jose, Costa Rica, visit the <a href="http://www.planetario.ucr.ac.cr/" target="_blank">San Jose Planetarium</a> at the University of Costa Rica.</p><p> </p><p><b><i> </i></b></p></div>Malaysia's Amazing Langkawi Sky Bridgehttps://tripatini.com/profiles/blogs/langkawi-sky-bridge-malaysia2017-09-10T18:30:00.000Z2017-09-10T18:30:00.000ZIness Greenerhttps://tripatini.com/members/InessGreener<div><p></p><p><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}9009182892,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img width="750" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9009182892,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-center" alt="9009182892?profile=original" /></a></p><p><br /> Without any doubt, Sky Bridge is the most interesting place in this archipelago <span>of 104 islands in the Andaman Sea, some </span><span>30 kilometers off the coast of northwestern Malaysia. </span>In general, Langkawi has few attractions apart from its famous beaches, duty-free zone, and resort atmosphere. However, this ropeway to a 708-meter mountain and the legendary bridge is something you will remember forever.</p><p></p><p>Personally (and I'm not alone), I consider Sky Bridge one of the seven wonders of the world, though it hasn't been so designated. Crossing a gorge at about seven hundred meters, it connects two peaks of Mount Ganung. It is a huge construction, as if floating in the air on eight cables, attached to a single support. The bridge is 125 meters long and its width is 1.8 meters. On the edges of the bridge, there are triangular platforms, like stops where you can have a break and admire the wonderful view of the island, the Andaman Sea and the neighboring. Since the bridge is curved, you can watch the delightful scenery from different angles.</p><p></p><p>You can get here in 3 ways:</p><p><br /> By bike. The cost of rent ($7.2) per day;</p><p><br /> By taxi. From the beach of Chenang and Tengah get to the mountain will cost $ 7.20 each way. The price is fixed; it will not be possible to bargain;</p><p><br /> Rent a car. The cost is about $22 per day with <a href="http://malaysia.rentalcars24h.com/langkawi-airport" target="_blank">car rental at Langkawi airport</a>.</p><p><br /> The working time of the complex is from 9:00 to 19:00.</p><p></p><p>Arriving at the foot of the mountain, you need to buy tickets for a certain time. The entrance ticket costs differently. It all depends on the extra features you buy. You can choose any of the proposed packages (standard, combo, family, etc.). Depending on the number of visitors, you can wait from one hour to two. Waiting time can be spent on entertainment: the 5-D attraction Sky Rex, feeding fish in the local pond and looking at the numerous souvenir shops.</p><p></p><p><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}9009183485,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img width="750" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9009183485,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-full" alt="9009183485?profile=original" /></a></p><p></p><p>A special mention deserves a way to ascend to the Sky Bridge – a cable car. It consists of two sections with a total length of 2.2 kilometers. First, you climb from the village of Oriental Village, which is located at the foot of Mount Machincang on the first observation platform. Then, from the first viewing platform to the second one, located right next to the bridge. The climb takes about 20 minutes.</p><p></p><p>Sky Bridge was built in 2004, and opened to visitors since 2005 and is the highest single-bearing bridge in the world. The bridge was built in 12 months, and the cost of all the construction was $1.2 million. The whole bridge stands on just one high, metal support. It can hold to 200 people at the same time.</p><p><i>Interesting Fact:</i> All parts of the bridge were first raised to the top of the mountain by helicopter, and then on site it was assembled and fixed with ropes.</p><p><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}9296626289,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img width="750" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9296626289,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-full" alt="9296626289?profile=original" /></a></p><p></p><p>Although the bridge does not come across to some as particularly confidence-inspiring, safety in the construction of the bridge was in the first place. Even during a bad weather to protect people from lightning, the Sky Bridge provides evacuation routes. Also on the upper level, there are double steel railings.</p><p></p><p>It's truly impossible to convey the reality of this Sky Bridge just in print and pictures. You need to see and experience it for yourself!</p><p></p></div>