by Roy -

Ornamented with the title of “City of Charm and Dignity”, Pietermaritzburg is located in the core part of South Africa. Basically, Pietermaritzburg is well-known as “Maritzburg” and is the second largest city of KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa. The Voortrekkers were responsible for the foundation of capital city of Natalia, Pietermaritzburg in 1838. Geographically, Pietermaritzburg lies in the south-west edge of the Valley of a Thousand Hills, KwaZulu Natal. The best season to explore this wonderful city is spring season when the city is at its full bloom. Fantastic shops, delicious restaurants and high class hotels, historical museums, old buildings and amusement parks are the main attractions for tourists in Pietermaritzburg.

Top of all attractions in Pietermaritzburg, Tatham Art Gallery deserves the first introduction. This art gallery has a unique position in the world of tourism in South Africa for its amazing Art collection of 1903. Artwork displayed in this museum is totally linked with British and French artworks of 18th century though the museum is also good display of KwaZulu-Natal artworks. Voortrekker Museum is also an important tourist attraction in Pietermaritzburg. The museum was constructed in 1912 in order to house the historical relics of five parties of Voortrekkers. At present, the Museum has one main building, the Voortrekker Complex, the Zulu Hut, 333 Boom Street and the Shiva Indian Temple. Natal Museum is the most popular attraction of Pietermaritzburg that houses wide range of collections relevant to animals. The museum is quite popular for its huge collection of insects and also, tourists will not remain untouched with the attraction of The Dinosaur Gallery and the Fossil Exhibit. The Pietermaritzburg Railway Station itself is a great attraction for the tourists as it is made up of red-brick. This railway station is also popular for the incident when Mahatma Gandhi was thrown away from a train in the year 1893. The Pietermaritzburg Garden of Remembrance, as the name suggests, is an attractive garden constructed to memorize those warriors who lost their lives during World Wars. Pietermaritzburg Mosque is referred as the main mosque of the city and is situated in the popular Church Street.

The Dinosaur Gallery and the Fossil Exhibit, Pietermaritzburg

This Mosque is a popular Islamic historical site and houses artwork and local artifacts concerned with Muslims. Marathon House is another must see attraction for tourists in Pietermaritzburg. This gorgeous museum attracts its visitors by display of wide collection of trophies, significant press releases and photographs of marathon. Old Colonial Building is one of the prime attractions of Pietermaritzburg. It is fabulous building well connected to the era of colonial rule. This historical building is related to 19th century and is successful in attracting its visitors with its superb architecture. Macrorie House is also a top-rated museum in Pietermaritzburg. This museum houses numerous relics related to history of South Africa. In 1862, this museum was constructed and is situated in the Loop Street of the city. To refresh your mood with stunning picturesque and heart thrilling scenes, World’s View is a perfect spot in Pietermaritzburg for views. Other most fascinating attractions in Pietermaritzburg are Howick Falls, Queen Elizabeth Park, Midmar Public Nature Reserve, Pietermaritzburg City Hall and One O’Clock Gun!!

28 Nov 2011

http://blog.gohoto.com/blog/2011/11/28/pietermaritzburg-city-of-charm-and-dignity/

Average Rating: 4.7 out of 5 based on 202 user reviews.

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by Roy -

Pretoria, the vibrant and serene city of South Africa, is ready to make place in the heart of its visitors with the availability of purple blossom – bedecked trees on both sides of road. Pretoria is also well-versed as the Jacaranda city and gained its name after a Voortrekker leader named Andries Pretorius in 1855. Fascinating history, historical museums and gorgeous churches are the main source of attractions in Pretoria.

There are numerous top-notch attractions in Pretoria to steal the heart of tourists in Pretoria. The main in them are as follows:

Voortrekker Monument African Window,  Pretoria

African Window: Formerly known as the National Cultural History museum, African Window proves to be the best attractive place in Pretoria where entertainment activities like the music,  traditional dance and many more educational activities held. Cultural exhibitions of this place are really wonderful.

Average Rating: 5 out of 5 based on 211 user reviews.

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by Roy -

This article is written by Nisha Jha, who is one of India’s leading lady backpackers with extensive travel experience

Looks like I have a fixation for bizarre burgs. :P
Recently I wrote about an unusual town called Baarle in Europe. And Prague was confusing in a different manner.
In the quiet town of Derby in Vermont, US, there is the Derby Line dividing US and Canada. This is more of a straight line, in contrast to Baarle’s zigzagged ones, but passes through buildings and households.

The Derby Line in Vermont, USA, dividing the USA & Canada

So there are chances you may prepare your food in one country and eat in the other. :P

There have been cases of illegal immigration; hence a tighter security control has been established now. However, on the Derby Line the towns’ people have deliberately constructed a library and an Opera on the border. I am not sure what could be the real reason.

A border town in our own India is Coochbehar. I hope to visit it too sometime. There are pieces of land called Chhit-Mahals or enclaves, where Indian Chhit-Mahals lie completely surrounded by Bangladeshi Chhit-Mahals and vice versa.
Big difference is, that these borders are protected by BSF of India and Bangladesh (you need a visa to go across to the other enclave and no free movement) and probably the enclaves are also much bigger pieces of land than in Baarle.
The Wagah border in India is similar to Derby line. A straight line divides India and Pakistan at Wagah village but through the fields only. A lot of people suggest that there should be a Cricket Stadium exactly at the border.

Some more such places.-

Ceuta is a Spanish town completely encircled by Morocco.
Country of Lesotho is completely landlocked by Republic of South Africa.

Mount Everest is itself on the border of Nepal and Tibet. Summit ridge separates Nepal and Tibet. The more popular southern route is through Nepal and the less used (obviously political reasons) northern route is in Tibet, China.

Mt Everest, Nepal

I am sure there are many more examples and would surely like my readers to add to this list.

Nisha Jha

9 May 2011

Tales of Tangled Towns

Average Rating: 4.6 out of 5 based on 299 user reviews.

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