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Amazing islands on Earth

When I discovered a chrome extension for new google earth picture for each new tab. This quickly has become a wonderful experience to explore earth remotely.

These are some extremely fantastic locations on Earth, very remote to humankind and was mostly inhabited until recently. Most of them are some sought of military air bases, tourist attractions & research centers.

1. Diego Garcia Military base, this is one island where land is like a ring. It's close to Maldives, in Indian ocean.

Google Earth view:  https://goo.gl/maps/v8edrxyBirq




2. Kiribati Islands

Kiribati (/ˌkɪrɪˈbæs/; keer-ə-bahss or /ˌkɪrɪˈbɑːti/; keer-ə-bah-tee),[7] officially the Republic of Kiribati (Gilbertese: Ribaberiki Kiribati),[8][9][10][11][12] is an island nation in the central Pacific Ocean. The nation comprises 33 atolls and reef islands and one raised coral island; Banaba. They have a total land area of 800 square kilometres (310 sq mi)[13] and are dispersed over 3.5 million square kilometres (1,351,000 square miles).





3. 

https://goo.gl/maps/Eu2hoJbBb6M2 : this is in mid of pacific ocean, all they could build is a runway.


4. Cook Islands:
The Cook Islands (i/ˈkʊk ˈaɪləndz/; Cook Islands Māori: Kūki 'Āirani[4]) is an island country in the South Pacific Ocean in free association with New Zealand. It comprises 15 islands whose total land area is 240 square kilometres (92.7 sq mi). The Cook Islands' Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), however, covers 1,800,000 square kilometres (690,000 sq mi) of ocean.






5. Unknonwsn





5. Tuomotus Islands:





6. Tuvalu Islands:

Tuvalu (i/tuːˈvɑːluː/ too-vah-loo or /ˈtuːvəluː/ too-və-loo), formerly known as the Ellice Islands, is a Polynesian island nation located in the Pacific Ocean, midway between Hawaii and Australia. It comprises three reef islands and six true atolls spread out between the latitude of to 10° south and longitude of 176°to 180°, west of the International Date Line. Tuvalu has a population of 10,837 (2012 census). The total land area of the islands of Tuvalu is 26 square kilometres







https://goo.gl/maps/3JLQzMzL8HE2




7. Enewetak Atoll





Enewetak Atoll (also spelled Eniewetok; Marshallese: Ānewetak, [æ̯ænʲee̯ɔ̯ɔ͡ɛɛ̯dˠɑk], or Āne-wātak, [æ̯ænʲee̯-ɒ̯ɒ͡ææ̯dˠɑk][1]) is a large coral atoll of 40 islands in the Pacific Ocean and with its 850 people forms a legislative district of the Ralik Chain of the Marshall Islands. Its land area totals less than 5.85 square kilometres (2.26 sq mi), is not higher than 5 metres and surrounds a deep central lagoon, 80 kilometres (50 mi) in circumference.





8. Kwajalein Atoll, Marshall Islands

Kwajalein Atoll (/ˈkwɑːəln/MarshalleseKuwajleen [kʷuɒ͡æzʲ(æ)lʲɛːnʲ])[1] is part of the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI). The southernmost and largest island in the atoll is named Kwajalein Island, which its majority English-speaking residents (about 1000 mostly U.S. civilian personnel) often called by the shortened name, Kwaj /ˈkwɑː/. 13,500 Marshall Islanders live on the rest of the atoll, mostly on Ebeye Island. The total land area of the atoll amounts to just over 6 square miles (16 km2).
The atoll lies in the Ralik Chain, 2,100 nautical miles (3900 km) southwest of Honolulu, Hawaii, at 8°43′N 167°44′E.






drive to Chilkuru Visa Balaji - a Hundi-less temple in Hyderabad

Chilkuru is a welcoming village located South west of Hyderabad about 29kms from the city center.
The day we visited the temple, It was a pleasant weather, being closer to seasonal shift from Hot summer to Rains.
As soon as we had the darsanam, it started raining, & we were lucky to enjoy the first rains at this holy place.
It is being believed if any task is undone & with dedication when performing 11 rounds (called pradakshinas) of Lord Balaji creates a positive flow & make the wish come true. Enjoying the fulfilled wish, people comes in thousands to perform another 108 rounds of Lord Balaji's temple.

Driving directions from Center of City via O.R.R (outer ring road)

1. After passing Mahedipatname when going towards Madhapur, enter the ORR starting point
2. After about 11 kms of drive take Exit 18 towards Vikarabad Road
3. At roundabout - take 2nd Exit towards Himayat Sagar Road (pass by Masjid-e-Qamar)
4. Another 11 kms and reach the chilkuru balaji temple.

Link to Google map: http://goo.gl/maps/np0n 

Things to remember: 
temple timings : everyday 6am - 8pm
aarti timings: 7am and 7pm
rush days: Fri, Sat & Sun






nice article: http://chilkurbalajitemple.blogspot.in/



Mom's 12 month Achaar Prep

This fine Sunday on 10th, mom decided to make her delicacy "Aam ka Achaar" - ( its a traditional preparation of Indian Mango pickle which stays good for more than 12 months)

As it was raining the day before (the first rain of the season), mom said this is the best time to prepare Achaar as it stays better for longer duration when made during the first rain. So, we went shopping for Raw mangoes at about 7am, being a Sunday it was very busy at weekly Market (Gunj sabji mandi). I was enjoying the ambiance, as this was the same place I was born & grew in my teens. Embarked all memories we shopped for about 3Kgs of Mangoes to prepare about 5Kgs of Pickle.


As a picture speaks thousand words, (a memory through pictures) :


1. Gunj Mata Temple (Durga Temple) right opposite to our ancestors home built by our grand-father. Still remember P.O box no 12.

2. Sorting the pieces to remove any seed, as this will spoil the pickle & drying up the mango pieces

3. The Spices & Oil mix

4. Final turnover & ready to be mixed 

5. ACHAAR 

Evolution of Indian Roads - Outer Ring Road is the beginning

Finally, I got a chance today to take a quick drive on ORR. On my return from Rajiv Gandhi Airport, Hyderabad, I checkout a V turn one towards Hyderabad & the other for Bangalore. I remembered ORR to be just adjacent to the airport road. I swiftly took an exit to check out the future road-structure of India with 8 lanes for about 158km (about 100 miles). I assume the Infrastructure & base construction standards are taken from European standards of France.

Goodies:
1. Naming Conventions for Type of Roads, Exit info etc
2. Tolls on exit, no traffic slowing up as in European roads
3. Exit are simple U turns, easier for less literate Truck Drivers to follow

Further Improvements:
1. Naming convention to be English, Hindi, Native Language, its presently named as English, Telugu, Hindi. this will impose for every state in India to follow the same naming conventions.
2. Need to distribute safety measures or more info. on ORR printed with toll receipts to educate Truck drivers & other naive commuters.

Toll-rates:


Pictures: