BBC Knowledge 2017 02

| AROUND THE WORLD

TRAVEL & FOOD

Spot-billed pelicans come to Kokkrebellur every year

end (November – December), and are welcomed by

the locals. The villagers treat the birds well, protecting

them and looking after orphaned chicks that fall out

of the nests. In return, the urea-rich droppings of

the birds are used as fertiliser in the fields around.

Crossing the 20m-long Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge

is an adventure in itself – it shakes with every step,

exciting since you’re walking 30 metres above

the rocks below! First erected by salmon fishers

in 1755, it originally had only a single rope hand rail,

but now is a two hand-railed bridge.

The 20.2km-long Flåm Railway is one of the world’s

steepest tracks, taking in 10 stations and 20 tunnels

along its short route. Its highest elevation is 866 metres,

and, deservedly, it is currently one of Norway’s most

popular attractions.

The 5th-century Pashupatinath Temple in Kathmandu

survived the massive 7.9-magnitude earthquake in 2015

that flattened several World Heritage sites in Nepal

like the iconic Dharahara Tower and Durbar Square.

The temple is a sacred Hindu religious site and of great

cultural significance in the country.

Beneath Cappadocia’s world-famous rock formations

is a network of subterranean cities, some of them 5,000

years old, which once housed up to 10,000 people each.

The deepest city that has been excavated is Derinkuyu,

parts of which are open to the public.

Most boys in Myanmar under 20 undergo a coming-of-

age ceremony called shinbyu, after which they become

novice monks. Allowing a boy to be a monk for a while, if

not for the rest of his life, is considered one of the most

important religious gifts parents can give a son.

INFO NUGGETS FROM ACROSS THE GLOBE

KOKKREBELLUR, KARNATAKA NORTHERN IRELAND NEPAL

MYANMAR NORWAY TURKEY

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38 42 February 2017February 2017