Nandi Hills

                                                                        NANDI HILLS

Approximately 60 km from Bangalore, the ancient hill fortress of Nandi Hills makes for an excellent weekend getaway, or a daytrip. Actually, scratch that. Here's a tip: it's best visited on weekdays or early in the morning when it remains free of boisterous crowds. Four rivers -- Arkavathy, Penner, Palar and Ponnaiyar -- are believed to originate in the Nandi Hills complex, which includes a number of surrounding smaller hills. Many of these sources are now dry. It is a popular destination with bird-watchers, trekkers and photographers. The 4850-feet-tall hill was fortified by the 'Tiger of Mysore' Tipu Sultan to hold off British forces until it fell to Lord Cornwallis' forces in 1791. Atop the summit are several buildings including a bungalow that housed Mahatma Gandhi. The monolithic statue of the Nandi bull known locally as Nellikai Basavanna, carved in the Chola style, is 10 feet long and 6 feet tall......

Pics by: Mr. Azhar Mohamed

Miniatur Wunderland

Miniatur Wunderland (German for miniature wonderland) is a model railway attraction in Hamburg, Germany and the largest of its kind in the world. As of January 2011, the railway consists of 12,000 metres (39,370 ft) of track in HO scale, divided into seven sections: Harz, the fictitious city of Knuffingen, the Alps and Austria, Hamburg, America, Scandinavia, and Switzerland. Of the 6,400 square metres (68,889 sq ft) of floorspace, the model takes 1,150 m2 (12,378 sq ft).

By 2020, the exhibit is expected to have reached its final construction phase, including at least a total of ten sections in a model area of over 2,300 m2 (24,757 sq ft). The next section covering an airport opened in May 2011. The exhibit includes 890 trains made up of over 11,000 carriages, 300,000 lights, 215,000 trees, and 200,000 human figurines. The creators will work on models of Italy and France now that the airport section is completed. The airport is named Knuffingen International Airport and is modeled after Hamburg International Airport. Possible future additions include Africa, England, or a futuristic landscape.

The construction of the first part started in December 2000 and the first three parts were completed in August 2001. The project was created by two brothers Frederik and Gerrit Braun.

Airport at Miniature Wunderland