Bhutan the country that prides itself on the development of 'Gross National Happiness' rather than GNP. This attitude pervades education, government, proclamations by royalty and politicians alike, and in the daily life of Bhutanese people. Strong adherence and respect for a royal family and Buddhism, mean the people generally follow what they are told and taught. There are of course contradictions between the modern and tradional world more often seen in urban rather than rural contexts. Phallic images of huge penises adorn the traditional homes, surrounded by animal spirits; Gross National Penis. Slow development, and fending off the modern world, television only introduced ten years ago, the lack of intrusive tourism, as tourists need to pay a daily minimum entry of $250, ecotourism for the rich, leaves a relatively unworldly populace, but with very high literacy, good health service and payments to peasants to not kill wild animals, or misuse forest, enables sustainable development and protects the country's natural heritage. Whilst various hydro-electric schemes, cash crops including apples, pull in import revenue, and Bhutan is helped with aid from the international community. Its population is only a meagre 700,000. Indian and Nepalese workers carry out the menial road and construction work.

A young boy walks on the tracks from school. Phnom Penh on ROYAL CAMBODIAN RAILWAYS. The journey from Phnom Penh to Battambang is the last working route. A passenger train, operates only at weekends. A Czech made diesel locomotive, leaves the capital Saturday morning, arriving in Battambang 22 hours later in the dead of night, and returns on Sunday. Max speed is about 30kmh, often slower due to the track's terrible condition. Carriages are dilapidated, with holes in the floor and only spaces for windows. Passengers sit or sleep on hardwood bench seats, hammocks, or on the floor of cargo carriages. The drivers, controllers & guards add to their small monthly pay by charging for local passengers and cargo; from motor bikes and local produce to timber loaded aboard at the 30 stations along the route. This together with other trains and farm vehicles further slows the journey. In rural areas, the track is a lifeline, and used for local transport on 'bamboo trains' powered by belt-motors, or pushcarts. Boom towns, with a 'goldrush mentality' near the rapidly depleted rainforest, are a hive of activity, with logging as their resource, where children workers even gamble away their earnings on cardgames. In the city, the railway has a life of its own, where people live and work nearby or on the track itself. Market stalls, restaurants, chairs and tables, are removed only briefly, when the infrequent train passes! Cambodia Phnom Penh Battambang train track railways locomotive engine royal Cambodian railways travel route path way journey chemin de fer passenger, cargo goods tourist arduous hard work slow fast car vehicle poor dilapidated energy environment transport fuel traditions old falling apart bygone age epoch another time Khmer local long short distance sun boy girl children alone schoolboy walking satchel rucksack idyllic journey tree rural outside rural countryside hand walking by walking balancing tightrope going to school

El Rocio Andalusia Spain. The pilgrim route of the Hermandade de Sanlucar de Barrameda from Sanlucar across the Parque Donana to El Rocio, Huelva Province, Andalusia, Spain...El Rocio follows on from Semana Santa - Easter week and the various spring ferias, of which Seville's Feria de Abril (April) is the biggest. The processions to the (Hermitage) Hermita de El Rocío, at Pentecost, is the most famous (Romeria) pilgrimage in the Andalusian region, attracting nearly a million people from across Andalusia, Spain and the world. The cult started off in the 13th century when a statue of the virgin Mary was apparently found in a tree trunk in the Donana Park. What was first a local devotion at Pentecost by local pilgrim brotherhoods "hermandades" became by the 19th century into dozens of fraternities developed from such as Cadiz, Selville and Huelva. Some walk for several days, others travel with oxen drawn wagons or on horseback, with traction engines and all terrain vehicles, camping along the trail they take. They wear Andalusian costumes, tight breeches, boots, short jackets and frilly flamenco skirts. Many festivities, flamenco dance, laments, songs and music are combined with religious prayers. Devout pilgrims walk as a penance, keeping vows of silence. An emblem of the immaculate conception (sin peche) is carried. On the Pentecost after the stroke of midnight on the whit Sunday the virgin Mary is carried from the church through the streets of El Rocio by each hermandade to visit each brotherhood's shrine.

CITY GUIDE, LONDON. Young people, tourists, consumers hotels, shops, going out, Browns, Hacketts, Sir John Soane's museum, British Museum, Drinking at the Westbourne pub, Magic Soul Bar, Portobello Road, Fortnum Mason, Beigels at Brick Lane, Harrods Foodstore, London, England, Great Britain, Europe. Capital city. People, transport, shopping, lifestyle. Consumerism. Going out. Clubs, daytime, nightime. Tourism, visiting, attractions, tours, museums, food, eating,pubs, bars, drinking, Dancing at Scandal nightclub,

Portmeirion, in North Wales, is a resort, where no one has ever lived. It is famous as the location where the TV cult series 'The Prisoner' was made. The real place was built by a self-taught Welsh architect named Sir Clough Williams-Ellis, out of architectural salvage, between the 1920s and 1970s, loosely based on his memories of trips to Portofino. Including a pagoda-shaped Chinoiserie gazebo, some Gothic obelisks, eucalyptus groves, a crenellated castle, a Mediterranean bell tower, a Jacobean town hall, and an Art Deco cylindrical watchtower.

Semana Santa de Sevilla, Catholic Holy Week from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday, is one of the most important traditional, cultural and spiritual events in Seville. The origins of the penitential Holy Week in Seville are to be found in the late Middle Ages. At the heart of Semana Santa are the brotherhoods (Hermandades y Cofradias de Penitencia). At the centre of each procession are the pasos, an image or set of images set atop a movable float of wood. When a brotherhood has three pasos, the first one would be a sculpted scene of the Passion or an allegorical scene, known as a misterio (mystery); the second an image of Christ and the third an image of the Virgin Mary known as a dolorosa. Many sculptures are of great antiquity and considered artistic masterpieces. A total of 60 penitential processions are organized by hermandades and cofradías, religious brotherhoods. Members precede the pasos dressed in penitential robes and hoods. Sometimes accompanied by brass bands. They take designated routes from home churches and chapels to the Cathedral and back again. Improvised flamenco songs "saetas" are sung to the processions from balconies. The marchers are often accompanied by brass bands, cappella choirs, or a drum and trumpet (historical traditions for a poorer neighborhood) Semana Santa Easter Holy Week Sevilla Seville Catholic christian hermandad brotherhood religion andalusia andalucia tourism primavera springtime cult passion jesus madonna virgin penitencia cofradias easter processions pasos flamenco traditions culture misterio dolarosa float manifestations

Riders, men and women dress up in their finery, the traditional "traje corto" (short jacket, tight trousers and boots) for men and the "faralaes" or "trajes de flamenca" (flamenco style dress) for women. The men traditionally wear hats called "cordobés"...The Feria de abril de Sevilla, "Seville April Fair" dates back to 1847. During the 1920s, the feria reached its peak and became the spectacle that it is today. It is held in the Andalusian capital of Seville in Spain. The fair generally begins two weeks after the Semana Santa, Easter Holy Week. The fair officially begins at midnight on Monday, and runs six days, ending on the following Sunday. Each day the fiesta begins with the parade of carriages and riders, at midday, carrying Seville's citizens to the bullring, La Real Maestranza...For the duration of the fair, the fairgrounds and a vast area on the far bank of the Guadalquivir River are covered in rows of casetas (individual decorated marquee tents which are temporarily built on the fairground). Some of these casetas belong to the prominent families of Seville, some to groups of friends, clubs, trade associations or political parties. From around nine at night until six or seven the following morning, at first in the streets and later only within each caseta, crowds of people party and dance Sevillanas, traditional Flamenco dances, Sevillan style drinking Jerez sherry, or Manzanilla wine, and eating tapas. feria abril sevilla seville espagne andalusia andalucia fiesta spring primavera festival traditions spanish andalusian horses flamenco frilly dresses pretty girls casetas manzanilla sherry easter music dance springtime printemps corte traje flamenca botas fairground children party