The tallest mountain located entirely within India’s borders, Nanda Devi is as majestic as it is forbidden, and has a history that is entwined with the American Central Intelligence Agency
India’s second highest peak, the “Bliss-Giving Goddess,” Nanda Devi is surrounded by myth and legend. At 7,816 meters (25,643 ft.) above sea level, it has been closed to climbers since 1983 and is surrounded by an impenetrable sanctuary of solitude.
The challenge of getting to one of the most notorious peaks in the Indian Himalayas is that it is protected by a natural boundary of surrounding mountains, many of which are over 6,400 meters tall. This moat of protection is known as "The Sanctuary" and wasn’t first breached until 1934. Nearby peaks are named after different aspects of the Goddess’s folklore: her bodyguards, her “western door,” and “Nanda’s bed” being examples. The higher of Nanda Devi’s twin peaks was first summited by Noel Odell and Bill Tilman on August 29, 1936, becoming the highest peak ever climbed until it was later surpassed by an expedition to the top of Nepal’s Annapurna.
A series of secret CIA missions, conducted in partnership with the Indian Intelligence Bureau, attempted to place a nuclear-powered monitoring device on the top of the mountain in order to listen in on missile activity in neighboring China. This effort culminated in the device being lost near the summit, never to be recovered. The loss of the device and the possibility of it causing radiation poisoning led to the closure of the mountain to climbers for years.
Though the mountain was later reopened for another decade, it was closed again in 1983 for environmental reasons, to form Nanda Devi National Park. The park, along with the adjacent Valley of Flowers National Park, were designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1998. Entry is forbidden to climbers and locals to this day.
Utrecht's Museum Speelklok specializes in that certain kind of historic robot created solely to play music without the help of any pesky humans.
The Speelklok (which translates to "musical clock") has been around since 1958, spawned from an exhibition of self-playing musical contraptions just a couple of years previous. Originally the dinging, clicking, melody-making collection was presented in a portion of a church, but thanks to a group known (awesomely) as the "Friends of the Mechanical Organ" the permanent exhibition was grown and eventually relocated to its current location in a medieval building in 1984.
Across the sprawling collection of self-playing instruments are massive mechanical boxes with moving figures to accompany the tunes, intricate clockwork inventions that can play a violin buried in its innards, and a number of iconic Dutch "street organs" that use a forest of pipes to delight and entertain. There are also a number of smaller musical oddities such as music boxes, pianolas, and self-ringing carillons rounding out the delightful collection.
In addition to the whimsical devices on display in the museum, the center is the world leader in repair and restoration of historic musical automata. Long before iPhones, Walkmen, or boomboxes, these elaborate carnival wonders the best way to experience music in public and thanks to Museum Speelklok, we won't forget it anytime soon.
News and notes from around the interweb: Free flight offer from Rite-Aid. The highest interest rates for deposit accounts. Will airlines and hotels use your aggregated reputation information from companies like Uber and Airbnb? Imagine the outrage if this guy had been driving for Uber… (HT: Jeff B.) Start thinking about your 2015 holiday plans […]
The post Hacking Your Drugstore for a Free Flight, Your Bank for More Interest, and the Cockpit of the Last Qantas 767… appeared first on View from the Wing.
Air France has a fantastic new business class product, consisting of fully flat reverse herringbone seats.
They're finally adding some "substance" to their already stylish business class, which has great catering, if nothing else.
They're slowly launching their new 777 business class on more routes, including several routes to Asia.
So Air France has put together an "upgrade challenge" for the new business class launch to Asia, whereby passengers can win instant upgrades at the gate by playing a game.
The post Air France Marketing Their New Business Class At… Gamers? appeared first on One Mile at a Time.
There’s a new police chief in Pattaya, a beach town just a bit more than an hour’s drive from Bangkok that was a significant R&R destination for US servicemen during the Vietnam War. It became the sort of place that US servicemen, spending US dollars, could buy anything they wished. Pattaya has been cleaned up […]
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Reader Abhi asked the following question on the "Ask Lucky" page of the blog:
"Hi Lucky
I visited the wing FC lounge in hkg today.
And though its only my second FC lounge visit it really seemed just meh. It’s more like a rich admirals club.
The only other FC lounge I have been to is Lufthansa FC lounge in Munich and compared to that this just seems very disappointing.
Have I just set my expectations wrong by visiting Lufthansa FC lounge in Munich first?
-Abhi"
It's an interesting question because I think it's fun to look at the different thought processes people reach conclusions with.
The post What’s So Great About Cathay Pacific’s First Class Lounge? appeared first on One Mile at a Time.
I attended a talk by a legendary fundraiser, probably 15 years ago, where he told a story about not going to visit with the wealthiest donor in a state. When making a trip to Arkansas everyone assumed they knew he was going to see the Waltons of Wal-Mart but he explained, ‘the line’s too long.’ […]
The post The Business Class Award Flights to Asia You Can Always Get Because No One Is Competing With You For Them appeared first on View from the Wing.
A few weeks ago I was at London Heathrow Airport and saw a Kuwait Airways 747.
Now, I'll be the first to say I'm not an expert on Kuwait Airways' fleet, but I hadn't realized they had 747s in their fleet.
And I was correct, because they don't... at least not really. The Emir of Kuwait has a private Boeing 747-400, which interestingly Kuwait Airways sometimes uses on commercial routes when it's otherwise not in use.
I mean, that's like American Airlines occasionally subbing in Air Force One on a New York to London flight. Okay, not quite the same, but you get the point. ;)
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