Taman Negara Oldest Rainforest on the Planet

Taman Negara Oldest Rainforest on the Planet

In the middle of the Malaysian peninsula lies a rainforest so old it makes the entire Amazon jungle seem like new growth. Taman Negara, literally ‘national park’ in Malay, has lain virtually undisturbed for 130 million years. Located as it is in the centre of the equator, even ice ages left barely a dent in this ancient jungle.

Not surprisingly, the flora and fauna of Taman Negara are unrivaled; 14,000 species of plants, 200 mammals and 240 types of trees can be found in a mere hectare of this lush rainforest. And with travel within the park limited to jungle tracks and riverboats, much more may still be waiting to be found.

Prior to the Jurassic period, the entire Malay peninsula was submerged underwater. As a result, sedimentary rock and limestone make up the fertile base of Taman Negara and its interesting cave system. Most of Malaysia’s fossils have also been discovered within the limestone of this national park.

Winding through Taman Negara and serving as its main highway is the Tembeling River and its tributaries the Tahan, Trenggan and Kenyam. Wooden river boats known as ‘perahu’ ply the waters, transporting people and supplies as they have done for hundreds of years. Human habitation along the river can be dated back nearly 2,000 years, bronze artifacts having been found along the river.

Living within the rainforest are Malaysia’s earliest inhabitants, or Orang Asli, meaning original or native people. The Orang Asli of Taman Negara are of the Negrito group, who have burial sites in Malaysia dating back 10,000 years.

The Orang Asli live in settlements of about ten to thirty people. In the rainforest, they still live in hunter gatherer societies, in harmony with nature. When they have almost depleted the section of rainforest they live in, the Orang Asli move on and give the jungle time to rejuvenate.

The Orang Asli believe that only animals living above ground are best for consumption, so they hunt birds, squirrels and monkeys. Hunting was originally done with bows and arrows but nowadays the Orang Asli find blowpipes more effective. The darts of the blowpipes are tipped with the poisonous sap of the Ipoh tree (Antaris toxicaria). They supplement their diet with fish and jungle fruits.

The Orang Asli believe that only animals living above ground are best for consumption, so they hunt birds, squirrels and monkeys. Hunting was originally done with bows and arrows but nowadays the Orang Asli find blowpipes more effective. The darts of the blowpipes are tipped with the poisonous sap of the Ipoh tree (Antaris toxicaria). They supplement their diet with fish and jungle fruits.

The Orang Asli believe that only animals living above ground are best for consumption, so they hunt birds, squirrels and monkeys. Hunting was originally done with bows and arrows but nowadays the Orang Asli find blowpipes more effective. The darts of the blowpipes are tipped with the poisonous sap of the Ipoh tree (Antaris toxicaria). They supplement their diet with fish and jungle fruits.

These days, increasing numbers of tourists visit the national park although, perhaps fortunately, numbers are still regulated by transport restrictions. Although many hope to catch a glimpse of the larger mammals, most of these remain well hidden in the jungle depths.

10 Most Amazing Bridges

Banpo Bridge (South Korea): The Fountain Bridge

On September 9, 2008, the Banpo Bridge in Seoul (South Korea) got a major facelift: a 10,000-nozzle fountain that runs all the way on both sides. Immediately after being installed, the bridge turned into a major tourist attraction, as the bridge pumps out 190 tons of water per minute using the water from the river below.

Millau Bridge (France): World's Tallest Vehicular Bridge

Towering 1,125-ft above the Tarn Valley in southern France, driving along the Millau Bridge is said to feel like flying. This Foster + Partners marvel is slightly taller than the Eiffel Tower, took three years to build and opened to the public in 2004. While it may provide picturesque views of the valley below, once the mist descends it is not a route for the faint hearted! The Millau Bridge has a total length of 8,071-ft with the longest single span at 1,122-ft and a maximum clearance below of 886-ft; in short the bridge is massively impressive both on paper and in real life. The deck is lofted on 7 pylons and weighs 36,000 tonnes. A series of 7 masts, each 292-ft tall and weighing 700 tonnes, are attached to the corresponding pylons.

Henderson Waves (Singapore): Most Beautiful Pedestrian Bridge

At a height of 36 metres or 12 storeys from the road, it is the highest pedestrian bridge in Singapore. The 300-metre bridge links up the parks at Mount Faber and Telok Blangah Hill.

Hangzhou Bay Bridge (China): World's Longest Trans-Oceanic Bridge

Across the Hangzhou Bay extends the longest trans-oceanic bridge in the world, with 35,673 kilometres (22 mi) long with six expressway lanes in two directions. The bridge was built to address traffic congestion in the booming region, cutting the driving time between Shanghai and Ningbo from four to two-and-a-half hours.

The bridge underwent various feasibility studies for a decade before it was approved in 2003, and finally opened to the public on May 1, 2008. Total investment on the bridge was RMB 11.8 billion (around US$ 1.4 billion).

Rolling Bridge (UK): The Bridge that Curls Up on Itself

Designed by Heatherwick Studio, the award-winning Rolling Bridge is located Paddington Basin, London. Rather than a conventional opening bridge mechanism, consisting of a single rigid element that lifts to let boats pass, the Rolling Bridge gets out of the way by curling up until its two ends touch. While in its horizontal position, the bridge is a normal, inconspicuous steel and timber footbridge; fully open, it forms a circle on one bank of the water that bears little resemblance to its former self.

Twelve metres long, the bridge is made in eight steel and timber sections, and is made to curl by hydraulic rams set into the handrail between each section.

Oliveira Bridge (Brazil): World's First X-shaped Cable Stayed Bridge with two crossed lanes

The Octavio Frias de Oliveira Bridge over the Pinheiros River in São Paulo, Brazil was opened in May 2008. It is 138 metres (450-ft) tall, and connects Marginal Pinheiros to Jornalista Roberto Marinho Avenue. Its design is unique in that the 2 curved decks of the bridge cross each other through its X-shaped supporting tower.

Wind and Rain Bridge (China): Dong people's bridge

The Wind and Rain Bridge is the symbolized architecture of the Dong minority people. The wind and rain bridge in Diping is the largest of its kind in Guizhou Province, where China's biggest Dong community lives. The bridge is over 50 meters long and it was first built in 1894 during the Qing Dynasty over 100 years ago. However, the original structure was destroyed in a big fire in 1959 and the one visitors see today was a recreation finished in 1964.

It is a pure wooden architecture made up of pillars, purlins and balusters of different sizes and shapes. The body of the bridge is divided to three tiers, the largest one in the middle take the shape of a traditional Chinese drum tower. The pilasters and eaves of the bridge are engraved with flowers and patterns and are quite magnificent.

Tower Bridge (UK): Most Famous and Beautiful Victorian Bridge

Completed in 1894 and designed by Horace Jones and Wolfe Barry, Tower Bridge (so named after the two, striking, 141-ft high towers and the Tower of London close to it) is one of the most famous landmarks in London and one of the most beautiful in the world. The 800-ft long bridge has a 28-ft clearance when closed but raises in the centre to a maximum clearance of 140-ft that allows ships to pass down the Thames. Back in the days when goods were moved by sea instead of air the bridge was raised around 50 times daily. Tower Bridge took 432 workers 8 years to build. During that time they sank 70,000 tonnes of concrete into 2 huge piers, lowered 2 counterbalanced bascules into place each weighing 1,000 tonnes and then clad the whole bridge in Portland stone and Cornish granite to disguise the 11,000 tonnes of steel beneath.

Magdeburg Water Bridge (Germany): Europe's Largest Water Bridge

The Magdeburg Water Bridge connects the former East and West Germany over the Elbe River, and it was made as part of the unification project. 1 km long, the 500 million euros water bridge enables river barges to avoid a lengthy and sometimes unreliable passage along the Elbe. Shipping used to come to a halt on the stretch if the river’s water mark felt to unacceptably low levels.

Ponte Vecchio (Italy): Oldest and Most Famous of its kind

The Ponte Vecchio in Florence is one of the most famous tourist spots in Italy, and is thought to be the oldest wholly-stone built, segmental arch bridge in Europe, although there are many partial segments which date further back. It was originally built of wood until destroyed by floods in 1333, and twelve years later it was rebuilt using stone. Famous for its lining of shops, the bridge has housed everybody from Medieval merchants and butchers to souvenir stalls and art dealers.

Most Beautiful South Asian Women in the World

Disclaimer: MensCrunch.com has not produced this list. This list is created every year by Eastern Eye, a British newspaper. So please don’t curse us for only including South Asian women in this list.
This list was initially titled, ’50 most beautiful Asian women in the world’ but its now changed to ‘50 Most beautiful South Asian women in the world‘.  This decision is made based on user feedback.
Women of Asia have natural beauty because of nice weather. Here is a collection of 50 most beautiful girls of South Asia who are famous and beautiful. The list of these girls is made by Asian newspaper from England.
50. Hard Kaur : She  is  a famous rap singer of India and sing songs for Hindi films.

50 Photos Total
49. Shruti Haasan:She  is an Indian singer and actress. She is daughter of Kamal Haasan and Sarika.

48. Konnie Huq: She  is a famous  English television presenter of Bangladesh. She is well known for being the longest-serving female presenter of Blue Peter. Her style of speaking of  English.

47. Esha Deol:She  is an actress of India.

46. Dilshad Vadsaria: She is doing acting for anAmerican television . She does the characters of Pakistani and Indian culture. These days she is playing   the role of Rebecca Logan on a  program Greek.

45. Anoushka Shankar: She is a good  sitar player and composer in the United States and promoting the culture of India.

44. Sania Mirza:She  is an Indian tennis player and wife of Shoaib Malik the cricketer of Pakistan.

43. Simone Bienne:She is a broadcaster and psycho-sexual. She works on  relationship and couples therapist .

42. Miss Pooja: She is a well known singer of Punjabi in India.

41. Sophie Choudhry: She is an Indian film actress, singer and  famous model.

40. Tina Sugandh: She is an Indian born American famous dancer, writer and actress.

39. Preity Zinta:She  is a film actress of India.  She has got 36 ranked in previous list.

38. Ayesha Takia Azmi:She  is an Indian actress who has started his career from Bollywood films.

37. Minissha Lamba: She is an Indian actress who has started  film career from  Bollywood films.

36. Rakhi Sawant: She is an famous actress of India.

35. Gulzaeb Beg Ali:She  is a British Pakistani model and television presenter.

34. Norah Jones:She  is an American singer-songwriter, pianist, keyboardist, guitarist, and actress.

33. Rani Mukherjee: She is an Indian film actress who is working in Bollywood movies.

32. Miss Independent:The real name of her is  Natasha Khan.  she’s is a British alternative rock musician and promote the culture of Pakistan.

31. Sherlyn Chopra:She is known known as Mona Chopra. She is a model of India.

30. Hadiqa Kiani:She  is a Pakistani pop singer.

29. Celina Jaitly:She  is an Indian actress and former beauty queen. She has got many awards.

28. Tasmin Lucia Khan: She is a British journalist and news presenter for BBC News of Bangladeshi language.

27. Malaika Arora-Khan: She is an Indian model, actress, television personality and former presenter of India.

26. Sonam Kapoor: She is an Indian film actress. She started her career of films from Bollywood.

25. Noureen Dewulf: She is an American Indian model and known sexiest women.

24. Riya Sen: She is best model and actress of India.

23. Vidya Balan:She is a famous model of India who is doing acting in Bollywood.

22. Ekta Chowdhry: She is the sexiest women of India.

21. Padma Lakshmi: She is an author of cooking books and live in America and basically from India.

20. Shilpa Shetty Kundra: Some women become more beautiful and fit after marriage.

19. Minnie Gupta: She is an  Indian American girl has posed for Playboy.

18. Mugdha Godse:She  is an Indian model and a Femina Miss India 2004 Semi-Finalist.

17. Kazz Kumar: She  is a british Indian singer is certainly hitting the right notes.

16. Mehreen Syed: She is a Pakistani model. She has won the “International Model of the Year Award in 2007.

15. Asin:She  is an Indian film actress from the state of Kerala. She was No. 22 on the 2008.

14. Pooja Chopra: She is an  Indian contender for the Miss World 2009 .

13. Neha Dhupia:She  is an Indian actress and model .  She is a former beauty queen and winner of Femina Miss India 2002.

12. Kangana Ranaut: She  is an Indian actress who is doing Bollywood films. She made her Bollywood debut in 2006 in Gangster.

11. Mallika Sherawat: She is doing the films of Hollywood.

10. Deepika Padukone: This model-turned actress is definitely taking some long strides in Bollywood, she’s up one place from No. 10 the last year.

9. Mehwish Hayat: Mehwish Hayat is a beautiful actess and model of  Pakistan .

8. Aishwarya Rai: She is an Indian actress and former Miss World . She is very beautiful.

7. Lara Dutta: She is an Indian actress and  former Miss Universe 2000.

6. Bipasha Basu:She  is the sexiest actress of India.

5. Kareena Kapoor: She is a beautiful actress of India.

4. Laila Rouass: British actress Laila Rouass can make men swoon.

3. Freida Pinto: is an Indian actress and professional model, best known for her performance as Latika in her debut film Slumdog Millionaire.

2. Priyanka Chopra:She is an Indian actress and former Miss World.

1. Katrina Kaif: She is the most beautiful and attract full  actress of India.