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Siguniangshan National Park

Siguniangshan National Park (四姑娘山国家公园 - Four Maidens Mountain National Park) is in Aba Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan province.

Understand
Mount Siguniang National Park lies 220 km west of Chengdu, in the Qionglai Mountains of western Sichuan in China. The park is comprised of Mount Siguniang itself and the three most accessible valleys surrounding it. The nearest town is Rilong (日隆镇). The three valleys are called Changping Valley (长坪沟), Haizi Valley (海子沟) and Shuangqiao Valley (双桥沟). The first two lie adjacent to Siguniangshan, whilst the Shuangqiao Valley is 7 km west of Rilong. The Changping and Haizi Valleys are accessible only by non-motorized transport while the third valley has a paved road and is where most of the tourists visit. The Shuangqiao Valley also has 28 km of boardwalk extending to the valley's end, whilst the first 6 km of the Changping Valley (until lower dry Haizi) is equipped with a boardwalk.

History
Mount Siguniang National Park was approved for establishment in 1994 by the State Council of the People's Republic of China. An application for World Heritage status as part of the Sichuan Giant Panda Sanctuary: Wolong, Mt. Siguniang and Jiajin Mountains was submitted to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), leading to its inscription as a World Heritage site in 2006. The National Park is a category II national park under the IUCN's Management Categories of Protected Areas.

Flora and fauna
Because of its geographical location and diversified landforms, Siguniang Mountain is home to a diversity of animals, many of which are rated in China as first-class protected species. Its mammals include the Sichuan golden monkey, white-lipped deer, clouded leopard, snow leopard and occasional giant panda. It is also home to a number of iconic birds, such as the Chinese monal pheasant, Chinese hazel grouse, bearded vulture, Sichuan pheasant partridge, Tibetan snow-cock, and blood pheasant.

Over 1000 plant species have been recorded in the national park.

Climate
Winter in Mount Siguniang is cold and relatively dry, with night-time temperatures dropping to as low as -15˚C regularly in Rilong, and to even colder temperatures in the mountains. Daytime temperatures hover around 0˚C, however the conditions are often sunny, with little snowfall.

Spring brings milder temperatures, with both snow and rain becoming more frequent. Summer's weather is unpredictable, but can get as high as 30˚C during the day. Night time is generally cool, however, regardless of the daytime heat. Thunderstorms are also common.

Autumn sees less precipitation, with sunnier weather and lower night-time temperatures that often drop below freezing.

Get in
There are three routes to Mount Siguniang National park from Chengdu, varying in distance and scenery.

The most direct route is to come from Chengdu through Dujiangyan and Wolong, and over Mount Balang pass, which, at over 4500 m above sea level, affords some spectacular views. As of 2024, the pass is closed and replaced by a 7,9 km long tunnel at 3900 m above sea level. A taxi or van can be arranged from Chengdu. These should cost around ¥150. The trip from Chengdu (Chadianzi Bus Terminal) to Rilong takes (2024) about 4 hours.

A better road exists between the city of Ya'an and Rilong, via the towns of Baoxing, Yaoji and Dawei. This road is in much better condition than the road through Dujiangyan and Wolong. Ya'an is approximately 2 hours south west of Chengdu via bus, and buses go directly from Chengdu to Ya'an or Baoxing. Travellers can get a taxi or van from Baoxing to Rilong for ¥500-600, or a cheaper option is to take a bus from Baoxing to Yaoji, and take a taxi to Rilong from there. The road crosses Mount Jiajin pass, which is around 4100 m asl, and also has some excellent views. Expect this route to take a full day.

The least direct way to get to Rilong is to catch a bus to the city of Xiaojin from Chengdu, and then pay ¥20 for a seat in a van for the final 55km to Rilong. This route passes through Ya'an and the cities of Luding and Danba, and has excellent views. There is only one stop along the way, however, and the total travel time on the bus is around 14 hours.

Fees and permits
Each valley has a different entry fee for the high and low season. Haizigou (entrance: ¥60 and ¥40 in off-season, Dec 1 - March 30), Changpinggou (entrance: ¥70 and ¥50 in off-season, Dec 1 - March 30) and Shuangqiaogou (entrance: ¥80 and ¥50 in off-season, Dec 1 - March 30)

Get around
There is no central ticketing office for the national park, so visiting different parts requires venturing around Rilong and surrounds to procure tickets. There is no official taxi service in Rilong, but vans frequently trawl the streets looking for customers, and can easily be flagged down. Rilong is a small town, with most facilities within ten minutes' walk.

The main tourist centre is in Changping Village, less than 1 km to the east of Rilong. From here you can purchase tickets to the Changping Valley. After purchasing your ticket, you wait at the tourist centre for the next bus to transport you the 5 km or so to the valley entrance. Once in the valley, visitors can enter on foot or by horseback.

The entrance to Haizi Valley is within walking distance of Rilong (approximately 500 m), and can also be accessed by foot or horseback. The ticket office is in a building opposite the entrance.

Shuangquiao Valley entrance is 7 km from Rilong, and requires public transport to get there. Drivers will usually do this for ¥50, which includes the return trip to Rilong from the valley gate at a negotiated time or upon calling the driver to ask for pick-up. Once at the gate, visitors must either walk in to the valley or take a sightseeing bus. Given that the valley is approximately 40 km long, with the most spectacular scenery at the far end, it is practical to take a bus to the end, then walk back toward the gate and catch one of the buses back to the gate at the end of the day. There is 32 km of boardwalk leading to the valley's end, making the walk relatively easy.

See
Some of the world's most spectacular scenery.

Do
A true mecca for photography, video, hiking, and nature.

Buy
Sea Buckthorn (shājíshǔ; 沙棘属), a shrub that grows along the riverbanks, produces berries that are used in a number of products. Visitors can try the locally-made sea buckthorn juice, sold in small cans or as a powder. The berries are also used to make various types and strengths of alcohol (shājíjiǔ; 沙棘酒), which can be purchased at most shops in the main street of Rilong. There is also a locally-made red wine that can be purchased for around ¥120 from liquor shops. Dried yak can be purchased in vacuum-sealed packets from many shops, in addition to a large number of other Tibetan-style souvenirs.

During spring, Caterpillar Fungus (chóngcǎo; 虫草) can be purchased from street vendors in Rilong and around the region. Caterpillar Fungus is a traditional Chinese medicine, and sells for ¥20-50 per caterpillar, however in Rilong it is collected from within the World Heritage site, depriving some native animals of a natural food source. Refrain from buying this unusual product if you can.

Eat
Rilong has excellent restaurants serving Sichuan-style food. There are also good restaurants in the Shuangqiao Valley 7 km to the west, including a number of tasty, but less unique, restaurants outside the gate to the Shuangqiao Valley.

Lodging
There are several small family inns with high standard and good food. Staying overnight costs ¥50 (2011)

Filmmaker and photographer Robin Gee made a video of the Changping village and valle, in 2011. It is in Chinese, but has beautiful photography.

Camping
You can camp just about everywhere by the track side. As always with camping and wildlife, show respect for nature, locals and environment. Be tidy, take rubbish with you, and leave your campsite as you never had been there.

Backcountry
Some of the most stunning natural and untouched beauty you can find, beautiful clean steams, and forbidding mountains.

Let us keep it that way.

Stay safe
Follow the most elementary rule when you go into the wilderness; take advice from local people, and follow it. They know the place and if you are a visitor, you do not. Tell people where you intend to go, and when you intend to return, and let them know when you have safely returned. If something happens to you, they will go to find you. This is not different from anywhere else in the world.

title: Siguniangshan National Park


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Sihanoukville

Sihanoukville (Krong Preah Seihanu), formerly Kompong Som, is a seaside town in Cambodia. This formerly laid-back beach destination has been transformed by Chinese investment and is now basically a giant construction site for Chinese resorts and casinos. It remains the launching point for beautiful islands nearby. In 2019, the city had about 67,000 residents.

Understand
In a land with thousands of years of history, Sihanoukville is a colourful but tragic upstart. A joint French-Cambodian project carved a camp out of the jungle and started building the first deep-sea port in a newly independent Cambodia. Named Sihanoukville in 1964 after the ruling prince of Cambodia, the booming port and its golden beaches soon drew Cambodia's jet-setting elite, spawned the first Angkor brewery, and the modernist seven-story Independence Hotel which, claim locals, played host to Jacqueline Kennedy on her whirlwind tour of Cambodia in 1967.

Alas, the party came to an abrupt end in 1970 when Sihanouk was deposed in a coup and Cambodia descended into civil war. The town, renamed Kompong Som, soon fell on hard times. The victorious Khmer Rouge used the Independence Hotel for target practice and, after they hijacked an American container ship, the port was bombed by the U.S. Air Force. Even after Pol Pot's regime was driven from power, the bumpy highway to the capital was long notorious for banditry and the beaches stayed empty.

Peace returned in 1993 following historic elections organised by the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC) and in the ensuing ten years Sihanoukville was busy picking up the pieces. First visited only by a few intrepid backpackers, guide books still talk of walls pockmarked by bullets, but any signs of war are hard to spot in today's Sihanoukville, whose new symbol seems to be the construction site. The Independence Hotel is up and running again, more and more Khmers and expats have settled down to run bars and restaurants, and the knowledge of what the New York Times dubbed "Asia's next trendsetting beach" is starting to spread.

Sihanoukville has been transformed by Chinese investment; a flood of Chinese tourists and construction workers have arrived to turn it into a Chinese resort city full of casinos. As of 2020, over 90% of businesses in Sihanoukville are Chinese-owned.

By plane

Getting there and away: The only way to get from/to the airport seems to be taxi. You can arrange a taxi from hotels in the center for around US$15. If coming from the airport to the city, you have to haggle hard to get this price.

By bus
Frequent buses arrive in Sihanoukville from Phnom Penh (4-5 hr via National Road 4 or 2½-3 hr via Express Lane 4), Siem Reap (10-12 hr), Ho Chi Minh City (10-12 hr), and Bangkok.

Also Larryta Express, Mey Hong, Vibol Express, and Chan Molyroth operate daily bus services from Phnom Penh, taking 3-5 hr and costing US$10–15, depending on the quality of the bus and the number of stops. For a more premium ride, Giant Ibis has been known for their quality while the newer VET Air Bus Express offers a range of amenities such as WC, Wifi, onboard entertainment, snacks and drinks. The first buses leave Phnom Penh at 07:00, the last at 19:00. All buses arrive and depart from the bus station near the Central Market. Tickets can be booked at the bus company offices, travel agencies, many guesthouses and online ticketing sites such as 12Go.Asia or BookMeBus. In case of a national holiday, it is worth reserving a days in advance. Express Lane 4 between Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville is Cambodia's best road as of 2023.

From Kampot, Champa Mekong Travel and Tours runs minivan 3x daily (0830, 1030, 1330hr), $10USD from their office in Kampot to their Sihanoukville office ("Champa Tourist Bus") next to the shipping port, which is not close to the city centre. The route is Kampot - Prey Nob - Stueng Hav - Sihanoukville, 101km duration 2h30min.

International:

Virak Buntham Express operate daily air-conditioned minibus service leaving at 08:15 from the border with Thailand at Koh Kong/Hat Lek, taking about 5 hr. Other "Local" and "tourist" minibuses service this route; they are always jam-packed, and the trip can be uncomfortable. "Local" service price depends on how much space you want (a whole seat, half a seat, or a space on the roof); foreigners can expect to pay around US$6–8. They will also typically have pickup in front of the offices on the main strip in town at 07:30, after which they simply drive over to the station to wait until the 08:30 departure time. You may be offered pickup at your hotel for a premium. Sometimes there are buses leaving at 14:00 but the service may be available only with suitable demand and ticket prices may be higher (~US$15).

Kampot Transport offers a bus service from Ha Tien in Vietnam to Sihanoukville via the Xa Xia/Prek Chak border post. From Ha Tien, there is a ferry to Phu Quoc Island, another popular tourist destination. This trip has become easy and straightforward.

By train

One daily train from Phnom Penh — times and prices from:
 * Phnom Penh – 07:00, 6 hr, US$10
 * Takeo – 08:40, 4¼ hr, US$8
 * Kep – 10:20, 2¾ hr, US$7
 * Kampot – 10:40, 2¼ hr, US$6
 * (Sihanoukville – 13:00)

The return journey starts at 14:00.

By taxi
A chartered taxi from Phnom Penh's Central Market can make the trip in less than 3 hr and will around US$25–40 per car, depending on the petrol price of the day and the condition of the vehicle. You can reduce the price by sharing seats, but Khmers will squeeze as many as eight people into the car, including two in the drivers seat, so you may need to buy two seats for comfort.

By boat

There is no boat to/from Koh Kong/Hat Lek (the border crossing with Thailand) anymore.

Modest numbers of cruise lines, e.g., Oceania, offer one-day port visits, usually along with more stops in Vietnam en route to or from Bangkok.

Get around
Distances between the beaches are too long to walk comfortably, but getting around is easy, as the roads are wide and bike taxis (motodop) are everywhere. The standard price is US$1 per trip, although expect to haggle at night or if the distance is long. They'll gladly pile on two people and their luggage too. For larger groups, car taxis can be called by phone (fixed US$5 to most places around town).

There are dozens of the ubiquitous tuk-tuks around the new bus station and the accommodation areas. They are some of the most persistent and over-charging drivers in Cambodia; they have formed an "association" for price fixing: a trip to the bus station, US$2 in Phnom Penh, costs US$3 if your bus company pays but they charge US$6 if you arrive at the bus station and want to go to the beach. If you have decided where you will stay it can help to call for a pick up. Even if it's not free, it may save you some overcharging.

The ride from the new bus station to Serendipity Beach should cost no more than US$3 during the day.

Another great choice to get around is to rent a scooter. Haggle a bit and you can get it for US$4 a day or more depending on the season. Fuel is not very cheap (about US$1.25 per litre) but can be bought at many roadside shacks. However, as of 2009, renting scooters to foreigners is illegal, and the police may stop and fine you.

See
The town doesn't offer much to see. The main areas of Sihanoukville of interest to tourists are Serendipity Beach, Otres Beach, Victory Beach, and the various islands off the coast.

Beaches
The main reason to visit Sihanoukville is the beaches. They are not as crowded as many of those in Thailand, but can be cramped on weekends and holidays. Like many beaches in Southeast Asia, they are often covered in a lot of rubbish.

Rivers
The mangrove-lined Ou Trojak Jet River, Sihanoukville's longest river, runs from Otres Pagoda to Otres Beach. It is popular with both canoeists and anglers, and the lower section harbours a marina. Restaurants along the south bank of the river serve fresh seafood supplied by the local inshore fishing boats.

Banks and ATMs

 * ATMs can be found throughout the city. Downtown, there are ATMs from ANZ Bank, Canadia Bank, Acleda Bank, May bank, ABA Bank, CIMB Bank, Union Commercial Bank, Cambodia Commercial Bank, and UCB Bank.
 * There are also ATMs around the "Golden Lions", on Beach St, at CCS Hotel and one at the Golden Sands Hotel, Occheuteal Beach. There is also an ATM in Otres 1.
 * T E Lee Hong Money Exchange 7 Markara Street.

Supermarkets and groceries
There are several supermarkets in the town, plus a standard Cambodian market ('Psaa Leu').

Eat
Along the beaches, especially at Ochheuteal Beach, there are many food stalls and some restaurants serving grilled, meat, chicken, and seafood with chips/fries and a beer for US$3–4. There are a good many restaurants in town as well. Sihanoukville has a surprisingly diverse set of cuisines.

Alcohol

 * Golden Lion Plaza at Occheteal Beach, 10 friendly bars in one street, but all are also used as spots for picking up prostitutes.
 * The trend on Serendipity Beach is to advertise a permanent happy hour, which usually implies cocktails for US$2–2.50 and draught Anchor beer for as little as US$0.50-0.75. Beer prices generally rise to US$1 at night with cocktails remaining US$2–2.50.

Sleep
Accommodation ranges from basic guest houses on the beach to four-star resorts. There are plenty of guesthouses, however, the cheapest guesthouses directly on the beach frequently sell out. Reservations are necessary at peak times such as at New Year. Due the extensive construction works in the city, any list of accommodation might be outdated. As of Sep 2919, it seems that most of the hotels aim at Chinese clientele.

Stay safe

 * Cambodia National Police: ,
 * Cambodia National Police, Sihanoukville Branch:, ,

While violent crime is extremely rare, purse snatching, pick-pocketing, and petty theft are extremely common occurrences on and near Serendipity beach during both the day and night. Women should not carry purses containing anything valuable, and if possible should not carry any purse at all. Groups of young children often surround women leaving the beach bars at night, cut off their purses and run away. In addition, criminals on motorbikes will often grab a woman's purse and then drive off during both the day and night, dragging the woman behind them until they let go. The majority of this activity is confined to the Serendipity area and travellers to Otres Beach or the rest of Sihanoukville should be careful, but far less concerned about crime.

Jet ski
At least six tourists and one local boy were run over and killed at Ochheuteal Beach and Otres Beach by jet skis since Sep 2009. The number of tourists and locals injured by banana-boats and jet skis is unknown. In 2009 the police marked a swimmers-only area with buoys along most of the beach but the employees of the jet ski & banana-boat operators completely ignore it and keep showing off silly but very dangerous high speed stunts just meters from shore and in the middle of swimmers to hunt and attract customers. Complaints to the police are ignored. On weekends you will see many very drunk Cambodian tourists on jet skis, chasing each other inside the swimming zone and ignoring the simplest safety rules. At Serendipity, the northern end of Ochheuteal Beach, jet skiers race between the coral bommies, completely disregarding the safety of snorkellers, damaging and killing marine life with the oil in their exhausts. All but one jet ski are old models from the 1990s with 2-stroke engines. If three or four jet skies running at the same time, the whole beach stinks from the highly toxic exhaust fumes, not to mention the permanent chainsaw noise the beach is blasted with. If you want to enjoy a quiet, relaxed day on the beach, do not rent a jet ski and tell everybody about the danger, or go to one of the other beaches outside of town and pay US$3–5 for a one-way ride with a motodop.

Stay healthy
Medical services in Sihanoukville are very limited and basic. The best medical service is offered by the CT Clinic or Sihanoukville International Clinic. These are the only clinics trusted by expats who live in Sihanoukville. The public hospital should be avoided at all costs, as it is terrible. In case of major illness or injury evacuation is necessary.

HIV/AIDS is nowhere near as prevalent as it was, but the infection rate is still relatively high within certain high risk groups such as female sex workers. In 2016 the infection rate for brothel-based female sex workers was estimated to be 14.7%, but government initiatives have raised the rate of correct and consistent condom use to over 90%. However, many sex workers are now operating outside of brothels, so the rate could be significantly higher in this group.

Connect
Sihanoukville's area code is 034.

Internet
There are many Internet cafes and some guesthouses and many hotels offer Internet access. Many now have Wi-Fi, some for free.

Post
The new main Post Office is near the Victory Park on the left hand side of the road as you go to Victory Hill. There is also a branch at the market downtown, but here you can only leave your postcards during office hours, as it does not feature an outdoor mailbox.

Go next

 * Bokor National Park – An abandoned French hill station near Kampot which was a popular destination in the 1920s
 * Kampot
 * Kep
 * Koh Kong
 * Koh Rong
 * Koh Rung Sanloem
 * Koh Russei
 * Bangkok via Trat Thailand – Minibuses offer direct service for US$35
 * Ko Chang, Thailand – Minibuses offer direct service to the ferry crossing
 * Siem Reap – 12 hr by day or overnight bus. The price is US$17–18 (July 2015) and they will not negotiate (probably due to cartel). If you take the night bus, they will force you to sleep next to a stranger on a small single bed. If you are a big person they may force you to pay double.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Sihanoukville


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Siirt

Siirt is a city in Southeastern Anatolia.

Understand
Siirt has a mixed population of Kurds, Turks, and local Arabs, the latter of whom speak a dialect that is incomprehensible to Arabs from elsewhere.

Get in
Siirt is not far from Diyarbakır, the largest city of Southeastern Anatolia and lying 187 km west of Siirt.

While there is no railway connection to Siirt itself, TCDD operates an overnight train from Ankara, the Guney Kurtalan Express, to nearby Kurtalan. From there it's just 30 km by road and there are connecting buses and taxis.

Buy

 * Bıttım soap (Bıttım sabunu) made of oil of local variety of pistachios, with its mossy scent and bright green colour, is unique to the city. It's best to buy it from reputable places as some home-made soaps can turn out to be not properly produced (with an excess of lye), so can heavily dry and irritate your skin.

title: Siirt


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Sikachi-Alyan

Sikachi-Alyan is a small Nanai village on the bank of Amur river located 75 km north of Khabarovsk. The place is famous for petroghliphs ("masks"), the neolithic drawings carved in basalt stones. The road to Sikachi-Alyan is not bad by Russian standards. There is also a tourist center "Velkom" in front of the entrance to the village, where one can enjoy exposition of aboriginal artefacts and findings. The reconstructed wooden houses and boats of ancient people are scattered around to give the idea of living in different periods in this region.

Get in
By car or as a tourist.

title: Sikachi-Alyan


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Sikasso (city)

Sikasso is a city in Sikasso Region in the south of Mali, 375 km (233 mi) from the capital Bamako. It is the second largest city in Mali with about 230,000 inhabitants.

Understand
A small village until 1876 when it became the capital of the Kénédougou Kingdom. The city remained the capital until 1898 when it became a part of the French colonial empire.

In contrast to other parts of Mali, Sikasso has a subtropical climate and there are plenty of fruit and vegetables throughout the year.

Get in
The city is 100 km (62 mi) from Mali's border to Cote d'Ivoire and 45 km (28 mi) to Burkina Faso.

There are plenty of bus services from the capital Bamako, with SONEF being the largest operator.

See

Some touristic sites:

title: Sikasso (city)


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Sikasso (region)

Sikasso is a region in Mali named after the largest city within the region.

title: Sikasso (region)


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Sikeston

Sikeston is a city in Southeast Missouri.

Get in
Sikeston is at the intersection of I-55 and I-57.

title: Sikeston


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Sikhote-Alin

The Sikhote-Alin (Russian:Сихотэ́-Али́нь, see-ho-tae-ali-n) is a mountain range in Primorsky and Khabarovsk Krais, extending about 900 km to the northeast of the Russian Pacific seaport of Vladivostok. The highest summits are Tordoki Yani (2,077 m), Ko Mountain (2,003 m), and Anik Mountain (1,933 m). The area is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Landscape
Sikhote-Alin is a very beautiful natural place: the sea with cliffs and stacks, lagoon lakes, waterfalls, rivers full of rapids and bright streams, the taiga forest here is like a forest from fairy tales.

Innumerable mountain ranges and spurs, cut by river and steam valleys form the panorama of the region. Here and there among them rise huge tops; lowlands occupy big river valleys and sea Holocene terraces.

At the bottom of the sea and on the rocks sea urchins, kelp which is similar to mermaid’s hair, crabs and scallops live; different types of fish swim in the water. There are a few lakes with a paleolagoon origin in the coastal zone; some of them have a constant or periodic contact with the sea, while the others have completely lost it and became nonsaline.

Fauna
Sikhote-Alin Mountains possess a great biodiversity. Here inhabit noble and spotted deer, roe deer, wild boar, Himalayan black and brown bear, Far Eastern wild cat, yellow-throated marten, sable, Amur goral and Siberian tiger. Rivers are filled with tasty fish: brown trout, char, chum salmon comes, cherry salmon and humpback salmon.

Vegetation
The vegetation is very diverse; ones communities are replaced by others with height. Sikhote-Alin is a forest area; about 95% of its territory is occupied by different forests communities. Mongolian oak forests grow on the seaside slopes. Sometimes a constant impact of winds and fogs leads to the appearance of shrubs-like crooked oak forests. They are peculiar, very strange and even mystical.

The most unique woody communities are broadleaved-coniferous forests they create formed by various broadleaves species and Korean Pine (Pinus koreansis). Korean Pine reaches the height of 40 m and diameter of 1.5 m, the oldest trees are about 500 years old.

At altitudes of 800-1200 m grow spruce and abies forests with a thick moss cover. Trees are very close to each other, epiphytic lichens hang on the branches. It seems that this is an unreal, mythical world inhabited by spirits of the forest. Even higher inhabit crooked stone birch forests, which are then replaced by thickets of draft pine and mountain tundra. There are stone rivers and conglomerations on the slopes of the mountains, from the peaks you see endless mountains.

title: Sikhote-Alin


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Sikinos

Sikinos is a small island in the Cyclades.

Get in
Several ferries go to and from Sikinos. Ferry schedules can be found at

Get around
A bus gets you around the island. Any destination €1.40. It goes from Kastro to the port and back every hour, and waits a little longer at the port if a ferry arrives. It goes a few times a day to Ag. Georgios beach and a few times in the evening to Episkopi. The timetable is posted at several places.

The bus driver is the only one who rents out motorcycles, and he knows it. He has only 2-stroke 50cc's and asks €15/day. They are too weak for the steep roads on this island and use a lot of gas, but it is your only option unless you bring your own. The petrol station is only open in the morning.

See
The monastery

The winery

Do
Swim-eat-drink-relax. Sikinos is also good for hiking.

Buy
There is one shop in the harbour, all others are in Kastro.

Eat
Tiropites are available at the bakery in Kastro and at the harbour at Lucas'

Don't go to Sikinos for the food. It is average and there is no fresh fish or seafood on the island. Choices are in general somewhat limited.

There are restaurants on Sikinos (2010):

Alopronia (harbour):
 * Meltemi: decent Greek food.
 * Marconi: coffee and pancakes and pizza and sandwiches, etc, but the best part might be the people-watching and beach scene laid out before you.

Kastro:
 * To Steki tou Garbi: Greek food and grillhouse.
 * Klimataria: Greek food. Mostly nice, but the melitzanosalata was made with smoke flavour!

Ag. Giorgos beach:
 * There is also a Restaurant here. They don't have much but what they have is good.

Drink
There are a few very nice and cosy cafe's in Kastro. Try rakomelo and the local wine. In the harbour all cafe's sell you water instead of bringing a glass with the coffee, which in Greece indicates a tourist-trap. The cafe's in Kastro at least usually ask if you want a glass or a bottle of water.

Sleep
Like anywhere in Greece, avoid the places who are in the common guidebooks. Domatia owners meet the arriving ferries. Depending on your negotiation skills you get a double room for €20-30 (2010, intermediate season). If you want a double bed don't let them fool you with the standard "no one has that on this island", they do exist.

Connect
There is free WiFi in most cafe's and in the community centre.

title: Sikinos


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Sikkim

Sikkim (Nepali: सिक्किम; Sikkimese: སུ་ཁྱིམ་) in East India, is a mountainous border state in the Himalayan foothills. It is bounded by China (Tibet), Nepal and Bhutan to its north, west and east respectively, with West Bengal forming its southern border. It is a place of great natural beauty. The steep, snow-capped mountains will take your breath away, not just figuratively because of the view, but also literally due to their altitude. Through its deep valleys flow two important rivers, rapidly in the north, getting somewhat sluggish in the south. Streams and waterfalls that will have you reaching out to your camera can be found at every turn of the winding ghat roads. Apart from its natural beauty, Sikkim has much to offer. Monasteries offer you a glimpse of Tibetan Buddhist culture. The food, reflecting Tibetan and Nepali cultures, is great. The name Sikkim is said to have been derived from su him, meaning "beautiful home", which makes sense as it is beautiful and the people will make you feel at home. Getting to this place is a bit of a challenge though, due to poor connectivity and because it borders China. Non-Indians get a free permit on arrival in Sikkim, while Indians don't need this. However, both Indians and foreigners must obtain an additional permit for visiting the north and trekking. Sikkim is home to the only open border crossing between India and China, though this crossing is only open to traders and not to tourists.

Regions
Till December 2021, Sikkim was divided into 4 administrative districts, rather imaginatively called North, South, East and West.

The last two have been sub-divided since, forming two new districts. The official names of the original ones have been changed; now they are called by the names of the town where the district headquarters are. This guide continues to use the previous sub-division, as it is more relevant for the traveler.

Towns

 * — a bustling, friendly hill station, and the capital of Sikkim, is a popular place with tourists heading on treks

 * — near the ancient town of Yuksom, the town is the base for trekking in the Himalayas and professional expeditions to Mount Kanchenjunga

 * — a town on the Tibetan Plateau

 * — is more quiet and local in character than touristy Gangtok

 * — focused on the development of sustainable tourism, it offers great views of snow covered Kanchenjunga

 * — a small picturesque town that is one of the few places in Sikkim to offer undisturbed views of the Greater Himalayas

 * — it serves as the starting point of the Dzongri—Goechala Trek, and is very calm, a real get-away for those who want to avoid the tourist crowd

Other destinations

 * — there are many glaciers located in this . Animals such as musk deer and snow leopard make there homes here

 * — a region reserved for the indigenous Lepcha people in North Sikkim

 * — A high altitude road trip in East Sikkim district. The road meanders past high altitudes lakes and passes offering great views of snow covered Kanchenjunga

Understand
Sikkim covers an area of about 7,300 km², nearly 40% of which is forested. Kanchenjunga (8,586 m) is the third-highest mountain on earth. The mountain is venerated as seat of the Gods. Sikkim is renowned for wide rhododendron woods with 450 different kinds of orchids. The orchids blossom from March to May.

History
For a long time, Sikkim was a Buddhist kingdom, isolated in the Himalayas, populated by Lepchas and Bhotia, two tribes of Tibetan origin, and governed by the Namgyal Dynasty from Tibet. Sikkim was declared a British protectorate in 1861. The British government encouraged the immigration of Nepalese workers, and today about 75% of the population is Nepalese. Sikkim was an Indian protectorate from 1947 until 1975, when after a couple of years of unrest, a referendum criticized by some resulted in overwhelming approval of a proposal to abolish the monarchy (which had continued to rule during Sikkim's years as a protectorate), and Sikkim later that year became the 22nd federal state of India.

Though it had long been the subject of a territorial dispute between China and India, in 2003, China agreed to recognise Indian sovereignty over Sikkim in return for Indian recognition of Chinese sovereignty over Tibet.

Talk
The official language and lingua franca of Sikkim is Nepali, though Sikkimese is the most common native language of locals. Many other languages such as Dzongkha and Tibetan are also spoken by smaller numbers. However, Hindi is also widely spoken as a second language, and all educated people are able to speak English.

Entry permits to Sikkim
An Inner Line Permit (ILP) is required and provided upon arrival for foreigners. Upon arrival, have your passport, a photocopy of it, of your visa to India and passport photos ready at the check post. When entering and exiting Sikkim, your passport will be stamped much in the same manner as when crossing national borders. Obtaining a permit is a pure bureaucratic formality and usually takes a few minutes. You will need to fill in an application form and provide a few passport photos (3 to visit tsomgo Lake in East and 3 to visit North Sikkim). If only visiting West Sikkim, 2 passport photos are required.

The permit can be obtained when crossing the Sikkim state border by road in Rangpo or Meili and from the Sikkim Tourism Centre in Siliguri located at the S.N.T. bus stand (the place from which government buses depart for Sikkim: S.N.T. means "Sikkim Nationalized Transport") in the vicinity of Siliguri Junction railway station (different from New Jalpaiguri station, and reachable from there by taxi/public shared taxi). The website of Ministry of Home Affairs states that permits can also be obtained at large international airports (Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata), but locating the relevant facilities has proven difficult for some travellers, due to incompetence of personnel. Permits can also be applied for at the time of Indian visa application, or at 14 Panchsheel Marg, New Delhi 110021 and 4/1 Middleton Street, Kolkata 700071. Within India Inner Line Permits may be issued by:
 * Sikkim House, 12-14 Panchsheet Marg, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi ,
 * Sikkim Tourist Centre, SNTC Bus Stand, Hill Cart Road, Silguri ,
 * Sikkim Tourist Information Centre, Sikkim House, 4/1 Middleton St., Kolkata
 * Foreign Regional Registration Office in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Darjeeling.

The permit is valid for 2 weeks from the border entry to Sikkim. It can by extended for 2 additional weeks at the Foreigners' Registration Office, Kazi Road, Gangtok (Tel. 03592-223041) or from the police station at Mangan, Gyalshing or Namchi The Inner Line Permit allows travels in Southern Sikkim and great parts of Eastern and Western Sikkim with the exception of treks in high mountain areas.

For the border regions, e.g. Tsomgo Lake in East Sikkim, most parts of North Sikkim and treks into high mountain regions, including Dzongri and Singalila Ridge a Protected Area Permit (PAP) is required. Foreigners must visit these regions in groups of at least 2 persons accompanied by a representative of an officially acknowledged tour operator. The agency will also apply for the Protected Area Permits.

Certain regions, e.g. Nathu La in East Sikkim or Gurudongmar Lake in North Sikkim, cannot be visited by foreigners.

By plane
Sikkim's first airport at Pakyong has been opened, with SpiceJet flying from Kolkata and Delhi to Pakyong airport in East Sikkim and Guwahati In Assam and return flight to Pakyong and then to Kolkata (daily flights). There are plans for international service to Paro via Druk Air.

The nearest airport outside Sikkim is Bagdogra in Siliguri in North Bengal, which is 124 km and approximately four hours drive from Gangtok. Air India, SpiceJet and Go Air service Bagdogra linking it with other major airports in India (including Guwahati). Druk Air flies twice weekly from Bangkok, stopping in Bagdogra before continuing to Paro in Bhutan.

Sikkim is linked to Bagdogra airport by a daily helicopter service to Gangtok that operates only once a day and carries four passengers

 * Air India offers daily flights from Delhi to Bagdogra, departure 11:15AM from Delhi, arrival 1:30PM at Bagdogra, and flights from Kolkata (CCU) daily except F departure from Kolkata 2:10PM, arrival at Bagdogra at 3:10PM. The return flight from Bagdogra to Delhi leave at 2:05PM and arrives in Delhi at 4:10PM, return flights to Kolkata depart from Bagdogra at 3:40PM and arrive in Kolkata at 4:40PM.
 * Druk Air (Royal Bhutan Airlines) has flights from Bangkok (Thailand) and Paro (Bhutan) to Bagdogra. Flights from Bangkok leave on M and Th 8:55AM and arrive at 10:30AM at Bagdogra, flights to Bangkok leave Bagdogra on Sa and Tu at noon and arrive in Bangkok at 4:30PM. Flights from Paro leave on Sa and Tu at 11:30AM and arrive at Bagdogra at 11:30AM, flights to Paro leave Bagdogra on Su and W at 11AM and arrive at Paro at 11:55AM.
 * GoAir connects Bagdogra with Delhi and Guwahati on M W F and Su. Flights from Delhi go via Guwahati, they leave Delhi daily at 11AM. Flights from Guwahati leave Guwahati at 1:40PM and arrive at Bagdogra at 2:40PM. The return flight goes directly to Delhi and departs at Bagdogra at 3:05PM and arrives in Delhi at 5:20PM.
 * SpiceJet Airlines has daily flights from Delhi to Bagdogra, Flights leave Delhi at 11:15AM and arrive at Bagdogra at 1:25PM, return flights leave Bagdogra at 10:40AM and arrive in Delhi at 12:50PM.
 * IndiGo has daily flights to Kolkata, Delhi, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Chennai.

By train
Construction of a 50-km rail link from Sevoke, West Bengal to Rangpo, Sikkim started in 2009, but is not expected to be ready until 2019, and it'll take another few years until it reaches another 40 km to Gangtok.

As of January 2021, the nearest railway station is New Jalpaiguri (NJP) in Siliguri, which is a major station with connections to major cities throughout and north and central India. The distance from Delhi to New Jalpaiguri by train is 1,970 km, and 580 km from Kolkata to New Jalpaiguri.
 * 12502 Poorvottar Sampark Kranti Express to Guwahati leaves New Delhi Station on W Th and Su at 11:55PM and arrives at New Jalpaiguri 2 days later at 12:05AM.
 * 12501 Poorvottar Sampark Kranti Express leaves New Jalpaiguri on Tu W and Sa at 1:30PM and arrives in New Delhi Station next day at 1PM.
 * 12424 Dibrugarh Rajdhani Express to Dibrugarh Town leaves New Delhi Station daily at 2PM and arrives at New Jalpaiguri next day at 10:45AM.
 * 12423 Dibrugarh Rajdhani Express leaves New Jalpaiguri daily at 1:15PM and arrives at New Delhi Station at 10:10AM next morning.

For details see the train schedule information of Indian Railways

You should be able to get pre-paid, shared taxis to Gangtok outside the railway stations easily.

By bus
The Sikkim government has fixed rate (and fixed schedule) buses plying between Siliguri and Gangtok.

 * There is a daily service from Darjeeling to Gantok and vice versa, operated by Sikkim National Transport (SNT). The distance between Darjeeling and Gangtok is about 120 km. Departure from both places at 8:30AM. Travel time 6 hr 30 min.
 * Services from Siliguri to Gangtok and v.v. are operated by Sikkim National Transport (SNT) and North Bengal Transport (NBT). Buses leave Siliguri at 6 (NBT), 7, 9AM and 1PM (SNT), and Gangtok at 7 and 8AM (SNT), 12:30PM (NBT), 1PM (SNT). Travel time is 6 hrs.

The SNT bus stand at Gangtok is in Pajor Stadium Road. In many cases it is, however, more convenient to get off at MG Marg. The private bus stand is on National Highway NH-31A, about 2 km south of the city centre.

After 44 years of closure, the Nathu La pass to Tibet, China – a part of the historic Silk Road – opened again in July 2006. At the moment, only local traders are permitted to cross the border here, and it is not open to tourists. Indian citizens require a permit to visit the Indian side of the pass, while foreigners are not permitted to visit.

Get around
Most travel in Sikkim is done by bus or jeep on road. Trekking is also a popular option.

Do
There are many adventure activities possible to do in Sikkim. Tourists can go for trekking, rafting and kayaking, mountain biking, mountaineering Para Gliding and yak safaris.

Trekking
Trekking is a popular adventure activity in Sikkim. Some of the popular trek routes are:
 * Dzongri - Gechala Trek: The 8 - 9 day trek leads to the base of Kanchenjunga, the third highest peak in the world. The route passes through alpine forest, lush green meadows and past glacial lakes. People with lesser time can opt for the Dzongri trek (5 days) which provides great panoramic views of Kanchenjunga and its surrounding peaks.
 * Maenam Hill Trek:Maenam (10,500 ft) is a hill towering above the town of Rabangla offering a great panoramic views of Kanchenjunga and its surrounding peaks. It is 3 - 4 hr (one way) hike from Ravangla. Spending a night atop Maenam hill is a thrilling experience with a spectacular sunrise in the morning. There are no places to stay in Maenam Hilltop, so tents and food need to be carried.

White water rafting
Large stretches of the two major rivers of Sikkim, Teesta and Rangit are suitable for rafting.

Mountain biking
The experience of dangerous, yet exciting, sports like mountain biking is an enormous attraction for visitors who come to Sikkim to spend some days of relaxation in the touch of nature. So undoubtedly a place like Sikkim, where mountains are a prime part of the landscape, an off-road cycle ride through the uneven hills, jungles and water bodies works like a magnet for all who are obsessed with exploring new thrills.

Eat
Delicious momos stuffed with meat (also known as 'Dumpling'). For vegetarians, veg momos are also available along with Thukpas (noodle soup). Phagshapa is a strip of pork fat stewed with radishes and dried chillies.

Drink

 * Chhang/thumba/tongba/chee - Locally brewed mildly intoxicating millet beer, sometimes served in a bamboo glass with a wooden straw.
 * HIT Beer - A local favourite manufactured by a brewery owned by the Bollywood actor Danny Denzongpa.
 * Liquor - Whisky, brandy and rum are very cheap in Sikkim as compared to other parts of India.

Go next

 * Bhutan
 * Darjeeling
 * Kalimpong
 * Nepal
 * Siliguri

title: Sikkim


text:
Silang

Silang is a rural municipality in Cavite, along Aguinaldo Highway. It shares a mildly cool climate with its southern neighbor, Tagaytay, but is somewhat off the beaten track.

Understand
Silang is bordered by Dasmariñas, General Mariano Alvarez, and Carmona to the north, General Trias and Amadeo on the west, Tagaytay to the south and by Laguna province to the east. It is a landlocked municipality with over 150,000 residents, scattered in 64 barangays.

Silang is rather overshadowed by nearby Tagaytay, but has a similar cool climate, and a few sights that can be visited within a day. The municipality has a large Korean community, who reside here as living is cheaper than in Tagaytay. The Seventh-Day Adventist Church in the Philippines is headquartered in this area, and they host an Adventist university along the highway between Santa Rosa and Tagaytay. Silang has many subdivisions housing some of the Filipino elites and some expats. Economic growth is making inroads through the real estate boom, so living costs slowly increases despite being rural.

By bus

Silang is easily reached by bus through Aguinaldo Highway. It takes over 1 hour or even 2 from Manila due to traffic jams to the north, but can be short as 10-15 minutes from Tagaytay.

Other than from Erjohn and Almark, most buses passing through Silang don't have their own dedicated bus stations, but all the other companies serving Silang can drop you off anywhere along Aguinaldo Highway if you request. Most important for travellers are the stops along a stretch of Aguinaldo Highway that bypasses the town to the west (as Bypass Road).

By car
Two major highways pass through Silang. Aguinaldo Hwy (Rte 419 to the north, unnumbered at the bypass west of Poblacion, and Rte 410 to the south), a four-lane at-grade highway, serves the town proper and the western portion of Silang. Santa Rosa-Tagaytay Rd (Rte 420), which is being widened to four lanes, lies to the eastern side of the municipality.

From the northeast, there is the two-lane Carmona-Silang Rd (Kaong Road), connecting the town proper with Governor's Drive (Route 65) in Carmona, but it is a narrow road through villages and jungle.

Silang is the terminus of four-lane tolled Cavite-Laguna Expy (CALAx) as of 2021, but is only accessible from Laguna. The remainder of the expressway is still under construction. The existing CALAx exit (Silang East) is at Kaong, and will involve travel through narrow rural roads; Silang West exit, connecting with Aguinaldo Hwy, is under construction.

By jeepney
Jeepneys ply both highways, and is the only public transport option along Santa Rosa-Tagaytay Road.

Along Aguinaldo Highway, jeepneys run from Tagaytay down to Dasmariñas and Imus. Most enter the town proper, but some use the bypass instead.

On Santa Rosa-Tagaytay Road, there is only one route, the Balibago-Tagaytay route, which is unfortunately, operated by unfranchised and often crowded jeepneys. It is the only option to the eastern side of the municipality, and you'll likely have to take this if you travel via Santa Rosa by bus.

Get around
Tricycles are the primary mode of transportation through town and its barangays. Jeepneys are the most economical way to travel along the areas beside Aguinaldo Highway.

Most of Silang is in the countryside, dotted with barangays and crisscrossed by a network of local roads. Travelling by car is advisable if you want to avoid the hassle with tricycles, but watch out as roads are narrow and there are lots of pedestrian traffic through the barangays.

title: Silang


text:
Silay

Silay City is dubbed as the Paris of Negros because of its European-inspired houses which have been declared historical landmarks, and it is the second museum city in the Philippines next to Vigan. Silay is a center for arts, culture and ecotourism and might be as close as the province can get to the dazzling streets of Europe because of its well-preserved European colonial houses.

History
A local legend tells of how Silay City got its name. There once lived a princess named Kansilay. An attack on the settlement by pirates was thwarted when the princess bravely led the people in the village's defense. The fight was furious and the princess fought like a seasoned warrior. Murals that used to grace some of the city's public buildings depict her as a fierce fighter wielding a huge talibong, a short native single-edged sword. The pirates were routed, but at the cost of the princess' life. Her paramour arrived in time to see her die. In grief, the people lovingly buried her. To their surprise, a tree grew right over her grave, the first Kansilay tree, a final gift from the brave princess.

The city has many annual and monthly events that were established many years ago which Silaynons and the people from different cities enjoys such as their festival called as Kansilay Festival. Silay's also known for their heritage houses, old antique landmarks and other historical places. The transportation system is good, and a variety of tasty restaurants and good architecture are available for visitors to enjoy.

Climate
Silay City has two kind of seasons, the wet season, and the dry season. Silaynon's adapted to this kind of climate. For wet season, they usually bring umbrellas, raincoats, or any water-resistant accessories just to prevent the rain. While for the dry season, they usually put SPF lotions and moisturizers over their body and also bring umbrellas to prevent the sun rays and heat from the sun. It is also one of Filipino's fun traditional activity; kids love to play in the rain and splash and squish on the wate. It's also fun to sunbathe on a beach with the sun. The dry season usually starts in February and ends in April while the wet season usually starts May onward.

Language
Silaynons official dialect is Hiligaynon or Ilonggo while some can talk Tagalog (national language), Cebuano, and Ilokano. Some of the Silaynons can speak fluently in English. Communicating at them aren't difficult so no worries. Filipino people can understand English for it's the second known language in the Philippines.

By plane
Take a taxi or minivan from Silay airport to Silay city proper on arrival. There are also vans to the provincial capital, Bacolod.

By bus
Silay is about 30-45 minutes away from Bacolod. The Ceres bus is 3 times faster than an ordinary bus. There are also buses to/from many destinations including Sipalay, Talisay, Victorias and Kabankalan.

Fares from Bacolod to/from Silay, the bus depends by kilometers. The fare will change without any notice. Students/senior citizen/people with disabilities: (regular buses);  (aircon buses);  (special buses). Regular fares: (regular buses);  (aircon buses);  (special buses).

By taxi
Taxis are the best option for getting around Silay. However, some of them might offer you a fixed price because of distance or because you're a tourist. If they do offer you a fixed price don't accept it, get out of the taxi as soon as possible and look for another one or try threatening the driver that you will call the police as fixed prices are illegal. Always pay according to the meter and keep a close watch at the meter as some of the drivers might cheat you. If you plan to give a tip, round off the fare. For example if it is, give him and also tell him to keep the change. Flag down rate for taxis is.

By tricycle
Tricycles are small and often cramped for two people; however, they're the cheapest mode of transportation for getting around alone.

From the age of 12-19, the starting point is. From the age of 20 and above, the starting point is. Adults such as parents or working individuals, the starting point is. These fares are from/to all destinations within Silay City only. For further destinations, try buses, jeepneys or taxis. Tricycle fares can change without any notice.

By jeepneys
The cheapest mode of transportation if you choose not to travel alone, it is the local version of buses. Don't forget to ask for a discount if you're a senior citizen or a student. Flag down rates for jeepneys nationwide is, jeepneys have fixed routes. One can easily go anywhere in Silay by riding a tricycle which cost per passenger within the city limits only. Riding a jeepney to Bacolod will cost per passenger and  on air conditioned shuttles.

If you have problems to any transportation vehicles when it comes to fares and services, you can call the LTFRB hotline number: +63 34 (426-2515).

See
The main attractions in Silay are the well-preserved European houses. Every house has its own stories to tell. Silay has 29 ancestral houses officially declared by the National Heritage Commission of the Philippines.

 * Balaring Restaurants and Landmarks
 * Doña Montserrat Lopez Memorial High School famous for their old name "Silay City National High School".
 * Balaring Restaurants and Landmarks
 * Doña Montserrat Lopez Memorial High School famous for their old name "Silay City National High School".
 * Balaring Restaurants and Landmarks
 * Doña Montserrat Lopez Memorial High School famous for their old name "Silay City National High School".
 * Balaring Restaurants and Landmarks
 * Doña Montserrat Lopez Memorial High School famous for their old name "Silay City National High School".
 * Balaring Restaurants and Landmarks
 * Doña Montserrat Lopez Memorial High School famous for their old name "Silay City National High School".
 * Doña Montserrat Lopez Memorial High School famous for their old name "Silay City National High School".

Buy

 * Savemore Silay, Rizal Street. 8am-8pm
 * Foodman near Silay Public Market
 * Lopues near Manuel Severino Hofileña Ancestral House
 * Convenience Store such as 7/11, Munsterific, and Imart
 * Convenience Store such as 7/11, Munsterific, and Imart

Money changers
There are some few money changer branches or banks around the city.
 * BDO or Banko/Banco De Oro at the front of Savemore Silay, Rizal Street.
 * China Bank at Hofileña Subdivision near RUSI or Golden Food Park.
 * Eastwest Bank at the side of Savemore Silay, Rizal Street nearby the BDO.
 * Savemore Silay at the front of BDO and side of Eastwest Bank, Rizal Street.

Eat
There are many kinds of restaurant you can choose from to eat with love and savory coming from the people of Silay. We ensure that all restaurants and food stores are qualified by the government as safe and healthy to eat. You can adjust your budget but with your, you can enjoy some good quality food to share with your family or by yourself.
 * Silay Public Plaza - if you are craving streetfoods with many different kinds of drinks.
 * 7/11, Munsterific, Imart, a convenience store which is open 24 hours.
 * Hestia's Restaurant, near the El Ideal Bakeshop, serves various kinds of food.
 * Ann Co's Cake, a delicacies store wherein cakes and breads are the products of this cafe.
 * Golden Food Park, a fast-food restaurant that serves yummy grilled chicken.
 * Greenoz Pizzeria, a pizzeria that serves various kinds of pizza. Near Golden Food Park at Rizal Street.
 * Pamilya Grill, a fast-food, family restaurant that serves many kinds of food. Located at Carmella Valley, Rizal Street
 * Balaring Restaurants - if you are craving a seafood restaurant, there are restaurants that can be found at Balaring, at Barangay Lantad.
 * Pamilya Grill, a fast-food, family restaurant that serves many kinds of food. Located at Carmella Valley, Rizal Street
 * Balaring Restaurants - if you are craving a seafood restaurant, there are restaurants that can be found at Balaring, at Barangay Lantad.

Drink

 * Convenience stores such as 7/11, Munsterific and Imart. They sell liquors and beverages throughout the day.
 * The Mansion is a heritage-preserved house that is also a cafe. You can buy some coffee drinks and other beverages. They also serve food.
 * Kapehan sa Kilid Dalan is a cafe where you can have coffee, liquors, beverages, shakes, and other drinks. They also serve food such as burgers and fries.

Sleep

 * Pegasus Pension House, a pension house at Mckinley Street going to the airport.
 * Richmond Inn - you can see it when you arrived here at Silay. Located at nearby Bacolod-Silay International Airport.
 * Pegasus Pension House, a pension house at Mckinley Street going to the airport.
 * Richmond Inn - you can see it when you arrived here at Silay. Located at nearby Bacolod-Silay International Airport.
 * Richmond Inn - you can see it when you arrived here at Silay. Located at nearby Bacolod-Silay International Airport.

Connect
SIM cards are sold at all supermarkets and convenience stores.

Stay safe
There are many departments to help you when you are in need of help and there is a youth curfew every night. All around, kagawads or barangay tanods (village watchers) are roaming each barangay where they are tasked to. The night-time ordinance of switching off the lights is applied starting around 10PM.

Go next

 * Bacolod
 * Talisay
 * San Carlos
 * Victorias

title: Silay


text:
Silchar

Silchar (Bengali: শিলচর Śilcar SHIHL-chawr, Assamese: শিলচৰ Śilcar xihl-sawr) is the largest city city of the Barak Valley region of Assam, India.

Talk
Bengali and Manipuri (Meitei) are the official languages of Silchar and the rest of the Barak Valley. However, as it is in the state of Assam, Assamese is the state official language that is used in state government offices. In addition, most well-educated locals will also be able to speak Hindi and English.

By bus
Bus service is available from Guwahati, Shillong (9 hrs), Agartala, Imphal, Aizawl.

Buses arrive/depart from ISBT (bus terminal about 5km west of city centre) or Capital Point (central street with several ticket counters).

By train
For trains one have to come to Lumding from Guwahati by BG trains and then MG train to Silchar, it take more or less 12 hours. Alternatively, it is also possible to travel by the daily 05568 Bairabi - Silchar Passenger Special from Bairabi in Kolasib district of Mizoram to Silchar in about 3 hours and 30 minutes.

Go next

 * Guwahati
 * Shillong
 * Agartala
 * Imphal
 * Aizawl

title: Silchar


text:
Silent Valley National Park

Silent Valley National Park is at Mukkalil, 20 km from Mannarkkad town in Palakkad District, Malabar, Kerala, India.

Understand
The park is named Indira Gandhi National Park, and Silent Valley is the name of the place, but it is also called Silent Valley National Park. It is a wonderful place to visit for tourists.

History
Silent Valley is considered one of the most ecologically diverse areas on the planet.

In the 1950s, the Kerala State Electricity Board wanted to build a dam across the Kunti river, which flowed in the deep forest. Nationwide protests in India by environmentalists and mass publicity by the media led the then prime minister, Indira Gandhi to order the state government to abolish the hydroelectric project. The area was declared a national park.

Landscape
Tropical evergreen forest, the highest peak is 2,383 m above sea level. Huge trees, thick undergrowth. Heavy rains during the monsoons. Shola grasslands higher up.
 * Core forest: 89 km2
 * Buffer Zone: 148 km2
 * Total area: 237 km2

The tourists are taken 22 km into the buffer zone and only 1 km inside the core forest. You can see the board 'Silent Valley National Park' at the entrance of the buffer zone. You will see the same board again after 22 km at the entrance of the core forest. The ride back is in the same route.

Flora and fauna
The park is inhabited by 16 species of birds, 34 species of mammals, 730 species of insects, 128 species of butterflies, and a 1,000 species of flowering plants. The mammals in the park include the threatened lion-tailed macaque, tiger, panther, leopard cat, civet, mongoose, otter, sloth bear, flying squirrel, Indian pangolin, porcupine, wild boar, deer, elephant, giant squirrel, Nilgiri tahr, Peshwa's bat and the hairy-winged bat.

Climate
Humid during the rains (June, July, August), otherwise generally hot and tropical.

Get in

 * From Coimbatore: 65 km
 * From Palakkad: 60 km
 * From Kozhikode: 120 km
 * From Mannarkkad: 20 km

The nearest railway station is Palghat Junction. From Palakkad, go to Mannarkkad, and from there to Mukkali. KSRTC buses are available every half an hour. If you are planning to stay at Mukkali, reserve rooms in advance at the Forest department resthouse. Or else you can stay at Mannarkkad or Agali Hills and hire a jeep to reach Mukkali by 8AM. Mukkali is about 60 km from Palakkad, with Mannarkkad en route. The visit to the Valley and Kunti river will take only a day, and you can return to Palakkad the same evening.

Another nearby railway station is Coimbatore Junction. From Coimbatore, take the road to Anakatty (around 30 km) and from there to Agali Hills (15 km) and then to Mukkali (20 km). The total distance via the Coimbatore route is only around 65 km. Its almost a straight road drive from Coimbatore to Mukkali. The scenic roadway keeps one captivated all through.

Fees and permits

 * Those who have reserved over the telephone can approach the Forest department ticket counter at Mukkali between 8AM and 1PM including Sundays and pay the following fee:
 * Govt bus: ₹325 per head (more comfortable)
 * Govt Jeep: ₹1,700 (only five adults are allowed)
 * Additional payment is required for camera
 * You have to stand in a big queue to reach the tiny counter at the park gate in Mukkali, even though you have a reservation. Once cash is received you can wait for the vehicle to come. So this five hour trip can cost you more than seven hours. So spare a full day for the trip and remember to reach before 10AM at latest.

Get around
Entry into the valley is allowed only from 8AM to 1PM. The Forest Department deliberately does not allow going to the valley early in the morning to minimize disturbance to the animals. Every vehicle will have a free guide. The vehicle will move slowly all the 23 km and they will stop a few times on the way for five minute photo sessions. Animal sightings are quite rare and the view from the watch tower at the end is quite spectacular. Only 12 adults are allowed into the watch tower at a time. But a lot of Indians ignore this warning and get into it creating a dangerous situation to the fragile structure. This point is 1,050 meters above sea level. You can trek down to Kunthi river and see the hanging bridge. One hour is allowed in this place.

Apart from that, the trip can disappoint you if you are not a tree bum. Thick vegetation of the silent valley evergreen forest is the only attraction. The road is unpaved and the terrain very bumpy. They take a total of five hours for the trip. If you forget to take drinking water, you are lucky, very tasty mineral water is available free behind the parking space at the watch tower. If you are carrying a bottle of commercial 'mineral water', you can empty the bottle and fill it to the brim with this pristine water.

Distance signboards
The signboards of the government on the main road outside can mislead you because distance to the park is shown including the 22 km inside the park. So every time you see 'Silent Valley National Park', you have to reduce 22 km. Similarly the distance to 'Attappadi' means that so many km more to finish Attappadi region and not so many km to reach Attappadi. You cannot reach Attappadi because it is not a place but a region. The entire stretch between Mukkali and Agali is called 'Attappadi' and Agali town is also sometimes referred to as Attappadi.

Inside the park
Enjoy the thick jungle, see the birds, you are lucky if you see the big mammals (on the short trek). Mostly you will see the Malabar Giant Squirrel, black langurs and of course many kinds of birds. Trek down to the Kunti river. There is also a watch tower overlooking the jungle. The back of the Inspection Bungalow at Mukkali is a great place for bird watching.

Do
Take a bath in the Bhawani River at Mukkali.

Eat
There is one Sairandri restaurant at tree top resort, Chindakki near silent valley where you will get delicious food. And you have one small restaurant at Mukkali junction which is extremely crowded. For better food options, you have to get down to Mannarkkad. One small restaurant is conveniently located in front of the Park office, but they have too many customers and too little staff, and you may not get any attention for a while.

Drink

 * Bottled water is available at Mukkali.
 * Alcohol is strictly prohibited inside the forest. The department officials will check your luggage before they let you proceed to the valley.

Lodging
The forest department has a guest house and dormitory at Mukkali. Rooms have to be booked in advance. Rooms are decent, without expecting anything more than what can be expected in remote outskirts. If your focus is nature, then it shouldn't matter. Ensure you are prepared for power cuts, which are very frequent. The forest guest house is at a good, peaceful place, with the Bhavani River just flowing behind the guest house.

More lodges are available at Agali Hills, 20 km.

Camping
Tourists are not allowed to stay overnight at the valley; they have to return to Mukkali by evening. You can ask permission from the forest department office if you wish to camp in Mukkali. Or you can camp in Agali Hills or Mannarkkad.

Stay safe

 * Look out for leeches in the jungle. Carry table salt from Mukkali to remove leeches from your legs.
 * Palakkad district is vulnerable to attacks from an Indian communist group called Maoists. In 2014, they attacked the ticket counter of Silent Valley National Park, Mukkali. As the Maoists are armed and dangerous, be careful when you trek in lonely areas. Town areas are safer because there is a strong presence of special police forces and the identity documents of tourists are frequently verified.

Go next

 * Agali Hills, 20 km
 * Anakkatty border town, 36 km
 * Mannarkkad, 20 km
 * Palakkad, 60 km
 * Shornur, 75 km
 * Coimbatore, 65 km
 * Kozhikode, 120 km
 * Kochi, 155 km
 * Thrissur, 130 km
 * Buses are available to Coimbatore every hour. Buses to Kerala side are more frequent, about every 20 minutes.  All buses going down the hill goes via Mannarkkad from where you can go anywhere in Kerala easily.  Seats cannot be guaranteed if you board the bus from Mukkali junction  or Agali town.  So the best option is to include a visit to scenic Anakatty border town, 36 km, as the last item of your itinerary and board a bus from the bus hub there.

title: Silent Valley National Park


text:
Silesia

Silesia is a historic region in Central Europe, stretching across several modern countries:

Czech Republic

 * North Moravia and Silesia — the Czech part of Silesia, around Opava and Ostrava

Germany

 * Upper Lusatia – including the bit of Lower Silesia that remained German after 1945, around Görlitz and Hoyerswerda

Poland

 * Lower Silesian Voivodeship – the Polish part of former Lower Silesia, around Wrocław
 * Opole Voivodeship – the Western part of former Upper Silesia, around Opole
 * Silesian Voivodeship — the Eastern part of former Upper Silesia, around Katowice

Historical travel

 * Austro-Hungarian Empire – ruled most of Silesia from 1526 to 1742
 * Prussia – ruled most of Silesia from 1742 to 1918/1945

title: Silesia


text:
Silesian Voivodeship

The Silesian Voivodeship (Polish: Województwo śląskie) is one of the 16 provinces or voivodeships of Poland, in the south of the country bordering the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Much of it is industrial and densely populated, with a total of around 5 million, but there are also scenic rural uplands and mountains. Even the industrial areas are worth visiting, for the mining heritage and the mansions and churches funded by rich industrialists.

Metropolis GZM

 * GZM - Górnośląsko-Zagłębiowska Metropolia - is the conurbation of 41 towns around Katowice.

 * is capital of the Silesian Voivodeship. It's a large coal, steel and business centre.
 * has a large Culture Park along its boundary with Katowice.
 * was a large steel town, now in decline.
 * is a string of towns with no centre, that Lech Wałęsa famously never visited.
 * has a coal-mining museum in the underground workings.
 * is mostly industrial but with a medieval castle.
 * has a historic silver mine listed as a.
 * has several old churches, castles and palaces.
 * is a large post-industrial city with a museum and old churches.
 * is best known for its brewery, founded in 1629.
 * has a palace in 17th century Renaissance style.

Kraków-Częstochowa Upland

 * A Jurassic limestone ("karstic") landscape, with forests and scenic outcrops with castles perched on top.

 * has the shrine of Jasna Góra, a pilgrimage destination.
 * has the ruin of a 14th century castle.
 * has two hilltop castles, one a stone ruin, the other a replica of a 12th century wooden fort.
 * 's own castle is a derelict mansion, but Smoleń has a more impressive ruin.

South

 * Southwest the River Odra cuts through the hills to create a low-level route to the Czech Republic.
 * South rise the Beskids mountains defining the border with Slovakia.

 * is a medieval town right on the Czech border.
 * has an attractive market square and Lutheran churches.
 * is a resort town.
 * is a large year-round resort.
 * is where one of Poland's most popular beers is brewed.

Other destinations

 * The Beskids are the mountain range along the southern border of Poland, from the Czech Republic in the west to Ukraine in the east. The terrain is seldom much over 1000 m and is protected as a series of parks.
 * is just across the boundary into Małopolskie Voivodeship, near the town of Oświęcim, but is easily visited from the Katowice area.

Understand

In the early Middle Ages Silesia was part of Poland since the 10th century. When in 1138 the Seniorat of Poland was formed, Silesia was one of the Polish duchies and several Silesian duchies were Seniors of Poland until the late 13th century. In the 12th and 13th centuries Silesia fall apart into several duchies of which Racibórz, Oświęcim, Siewierz and Cieszyn as well as Częstochowa are in Silesia. In the 14th century Siewierz and Oświęcim again became a part of Poland, Częstochowa was also Polish, while Cieszyn and Racibórz came under Czech rule. Bohemia was ruled at this time by the German Luxembourg, later the Polish Jagiellonians and finally by the Austrian Habsburg. In 1741 Prussia annexed most of Silesia, besides Cieszyn and Częstochowa. After the Third Partition of Poland in 1793 Częstochowa was also annexed by Prussia, but became independent as part of the Duchy of Warsaw between 1807-1815. After the Congress of Vienna, Częstochowa became part of the Kingdom of Poland, ruled by the Russian Tsar. In the 19th century coal mining developed in this region, while the Beskids in the south remained rural and unpolluted. After World War I and the Silesian Uprisings, Silesia became largely part of the Second Polish Republic but was occupied by Nazi-Germany between 1939 and 1944. After World War II it again became part of Poland. Nowadays it is situated in the south of the country, bordering Germany and the Czech Republic.

Talk
Polish is spoken by all. Depending on who you believe, the dialect or language of Silesian is spoken here too. There is also a notable German minority presence in the region with some bi-lingual signage in both languages. As in a large part of western and northern Poland, place names exist in both Polish and German due to the area's history. Many young people study English and German.

By plane
Katowice is the principal airport, with budget flights by Wizzair and others.

You could also fly into Kraków, Wrocław or Ostrava.

By train
Katowice is the hub, with trains from Gdańsk, Warsaw, Kraków, Berlin, Wrocław, and from Prague, Vienna and Budapest via Ostrava.

A leash of local lines connects the towns of the Katowice metropolis and snake up the mountain valleys.

By road
Principal highways are E75 from Gdańsk via Łódź (joined by E67 from Warsaw), E40 from Berlin via Wrocław and continuing east to Kraków and Lviv, and A1 from Brno via Ostrava.

Buses ply these highways though the service is less frequent than the trains. Flixbus is the main inter-city bus line.

See

 * Castles began as wooden hilltop stockades, replaced from the 12th century by stone bastions, then abandoned from the 14th century once better artillery rendered them defenceless. Some were repaired for other use such as barracks or prisons, others were pillaged for their stone, and some were replaced by grand mansions called "castles" but with no defensive function. Most towns have one or more: Ogrodzieniec has a ruined stone castle, and a replica of the earlier wooden fort.
 * Mining for coal and metals has scarred this region but left a rich industrial heritage. Especially immersive are the former mines you explore underground - Zabrze has the best.
 * Churches and shrines were mostly styled in Baroque in the 17th / 18th century (often by re-modelling an older church) when the population expanded rapidly - best known is the pilgrimage site of Jasna Góra in Częstochowa. They're predominantly Roman Catholic with only a few Orthodox, except in the south which was long under Austrian rule and is Lutheran.
 * Churches and shrines were mostly styled in Baroque in the 17th / 18th century (often by re-modelling an older church) when the population expanded rapidly - best known is the pilgrimage site of Jasna Góra in Częstochowa. They're predominantly Roman Catholic with only a few Orthodox, except in the south which was long under Austrian rule and is Lutheran.

Do

 * Football: clubs playing soccer in Ekstraklasa, Poland's top tier, are in Częstochowa, Gliwice, Katowice and Zabrze.
 * Ice hockey: clubs in Polska Hokej Liga the top tier are in Katowice, Sosnowiec and Tychy.
 * Climbing: the limestone crags of the Kraków-Częstochowa Upland are a popular area.
 * Winter sports: the mountains to the south don't go much over 1000 m so ski runs are short. But they get a good dump of snow most winters so they're family-friendly places for novices and intermediates, and Wisła has a ski jump.
 * Winter sports: the mountains to the south don't go much over 1000 m so ski runs are short. But they get a good dump of snow most winters so they're family-friendly places for novices and intermediates, and Wisła has a ski jump.

Eat
Silesian cuisine is distinctive from other parts of Poland. specific meals include:
 * Wodzionka or brołtzupa (ger. brot - bread, pol. zupa - soup) - soup with garlic and squares of dried rye bread.
 * Żur - soup made of soured rye flour and meat.
 * Kluski śląskie (Silesian dumplings) - round shaped dumplings served with gravy, made of mashed boiled potatoes, finely grated raw potatoes, an egg, grated onion, wheat flour and potato flour.
 * Szałot (Silesian potato salad) - a salad made of squares of boiled potatoes, carrots, peas, ham, various sausages, pickled fish, boiled eggs, bonded with olive oil or mayonnaise.
 * Krupniok - kind of blood sausage made of groats and animal blood.
 * Żymlok - like krupniok but instead of groats there is bread roll (żymła).
 * Knysza - pita bread with meat and lots of cabbage.
 * Bejgli - many elaborate recipes possible; based on finely ground poppy seeds, with raisins, almonds, candied citrus peels, honey, sugar, pudding, and flavoured with rum. Decorated with fingers of crumbling.
 * Makówki or moczka - traditional Christmas Eve dessert, its main ingredients are: poppy seeds, gingerbread extract, nuts and dried fruit, strawberry compote and almonds.
 * Kopalnioki - hard candies made of sugar, anise oil, and the essences of St John's wort, honey and peppermint. Its black colour comes from charcoal food dye.

Drink

 * Beer: Tychy and Żywiec have famous breweries, tours may be available.
 * There isn't a vodka-distilling tradition in this region, but the supermarket shelves are groaning under the weight of the stuff.

Go next

 * East is Małopolskie Province, with glorious Kraków, weird Wieliczka and sombre Auschwitz.
 * Northeast is Świętokrzyskie or Holy Cross Province, with medieval Sandomierz.
 * North is Łódźkie Province, its main city of Łódź being a re-invented textile town like Manchester.
 * Northwest is Opolskie Province, with several medieval and Renaissance small towns.
 * West is North Moravia and Silesia in the Czech Republic, with Ostrava and Olomouc its main towns.
 * South is Central Slovakia, with the Tatras mountains along the frontier.

title: Silesian Voivodeship


text:
Silhouette Island

Silhouette Island is in the Seychelles. Just north is North Island, an exclusive resort.

Understand
Silhouette Island is largely uninhabited, but has one luxury hotel and one lodge on it. A system of trails allow visitors to explore the largely deserted beaches, while golf carts provide transportation from the dock to the hotel. A small community containing a dive shop (and little else) makes this a pretty remote destination.

Get in
To get to this island from Mahe, there are 3 scheduled crossings, 9AM, 2:30PM and 5PM.

To return from Silhouette, there are crossings at 5AM, 11AM and 4PM.

Get around
Walking is the main mode of transport. There are also bicycles available, and Hilton resort staff are able to give you lifts on their golf buggies.

See
Visit the Silhouette Island Museum. You will be introduced to the well-known Dauban family, plantation owners of French extraction, who bought the island in 1860 and owned it for a hundred years. At one time, there were around 1000 laborers living and working on the island. The original, traditional Dauban family home has been turned into this museum, filled with original photographs and memorabilia.

Buy
Buying clothes and swimming gear is exorbitantly expensive on this island. It's much better to buy all needed goods on the main island, or in your outgoing airport.

Go next

 * Mahe

title: Silhouette Island


text:
Silicon Valley

Silicon Valley lies in the South Bay and the southern Peninsula of the San Francisco Bay Area. Once best known for its prune orchards, the area underwent explosive growth with the creation of the high-tech industry in the 1960s. Although much of the area suffers from the suburban sprawl typical of much of the western United States, it still has some remarkable charm. The nearby Santa Cruz mountains make for a welcome respite from bustling 21st-century cyberliving.

Understand
The term Silicon Valley was invented in the mid 1970s. Naturally, the local residents had names for their region prior to this newfangled name, such as "Santa Clara Valley" and "Valley of Heart's Delight," and still use them. The term Silicon Valley overlaps several of the pre-existing names for this region including parts of the South Bay and Peninsula. While there are hi-tech companies all along the west coast — from Canada down to Mexico — and many in various parts of California, the main cluster is in Silicon Valley.

Because the electronics industry is considered somewhat prestigious, nearby communities often redefine the term Silicon Valley to include themselves. Some of these communities were mostly farmland when the term was invented, so it was pretty natural that the term didn't originally include them, but they might reasonably be considered part of the Silicon Valley now. On the other hand, the Mercury News's Silicon Valley 100 Index extends the term to such fabulous lengths that even Watsonville — a small coastal community on the other side of the Santa Cruz mountains — is included.

So if you're looking to visit the Silicon Valley as a tourist, look to Palo Alto, Santa Clara, and the museums of San Jose. But if you're visiting a company which is "in the Silicon Valley," you may have to look further afield around the South Bay, Peninsula, and East Bay regions.

Because of its prominence, the term "Silicon Valley" is often used metaphorically to refer to other areas with booming tech industries as well. For instance, the city of Bangalore is often dubbed the "Silicon Valley of India", and the city of Shenzhen is often dubbed the "Silicon Valley of China".

Birthplace of Silicon Valley

Designated by the State of California as a historical landmark, the "HP Garage" located at 367 Addison Avenue, Palo Alto, is the birthplace of the world's first high-technology region, "Silicon Valley."

As inscribed on the monument, "the idea for such a region originated with Dr. Frederick Terman, a Stanford University professor who encouraged his students to start up their own electronics companies in the area instead of joining established firms in the East. The first two students to follow his advice were William R. Hewlett and David Packard, who in 1938 began developing their first product, an audio oscillator, in this garage."

The HP Garage was designated California Historical Landmark No. 976 in 1989.

Stanford Research Park
In the 1950s, Professor Frederick Terman suggested to Stanford University that the newly founded Stanford Industrial Park leases be limited to high-tech companies so a center of high technology could be created.

In October 1951, Varian Associates signed a lease with the university for a tract along El Camino Real and built their $1 million R&D laboratory in the Stanford Industrial Park the following year. Soon after, Eastman Kodak, General Electric, Preformed Line Products, Admiral Corporation, Beckman Instruments, Lockheed, Hewlett-Packard, and others followed suit.

Stanford Industrial Park was renamed Stanford Research Park in 1974.

By 2005, Stanford Research Park was home to more than 150 companies in electronics, software, biotechnology, as well as a number of top law firms, financial service firms, consultancies, and venture capital companies. R&D and service companies occupied some in more than 160 buildings on.

Stanford Research Park is considered by many the foundation of Silicon Valley. As of present day, the Stanford Research Park hosts companies in industry sectors such as biotech, hardware, software, artificial intelligence, and automotive mobility, making it a core center of many tech innovations.

Shockley and Fairchild
William Shockley was a Bell Labs physicist and one of a group there who got a Nobel Prize for inventing the transistor. In 1956 he opened his own electronics company in Mountain View, the area he had grown up in. Only a year later, some of his young engineers (the "traitorous eight") left to found Fairchild Semiconductor in San Jose. Fairchild was the first company to use silicon rather than germanium for its transistors and the first to succeed in producing integrated circuits commercially. Like the other major players of the era — Texas Instruments and Motorola — Fairchild Semiconductor was a branch of a large firm well established in other areas of electronics.

Many of Silicon Valley's best-known companies were started by "the Fairchildren", people who learned their trade at Fairchild then left to try their own ventures. By one estimate, there are about 400 such companies. Unlike the earlier semiconductor firms, these were independent startups without ties to existing companies; this started a trend which continues to this day. Two of the "traitorous eight" who founded Fairchild Semi later started Intel in Sunnyvale. Other "Fairchildren" companies include AMD (in Sunnyvale), National Semiconductor (Santa Clara) and Intersil (Milpitas).

Origin of the Name
"Silicon Valley", first used by Don C. Hoefler, publisher of Microelectronics News, in his article titled "Silicon Valley USA" on January 11, 1971, has become synonymous with the center of high technology research and development. "Silicon" refers to the high concentration of semiconductor and computer-related industries in the area at the time. "Valley" refers to the Santa Clara Valley.

Silicon Valley today has extended beyond the greater Santa Clara Valley which includes the entire Santa Clara county and parts of San Mateo, Alameda, and Santa Cruz counties in northern California. It is the southern portion of the San Francisco Bay Area, also known as, South Bay, which covers cities such as San Jose, Santa Clara, Sunnyvale, Cupertino and Los Gatos. Silicon Valley also includes parts of the San Francisco Peninsula from Redwood Shores down to the South Bay, and cities such as Fremont and Newark in the lower East Bay.

Get in
San Jose Airport is connected to the local light rail by a free shuttle bus, or you can get one of the scheduled bus services that service the airport as well. Taxis also serve the airport and can transport you to Sunnyvale for around $25 one way, for example.

San Jose Airport connects to Caltrain by VTA bus line 10, a free shuttle between the airport and the Santa Clara Caltrain station and transit center. Various other local VTA bus lines also leave from this transit center.

From the San Francisco International Airport (SFO) use the BART connection to Caltrain and take Caltrain south. Note that the two train systems require separate tickets.

Get around
Its quite possible to see Santa Clara and San Jose by public transport and walking. Outside of those cities, the best way to travel in Silicon Valley is car due to weak public transportation infrastructure (though not during rush hours).

See
People sometimes visit company headquarters in Sillicon Valley so they can take a photo at them.

Major points of interest include the Tech Museum of Innovation in San Jose and the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, as well as Stanford University's campus just south of Palo Alto.

Buy
Google, Apple and Intel have company stores at their respective headquarters selling branded merchandise such as apparel, mugs, and various gifts. It is worthy to note that the two such Apple "gift shops" in Cupertino have exclusive products, sometimes in limited edition, that cannot be purchased anywhere else and are different in both shops.

title: Silicon Valley


text:
Silifke

Silifke is a city (population: about 65,000) in the region of the Cilician Mountains, Southern Turkey. Although it appears on the coast in zoomed out maps, it is slightly inland, but has coastal suburbs.

By plane
The nearest airport for both international and domestic flights is in Adana, about 140 km away.

By bus
The easiest connections are perhaps by minibuses from Mersin (which take around 2 hours and cost 10 TL) and by buses from the inland city of Konya (which cost 30 TL).

Silifke's main bus station (otogar) is in town centre.

By train
There is no rail network around Silifke. The nearest stations are in Karaman (about 150 km north, which has two daily connections from Istanbul) and in Mersin (about 90 km east, served by a frequent commuter line from Adana via Tarsus).

By car
The main highway between Antalya and Adana (D400) runs across the city. There is also another highway (D715) coming from Konya in the north through the spectacular Göksu Valley. All roads except the one leading to Mersin in the east are very (in some cases extremely) winding.

See

 * Ruins of the Roman temple dedicated to Jupiter (Roman equivalent of Greek Zeus) are standing right in the modern centre. Later converted to a church, now there are only five columns standing. No admission fee, as there is no guard or a gate.
 * The turquoise Göksu River, the name of which means “celestial water” or “azure water” in Turkish, flows through the city with its wide, eucalyptus-lined bed. In the centre, there is an intact Roman bridge spanning over the river. Ancients knew the river as the Saleph. This is the river in which Holy Roman emperor and Crusade leader Frederick Barbarossa drowned in 1190 (the exact site of the event, marked by a monument, is upriver in the Göksu valley, though).
 * Archaeological Museum, simply named “Silifke Museum” and signed correspondingly (or as just Müze both on the road signs and on the building facade), is on the highway to Antalya, not far from the centre.
 * (88 km northwest, off D715 to Mut) is a very pretty, richly vegetated area, with an extremely scenic waterfall and wooden walkways, including a suspension bridge over the ravine.

Do
You can go birdwatching in the nearby Göksu Delta, where the Göksu empties into the Mediterranean. The delta is home to 106 species of birds of international importance, 12 of which are endangered species.

Sleep

See also Taşucu, which is only 15 km away and where there are more guesthouses located near the shore.

Connect
The telephone code for Silifke is 324.

Go next
Anamur, Alanya, and Manavgat on the road west to Antalya; Heaven and Hell caves (Cennet-Cehennem), Maiden’s Castle (Kızkalesi), Mersin, and Tarsus on the road east to Adana; Konya on the road north; Northern Cyprus to the south (via Tasucu harbour).

title: Silifke