Simple burial in Unmarked grave King Abdullah Saudi

Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah, one of the richest men in the history of the world, was carried in a simple white shroud to an unmarked grave on Friday in a Riyadh cemetery where many of his commoner subjects rest, in keeping with ascetic traditions.

The Saudi state school of Wahhabi Sunni Islam holds ostentatious displays of grief or mourning to be sinful, akin to idolatry.

There was no official mourning period in Saudi Arabia and flags around the kingdom all flew at full staff. Despite his apparent popularity among his subjects, there were no spontaneous gatherings on city streets to mark his passing.

Government offices, closed for the Middle East's normal Friday-Saturday weekend, will open as usual on Sunday.

While the afternoon prayer that preceded Abdullah's burial took place before ranks of Muslim leaders, Saudi princes, powerful clerics and billionaire Arab businessmen, his body was transported to the mosque in a city ambulance.

It was borne through the crowds on a carpet on a simple stretcher, laid in front of the faithful at prayer and then carried by Abdullah's male relatives to the graveyard, where it was laid in the ground with no ceremony.

Wall of Tears, Mount Waialeale, Hawaii

Mount Waialeale (or Wai'ale'ale) is a volcanic crater and the second highest point on the island of Kauai in the Hawaiian Islands. In the Hawaiian language, Wai'ale'ale means “rippling water” or “overflowing water.” Averaging more than 452 inches (11,500 mm) of rain a year since 1912, with a record 683 inches (17,300 mm) in 1982, its summit is one of the wettest spots on earth. As this rainwater makes its way down the 5,148-feet tall peak, they form innumerable streams. One spot on Mt. Waialeale is called the “Wall of Tears” because there are so many waterfalls plummeting down the deep, tropical green sides of the mountain that it looks as if it is crying.

Mount Waialeale isn’t easily accessible on foot. The sides are near vertical and ground is covered with trees and plants with a thick undergrowth of ferns. There are a few hiking trails in the area. The only way to really see the Wall of Tears is by helicopter, and even then you have to get lucky since the area is usually shrouded with clouds.

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There are several reasons why Wai'ale'ale receives so much rain. First, Kauai is the northernmost of the main Hawaiian Islands, so it has more exposure to frontal systems that bring rain in the winter. Second, Wai'ale'ale has a round and conical shape, which exposes all sides of its summit to moisture-laden winds. Third, its summit lies just below the trade wind inversion layer of 6,000 feet (1,829 m), above which trade-wind-generated clouds cannot rise. And finally, the mountain's steep cliffs cause the humid air to rise quickly over 3,000 feet (910 m) in less than a half mile (800 m) and drop a large portion of its rain on one spot.

The summit itself is rather barren, despite all the water it receives. One of the reasons for that is that few plants and trees can handle that much rain. Also, since the summit is shrouded in clouds on most days of the year, little sunshine reaches the ground to foster plant growth. However, fungi and lichen flourish here.

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Sources: Wikipedia, To-Hawaii

Rapeseed Fields in Luoping, China

Luoping is a small county in eastern Yunnan, China, located about 228 kilometers north east of Kunming close to the border of Yunnan with Guizhou and Guangxi provinces. In early spring, when the yellow rapeseed flowers (also known as canola) are in full bloom, the area takes on the look of a “golden sea” – a spectacle that has made Luoping something of a Mecca for photographers. The sprawling farmlands get covered in golden, yellow rapeseed flowers stretching as far as the eyes can see, all the way to the horizon. The best time to visit Luoping for this visual fiesta is February through March, by June the show is over.

The town was previously overlooked by tourists passing through the area, who usually headed to the more commercialized tourist attractions in the center and eastern part of the province. Today, Luoping’s canola fields attracts photographers from all over, who flock to this small county every early spring to capture the magnificent “sea of yellow” of blooming rapeseed flowers. The majestic photos in turn, draw more and more tourists to this beautiful rural photographic haven.

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Aside from photographers, Luoping’s blooming rapeseed flowers and the refreshing smell of spring attract bees. Luoping is a national base for raising bees and producing honey products.

Rapeseed flowers are planted to harvest cooking oil from their seeds after the flowers had withered after their colorful bloom. They are planted all over China but bloom at different times of the year, depending on the temperature of the locations. The rapeseed farms in Luoping are among the largest scale in China.

Spring is also the season for beekeeping and honey processing. Beekeepers set up base in tents amongst the rapeseed farms every spring to keep bees and harvest their honey- the bees feed on the rapeseed flowers. Hence most rapeseed farms are also abuzz with bees in the spring and can be a little irritating. These beekeepers move on to other locations within Luoping after the rapeseed season, using wildflowers as feedstock for their bees.

The most famous spot to view the rapeseeds flower is Jinjifeng (Golden Chicken Peak). It is located only a few kilometers outside of town and is easily accessible by bus. The landscape here is flat, punctuated by a few mounds of little hills, breaking the monotony. The flatness allows the gentle breeze to move the flowers in mesmerizing sways.

Another good place to enjoy the rapeseed fields is Shiwandashan (Hundred Thousand Hills). This rolling hillside of rapeseed farms are located about 15km outside of Luoping town. The farms are all along both sides of the country road, up and down the slopes, dotted with little settlements and hamlets. The view of the farms is backed by rows and rows of mountains in the distance inside the province of Guizhou.

In NiuJie, a few kilometers to the north of Luoping town, the scene takes a different form. Here the flowers are grown in circular rings following the contours of the slopes similar to rice terraces.

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Sources: China Trekking, China Backpacker, Wikipedia

Overloaded Vehicles Only in China

A collection of snaps, mostly taken on the highways of China and published by China Foto Press, reveal drivers who load up their vehicles far beyond their limits as they go about their daily business. These pictures show ridiculously heavy trucks, bikes and tractors with goods piled up to 20 feet above their heads, leaning at unusual angles under the load.

"Highway and bridge tolls in China are too high for transportation companies," said Cui Zhongfu, secretary-general of the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing. "Sometimes, they can account for as much as 20 percent of the total expense." Therefore, many companies carry too much freight to try to make trips more profitable and compete with rivals.

Overloading is a serious problem in China and a hazard for other vehicles and pedestrians. According to authorities, 80 percent of trucks are overloaded. These vehicles have been damaging the country's crumbling highways and collapsed many bridges in the past.

For months, a bridge over the Qiantang River in Hangzhou, that was designed for vehicles weighing only 30 tons and trailers weighing 55 tons, was abused by truckers carrying loads in excess of 100 tons. The bridge finally gave away in July 2011, when a 129-ton truck tried to cross it. In the same month, a bridge in Yancheng, Jiangsu province and another 301-meter steel-arch bridge in Wuyishan, Fujian province, collapsed. Both bridges had been built about 10 years ago.

China has about 660,000 bridges, the most of any country in the world. But each year, more than a dozen of them collapse. Overloading is one of the many reasons of bridge failure.

Sources: Dailymail, China Daily