Greetings to all mountain lovers!
The violence in which the earth moved in Kashmir, and the difficulty
in reaching the 500 000 or so villagers left with no support are a
testimony to the remoteness of this region set in this nature that can
be so unforgiving... As always the surprise effect was prominent,
but let's remember that the earth has not stopped moving in this region
since the last 50 Millions years. We can say right now that,
as it happened in 1934, the Kathmandu valley, which is part of the Unesco
world heritage, will be hit by a strong earthquake, which
could happened very soon, the experts say. This knowledge will not stop
the buildings from falling down and the hundreds of casualties, but
it might help us to better prepare ourselves to help. If you wish to
give something to the people hit by this catastrophe, 2 french humanitarian
associations is available here :
UNICEF : http://unicef.fr/index.cfm?id=oi_pre_unicef_3892
The Alliances Françaises of Pakistan : http://www.afi.org.pk/afpakresponse/
With a special letter here : http://blankonthemap.free.fr/actualite/allince%20ang.doc
But this disaster might have good repercussions. In fact, India offered
its help to Pakistan, who accepted. The line of Control was
therefore partially open. The phone line between the 2 sides of Kashmir
was reinstalled, separated family reunited, something that
hadn't happened in the last 15 years. At the end of this page, you will
find link that cover these issues (BRUNO, PB, ces liens dont tu
parles sont French...). Durable cooperation or short lived one? Only
the future will tell us...
Here are the 3 latest updates on Blank:
· All the maps on the mountainous region of Central Asia and
South Asia are now accessible. I hope you will find these maps (1/500
000) useful for your next trip in the asian wilderness! The mpas are
in Soviet, so get to your Ruski! http://blankonthemap.free.fr/1_accueil/index.php?code=200516
A selection of videos relating to North Kashmir, to give you a feel
foe the place :
http://blankonthemap.free.fr/1_accueil/index.php?code=4515
A very interesting interface on Google Earth allows you to locate all
summits above 7000m in the Hindukush and Karakoram region. Still, lots
of work is left to be done in order to locate the numerous summits of
the Himalaya and Tibet region. If you like, you can
contact debono@club-internet.fr for your expertise...
http://blankonthemap.free.fr/1_accueil/index.php?code=200085
Finally, a new book titled "Hautes vallées du Pakistan"
("High valleys of Pakistan"), by PIerre Neyret, just came
out. A very beautiful mountain book written by specialists fond of this
area. A must for North Kashmir lovers.
http://blankonthemap.free.fr/promo/promo.htm
Hundreds of images were generously given to Blank. We will soon be hosting
an exceptional image bank, a good idea if you would like to get exposure.
If you are interested and would like to know more, please contact me.
See you soon on http://Blankonthemap.free.fr/default.htm !
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