The Temple of Venus, Baalbek | Lebanon

Postcard
The temple of Venus is located in Baalbek, a town in Lebanon’s Beqaa Valley. During the period of Roman rule the city was known as Heliopolis. 

Thx Steve!

The Great Buddha Statue of Tōdai-ji | Japan

Postcard

Tōdai-ji is a Buddhist temple complex located in the city of Nara, Japan. The temple's main hall is the world's largest wooden building. The massive building houses a 15 meters tall bronze statue of Buddha (Daibutsu). 

The temple is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Thank you very much Steve!

Cathedral de León | Nicaragua

Postcard

León is the second largest city in Nicaragua, after capital Managua. The city is named after the Spanish city of León. Its most famous building is the Cathedral of León, the largest cathedral in Central America. The Cathedral of León is on the list of Unesco World Heritage sites.

Stamps

These six stamps (of which three are only partially visible) with rainforest animals are part of a sheet of 20 stamp, issued 1991. 

Gili Meno Island | Indonesia

Postcard

The Gili islands are an archipelago of three small islands — Gili Trawangan, Gili Meno and Gili Air — just off the northwest coast of Lombok, Indonesia. Gili Meno, the middle island, is the smallest.

White sandy beaches. Tropical coral reefs. Warm inviting waters. All this awaits you on the Gili islands. And with no cars, no motorbikes and no distractions other than beautiful tropical island scenery, the Gili islands off the northwest coast of Lombok are truly an ideal destination for a tropical getaway.

Mabul Island | Malaysia

Postcard

Mabul is an island off the south-eastern coast of Sabah in Malaysia, located close to Sipadan island. It’s a small island, you can walk around the entire island in less than an hour. Mabul is a popular diving spot.

 

Stamp

Part of a series of six stamps about Malay folk stories.

South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands

Postcard

South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands are a UK overseas territory in the southern Atlantic Ocean. It is a remote and inhospitable collection of islands, consisting of South Georgia and a chain of smaller islands known as the South Sandwich Islands. 

At the height of the whaling period some 2,000 people lived on the island. Now there are no permanent residents - but there are two Research Stations. One of it is King Edward Point where the card was sent from.

 

Around 95% of the world population of Fur Seals breeds at the Island of South Georgia. Another breeding ground is MacquarieIsland.

Stamp

The voyage of the James Cair (a lifeboat). A rescue mission undertaken by Sir Ernest Shackleton and five companions. Surviving a series of dangers, including a near capsizing, the boat reached the southern coast of South Georgia after a voyage lasting 16 days.

Thank you very much Ruben!

Silver-leaf Daisies on Macquarie Island | Australia

Postcard

Macquarie Island is a sub-Antarctic island located in the Southern Ocean, half way between Australia and Antarctica. The island is an Unesco World Heritage site.

 

The plants are built to survive the very strong winds typical of sub Antarctic islands like Macquarie Island. It is threatened by introduced Black Rats and European Rabbits.

Stamp

Part of a set of four stamps, issued 2010, showing the beauty of Macquarie Island. 

17-Arch Bridge | China

Postcard
The Seventeen-arch Bridge connects the eastern shore of Kunming Lake and Nanhu Island. It is 150 metres in length and 8 metres in width, and is composed of seventeen arches, hence its name. It is the largest stone bridge in the China. The bridge was built during the reign of Emperor Qianlong (1711-1799). 

With an area of 2.2 square kilometres (0.8 sq mi), Kunming Lake covers approximately three quarters of the Summer Palace grounds. It is quite shallow, with an average depth of only 1.5 metres. It is part of UNESCO World Heritage site Summer Palace, an Imperial Garden in Beijing.

A postcard from Hell | Cayman Islands

Postcard

Grand Cayman is the largest of the three Cayman Islands. Hell is a group of short, black, limestone formations located in Grand Cayman. The formation looks like volcanic rock but is actually made up of very hard limestone, blackened over time.

 

Stamp

Part of a set of stamps picturing Cayman Islands scenes, issued in 2007. Children enjoy one of Grand Cayman’s natural wonders – the blowholes along the iron-shore coastline in East End.

Texel Island and Lighthouse | Netherlands

Postcard

Texel is the largest Wadden Island in The Netherlands. It is also the most populated with a population of about 13,500. The neighboring island in the archipelago is Vlieland.

 

Stamps

In 2014 Dutch Post issued a set of 8 sheetlets with butterflies and flowers. 

Herrenchiemsee Island and palace | Germany

Postcard
Herreninsel or Herrenchiemsee is an island in Bavaria's largest lake, the Chiemsee. It is the biggest of three main islands of which the other two are Fraueninsel and "Krautinsel". The island is inhabited by about only 30 people.

Herreninsel is famous for the extravagant Herrenchiemsee palace of Ludwig II of Bavaria, the ‘fairytale king’ (he also built Neuschwanstein castle). The castle was only inhabited by the king for ten nights before he died of drowning at just 40. 

Thx Dustin!

Scandola Nature Reserve, Corsica | France

Postcard

Corsica is an island in the Mediterranean Sea belonging to France. The island has a population of about 325,000 inhabitants. It is located north of the Italian island of Sardinia.

The Scandola Nature Reserve, located on the north western coast of the island, is accessible only on foot or by boat. The reserve is a Unesco World Heritage site.

The island of Stromboli | Italy

Postcard
Stromboli is a very small Italian volcanic island in the Tyrrhenian Sea just north of Sicily. It is one of the Aeolian Islands.

The island is actually just the tip of a vast underwater volcano that rises from the seabed 1,476m below. 

There are two small villages on the island, both together they only have about 350 inhabitants. 

Khorezmshah Mosque in Dekhistan | Turkmenistan

Postcard

Dekhistan is one of the largest cultural and historic centres in Turkmenistan.

Today the ancient town of Dekhistan is almost completely destroyed, the majority of its constructions are covered with sands of deserts. At the end of the 13th century the city was at its peak during the dynasty Khorezmshakhs. Destroyed by Mongol empires, rebuilt afterwards but finally in the 15th century it fell into decline due to lack of irrigation.     

Stamp

Part of a set of 10 stamps Monuments  of Architecture.

Ancient city of Carthage | Tunisia

Postcard

Carthage was founded in the 9th century B.C. as a Phoenician colony near modern Tunis. The Phoenicians were sea traders who ‘occupied’ large parts of the Mediterranean coast. Their major cities were Tyre, Sidon and Byblos on the coastline of modern Lebanon.

Stamp

One of two stamps depicting Villages of Tunisia. Ghazi Mustapha Fort, Djerba.

Butterflies of Tanzania

Postcard

According to good old ‘Wiki’ there are over 1,500 species of butterflies in Tanzania. Six of them are shown on this postcard.

Stamp

A Pensive Water Buck. In 2009 Tanzania issued a set of 18 stamps 'Wild animals of Tanzania'. The waterbuck is a large antelope found widely in sub-Saharan Africa.

Botswana Butterflies

Postcard

A postcard depicting a butterfly shaped stamp sheet. The butterflies are actually moths. The stamps were issued in the year 2000.

Stamps

The three stamps are all part of a series of 14 bird stamps, issued in 2014.

Rarotonga, one of the Cook Islands

Postcard
An island country in the South Pacific Ocean: the Cook Islands. Rarotonga is the most populous island of the archipelago, with a population of 13,000.

The mountainous peaks of the inner island are ringed by spectacularly beautiful beaches and stunning lagoons of crystal clear water. Like the Muri Lagoon on this postcard.

Thx Susan!

The giant Buddha of Kamakura | Japan

Postcard

The Great Buddha of Kamakura is a monumental outdoor bronze located at the Kōtoku-in Temple in Kamakura, Japan. 

The bronze statue, the second tallest in Japan, dates from 1252. The statue was originally housed in a wooden structure, but that structure was destroyed several times. Since 1495 the statue has no roof over its head.

Thx Steve!