An old map card of Isla del Coco. Cocos Island National Park, located 550 km off the Pacific coast of Costa Rica, is the only island in the tropical eastern Pacific with a tropical rainforest. The entirety of Cocos Island has been designated a Costa Rican National Park since 1978, and has no permanent inhabitants other than Costa Rican park rangers. The underwater world of the national park has become famous due to the attraction it holds for divers, who rate it as one of the best places in the world to view large pelagic species such as sharks, rays, tuna and dolphins. The Isla del Coco Nat ..read more

A souvenir from the postcrossing meeting in Antwerp. Date: April 27 ..read more

The Aletsch region is part of a Unesco World Heritage Site. And not just because the Large Aletsch Glacier, which carries an incredible 11 billion tons of ice, is the largest glacier of the Alps. The ice extends from the northern slopes of Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau down towards the Valais. The water flows through the untamed Massa Gorge into the Rhone. The entire region is a habitat for many rare animal and plant species, for instance in the Aletsch Forest. The Pro Natura nature reserve is located close to the forest. Unesco: Swiss Alps Jungfrau-Aletsch RR: 10x10 RR Date: April 16 ..read more

Polar bears, sent from Russia RR: 10 Countries RR (20) Date: March 28 ..read more

Ping Yao is an exceptionally well-preserved example of a traditional Han Chinese city, founded in the 14th century. Its urban fabric shows the evolution of architectural styles and town planning in Imperial China over five centuries. Of special interest are the imposing buildings associated with banking, for which Ping Yao was the major centre for the whole of China in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Covering an area of 225 hectares, the Ancient City of Ping Yao is a complete building complex including ancient walls, streets and lanes, shops, dwellings and temples. The nearly 4,000 existin ..read more

With a 360 degree revolving observation cabin, Taming Sari Tower offers a spectacular and panoramic view of the entire historical city of Malacca. Taming Sari Tower is a 24-story, 110-meter-tall gyro tower in Malacca City. It is the first and tallest gyro tower in Malaysia.  From a height of 80 meters and a view of 5km, the visitor can witness a host of interesting sight and historical sights of Malacca straits, TUDM complex, Stadthuys, St. Paul Peak, Independence Memorial, Melaka Island and the State Mosque. The ride duration is 7 minutes and the passenger capacity at one time is ..read more

Once the site of a lumber and grist mill community, Valley Falls State Park is a place of scenic beauty and historical significance. A series of four picturesque falls created by the dark, rushing waters of the Tygart Valley River distinguish this 1,145-acre park. RR: RR Francophone Date: April 20 ..read more

The steep hillsides of the Dazu area contain an exceptional series of rock carvings dating from the 9th to the 13th century. They are remarkable for their aesthetic quality, their rich diversity of subject matter, both secular and religious, and the light that they shed on everyday life in China during this period. They provide outstanding evidence of the harmonious synthesis of Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism. Unesco: Dazu Rock Carvings RR: 10x10 RR Date: April 16 ..read more

Horyuji is a Buddhist temple that was once one of the powerful Seven Great Temples, in Ikaruga, Nara Prefecture. Horyuji is one of the country's oldest temples and contains the world's oldest surviving wooden structures. It was designated a world heritage site in 1993. These masterpieces of wooden architecture are important not only for the history of art, since they illustrate the adaptation of Chinese Buddhist architecture and layout to Japanese culture, but also for the history of religion, since their construction coincided with the introduction of Buddhism to Japan from China by way of t ..read more

Wittenberg is situated on the River Elbe, 60 kilometers north of Leipzig and 90 kilometers south-west of Berlin. It is famous for its close connection with Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation. Wittenberg is best known for its intact historic centre and various memorial sites dedicated to Martin Luther and Philip Melanchthon. These Memorials include Melanchthon's house in Wittenberg, the houses in Eisleben where Luther was born in 1483 and died in 1546, his room in Wittenberg, the local church and the castle church where, on 31 October 1517, Luther posted his famous 95 Theses, which la ..read more