Bolivia

Bolivia is a country located in western-central South America. Before Spanish colonization, the Andean region of Bolivia was part of the Inca Empire, while the northern and eastern lowlands were inhabited by independent tribes. Spanish conquistadors took control of the region in the 16th century. Spain built its empire in great part upon the silver that was extracted from Bolivia’s mines. Bolivia is named after Simón Bolívar, a leader in the Spanish American wars of independence.

Interesting fact: only about 5% of all the roads in Bolivia are paved, and in mountainous regions traffic sometimes switches sides of the road to ensure the driver has a better view of the dangerous drops.

Bolivia postcard

Bolivia stamps

Bermuda

Bermuda is a British Overseas Territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. The first person known to have reached Bermuda was the Spanish sea captain Juan de Bermúdez in 1503, after whom the islands are named. Bermuda’s economy is based on offshore insurance and reinsurance, and tourism. Bermuda had one of the world’s highest GDP per capita for most of the 20th century and several years beyond. Bermuda is the northernmost point of the Bermuda Triangle, a region of sea in which, according to legend, a number of aircraft and surface vessels have disappeared under supposedly unexplained or mysterious circumstances.

Bermuda postcard

Bermuda stamps

Benin

Benin, formerly known as Dahomey, is a country in West Africa, and is one of Africa’s most stable democracies. The majority of its population lives on the small southern coastline of the Bight of Benin. Benin’s shore includes what used to be known as the Slave Coast, the departure point for captives to be shipped across the Atlantic. Elements of the culture and religion brought by slaves from the area are still present in the Americas, including voodoo – which has made a comeback in Benin and is even celebrated at the country’s annual Voodoo Day.

I received this postcard in envelope, and still looking for written and stamped postcard from this interesting country.

Benin postcard

Benin postmark

Belize

Belize, formerly British Honduras and independent since 1981, is a country on the eastern coast of Central America, located between Mexico and Guatemala. Like the neighboring countries, Belize was settled for thousands of years by the Maya people. They are still there, an important part of Belize’s people and culture.

Belize postcard

Belize stamps

Manneken Pis – Brussels, Belgium

Manneken Pis (meaning “Little man Pee” in Dutch) is a landmark small bronze sculpture in Brussels, Belgium depicting a naked little boy urinating into a fountain’s basin. The 61-centimeter (24 in) tall bronze statue was made in 1619. The figure has been repeatedly stolen: the current statue dates from 1965. The statue is dressed in costume several times each week, according to a published schedule which is posted on the railings around the fountain. His wardrobe consists of several hundred different costumes, many of which may be viewed in a permanent exhibition inside the City Museum, located in the Grand Place, immediately opposite the Town Hall.

Manneken Pis postcard

Belgium stamp

Gates of Minsk, Belarus

The Gates of Minsk, or the City Gates, were built after the Second World War in the classical Soviet style and are one of the most recognizable buildings in Belarus. They are powerful structures that mark the entrance to the capital city of Belarus. Each of the towers displays sculptures of a worker, soldier, farmer and engineer, representing the foundation of Belarusian people. One of the towers has a huge clock – it’s the biggest clock in the republic. The minute hand is two meters long and the clock itself weighs 300 kilos — and it was brought from Germany as a war trophy.

Belarus City Gates postcard

Belarus stamp

Beaches of Barbados

As a tropical island Barbados is home to many beautiful beaches. On the calmer west coast, palms sway on white sandy shores while the azure waters lap gently at the shore. At the South you’ll continue to find flawless sandy Barbados beaches protected by coral reefs. The more lively surf in the south and south-east are ideal for a host of watersports. Along the east coast the beaches are wide and wind-blown. Here the shore is pounded by the Atlantic making it a delight for the surfers. In the north, coral and sandstone cliffs rise straight out of the sea reaching up to a hundred feet in height.

Barbados beach postcard

Barbados stamps

Barbados

Former British colony, Barbados is now a sovereign (since 1966) island country in the Americas. It is considered to be a part of the Caribbean, where it is ranked as a leading tourist destination. Forty percent of the tourists come from the UK. Barbados has a population of around 280,000 people, predominantly of African descent. The name ‘Barbados’ is derived from the Bearded Fig Trees once found in abundance on the island. It is believed rum first originated on the island of Barbados, and one of the common names for rum is Barbados water.

Barbados postcard

Barbados stamps

Bangladesh

Bangladesh is a country in South Asia. It is the world’s eighth most populous country, and one of the most densely populated. Formerly East Pakistan, Bangladesh came into being only in 1971, when the two parts of Pakistan split after a bitter war. Bangladesh’s tourist attractions include historical and monuments, resorts, beaches, picnic spots, forests and tribal people, wildlife of various species.

Bangladesh postcard

Bangladesh stamps

South Pole Station – USA Antarctic Territory

There is a US Post office at the South Pole. It’s located at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. And today I received a postcard from there! Well, like the one from McMurdo Station it’s the one I sent there myself, asking to be sent to me postmarked. But I got more than that — they also added a Antarctica stamp, and their postmark is awesome! The travel time from NYC to the South Pole to St. Petersburg, Russia took just over 5 months.

The Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station is a United States scientific research station at the South Pole, the southernmost place on the Earth. It is at the only place on the land surface of the Earth where the sun is continuously up for six months and then continuously down for six months. (The only other such place is at the North Pole, on the sea ice in the middle of the Arctic Ocean.) During the summer the station population is typically around 150. Most personnel leave by the middle of February, leaving a few dozen (45 in 2015) “winter-overs”, mostly support staff plus a few scientists, who keep the station functional through the months of Antarctic night. Research at the station includes glaciology, geophysics, meteorology, upper atmosphere physics, astronomy, astrophysics, and biomedical studies.

Antarctica postcard

Antarctica stamp postmark