Hindustan Times (Delhi)

DECORATIVE PAPER FAN

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These colourful fans make gorgeous home decoration­s and will also keep you cool in summer

intervals with a scale.

Bind the middle of the folded paper with a small piece of wire.

Snip the ends in a triangle or scallop shape with scissors.

Allow the fan to open in a bow shape. Bring the two sides together and stick with some double sided tape.

Stick a craft stick to each of the other sides of the fan.

Tie the fan handles together with a piece of string or ribbon to complete a

beautiful fan. CONSIDERED THE most spectacula­r landscape of Cuba, Vinales Valley is famous for its exotic hillocks (Jurassic formations existing only there and in Malaca peninsula in Asia). It is located in Sierra de los Organos, Pinar del Rio (the Cuban westernmos­t province), 200 km from the capital, Havana.

Many caves dot the hillocks. The conspicuou­s limestone cliffs rising like islands from the bottom of the valley are called mogotes. They can be up to 300m tall.

Tobacco and other crops are cultivated on the bottom of the valley, mostly by traditiona­l agricultur­e techniques. Vinales offers adventure sports like hiking and rock climbing to tourists.

Since the Cuban painter Domingo Ramos made it known to the world, Vinales Valley has become very alluring to visitors.

It is said that the Spanish poet Federico Garcia Lorca admitted not to have seen a more tender green than that of Vinales; that for Ernest Hemingway it was extremely fascinatin­g to be able to conceive his novels under the shadow of such a beautiful landscape; and that the illustriou­s novelist Dora Alonso requested to end her life looking at this valley.

The quiet and romantic natural surroundin­gs of the valley where the beauties of sunrise and sunset are indescriba­ble, entice the visitor in the magic of its hillocks, caverns, rivers and undergroun­d springs, the prehistori­c mural …and that captivatin­g green contrastin­g with blue.

The valley was included in Unesco’s world heritage list in the natural landscape category in 1999.

The country’s second most visited tourist destinatio­n after Havana, the valley is also known for its traditiona­l crafts.

It is home to an original culture, a synthesis of contributi­ons from indigenous peoples, Spanish conquerors and African slaves who once worked in the tobacco plantation­s.

 ??  ?? Colonised at the beginning of the 19th century, the Vinales Valley has fertile soil and a climate conducive to the developmen­t of stock-raising and the cultivatio­n of fodder and food crops
Colonised at the beginning of the 19th century, the Vinales Valley has fertile soil and a climate conducive to the developmen­t of stock-raising and the cultivatio­n of fodder and food crops
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