10 World’s Most Beautiful National Parks

National parks are naturally beautiful. Most parks were declared parks to preserve the wild beauty that makes them so amazing. While nearly all these protected areas are pretty, a number are simply amazing in their beauty. Take a look at the list of the most beautiful national parks in the world.

1. Snowdonia, Wales

Photo: Jim Linwood

As you might suppose from the name, Snowdonia National Park is set on Snowdon Mountain. The mountain is 3560 feet tall and as picturesque as it is peaceful. Lakes and rivers are set amid trees and rocky outcroppings, making it the perfect place to practice photography. Visitors will also find old buildings, including several castles within park borders. The history of the area is full of folk tales and legends and makes it an even more exciting place to visit.

2. Grand Canyon, the United States

Photo: Chris Parker2012

The Colorado River carved out the Grand Canyon over hundreds of years, creating an amazingly complex canyon. Tourists flock to the site every year to admire it or even to hike down and camp in the myriad of channels cut out by the water. The Grand Canyon is one of the Natural Wonders of the World and has also been named a UNESCO World Heritage site. It stretches over more than 1,200,000 acres in Arizona.

3. Kruger National Park, South Africa

Photo: Abspires40

One of the largest national parks in the world, Kruger covers millions of acres of land. It is host to an amazing number of African species, including elephants, giraffes and many other animals. You can check these animals out from viewing towers scattered throughout the park. Apart from the towers, development is nearly nonexistent and the park fends for itself in most ways.

4. Deosai, Pakistan

Photo: Duy -Thuong

Deosai National Park is best known for its impressive flowers. Every spring, thousands of different types of flowers bloom. They form a living carpet of color that attracts an even larger variety of butterflies. The park is certainly worth seeing in the spring, though it is lovely all year round. Another point of interest would be the park’s incredible plateaus, some of the highest in the world.

5. Kakadu, Australia

Photo: 12 Green Giraffes

The Australian government and the aboriginal people work together to manage the Kakadu National Park. It is a World Heritage site and the amazing views attract tourists year round. One of the more interesting attractions is the aboriginal rock art that can be found in the area. It is also home to a range of animals, including the saltwater crocodile.

6. Hortobagy, Hungary

Photo: Photo Nature

Hortobagy National Park was the first national park in Hungary. It’s an official refuge for wild horses and home to a number of endangered birds. The park is a bird watcher’s paradise, with plenty of migratory waterfowl, too.

7. Plitvice Lakes, Croatia

Photo: archer10 (Dennis)

If you head into inland Croatia, you will find Plitvice National Park. It is an area of mountainous terrain ideal for hiking and a number of lakes and streams. The unique thing about the water in the park is that most of the lakes and streams contain travertine. This gives the water a clarity seldom found in nature, as well as a very bright blue-green hue.

8. Madain Saley National Historic Park, Saudi Arabia

Photo: Pedronet

Where many national parks are heavily forested, Madain Saley is almost entirely made up of desert and rock. It is still one of the most beautiful sights you’ll see, however, particularly when you come across one of the amazing oasis scattered throughout the park. An ancient burial ground is also located on the site. It’s estimated that the more than 125 tombs and facades were cut from rock somewhere between 500 BC and 100 AD. They are still in amazing condition and certainly worth a visit if you’re in the area.

9. Sagarmatha National Park, Nepal

Photo: kkcondon

Nepal has a unique, wild look to it and Sagarmatha is no exception. The park contains a number of Sherpa villages, as well as a few monasteries. Here you will find Mount Everest, as well as its sister mountains, so the national park sees quite a bit of traffic. Several animals make their home here, including mountain goats that balance precariously along seemingly sheer rock cliffs.

10. Iguazu National Park, Argentina and Brazil

Photo: wallygrom

The Iguazu National Park runs through Argentina and into Brazil. It protects the subtropical rainforest here, as well as the Iguazu Falls. The falls are actually made up of hundreds of waterfalls around a curved cliff. Visitors to the falls can take a boat to get a closer look or can walk through the various waterfalls by crossing catwalks. The park is home to a wide range of wildlife, including howler monkeys, jaguars, tapirs, and caimans.
Around the world, countries are preserving their most fascinating and historical areas. National parks protect the natural beauty and keep it accessible for future generations. While all parks have something lovely about them, the places on this list are some of the more amazing ones out there. Have you ever visited any of these breathtakingly beautiful parks? Do you know any other park to add to this list?

2014 Hyundai Verna update: Review, test drive

Hyundai's given the Verna a 'more-than-skin-deep' midlife update. The top-end Verna SX CRDi now costs Rs 10.96 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi), and here's what you get for it.

It looks better now, the 2014 car gets LED daytime running lamps, automatic projector lamps and pretty alloy wheels -- updates that only add to the Verna's already sharp looks. On the inside though, there's not much -- the two-tone dash with wood and silver inlays is quite appealing and the fit and finish and overall quality levels are impressive. Also, the front seats have superb bolstering and the Verna’s low dash makes it easy to see out of. If anything, the rear seats aren't as nice as some of its rivals. The seat is low and lacks thigh support, and because of the Verna’s angular styling, the rear windows are quite small. What the Verna has in abundance though is equipment – there’s keyless entry and go, climate control, a rear-view camera and at least three ways to hook up your audio device.

Mechanically, there's no change to the engine and transmission, so the engine still makes 126bhp and 26.5kgm of torque. Driving it in traffic necessitates a bit of gear-shifting because the engine falls off boost below 2000rpm; but there is good punch and more than enough power for stress-free overtaking and cruising. The engine is also one of the smoothest and quietest in its class.

One of our biggest complaints with the Verna was with its high-speed manners. For this car, Hyundai has tweaked the suspension settings and this has cured most of the old car’s nervousness at speed, its floatiness and its tendency to bottom out. The steering now also has more weight and the low-speed ride remains quite good. However, the suspension does still run out of travel over sharper bumps; this results in a painful thunk as the springs compress fully and hit the bump stops. And at speed, though it is much improved, the Verna still doesn’t like sudden avoidance manoeuvres, the rear feeling soggy when you make sudden inputs to the steering.

In updating the Verna, Hyundai has not messed with its strengths – the looks, the equipment, the refinement. And it has marginally improved on its weaknesses. Handling is now sharper and more confidence-inspiring, and the car bottoms out less. What lets it down then is the rear seat, which isn’t quite as comfortable as the others, the throttle lag which makes it less easy to drive in traffic and the fact that the ride and handling still need a bit more polishing. Still, there's no denying that the Verna is better than it ever was.

 

Renault Lodgy MPV review, test drive (renault Lodgy coming to india)

Renault's looking to extend its good run in India and up for launch in 2015 is the Lodgy MPV. We got a chance to drive it and here's what we think.

The Lodgy is a fair bit bigger than the Maruti Ertiga and the upcoming Honda Mobilio and it is likely to be heavily localised as well. It may not be as attractive as the Duster, but at an estimated Rs 8-11 lakh, the price sure is.

Renault insiders have confirmed that the Lodgy has been given the green light for production in India. In fact, production will start at Renault-Nissan’s Oragadam plant near Chennai in December with sales scheduled to begin in early 2015. We drove it way back in 2012 in Europe and here's what we thought of it.

Designing a people-mover that looks appealing is not easy. The very antithesis of something sporty and lithe, an MPV’s block-like dimensions are nothing if not difficult clay. So, it’s quite refreshing to see that Romanian company Dacia and parent Renault have done a stellar job.

Walk up to the Lodgy and initially, you are struck by its aircraft carrier proportions. This car is both tall and very, very long, and there’s no getting around the fact that the profile is positively bus-like. The next thing that hits you is that it really isn’t all that bad-looking; despite the ungainly proportions, there are some attractive features.

The best-looking bit is the nose. Its wide, smiling grille and neat black overlay blend really well together, and the large, high-mounted headlights look attractive too. The Lodgy also has a neatly executed protruding chin finished in matte black. Also finished in matte black are the pillars that hold up the roof and the pair of roof rails that sits atop it. The sculpted bonnet, subtle wheel-arch flares and descending roofline all contribute to make the Lodgy more palatable, and the tail-lights look pretty neat as well. But it’s not just the details; this car has decent proportions too. Built on a massive 2.8-metre long wheelbase, there are no ungainly overhangs.

When it is launched in India, the Lodgy will initially use the 1.5-litre K9K diesel in its 85bhp avatar with the 108bhp destined for later. It's the latter we drove and it is both smooth and punchy in the mid range. Once past 2000rpm, the torque comes in thick and fast, and it’s difficult to believe that this big MPV is being pushed by only a 1.5-litre motor. You can gather a lot of speed, even when the car is driven in a relaxed manner, and it has more than enough pace for country roads and state highways. The strong mid range also means performance is actually quite good, as long as you are willing to use the gearbox to keep the motor between 2000 and 4000rpm.

There’s a fair bit of turbo lag, though. Be anything but gentle with the throttle initially and the Lodgy will slump instead of taking off smartly from rest. Let the revs fall below 1200rpm and you will have to drop down to a lower gear if you want to get a move on. But that’s the price you pay for using a highly charged small-capacity motor. The upshot is likely to be much better fuel economy.

It’s light and easy to drive, though. The steering does not have too much feel, but it is quite accurate, so driving this ‘mini bus’ is pretty easy. Then the clutch is light and gears slot in without complaint. It is reasonably stable at speed as well and also turns without too much fuss into corners, which makes it quite friendly to drive. Go a bit faster around corners, however, and there is a considerable amount of body roll. This is not a car you want to hustle, but it doesn’t intimidate you, and that’s exactly what is needed.

The Lodgy’s greatest strength, however, is the space on the inside. There’s ample room in the cabin for even large passengers and space in the first two rows is all but unrivalled. Even tall passengers can stretch out and be comfortable on these massive seats. The third row has a surprising amount of room as well, and it’s relatively easy to access.

Dacia is a low-cost brand, and that means luxury takes a back seat. Still, for India, it is likely to receive a reworked cabin with better materials and more features such as rear air-con vents. The fit and finish of the car we are driving is similar to that of the Duster. The buttons and switches feel durable and hard-wearing. The dash is pleasing to look at and Dacia has equipped it with an interesting touchscreen on the centre console.

Volvo V40 Cross Country review, test drive and video

Volvo V40 cross country video review

It’s the age of fusion. Consumers’ demands have evolved and so have the options available to them. And one of the most popular trends today is products which offer the best of many worlds. Crossovers are a result of this trend. These are regular cars that have the much-desired SUV look and feel, but come with very few SUV penalties; exactly why Volvo is in the process of readying its V40 Cross Country for sale in India. It’s targeted at the young-at-heart owner-drivers who are looking for something different.

The V40 competes with the likes of the Mercedes-Benz A-class and B-class and also the BMW X1 and Audi Q3 when Volvo begins to import them. The Gothenburg-based carmaker isn’t expecting any miracles. It’s well aware that the Cross Country will only appeal to those looking for luxury, features and style in a compact package. But is the V40 Cross Country attractive and feature-rich enough for the smartphone generation?

With regard to looks, Volvo has gotten it perfectly right. Our red V40 Cross Country regularly had people craning their necks to get a better look at the car and we got thumbs ups and smiles from total strangers all day. What gets your attention first are the aggressive, beak-like bonnet with its cuts and creases, and the extreme rake of the windscreen. There’s a strong bonnet ‘V’, the headlights are angled back appropriately, the black roof looks stunning, and the rising waistline and the tight-fitting top meet each other at the rear of the car quite elegantly. An unpainted plastic cladding that runs around the car, faux scuff plates, both front and rear, and sleek roof rails gives it an off-roader presence. The Cross Country also gets 40mm more ground clearance and larger tyres than the regular V40 hatch.

Fact File

Price Range (in lakhs)*

Ex-showroom price

Rs 25 lakh (estimated, ex-showroom)

Engine

Fuel	Diesel
Installation	Front, transverse
Bore/stroke	81.0/77.0mm
Power	148bhp at 3500rpm
Torque	35.7kgm at 1500-2750rpm

Transmission

Gearbox

6-speed automatic

Dimensions

Length	4370mm
Width	1857mm
Height	1470mm
Wheel base	2646mm
Ground clearance	145mm

Chassis & Body

Weight	1461kg
Tyres	205/60 R16

Performance

0-20	1.07 sec
0-40	2.28 sec
0-60	3.86 sec
0-80	5.96 sec
0-100	8.68 sec
0-120	12.24 sec
0-140	17.06 sec
0-160	23.29 sec

Acceleration in gear

20-80kph in 3rd gear	5.88s
40-100kph in 4th gear	6.57s

 The exterior build quality is as good as, if not better than most competitors from Germany, and it’s nice to see consistent gaps and seams all around. The cabin isn’t as flashy as the exterior however. The design is a lot more restrained here and the Volvo parts bin seems to have been thoroughly raided; not necessarily a bad thing as most of the bits are well constructed and have a certain heft to them. What’s also retained from the bigger, more expensive Volvos is the look. The cabin is still a celebration of plain, IKEA-like surfaces and minimalist details, all tastefully trimmed in black and dull aluminium. Some large bits, like the floating centre console and the sculpted door-pads give the cabin a bit of a lift. Still, it’s not the kind of interiors that would give you feeling of luxury like an Audi cabin would. The bits which stand out are the shiny white central console and the transparent LED illuminated gear selector.  Other unique bits include a frameless rear-view mirror and a massive full-length glass roof.

The V40’s seats have the trademark Volvo levels of comfort. There is fantastic support for your back and thighs and this is especially noticeable if you’ve just climbed out of another car. Head, elbow and shoulder room at the front of the V40 is plentiful too. This is also a very practical cabin with plenty of space for water bottles and other odds and ends.

Legroom at the rear is sufficient for most frames and since the rear bench seats are placed higher up, they give passengers at the rear a better view of the road ahead. Headroom for very tall passengers could be an issue though  due to the tight-fitting roof. The third passenger at the back is also unlikely to be very comfortable – space for the middle seat is minimal and there’s a tunnel for a propeller shaft (for the all-wheel-drive version) on the floor that reduces legroom even futher. And while boot space is generous, there’s no spare wheel. You only get a puncture repair kit and an electric pump that runs off a 12-volt jack.

Top 5 SUV/Crossovers

• 
  1
  Toyota Fortuner review, test drive
• 
  2
  Renault Duster review, test drive
• 
  3
  Mahindra XUV500 review, test drive

Volvo will bring two motors to India for the V40 Cross Country, a 180bhp T4 petrol and this five-cylinder 148bhp D3 diesel. Unlike some modern diesels, this 2.0-litre unit is extremely responsive and quick off the mark. There’s no turbo lag or delay from the six-speed transmission when you tap the accelerator, and the front-wheel-drive V40 leaps forward as soon as you place your foot on the pedal. What’s even more gratifying is that there’s plenty of linearity. Step hard on the gas and the V40 takes off more than promptly, the tug from the mid-range staying strong for quite some time. The performance figures speak for themselves. 0-100kph takes just 8.6 seconds and 150 is reached in 19.9 seconds. The V40 excels at covering ground quickly in urban confines and it’s surprisingly brisk out on open roads as well, pulling really effortlessly and strongly even at speeds as high as 180kph.

You may want more power but its performance will be more than sufficient for most. The automatic gearbox is also reasonably good. Manual intervention is possible and the box feels pretty responsive at most speeds. Refinement, however, isn’t great. The motor gets a bit gravelly when pushed past 3500rpm, and then there’s no need to guess what fuel the car runs on.

Sat on taller springs with more suspension travel, you’d also expect the V40 Cross Country to roll around a bit and feel a touch sloppy from behind the wheel. This isn’t the case. Body roll is well contained and the Cross Country really enjoys being cornered. Straight-line stability is really good, with the big hatch tracking dead straight at speeds in excess of 150kph with no need for correction on the wheel. It feels planted and relaxed in long corners too. There is a hint of body roll on tighter bends before the V40 settles down, but then you can push really hard and enjoy the corner. What makes punting the Volvo around corners even more enjoyable are the brakes and the steering. The former have loads of stopping power and a good amount of feel and this allows you to brake late with plenty of confidence. In addition, the accurate electric power steering is adequately feelsome. Centre feel is poor, but turn the wheel and steering weight and responses are much improved. 

The sharp handling, however, does have its downside. Ride quality is good and the suspension is reasonably pliant and absorbent, but on sharper-edged craters, that layer of underlying stiffness in the suspension can be felt. Despite this, the suspension remains very comfortable, and because the ride is flat, the Cross Country encourages you to drive over broken sections without slowing down – a mini-luxury in itself.

The Volvo V40 Cross Country isn’t for everyone. It doesn’t have the butch appeal of SUVs and the two-wheel drive version isn’t very useful off-road either. But it’s not a regular car either. Its design is different from most of its contemporaries and that is what helps it stand out. Moreover, its comfortable on the inside, is packed to the gills with features and is great fun to drive with strong, good performance. And of course, being a Volvo, safety levels are up there. Volvo has priced the V40 at Rs 28.5 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi). 

Nokia X hands-on

In many ways, the Nokia X is the Finnish smartphone we've been waiting for. Eye-catching design, a ridiculously competitive price, and running Android, it's hard not to see it as a reaction in the opposite direction to Windows Phone, for all that Nokia's team responsible argues that the two are well-paired bedfellows. Freshly unveiled at MWC 2014, we've grabbed some hands-on time with the Nokia X to find out whether Android in a Lumia suit makes sense, and why - for all our hopes about the concept - this may not be the Nokia for you.

Plenty of people have been asking Nokia for an Android-powered phone for some years now. The company is well known for its beautifully constructed handsets, and with the N9 and the Lumia range after it, it demonstrated it could push the envelope in terms of striking design, too

The thought of those qualities paired with the flexibility and broad app support of Google's Android was mighty appealing to many smartphone users and, so it turns out, to Nokia too.

Nokia X will eventually be a family of phones, the company says, with several more variants planned over the course of 2014. For the moment, though, there's just the one: an €89 (roughly $122; unlocked and unsubsidized) all-touch monoblock with a 4-inch touchscreen.

The resemblance between Lumia and Asha is clear from the outset. Nokia will offer the Nokia X in six different colors - the same green, black, white, yellow, cyan, and red many Lumias come in - but since the matte-finish polycarbonate shells are interchangeable, owners will be free to mix and match. The core of the phone slots neatly and securely inside, and the whole thing is not only creak-free but, should you inadvertently scratch the plastic, hides scuffs well since it's body-colored all the way through.

We've a fondness for compact phones, and the Nokia X nestles in the palm nicely. At just over 128g it's lightweight, and the relatively small screen - the same size, diagonally, as an iPhone 5s - is easy to reach across with a thumb when you're using it single-handedly. Physical controls are limited to a power/lock button and volume rocker on the right edge, where you'd expect to locate them on a Windows Phone, but unfortunately the dedicated camera shortcut hasn't been carried over as well.

Nokia has obviously had to trim the fat - and some of the flesh, arguably - to bring the Nokia X down to its ambitious price, and the result is a device that underwhelms on paper compared to the Android norm. The 1GHz dualcore Snapdragon processor and 512MB of memory aren't, in fact, the bottleneck we feared they might be, with the Nokia X actually moving between apps and through its simplistic menu structure fairly smoothly.

What proved more disappointing were things like the relatively low-resolution display, at a mere 800 x 480 WVGA, which can look pixelated at times, and the 3-megapixel camera with its fixed-focus lens. At a time when 5-megapixels feels like the bare minimum on Android handsets, Nokia's decision to step down a level even further seems like more of a sacrifice. LTE is another element that disappoints by its absence, though given the developing-markets target of this initial handset, it's probably not so great a concern; certainly, the dual-SIM support as standard will prove more than adequate recompense.

In use, the Nokia X is an unusual hybrid of Windows Phone and Asha Touch. On the one hand, the regular homescreen - with its icons and widgets redressed as Live Tiles, albeit a little more basic in their dynamic operation - looks considerably like what you'd find on a Lumia. Shortcuts can be clustered together or organized into folders, and Nokia has done away with the app launcher view altogether, instead putting all software on a single long-scrolling pane.

Swipe to the side, however, and things get very Asha-esque. Nokia calls it the Fastlane, and while its been turbocharged somewhat for Nokia X, the concept is the same. All notifications, recent apps, updates, and alerts are listed in chronological order, together with relevant shortcut operations such as replying to a message, returning the call of a contact, Tweeting out a new status update, or resuming music or video playback.

Combined with the single touch-sensitive button under the display - tapped to go back a step, and held to return to the homescreen - it's a system that's surprisingly easy to familiarize with. The extra abilities added to each entry in the Fastlane help here, since it now feels less than a list and more like a timeline of your commonly-used features, and they're arguably even easier to access than where Android-proper puts them in the pull-down notification bar. That, on Nokia X, is now far more simplistic, more a place to switch between SIMs and toggle things like WiFi.

Software is the big advantage on the Nokia X, both because it's running Android and because Nokia makes it. For the former, broad compatibility with virtually all existing Android apps means there's a huge amount of software out there to try; Nokia has sensibly made it especially easy for developers to update their apps to work with the mere three new APIs, waving in front of them the carrot of plentiful in-app purchases from customers in developing nations who, while they don't have a credit card, do have carrier billing.

As for it being a Nokia, as we've seen on Lumia the company isn't afraid of putting time and effort into its own exclusive apps, and the Nokia X gets to share in those spoils. As well as the solid and capable HERE Maps, with 3D navigation and offline mapping, there's Mix Radio for streaming and offline playlists, all without a subscription fee. You could well argue it's the best of both worlds between Android and Windows Phone, though having to wait for developers to embrace the Nokia Store (since Google's Play isn't available) is mildly frustrating.

Nokia has been sensible with how the OS and UI are handled moving forward, too. In fact, they're two separate components, meaning Nokia can individually update the interface layer of its overall Nokia X Software Platform independently from the underlying Android OS. Considering the delays we've seen affect some Android OEMs, who have been forced to wait to tweak their customized UIs until it's time for a more significant OS update from Google, that makes a lot of sense.

Still, for all the Nokia X's positives, there's undeniably a sense that the company has purposefully set the bar relatively low. That's partly for price and target audience reasons, certainly, but it's also a move to preserve the low-mid-high positioning of Asha, Nokia X, and Lumia, and make sure Windows Phone isn't shaken from its position at the top of the perch.

That said, that the Nokia X family won't be officially sold in the US maybe isn't such a big deal. Things like the underwhelming camera and absence of LTE would, for all the handset's design charm, begin to grate after a while.

It's bittersweet, then, this first Nokia Android device. The Nokia X has a compelling, straightforward interface, great design, and ambitious pricing, and deserves to do well in the developing "next billion" market for which Nokia. For the rest of us, a Windows Phone makes more sense whether the demand is camera ability, connectivity, or performance, though that won't stop us looking longingly in the Nokia X's direction.