Mountains Of Central Sansara
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Sansara is the oldest continent and by far the place with the most interesting Geography. Hundreds of pages have been written about this continent, more then for all other 26 continents together (see List Of Continents). By far, any Geograph will consider that Sansara, Heterocera and Sharp Continent are much more interesting then any Linden-owned continent and that Sansara is the most complex of them all.
The following material is written in the same way a touristic guide is made. After a few basic informations, there is a list of tourist routes proposed, with descriptions. Of course, everybody is free to add new touristic routes or to improve a random path.
Geography
The old part of Sansara can be categorised by extreme diversity. There are no two identical places. Unlike all other mainland continents that are massive and compact, the old part of Sansara is heavilly divided into islands and rivers. More then this, ground fragmentation reaches the highest levels, comparable only to Sharp Continent. Ground texture is different from a place to another.
Mountains are not placed after a clear Geographic pattern, after a logical scheme. It is a big surprise to find a high alternance of places: plains, mountains, hills, inner seas, even Volcanos.
Tourist Routes
The following touristic routes are recommended by Second Life Geography team:
- Route 1 - along GSLR and beyond
- Route 2 - from Bay City to Da Boom and to road connection in West (Mooaleo)
Tourist Route 1
This route is made for railway lovers. It includes train and ferry transport. The variation described at the end is a continuation to Bay City.
This is the most popular way to visit Sansara, mainly if your home is in Heterocera. We will start our jurney in Heterocera continent, in Calleta City, Calleta sim, where GSLR starts. Not far to North is Neumogen railway station, one important start point for Mountains Of Heterocera. GSLR - Great Second Life Railway is the oldest railway built, much before the large rail network in Heterocera. For most of its part in Sansara, it is a mountain railway, passing through a difficult terrain.
Every 2 minutes, an automated train connects Calleta station to Cercopia docks. We take the train and travel through a vast plain. We arrive in Cercopia, end station. Just nearby, there is a dock. We can take the ferry, it circles every 10 minutes. We will go through ANWR channel, the most important of the Transcontinental Channels. Water is everywhere and for 4 sims land is no longer nearby. If something happens, there is an oil platfor at half of our water journey. Then, we reach the shores in Purple sim. Purple docks is the gateway to Sansara. Near the port, there is the rail station.
First thing to be mentioned is that in Sansara, the track is different, has another design from the tracks in Heterocera. The rail is not so large, so it is not required as much land as it is in Heterocera. Also, a train circles along this railway every 7 minutes.
We start to travel near Purple docks, then we enter a swampy place. Then, in Periwinkle, we see the rail going through a canyon. After that, land is again flat and we stop at Periwinkle station. Next sim is Maroon, where the train passes over a long bridge, illuminated with wooden torches. This is the longest railway bridge on the entire grid. The bridge continues in Magenta, the only place where two trains can pass one near the other.
In Slate, we see the mountains for the first time. They are high and climbing them really is a difficult task. To left, a deep and large river is certainly navigable, while to right, the mountains rise up to the sky. On a small island, on top of a mountain, the most important station in here, Slate, waits to be visited. We can then visit the mountains around Slate following guides on variation 2. From Slate, we continue to see mountains to left and soon we arrive in Olive. The railway station is also a big shop. Many things can be both in here. Then, the train takes us to the last station, Mocha. This is the end point for the old railway.
Variation 1: From Mocha, we can continue forward to Bay City by foot. There are no roads, no rails and no continous waterways. We can see a long and sharp mountain range to our right, it looks like the blade of a knife. They encircle and protect a sim. We continue forward and pass over a river. And soon, we enter Mauve Infohub. Soon, we enter a place with many low hills, divided into multiple parcels. We can find parcels of Protected Land. They are not roads, waterways or parks. The question remains what these parcels were in past. Probably old Linden projects, long-abandoned. We might find some roads on our way, but they just go nowhere.
The only obstacle we will find is some Land With Restricted Access in Celadon sim. To avoid this, we should go to North. But, it is much better if we manage to find a rezz zone and get a boat. From here, all way to Bay City is by water. But much better is to go by swimming and diving. There is a wrecked ship on the ocean floor.
Next sim is Violet and we really need to visit this place. It hosts an infohub and many interesting places to visit. For a Geograph, it is a plain with a river in the middls, surrounded by mountains. There are 8 peaks, with highest altitude of 63 meters. All 8 can be climbed without major problems.
From here, we have to turn left (South) or we will meet the intersim void. We go through the plains of Fuchsia, then we cross an internal sea (Gulf Of Lauren) and we soon enter Shemerville. We are now very close to Bay City. Actually, many residents consider Shemerville, Nova Albilon and Luna as Bay City suburbs. We have entered Bay City plain now. Soon, we find a road. Bay City suburbs have a complex but simple road network, so we arrive very soon to the large suspended bridge that connects Shemerville to route 66, the central highway of Bay City. Here, we can go left to enter tourist route 2 or right to visit Bay City. The exactly point is in Barcola Sim, close to Luna - Dore tram (Nova Albilon, see Bay City Rail & Trams).
Variation 2: Just after passing Slate, a small, short rail can be seen to left. It passes over a large bridge, then it enters a cave, to Ethereal Slate. There are a lot of interesting things to be seen in that cave. We can stay a whole day to explore all, from the railway end to uner the water and to the top of the cave and even in the skyboxes with balloon rides. Is it magic? Is it a dream? Words cannot describe the wonder of this place.
Then, we can start a small adventure and climb the mountains around us. To right (North from Slate station), altitude is 69 meters on top of the mountain, but getting up there is a difficult task. To left (Ethereal State cave), altitude rises to 67 meters. An even higher mountain can be seen in North (Olive), 98 meters. To get there, all we need is to walk on mountain top. There is almost no abandoned land around us, but nobody blocks our way.
Tourist Route 2
This route is made for walking. It starts in Nova Albilon (Barcola sim) and allows us to visit the oldest sim on the grid, Da Boom. There are no roads. The best way to orientate is to click on the map on Da Boom and again on Mooaleo sim. Every resident should visit this place, full of historical data. This is the oldest part of the oldest subcontinent of the old world.
We start in Barcola sim, on the Luna - Dore tram line. We clicked on the map on Da Boom, now it is time to go forward. Route 66 and the tram line allows us to enter deeper inside the land. This is a smooth urban plain. We will se Museum Of Robots on left hand.
When we enter Dore sim, a mountain is visible to left. We might climb it (Altitude 64 meters), to see a Japanese place to left.
Road ends here. This is Dore welcome area. Now, we entered the old part of the grid. It looks almost exactly like the Sharp Continent, only that this place is populated. The welcome area is made of 4 glass buildings. Bad thing is that scripts are not allowed here. From the welcome area, we enter a plain with many slopes and rivers, but also with a few small roads. They are of no use for us. On our way, we will see a large forest, a park and another forest. Beware of water crossing, water is really deep in here. If you don't know swiming, try to avoid it. And maybe the most interesting place is a garden with a Japanese house on a tree.
From that treehouse, we must get accross one river. On the other side, there is a place to rezz boats. We enter Da Boom sim. It also hosts a mountain, Luna's Land (50 meters). Just in front of us, there is the Linden Playgrount, a good place to come with your children and relax.