Mount Roraima - Expedition to the top of the "Lost World"

 Currently Mount Roraima is a destination for hikers. Almost everyone who climbs the mountain does so on the Venezuelan side. Most of the expedition members hire a native Pemón guide in the village of Paraitepuy, which is reached through a rustic road from the main highway of the Gran Sabana, between kilometer 88 and Santa Elena de Uairén .. Although the trail to get to the plateau is well marked and popularly traveled, it's easy to get lost on the top of the mountain, as there are very similar paths, as well as a nearly constant layer of clouds overhead and the odd rock formations, all which makes visual references difficult. Paraitepuy can be easily reached by 4-wheel drive (4-WD) vehicle, with greater difficulty traveling by car (if country road conditions are unusually good), or on foot (it would take a day).

From Paraitepuy, most hikers take one day to reach the base of the mountain, and then another day to continue to “La Rampa”, a spiral staircase-like natural path that leads to the top. Another 2 days are typically required to complete the return, and many people stay 1 day and 1 night at the top of the mountain, totaling 5 days. In longer trips you can reach the northern part of the Tepui, mainly in Guyana, which offers less explored and more intriguing places, such as Gladys Lake, despite the fact that this is more risky than the popular southern part and should only be be undertaken by well-equipped groups. The less adventurous can also reach the mountain, weather permitting with helicopter tours available from the neighboring Venezuelan city of Santa Elena de Uairén.

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Curiosities said about the Taj Mahal

Although many consider it a temple,  the Taj Mahal is a mausoleum  that hides a beautiful and tragic love story between an emperor and his wife. This majestic building was built in the 17th century and is located near the city of Agra, in the state of Uttar Pradesh, in India, and is undoubtedly a must-see for the thousands of tourists who visit this corner of India. But let's delve into the love story that surrounds this magical place.

Curiosities:

• Around 20,000 people and more than 1,000 elephants worked in its construction 
• All chief architects were ordered blinded and had their hands cut off so they could never build anything like it. 
• It was about to be destroyed in the 19th century by the English
• The Taj Mahal receives more than 3 million visitors a year and is one of the most photographed tourist destinations in the world.
• Its architecture is based on Persian, Islamic and Indian styles. It has been part of the 7 Wonders of the World since 2007.
• Depending on how the sun hits it, the mausoleum can be seen in up to 10 different shades of color
• The Taj Mahal took 22 years to fully build Taj means “crown” and Mahal means “first lady of the palace”

 

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Angkor Wat – built by Suryavarman II (r 1113–50)

The majestic temples of Angkor in northwest Cambodia are a Unesco World Heritage site and top of the historic hit list for many travelers to Southeast Asia.

The ultimate statement of Khmer architectural ingenuity, the one and only Angkor Wat is the largest religious building in the world and the perfect blend of symbolism and symmetry. Almost every inch of this immense complex is covered with intricate carvings and motifs, so it pays to do a little homework on this most iconic of temples and start planning your bucket list adventure to the temples of Angkor.

 

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Why the Ngorongoro Crater is the most impressive landscape in Africa

This ancient volcano, the cradle of the first humans and a nature reserve, is home to the great inhabitants of the savannah and offers the most impressive images of Africa. All in 20 kilometers in diameter

In Tanzania there are 15 natural parks, more than a dozen land reserves, several more marine ones, and a conservation zone created not only to protect the fauna of the place, but also to preserve the way of life of the Maasai, one of the tribes best known in Africa, which lost part of their territory when the Serengeti became a natural park. With these credentials, it is clear that a trip to Tanzania requires visiting some of these natural wonders and that the difficult part is choosing which one to stay with.

The theory says that the best place to see cats is the Serengeti , if you are passionate about elephants you should not miss the Tarangire National Park and if your bet is for primates, the mountains of Gombe and Mahale will enchant you. However, if you're after one of the most comprehensive images of Africa, the best bet is the Ngorongoro Crater.

 

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Cappadocia enjoyed a period of prosperity in the 10th and 11th centuries that led to a surge in the construction of rock-cut churches and monasteries

Cappadocia, ancient district in east-central Anatolia, situated on the rugged plateau north of the Taurus Mountains, in the centre of present-day Turkey. The boundaries of the region have varied throughout history. Cappadocia’s landscape includes dramatic expanses of soft volcanic rock, shaped by erosion into towers, cones, valleys, and caves. Rock-cut churches and underground tunnel complexes from the Byzantine and Islamic eras are scattered throughout the countryside.

Stone formations and cave city in Cappadocia, Turkey.

Neolithic pottery and tools found in Cappadocia attest to an early human presence in the region. Excavations at the modern town of Kültepe have uncovered the remains of the Hittite-Assyrian city of Kanesh, dating from the 3rd millennium BCE. The tens of thousands of clay tablets recovered from the remains of an Assyrian merchant colony at Kanesh are among the oldest written documents discovered in Turkey.

 

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Great Barrier Reef

The Great Barrier Reef is the great Australian pride, and a must-see in this country. Declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1981 and with an area of ​​344,468 km 2 , it is the largest coral reef in the world . So much so that it can be seen, even, from space. Today we tell you everything about the Australian Great Barrier Reef, from its importance and current situation, to the way you can discover it. Don't go, we have a lot to tell you.

The Great Barrier Reef is a true natural wonder and is home to 600 types of soft and hard corals of different colors . This structure gives life to a multiplicity of marine flora and fauna. Jellyfish, mollusks, more than 1600 types of fish, worms, more than 130 varieties of sharks and rays, whales, dolphins and more depend on it.

 

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Mata ki te rangi (The eyes that look to the sky) Rapa Nui

 Located in the eastern corner of the gigantic Polynesian archipelago, the Island of Rapa Nui -also known as Easter Island- has a very particular history. Since its initial colonization by Polynesian immigrants, its extreme isolation favored the development of a culture with unique features in the world, which has only been reconstructed thanks to the contribution of archeology and ethnology.

About three thousand years ago, navigators from Southeast Asia settled on the islands of Tonga and Samoa, and over the next thousand years they began a process of colonization of Polynesia. Moving in successive waves, they occupied the vast area between Hawaii to the north, New Zealand to the southwest, and Rapa Nui to the southeast. Around the year 600, a group of settlers arrived on the island from the Marquesas Islands, who introduced a wide variety of vegetable crops such as sweet potatoes, taro, yams, bananas and sugar cane, as well as the Polynesian rat. and the chicken that was very important for the exchange. according to oral tradition, the group would have been headed by the Ariki Hotu Matu'a, who founded the dominant lineage that would control access to priestly and political positions in the future. The children of Hotu Matu'a became the ancestors of the different tribes with a supreme chief, the Ariki Mau.

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