The Maldives are a perfect destination whether  your dream beach trip consists of spending a few pampered nights in a  four-star resort or swimming among tropical fish some 80 feet  underwater. Seychelles One of the most photographed beaches in the world, the pale pink sands of Anse Source d’Argent unfurls across the island of La Digue, one of the 115 components of this archipelago in the Indian [...]

Along the Nile terraces and in the desert oases. In the 10th millennium BC, a culture of hunter-gatherers and fishers replaced a grain-grinding culture. Climate changes and/or overgrazing around 8000 BC began to desiccate the pastoral lands of Egypt, forming the Sahara. Early tribal peoples migrated to the Nile River where they developed a settled agricultural economy and more centralized society. By [...]

China’s Li River snakes through a fairy-tale landscape of conical limestone peaks, its smooth waters exquisitely mirroring the magical scenery. Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe-Zambia When the calm flowing water of the Zambezi River encounters the 5,578-foot-wide (1,700-meter-wide) edge of the Victoria Falls gorge, it abruptly plunges 328 feet (100 meters) to the bottom. The impact generates soaring [...]

Nouadhibou – a port city on the west coast of Africa, the bank which represents the present and the world’s largest graveyard of ships, which knows, apparently not too many people. Mexican photographer Ian Smith, almost a hero, in 2008 was forced to overcome many obstacles to capture the beauty of this truly sad, so carefully concealed by the Government of Mauritania because of their own [...]

Nara Dreamland was a theme park near Nara, Japan which was built in 1961 and inspired by Disneyland in California. On August 31, 2006, Nara Dreamland closed permanently. The entrance to the park was designed to look almost identical to Disneyland, including the Train depot, a Main Street, U.S.A. and the familiar Sleeping Beauty Castle at the hub. It also had a Matterhorn-type mountain (with a Matterhorn [...]

The White Sands National Monument is a U.S. National Monument located about 25 km (15 miles) southwest of Alamogordo in western Otero County and northeastern Dona Ana County in the state of New Mexico, at an elevation of 4235 feet (1291 m). The area is in the mountain-ringed Tularosa Basin valley area and comprises the southern part of a 710-km² (275-mi²) field of white sand dunes composed of gypsum [...]

White Cyclone White Cyclone is a wooden roller coaster at Nagashima Spa Land in Mie Prefecture, Japan. At 1,700 meters in length, White Cyclone is the fourth longest wooden roller coaster in the world, and is the longest wooden roller coaster outside of the United States. Despite its length, White Cyclone is still considerably shorter than the 2,479 meter Steel Dragon 2000, the world’s longest [...]

The Parthenon is a temple in the Athenian Acropolis, Greece, dedicated to of the Greek goddess Athena, whom the people of Athens considered their protector. Its construction began in 447 BC and was completed in 438 BC, although decorations of the Parthenon continued until 431 BC. It is the most important surviving building of Classical Greece, generally considered to be the culmination of the [...]

Reed Flute Cave is a landmark and tourist attraction in Guilin, Guangxi, China. The reed flute cave is over 180 million years old. It was discovered in the 1940s by a group of refugees. The reed flute cave has received many VIPs. Reed Flute Cave known as “the Palace of Natural Arts ¡± is located in the northwest of Guilin City , 5 kilometers away from the center of the city. It is [...]

Salar de Uyuni (or Salar de Tunupa) is the world’s largest salt flat at 10,582 square kilometers (4,086 sq mi). It is located in the Potosí and Oruro departments in southwest Bolivia, near the crest of the Andes, and is elevated 3,656 meters (11,995 ft) above the mean sea level. The Salar was formed as a result of transformations between several prehistoric lakes. It is covered by a [...]