#849 Nazca Lines, Peru

It's very common to say that photos don't do a place justice, but in this case, they really don't. The Nazca lines are one of the most incredible things I've seen, and they can only been seen from the air, but the photos just don't capture the magic. 

Human or alien?

The circa 400AD geogyphs cannot be seen well from the ground, though there is a spot off the Pan-American highway where there is a viewing platform and they can be seen from the surrounding hills. This means that tourist flights zip around the 80km plateau area -- that's the only way to really see them. There is an alien-like man, several birds and insects, a monkey, a spider, a dog, hands, along with zoomorphic geometric designs and other images. They must be several hundred meters in size, and are made by clearing the rock-strewn area so that a clear patch is formed -- the sheer size is impressive, but also the mysteries about how and why they were made. 

The Nazca people were responsible for the ceremonial city of Cahuachi, and also created an impressive aqueduct system in addition to these lines. Despite a severe 1996 earthquake that flattened the modern town of Nazca, and floods in 2007 the dry, windless desert helps to preserve these creations. The difficulty of seeing them also helped preserve them for us to see. They were only "rediscovered" relatively recently, when Peruvian archaeologist Toribio Mejia Xesspe saw them from the surrounding hills in 1927, and new figures are still being discerned from the multitude of lines even now. 

However, whether they were to form pictures for gods in the sky, an observatory, a collection of constellations or negative space in the milky way, or a pathway to places of religious observance, they are truly remarkable!

Monkey

Bird

Spider

Map of Nazca sites

Viewing platform on the ground -- very hard to see anything at all!

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazca
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazca_lines

Beautiful Bangkok Attractions with affordable Bangkok Hotels

Bangkok is a one of the top tourist destination in the world. Bangkok is also called world best city for vacation. This city has a variety of attractions like temples, park, museum, nightlife, historical and cultural places. All range hotels you can find in this city. A large number of luxury, deluxe, boutique and budget hotels offering well services to their customers. 

Bangkok Attractions:

Bangkok is well known for historical, cultural and Buddhist temples vacation. 

The Grand Place:

The grand place is a historical attraction in Bangkok. It is a complex of buildings. This is a residence of the kings of Siam since 1782. It is divided into one part of the Emerald Buddha temple. Very good architectural work handle to develop this buildings. This place is one of the top attraction in Bangkok, Thailand. 

Floating Markets:

The floating markets is famous to get tropical fruits such as Malacca grape, Chinese grapefruit, mangoes, bananas, fresh vegetables, local foods cooked in from floating boats. The vacationer mostly enjoy the atmosphere of floating markets. 

Siam Ocean World: 

Who traveling with family and kids looking for fun and enjoy, they can go ahead to Siam Ocean World. It is placed underground of the Siam Paragon Shopping Mall. It is aims to provide education, entertainment, and synergistic experience to visitors.

Wat Arun Temple: 

The major one historical attraction in Bangkok is Wat Arun Temple. It is a Buddhist temple placed in Chao Phraya River, Bangkok Yai. This place is famous for colorful festivals, the Royal Kathin. And more temples are very famous in Bangkok. Such as Temple of Emerald Buddha, Temple of Dawn and Wat Mahathat.

Nightlife in Bangkok:

Bangkok nightlife has a reputation for wild and tough places. Nightlife is famous at the following places Patpong, Nana or Soi Cowboy. At the same time it's fun and safe to enjoy your golden times. Other than above there are many attraction Safari World, Lumphini Park, Dusit Zoo, Golden Buddha, Wat Saket and Vimanmek Palace.You can find all range of accommodation, its depend on your budget. More peoples said Bangkok is not the place for budget travelers?. The answer is no, not the case, Surely there are so many budget hotels in Bangkok. 

Find out your budget hotels and booking through online. There are many agents and hotels offering accommodation in a cheap rate. For your view some of budget hotels list for your accommodation in Bangkok. Arnoma Hotel Bangkok, Landmark Hotel Bangkok, Continent Hotel Bangkok, Baiyoke Suite Hotel and Jasmine Resort. Book and enjoy your vacation.

 Myself i am Shalee David, professional author of Hotelsreservation.com. And i am publishing a quality content related to travel, hotels, destination tips and sightseeing to the vacationers. View More About our Hotels Videos

#850 Yanar Dag (Fire Mountain), Abseron Peninsula, Azerbaijan

This mountain is on fire! 

On the edge of a desolate moorland on a small rural road just past the pink salt lake beyond the ugly oil-field turnoff, Yanar Dag (literally Fire Mountain) burns day and night due to the underground gas that was accidentally ignited in 1958. 

A decrepit tea house is at the top of a hill, and in the gully is this amazing piece of nature. It's quite nice to sit beside the flames on a cool winter evening.

Is it natural? Well, it once was, but rumor has it that the Azeri government now pipes the gas in. However, there are other places in the area where natural gas seeps out and can be lit, including some springs and water flows. Zoroastrians worshipped fire and built a temple nearby which can still be visited. 

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yanar_Dag

Mark Elliot's Azerbaijan

#851 Marianas Trench

deepseachallenge.com 

Ever since I was young I've been fascinated with the Marianas trench. The diagram above helps to show why I always found it so amazing -- we always thing about the highest point, Everest, but we rarely think about how deep the earth goes inwards, and the fact that the earth goes further inwards than it does outwards is really quite incredible. At almost 11km deep (5960 fathoms) at 'Challenger Deep' at its southern end, it is further into the earth than we can go outward although both extremes suffer from too much pressure -- altitude sickness, oxygen deprivation, atmospheric pressure, etc. I just wish it wasn't so inaccessible! 

And even though there are areas of the Arctic ocean floor that go closer to the earth's core (because Earth is not a perfect sphere and the Marianas is at its widest point in the tropics), it is a phenomenal place.

Cool facts:

• It is 1 to 4 degrees C at the bottom.
• Xenophyophores are a microbial bacteria life form found deep in the trench.
• The Marianas Islands were claimed by Spain in 1668.
• The trench was first 'sounded' in the 1870s.
• In 1995, an unmanned remote controlled Japanese vehicle completed the deepest dive on record.
• Four manned descents have been made, the first in 1960, and the most recent by director James Cameron in 2012.
• Sole, flounder and shrimp have been observed at the bottom.
• It has been proposed as a place for nuclear waste disposal, in hopes that the tectonic movements will eventually push the waste under the earth and into the earth's mantle. Thank goodness it's prohibited by international law!

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariana_Trench

#852 Cu Chi tunnels, Vietnam

The Vietnam War was one of the most brutal and violent in recent memory, with many atrocities occuring and such as strong clash of ideological beliefs in a culmination of Cold War hostilities. In Vietnam, I saw many remarkable things that represented this war, from bombed out valleys, the infamous China Beach near Da Nang, the former DMZ, and the headquarter cities of Saigon and Hanoi. 

However one of the most interesting features was the Cu Chi tunnels, a collection of the tunnels for tourists to see and get an idea of what covered vast amounts of territory and contributed enormously to the guerilla warfare -- in particular it was the base of the Viet cong during the Tet Offensive. Used for communication, supply, hospitals, storage, homes and means of movement, they were a very developed system. Despite being important to their resistance against the Americans, life in the tunnels was not particularly pleasant, as life underground with a plethora of tropical pests in abundance, and the other major killer: malaria.

The tunnels have been considerably widened and enlarged to allow for tourists, and the original trap door entrances camouflaged in the jungle floor were designed for the small Vietnamese bodies. Booby traps and other dangers were incorporated into the system including bambo spikes, cages, holes, etc. They really were an amazing piece of engineering and certainly an aid in overwhelming the Americas t

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cu_Chi_tunnels

P.S. This is also one of the only posts on my blog where I am actually in the photos, which gives you a very accurate indication of how old the photos are!

#853 Ararat, Turkey (Armenia)

The cultural heart for the Armenian people lies just across the border in the home of their enemy: Turkey. Mount Ararat, known as Agri in Turkish, is a beautiful conical volcano, and can be seen from much of Armenia including the capital Yerevan, but not visited by Armenians, although it remains the spiritual, religious and nationalistic centerpiece.

Permanently snowcapped at 5137m, with two peaks, Greater Ararat and Lesser Ararat, it is Turkey's tallest, and has a 40 sq. km girth. No one knows when it last erupted, but remains suggest the Bronze Age 3 millenium BCE, although a severe earthquake shook the mountain and opened a large chasm in 1840.

According to Genesis, this is where Noah's Ark was supposed to have landed and many scientists say they have found remains of such a thing! Supposedly named after King Ara the Handsome, who didn't actually exist, but who has been associated with the real king Arame, the legends go back a long time. For Armenians it is the home of the gods, similar to Mt. Olympus in Greece.

One of the best (Armenian) places to see Ararat is from Khor Virap just outside of Yerevan, where a picturesque monastery is on a small knoll very close to the border with Mount Ararat towering behind. Beautiful! The mountain lies just 32km south of the border and is in the middle of sensitive territory where the four nations of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iran and Turkey meet, with Armenia having poor relations with both Azerbaijan (due to the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh) and Turkey (due to their position on the Armenian Genocide).

Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Ararat
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ara_the_Beautiful

#854 Blue Mountains, NSW, Australia

http://www.bluemts.com.au/

This is the view I remember, but when I saw it, I don't think there was a gondola sitting above the depths. It was my first experience of a hail stone storm -- I didn't understand how it could be so hot, yet with massive pieces of ice falling from the sky.

A short drive up from Sydney, the mountains encompass a large area of inland New South Wales. I remember how the mountains seemed to drop off, as opposed to rising up, and this would make sense considering they are a sandstone plateau with gorges being carved out of it.

The aboriginal legend is a Gundungurra creation story where the Dreamtime half-fish half-reptile creatures Mirigan and Garangatch fought a large battle, scarring the landscape. Many areas of archaeological importance are in the area (22,000 years old), with the rock shelter Red Hands Cave having ancient hand stencils and other areas having grinding stones and carved animal track images.

They were called the blue mountains because of the appearance from a distance, believed to be caused by mie scattering combined with ultraviolet radiation, and the terpenoids emitted by the many eucalyptus trees (though I admit I don't really know what that means!).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:BlueMountains123.jpg

Source: http://www.bluemts.com.au/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Mountains_(New_South_Wales)