2009 December travel tips and stories. Vacations ideas, cruises spa and resorts

The Great Kyz Kala is an awe-inspiring and dramatic mud-brick structure, sited in Merv, Turkmenistan. It comprises a rectangular earth platform with slopping slides containing lower-story rooms. The massive external walls rear dramatically from the mound and enclose the rooms of the upper story and parapet. Each corrugation is half-octagonal with a diameter of 1.3 m rising from a pointed base to form a pointed top. The walls are 1.98 m thick, gently tapering toward the top. Photo by: Amen-Ra
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The first thing you notice when you visit Calistoga Ranch, located just two hours from San Francisco, is just how incredibly big at all is. The size of the site is 157 acres, but it is within a region so large you are guaranteed some extra visitors. Everything from deer to rattlesnakes can be seen.
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White Sands National Monument – a 275-square-mile desert of soft sands in New Mexico, adjacent to the military base where the first atomic bomb was detonated in 1945, is one of the most serene places in the world. The paradox of finding such tranquility so near to destruction only underlines its beauty. Photo by: eqqman
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National Park Pirin takes up a significant part of the beautiful Pirin Mountain in Bulgaria. To the west is located the valley of the Struma and to the east of the Mesta Rivers. Area: 71,669.5 hectares, Total length: 85 kilometers, 70% of all ecosystems are natural, Highest peak: Botev at 2,376 meters above sea level, There are 9 nature reserves, with a combined area of 20,019 hectares.
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Nestled between the Sierra Madre Mountains and Banderas Bay, CasaMagna Marriott Puerto Vallarta Resort and Spa proudly holds a spot as one of the 100 World’s Best Hotels. The resort is an upscale hotel that caters to families, couples, and groups. Resort centrally located 5 minutes from the airport and 10 minutes from downtown.
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Hakone National Park is one of five parks that make up Japan‘s Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park, centered around Lake Ashi, a respectful site in Japan with breathtaking views of the majestic Mount Fuji, which is 3,776 m high. Photo by: ch3nyong
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The Motlatse Canyon is carved over the soft, red sandstone of the Drakensberg mountain range, the canyon is more than 12 miles long. It averages at 800 m from riverbed to mountaintop – although at some points measures 1,000 m deep and 5 km wide. It is the third biggest canyon in the world.
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For those who have had the pleasure of discovering this Indian Ocean gem, Ibo Island is impossible to forget. This small forested island lies at the southern tip of the Quirimbas archipelago, a range of thirty-two tropical islands stretching more than 125 miles north to the Tanzanian border.
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Horseback riding, bear and  whale- watching trips, kayaking, trekking – these are just some of the activities available at Clayoquot Wilderness Resort, possibly North America‘s only luxury safari-style resort. The whole resort is like a camp, surrounded by verdant rain forest in the area near British Columbia‘s Tofino designated by UNESCO as Biosphere Reserve.
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