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The Great Barrier Reef is the only living organic collective visible from Earth’s orbit. The Great Barrier Reef, off the east coast of Australia, is one of the wonders of the natural world – it is the world’s largest coral reef ecosystem. It was declared a World Heritage area in 1981. The reef is scattered with beautiful islands and idyllic coral cays and covers more than 300,000 square kilometres. The Great Barrier Reef system consists of more than 3000 reefs which range in size from 1 hectare to over 10,000 hectares in area. Dunk Island is one of more than 600 islands of the Great Barrier Reef.Human activity in the Reef areas has led to increased pollutants and the reef has suffered damage. Protecting the Reef is the responsibility of the Marine Park Authority.

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Just a five-minute boat ride north of Efate Island in the Vanauatu Island chain, Kakula Island has been called “The Jewel of the South Pacific” for good reason. Its lush 90 acres include white sand beaches, coral reefs and pristine tropical splendor. Protected by neighboring islands, the calm waters surrounding Kakula are excellent for swimming, fishing and snorkeling. Uninhabited and unspoiled, Kakula serves as a breeding ground for sea turtles.

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Potala Palace located at Lhasa is one of the most massive palace on the Earth. Now a museum it was once the winter religious and political seat of Tibet under the leadership of the Dalai Lama.

Built at an altitude of 3,700 m, on the side of Marpo Ri hill, the Red Mountain in the center of Lhasa Valley, Potala Palace, with its vast inward-sloping walls broken only in the upper parts by straight rows of many windows, and its flat roofs at various levels, is not unlike a fortress in appearance. At the south base of the rock is a large space enclosed by walls and gates, with great porticos on the inner side. A series of tolerably easy staircases, broken by intervals of gentle ascent, leads to the summit of the rock. The whole width of this is occupied by the palace.

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The Taj Mahal, the most magnificent tribute to love and beauty and one of man’s proudest creations, is easily the most identified image to be associated with India. Built between 1631 and 1648 by Emperor Shah Jahan for his beloved wife, this fairytale like marvel took twenty two years and the labor of twenty thousand workmen employed on it daily for its completion. The intensity of the Emperor’s love is carved in white marble as the most beautiful and wondrous expression of love ever.

Standing tall and gracefully in its glory and splendor, the beauty of Tajmahal can be discovered and rediscovered time after time for it not only changes color according to the time of the day but also with every change in the season.

The splendid Tajmahal sparkles like a jewel on a starlit night as the semi-precious inlaid stones reflect the glow of moon. However, it is on a full moon night that silver brilliance of the Taj Mahal becomes evident. Dawn and dusk to flirt with the radiance of the Taj Mahal as it responds to the blush of the skies. The sight is indeed mesmerizing to the visitor.

Continue reading The Taj Mahal Agra is a vivid poetry in Marble. A marvellous piece of Pietra Dura.

What would a visit to Athens, Greece be without going to the Acropolis to see the Parthenon? The Acropolis is the one historical site you can’t miss. You can take a tour or wander up there yourself but during the summer, whatever you do, unless it is overcast, go early or late in the day. It can get very hot up there and gasping for breath can take way from your ability to marvel at the greatest of all archaeological sites.

The Acropolis rises sharply from the plain of Attica with steep cliffs on three sides. It is accessible by foot only to the west, where it is linked by a low ridge to the hill of the Areopagus. It is formed by a layer of blue-grey limestone, which is very hard but water-permeable. This rests on a layer of schist-sandstone marl, softer than the limestone but water-impermeable. This arrangement leads to the ready formation of artesian springs, as well as sheltered caves at the hill’s feet, which was also a factor that attracted human habitation on and around the rock.

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Hurghada has been popular with kiters for many years and is one of our most popular destinations and thats beacause of reliable wind, flat water, a good climate all year and great fun.

There is wind throughout the year in Hurghada, with some of the best in the summer. It is also very popular in winter as it is a good break from the British climate. The original fishing village has now built up into an international holiday resort with many hotels stretching along the coast to the north and south of the town.

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The ancient city of Teotihuacan is the most visited of Mexico’s archaeological sites and a must-see if you’re in Mexico City. The site is impressive for its scale, both in the size of the Pyramid of the Sun (the third largest pyramid in the world) and the majesty of the Calle de los Muertos (Street of the Dead) – originally 4km long and flanked by temples, palaces and platforms. Look for amazingly well preserved murals in the Palace of the Jaguars or the Palace of the Quetzal-butterfly and bold sculptures in the Temple of Quetzalcoatl.Teotihuacan ( which acually means “place of those who have the road of the gods”) was, at its height in the first half of the 1st millennium CE (Common Era), the largest city in the Americas. The name Teotihuacan is also used to refer to the civilization that this city was the center of, which at its greatest extent included much of central Mexico. Its influence spread throughout Mesoamerica; evidence of Teotihuacano presence, if not outright political and economic control, can be seen at numerous sites in Veracruz and the Maya region.

The city was located in what is now the San Juan Teotihuacan municipality in the State of Mexico, Mexico, approximately 40 km (about 25 miles) northeast of Mexico City.

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Temple of Karnak in Luxor What a breathtaking place it is… This vast temple complex is dedicated to god Amon and was spiritual center of the Ancient Egyptians. It now amaze us with it’s really impressive architecural achievements and the atmosphere it stills holds.

Karnak is the biggest temple complex in the world, covering an area of 100 hectares and there is nowhere more impressive to the first-time visitor. In ancient times, Karnak was known as Ipet-isut, The most select of places. It is a vast open-air museum and the largest ancient religious site in the world, and is probably the second most visited ancient site in Egypt, second only to the Giza Pyramids near Cairo.

It took millennia to build and enhance the massive Karnak Temple, though most of the work was done by the pharaohs of the New Kingdom (1570-1100 BC). Approximately 30 pharaohs contributed to the buildings, enabling it to reach a size, complexity and diversity not seen elsewhere. Few of the individual features of Karnak are unique, but the size and number of features is overwhelming.

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The Forbidden City ( aka Forbidden Palace ) is located at the exact center of the ancient city of Beijing, China. It was the imperial palace during the mid-Ming and the Qing Dynasties. The Forbidden City now is known as the Palace Museum and its extensive grounds cover 720,000 square meters, and at one time supposedly had 800 buildings and more than 8,000 rooms, though there are only 2,172 rooms that remain intact. As such, it is listed by UNESCO as the largest collection of preserved ancient wooden structures in the world, and was declared a World Heritage Site in 1977 as the “Imperial Palace of the Ming and Qing Dynasties”. The Imperial Palace Grounds are located directly to the north of Tiananmen Square and are accessible from the square via Tiananmen Gate. It is surrounded by a large area called the Imperial City.

Construction of the palace complex began in 1407, the 5th year of the Yongle reign of the third emperor of the Ming dynasty. It was completed fourteen years later in 1420. It was said that a million workers including one hundred thousand artisans were driven into the long-term hard labor. Stone needed was quarried from Fangshan, a suburb of Beijing. It was said a well was dug every fifty meters along the road in order to pour water onto the road in winter to slide huge stones on ice into the city. Huge amounts of timber and other materials were freighted from faraway provinces. Ancient Chinese people displayed their very considerable skills in building the Forbidden City. Take the grand red city wall for example. It has an 8.6 meters wide base reducing to 6.66 meters wide at the top. The angular shape of the wall totally frustrates attempts to climb it. The bricks were made from white lime and glutinous rice while the cement is made from glutinous rice and egg whites. These incredible materials make the wall extraordinarily strong.

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Angkor Wat is an architectural masterpiece. It was constructed in the jungle in the early 12th century, then – two centuries later – was mysteriously abandoned by the Khmer civilization. It was built for king Suryavarman II as his state temple and capital city. The largest and best-preserved temple at the site, it is the only one to have remained a significant religious centre—first Hindu, then Buddhist—since its foundation.

The Temple was constructed over a period of 30 years, and illustrates some of the most beautiful examples of Khmer and Hindu art. Covering an area of about 81 hectares, the complex consists of five towers, which are presently shown on the Cambodian national flag. These towers are believed to represent the five peaks of Mount Meru, the Home of Gods and Center of the Hindu Universe. Angkor Wat features the longest continuous bas-relief in the world, which runs along the outer gallery walls, narrating stories from Hindu Mythology.

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