Situated on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea and 130km east of the capital Tripoli, lies the ancient Roman ruins of this once beautiful city of the Roman Empire.
Leptis Magna was enlarged by Septimius Severus who later became emperor. There is evidence of public monuments, a busy harbour, market place, storehouses, shops and residential regions. Some of the buildings are beautifully preserved all these years on. Leptis Magna gained UNESCO inscription during 1982.
Unfortunately, when I travelled throughout North Africa during the late 1980′s, the borders to Libya were closed to foreigners and I was unable to visit Leptis Magna. This travel destination remains on my Bucket List to this day!
Known as ‘Rapa Nui’ by the indigenous community and otherwise known as ‘Easter Island’, is situated some 3,700km west of the mainland of South America in the Pacific Ocean. This isolated position makes it quite a trek for most visitors. Those that do make the effort to visit the 117sq km island, are greeted with a host of wonders making it an exceptional travel destination.
Easter Island was first discovered by Europeans back in 1722 on Easter Sunday, hence the name of the island. However, inhabitants date back to an estimated 300 CE. This is when it was thought the large statues known as “moai”, were carved and erected by the Polynesian community. Scattered around Rano Raraku, a volcanic crater, are 397 moai in various stages of completion. The Rapa Nui National Park gained inscription as a World Heritage site with UNESCO during 1995.
Lonely Planet Travel Guide – Chile & Easter Island
The spectacular Yellow Mountain, also known as Mount Huangshan, is found nestled in the Anhui Province of eastern China. Yellow Mountain received inscription as a UNESCO heritage site during 1990 for its magnificent landscape and significant contribution to Chinese art and culture.
Yellow Mountain is made up of 72 granite peaks, projecting gnarled pine trees from crevices, clear mountain springs and misty-clouds that shroud the tall peaks. The highest peak ‘Lianhua Feng’ has sitting upon the top of it, a lone rock, called ‘Monkey Rock’. It was so named after a legendary monkey that fell in love with a village-girl. Today, ‘Yellow Mountain’ joins a number of other splendid travel destinations China has to offer the visitor such as Yellow River, Yangtze River, Terracotta Warriors and the Great Wall of China.
The area with its natural beauty, mystical and spiritual atmosphere has inspired many artists over the centuries. Poets, writers, Chinese ink painters have all converged on Yellow Mountain.
Yellow Mountain is included in this beautiful book ‘China’s Sacred Sites’
The remnants of the fascinating Mayan civilisation can be marvelled at Tikal National Park, a UNESCO listed site since 1979. Tikal, meaning ‘place of voices’ is now a National Park and located in the northern region of Guatemala and not too far from the border with Belize.
Tikal was the capital of the ancient Mayan civilisation. It is believe that it would not have been its original name but infact the name given shortly after its modern day discovery during the 1840s. Population estimates place the demographic size of the site between 100,000 and 200,000.
The National Park is not only home to archaeological wonders of temples and ruins but also the home to monkeys, parrots, deer, toucans, macaws, ocelots and the rare jaguar.
A highly recommended book by Dr Peter D. Harrison – The Lords of Tikal: Rulers of an Ancient Maya City
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