Thursday, September 24, 2009

Ilulissat Icefjord


There are so many incredible photos… it is very difficult to choose…. This is Ilulissat Icefjord which is located 250 km north of the Arctic Circle and is the biggest natural attraction in Greenland. Owing to gigantic icebergs, the glacier flows at a rate of 20-35 m per day, resulting in around 20 billion tones of icebergs. In 2004 was admitted onto UNESCO’s World Heritage List.

It has been the object of scientific attention for 250 years and is today at the centre of the huge international focus on global warming thanks to extensive media coverage.


The ice-stream is one of the fastest (19m per day) and most active in the world. Its annual calving of over 35km³ of ice accounts for 10% of the production of all Greenland calf ice, more than any other glacier outside Antartica. The glacier has significantly added to the understanding of ice-cap glaciology, climate change and related geomorphic processes.

All tour operators organize trips to Ilulissat Icefjord, including hiking trips, sailing trips and helicopter flights.



Usedom


Germany's second largest island, Usedom is a picturesque, low-lying landscape of rolling meadows, woods and lakes dotted with thatched cottages, windmills and medieval churches. The island, 445 sq km in area, lies to the northeast of the lagoon of Stettin at the mouth of the River Oder, the border between Germany and Poland.
The sunniest spot on the North German coast, Usedom is perfect for seaside holidays, with over 100 km of cycle paths, 400 km of walking trails and 40 km of flawless sandy beaches. The northwestern hinterland is one of the most beautiful parts, where woodland descends steeply to the coast and you are likely to spot sea eagles circling overhead. In the south east of the island there are some lovely stretches with lakes and sleepy villages.


The island’s historic spa towns exude an unmistakable air of culture and luxury. There are rows of magnificent 19th century mansions, elegant Art Nouveau villas, and stately piers more than 300 m long. Ahlbeck, Heringsdorf and Bansin, three former fishing villages on the north coast, are among the oldest of the Baltic seaside holiday resort.


When to go: May to September. Population: 76, 500. How to get there: Fly to Usedom, Road/rail from Szczecin, Poland or Zussow, Germany.

Lookout Mountain Flight Park


‘Let go, let go……let gooooo!’ That is going to be a voice shout from above when you do hang gliding in the Lookout Mountain. The flight park is one of the best in the world, giving you a chance to experience such an extreme sport. The place offers ideal flying conditions.

The school has two training hills, one stands 125 feet high, the other stands about 65 feet high. Students are also told to look at a distant target, instead of the ground. During your flight, an inland compass greets you on Lookout Mountain, a hulking flat-topped ridge that extends for miles on the Tennessee – Georgia border.

Glider pilots, foot-launching from a large concrete platform, 1,340 feet above the valley below, surf those waves, gliding as effortlessly as birds. Once airborne, gliders can spend hours soaring around.


Location: Rising Fawn Ga. Trenton,Georgia USA. There are more than 150 hang gliding schools in the country, according to the United States Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association. A list of schools is at ushpa.aero/schools.asp.



La Digue Island


La Digue Island is an enchanting tropical paradise. It is the fourth largest island in the Seychelles and extends to an area of 10 sq km and lies to the east of Praslin Island. It support a population that use to survive on fishing, copra and vanilla production but these days tourism is leading and the whole island is geared to providing a memorable holiday experience. There are several hotels and guest-houses that offer simpler accommodation and it’s also possible to see the magical place by making a day trip from nearby Praslin.

The beaches – especially Anse Source d’Argent and Anse Pierrot – are fabulous, often set off by tumbled rock formations that seem like dramatic granite sculptures. There are plenty of hidden coves to discover, too. Getting around is a matter of food or pedal power, as there are few vehicles and the locals use ox-drawn carts, which perfectly match of the island life.

La Digue’s interior rises to Eagle’s Nest Mountain (also known as Belle Vue), a peak that is 300m above sea level and rewards the active visitor with wonderful views. The densely forested Veuve Nature Reserve occupies muchp of the interior, and there are picturesque swamps, pools and inlets.


When to go: This is a year-round destination, with the hot, humid climate tempered by cooling winds. Population: 2,100. How to get there: By fast ferry from Praslin or Mahe. An expensive helicopter transfer is also available.




Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Reunion Island


This is not very popular, but Reunion Island is part of the European Union, being one of France's fully incorporated overseas departments. It is one of the French Republic’s 26 regions with the same status as those on the European mainland. Because Reunion is in a time zone to the east of Europe, the first ever purchase with the EU’s new currency was made here in 2002 – a 1 euro bag of lichees in Saint-Denis market.


Reunion’s boasts with vulcanological fame is that – like Hawaii – it is located on a hotspot above the earth’s crust. Fournaise is a shield volcano that has erupted more than one hundred times since the 17th century and is still erupting, most recently in 2007. The higher Piton de Neige is an extinct volcano. The island has a great variety of landscapes – volcanic peaks and lava beds, heavily forested slopes, coastal lowlands, rocky shores and a few sandy beaches.


Tourism is an important economic activity and a typically French range of accommodation may be found – hotels, pensions, gites and the occasional resort. Getting around isn’t hard – there is a good public bus service on paved roads, though traffic can jump up at peak times – and Reunionoffers a really excellent and varied range of interesting visitors attractions.

When to go: The very rainy season (December to March) is best avoided. Population: 785,000.How to get there: By air, ideally (for coats reasons) from Paris or Mauritius. By boat from Mauritius

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Wynn Hotel Las Vegas



The Wynn Hotel Las Vegas is located on the Strip. It is very proximate to attractions such as the Las Vegas Convention Center, Fashion Show Mall and Sands Expo. Most any location in the city is available from this area via public transit. The airport is only mere minutes away from the Wynn Hotel Las Vegas. The Wynn Hotel Las Vegas comprises over 2,700 rooms appointed with luxury amenities. Rooms include large-screen LCD HDTVs, DVD players, cordless telephones, faxes, high speed Internet access and artwork which are replicas of the classics held in the Wynn Collection. The bathrooms feature his and her sinks. The Wynn Hotel Las Vegas is a very large facility with numerous amenities. There are 22 restaurants on the site. There are nightclubs and lounges which offer several entertainment options. There is a shopping center with designer apparel and there is an 18-hole golf course right onsite. There is even a car dealership available to guests of the hotel.

A 2,000 seat circular show room is in the Wynn Hotel Las Vegas. Marble, and rich velvet continue the luxurious theme you will find at this hotel. The center stage allows many more individuals to get a good view of the great Shows at the Wynn . The LE Reve Wynn Show is a fantastic show at the Wynn. Combining many of director Franco Dragone's previous shows, he is famous for working on many Cirque du Soleil productions, the Le Reve Wynn Show creates a hallucinatory narrative.


The hotel has approximately 2,700 rooms, a 111,000 square foot casino, an 18 hole Wynn Golf Cources, as well as many other attractions. From the superb Resort Room that raise the bar in standard rooms on the strip to the plush Wynn Suite,any room you stay in will impress you.



The Wynn Resort sports a 150 foot tall fountain that contains five different tiers. The fountain falls into a man-made lake. This is named the Lake of Dreams. There is a light show that changes the color of the lake a variety of bright, rich hues.

Sunday, September 20, 2009

The Twelve Apostles


The Twelve Apostles are giant rock formations lies along the majestic coastline of Port Campbell National Park, app.230km from Melbourne, Australia. It is Victoria’s second largest marine national park and covers 7,500 hectares including some of the most spectacular underwater scenery – incredible underwater arches, canyons and caves.



Millions of years of constant sea erosion and blasting winds have battered the soft limestone cliffs, creating grottoes and gorges, arches, caves and sea-sculptures. The caves eventually became arches and when they collapsed rock stacks up to 45 meters high were left isolated from the shore. The Twelve Apostles have been created by erosion that began 10–20 million years ago. The cliff top road gives occasional glimpses of the drama below – the Australia’s most famous rock attractions.


Covered Botanical Building


This is an extraordinary building located in Seoul,South Korea Architects Minsuk Cho and Kisu Park are the designers of this flora-clothed multifunctional structure. The building was done in Octomber 2007 with green roofs and living walls to another level.

Vegetation has been used to cover both the external and internal walls. It looks like the building is growing up from underneath and it’s sitted on an alley near by Seoul’s rapidly transforming Gangnam district.


This marvel house has three floors of the Ann Demeulemeester housing shop on the first floor, a restaurant above, and a Multi-Shop in the basement. The designers incorporate as much nature as possible into the structure within the constraints of a low-elevation, high-density urban environment.


The green species are geotextile plant and herbaceous pereunial for the living walls. The building is defined through the convergence of natural and artificial, interior and exterior, rather than demonstrating a stark contrast between the dualities.

Kilimanjaro


Today kilimanjaro is an exotic destination, which is threatened by degradation from climate change. Every year travel industry sends about 30, 000 climbers toward Kilimanjaro’s summit.


To reach the great summit, there’re six routes established, some of them however demanding mountaineering routes. The most difficult and also short used route is the Marangu, the others routes take a little longer to reach the summit.


While climbing in the moors there’re weird plans such as olonnade-like, eight-foot lobelias andclusters of tree-size senecio kilimanjari, or giant groundsels, with clumps of cabbage-shaped leaf clusters atop withered-looking trunks.


The population of Kilimanjaro is called Chagga รข€” which are the people who can carry up to 50 pounds on their head. WOW. Kilimanjaro has two main climbing seasons: January through February and mid-June through mid-October, typically the most stable weather periods. Kilimanjaro is thetallest mountain rise in the world, and includes the highest peak in Africa at 5,895 meters providing a dramatic view from the surrounding plains.

Tiger’s Nest Monastery


Taktshang, also called the Tiger’s Nest monastery is in the middle of the Bhutanese mountains, several hours outside of Paro (the only city with an airport). Taktshang is the most famous of monasteries in Bhutan. It hangs on a cliff at 3,120 metres (10,200 feet), some 700 meters (2,300 feet) above the bottom of Paro valley. A place of pilgrimage for Buddhists.


During the end of the 17th Century a monastery was built on the spot where the saint meditated and it is nowadays a popular pilgrimage site. Every Bhutanese has to visit it once in his lifetime. The monastery was devastated by fire in 1998 but the Bhutanese Government took immediate steps to restore the monastery to its original structure so that tourists could admire it like it was before. The monastery was rebuilt and consecrated in March 2005. Hundreds of pilgrims from throughout the country visit this holy place annually.


To visit it, you have to hike in the mountains. Climbing to the monastery is on foot or mule. The trek uphill can take up to three hours (one hour if you are an experimented walker) through villages and pine forests. The walk follows a steep zigzag trail through pine forests. A rest is possible mid-way at a teahouse where biscuits and drinks are available. Then it is possible either to sit outside the building and admire the monastery and its beautiful surroundings or if there is enough energy, to continue another thirty minutes to a closer viewpoint, which is definitely breathtaking.


To get to this monastery, one must make arrangements with a guide before entering Bhutan. One cannot travel around Bhutan without a guide, as outlined by national law. No photography is allowed inside the Tiger’s Nest.