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View Requirements >- Get a Gambian Visa to Visit the Senegambian Stone Circles
- Get a Vietnamese Visa to Tour Some of the World’s Most Spectacular Caves
- 2011 Destinations: Get an Egyptian Visa to Go Diving at Port Ghalib
- Indian Visa Requirements for the Birdwatching Adventure of a Lifetime
- Get a Chinese Visa to Visit the Tombs of Emperors
Archive for January, 2011
Get a Gambian Visa to Visit the Senegambian Stone Circles
January 21st, 2011
This week's featured UNESCO World Heritage site is located in the Gambia. The Stone Circles of Senegambia are located in four different groups along the River Gambia. Scientists believe they were built over more than a millennium, from 3 BC to the 16th century AD.
The origins of these circles remain somewhat mysterious. Archaeologists believe that they were used to mark burial sites, and were possibly built on top of older graves. Other than that, nobody is sure what specific beliefs motivated the people who lived there to build so many stone circles. There is no doubt that the monuments are impressive, however, and just as with Stonehenge, half the fun of visiting them is speculating about who built them and why.
According to the UNESCO site, "the survival of so many circles is a un
Get a Vietnamese Visa to Tour Some of the World’s Most Spectacular Caves
January 19th, 2011
With their surreal, otherworldly rock formations and strange, pale inhabitants, the inside of a cave is like something out of a science fiction novel. It's the closest most of us will ever get to visiting another planet.
Vietnam is known for its spectacular caves, many of which remain unexplored. In fact, the country is home to the largest known cave in the world, Hang Son Doong. Located in Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park, the cave's largest chamber is an awe-inspiring 3 miles long, 656 feet high and 492 feet wide. There's even an entire underground jungle inside, underneath a massive opening called a "skylight." For more information, see these incredible photos from National Geographic.
Hang Son Doong is not open to tourists, but there are many other caves that are. Many of the mos
2011 Destinations: Get an Egyptian Visa to Go Diving at Port Ghalib
January 19th, 2011
Diving in the Red Sea at Sharm el-Sheikh is SO last year, especially since that beach has turned into a real-life version of "Jaws." If you'd rather dive someplace with fewer people, and where you can dive without hearing that creepy theme song in your head, go across the Red Sea and check out Port Ghalib instead.
According to the New York Times, "Those looking to skip the crowds should turn to Port Ghalib, across the Red Sea from Sharm, on the eastern Egyptian coast. Ghalib’s beaches offer soft, snow-hued sand and translucent water that divers love."
Naturally, since the New York Times has outed this quiet sea port, you should probably go now, before Port Ghalib becomes as much of a tourist destination as Sharm el-Sheikh.
The first step, of course, is making sure that you have
Indian Visa Requirements for the Birdwatching Adventure of a Lifetime
January 18th, 2011
India may not be the first destination you think of when you think of birdwatching, but on a recent trip, New York Times writer Somini Sengupta discovered that it's actually a birder's paradise. She writes:
"From the cold lakes of the Himalayas to the sand dunes of western Rajasthan to the tropical rain forests in the south, India hosts a dizzying variety of birds, like a dizzying variety of everything else. Residents and visitors, common and rare, more than 1,200 species have been recorded in India, which puts it somewhere between the United States (just under 900 recorded species) and Colombia (more than 1,800 species)."
In India, it's possible to see a variety of different species of birds even in the cities. Go out into the countryside or to a large lake or river, and things get ev
Get a Chinese Visa to Visit the Tombs of Emperors
January 16th, 2011
This week's featured UNESCO World Heritage Site is the final resting place for some of China's most powerful emperors in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. These dynasties, which together lasted from 1368 to 1912, were China's last two imperial dynasties. After the Qing Dynasty fell in 1912, it was succeeded by the Republic of China.
The tombs themselves, which are laid out according to ancient Chinese principles of fengshui, are impressive and richly decorated with carvings and statues. They are designed to look like imperial palaces, providing suitable housing for the spirits of emperors, empresses, and other members of the royal family.
UNESCO says that "The Ming and Qing imperial tombs are outstanding testimony to a cultural and architectural tradition that for over 500 years dominated
