Top Ten Travel Destinations - Ancient Ruins
Masked in mystique and mythology, the ruins of ancient civilizationscontinue to lure travellers from around the globe with their intrigueand esoteric charm. Enduring the tests of time, these abandonedempires and iconic civilizations will open your imagination to amyriad of extinct cultures. No matter whether you are the 1st or1,000,001st person to trek across a ruin, you will nonetheless beovercome with visions of primitive nations and divine rulers. You canbecome a Cortes or Pizzaro for a day, and create a personal adventureyou have only dreamt about or seen on adventure movies. Ruins ofantiquity will instill adventure and inherently challenge yourawareness of humankind. As you stroll through temples, pilgrimages andlost domains, the adventure continues with you and the story becomesyour own. This top ten list of ancient ruins travel experiencespromises to transport you to existences passed over by time; andwhispers of stories from long ago.
Embark on the journey back in time down the Inca trail to the city of Machu Picchu. Built around 1450 and abandoned 100 years later, Machu Picchu lay forgotten until 1911 when Hiram Bingham brought attention to this treasure and it was soon thereafter declared a world heritage site. It recently received a title change to be included as one of the New 7 Wonders of the world. The Machu Picchu ruins are 7970ft above sea level on a ridge in the Umbra Valley in Peru, meaning that altitude sickness can be problematic for some. The buildings are constructed in dry stone wall, and are created so flawlessly that in some places the stones are so well constructed that not even a knife can pass ...
The Tapati Festival of Easter Island is an experience that peers into a remote culture with traditions such as chanting, dancing, parades, customary body decoration, and spear fishing competitions, all originating from a civilization that was one of the youngest inhabited territories on earth. Easter Island also known as Rapa Nui, is a Polynesian island that lies off the coast of Chile, and is one of the worlds most isolated populated islands on earth. Theory has it, that at its peak, the Rapanui people found themselves trapped in an environment that was unable to sustain their population and a rapid crash in their civilization followed. Best known for its massive stone statues called Moai , Easter Island is home to over 887 of these world ...
Harmoniously blended with its natural surroundings, the Acropolis towers gracefully over the archaeologically-rich and modern city of Athens, often referred to as the most important historical compound left behind by Greek Antiquity. The Acropolis, or city on the edge, was erected on a flat-topped rock high above the rest of the city as a form of defense. Its location atop a rocky crag doesn’t stop hundreds of tourists from climbing up to it every day and admiring what was formerly the cradle of one of the grandest civilizations of all time. The Acropolis of Athens is only one of many acropolises that were erected in Ancient Greece, but it is by far the most famous having been the greatest cultural center during the peak of ...
India is like the proverbial box of chocolates. You never quite know what you’re gonna get. When fingering the relevant chapter in your guide book on the northern state of Maharashtra, the Ellora Caves are unlikely to be the last strawberry creams in the chocolate box that are unceremoniously oozing their sweet centre under the relentless north Indian sunshine. The fact is, there are no strawberry creams in India. Sandwiched between Agra’s Taj Mahal to the north, and the Bollywood stronghold of Mumbai to the southwest, the small medieval town of Aurangabad (or ‘City of Gates’ as it is affectionately known) is situated on a major silk trade route surrounded by UNESCO World Heritage caves. As such, it forms the cultural heartbeat in the state ...
Time ceases to move at Angkor Wat as you step out of modern civilization into an early 12th-century temple complex in the central Cambodian jungle. In fact, the jungle is actually growing in the Angkor Wat Temples—literally! Tree roots and branches are growing through, on top and inside the temples, making for a scene of culture and nature intertwined. It's hard to explain a place that demands such attention based on its sheer size, and sustains your interest in a gripping search over the layers of detailed stone carvings. The Angkor Wat complex encompass over a hundred stone temples in total, and the Angkor Wat Temple is the largest and best preserved of these ruins. This enduring masterpiece was built initially for King Suryavarman II ...
The sprawling fertile plains of Kedu in Central Java form a lush and bountiful backdrop to the Temple of Borobudur. Raised up between twin volcanoes Sumbing and Merapi along the undulating north ridge and lined with cool waters from the Progo and Elo rivers to the east, Borobudur is situated in a natural amphitheater of glory. This 9th century Buddhist monument is the world's largest and is made up of over 55,000 cubic metres of volcanic rock, the equivalent of more than a million blocks of carved stone. Comprised of nine platforms, adorned with over 2,600 relief carvings, and over 500 Buddha statues, Borobudur Temple exemplifies the transition over life to the state of Nirvana. Each terrace and accompanying relief stories symbolize the different levels ...
The remains of Sukhothai Kingdom evoke an unfeigned essence of early Thai culture. Although only in power for two centuries between 1238 to 1438, the Sukhothai Kingdom is often referred to as the leading influence in proper Thai culture. Nestled in fields of rice and sugar cane, the worn towers, broken brick walls, and crumbling stupas still impart a sense of clam and inner peace. Broken into four quadrants, the most prominent structure of the Sukhothai Historical Park is the Royal Palace and Wat Mahathat. This moated palace is 1,600 square meters and one of the most important temples showcasing many impressive Buddha images, towering columns, and picturesque pagodas. Inscriptions carved into the walls recount a time when the Great King Ramkhamhaeng placed a bell ...
Step back into a time of lost cities and mystical pasts when you visit Petra. This surreal city is housed in southwestern Jordan, in a valley amongst mountains that run from the Dead Sea to the Gulf of Aqaba. Discovered in 1812 by a Swiss traveler, Johann Ludwig Burckhardt, Petra was later declared a World Heritage site in 1985. The history of Petra is somewhat ill-defined, passed from its original creators 6th century Nabataean Arabs , down through to Romans and later to Crusaders, it was eventually left to locals. The entry way to this amazing archeological site is a stretch of narrow gorge that is called a Siq, created by a natural geographical fault. This passage measures over a mile in length, towers over ...
The ruins of Chichén Itzá take you back in time to an era of a vast and powerful Mayan empire, once the center of being for all of the Yucutan civilization ruling over politics, religion, and military. Today the ceremonial structures and various other buildings that were in their time of grandeur between 800 - 1200 A.D are in various states of preservation, and open for travelers to explore. Set in a clearing surrounded by jungle, the history of Chichén Itzá entails stories of humans sacrifices and ultimately a violent end spurred by a revolt against the reigning powers that shifted development away from Chichén Itzá. Today it is a UNESCO World Heritage site and was recently declared one of the new 7 Wonders of ...
Some of the most remarkable achievements in human history stand in preservation on the Plateau of Giza, by Cairo in Egypt. The Great Pyramids of Egypt, built over 4,500 years ago, continues to astound the amazement of all who visit. The Pyramids of Giza are the most famous of ancient Egyptian monuments. This series of necropolises served the elite Royal Egyptians during the 4th Dynasty, approximately late 3rd millennium BCE. The most famous of these tombs is the Pyramid of Khufu. It is also known as the Great Pyramid (or the Pyramid of Cheops) and is the largest of the bunch. The next most prominent Great Pyramid is the Pyramid of Khafre; then followed by the modest-sized Pyramid of Menkaure. Khufu Pyramid was built by ...
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