Unique travel experiences: witnessing elephant bathing time, one of the most exciting travel experiences in Nepal, surfing a volcano in León, conquering an Icelandic glacier, steaming in a Temazcal (Mexico), sailing the Galapagos, eating meat in Buenos Aires, tickling whales in Mexico, taking the Transmongol Express. Visit Sri Lanka and learn about our top 19 reasons to visit Sri Lanka. Even in the late 1990s, a few thousand dollars didn't do much good. After four months of backpacking, we had almost used up our meager savings.
Did you know that Finland has around 179,000 islands? No? Neither did we, until we toured the country by bicycle and some local friends suggested that we explore the Finnish archipelago by bicycle. It became one of the best travel experiences we've ever had. Visit Vancouver for our 17 favorite Vancouver travel experiences. A beautiful force of nature that stretches on both sides of the border between Argentina and Brazil, this abyss is one of the widest waterfalls in the world, consisting of 275 waterfalls spread out in the shape of a horseshoe over 3 km.
Take the trip on foot and let your anticipation build with the growing roar before heading out to enjoy the dew on a walkway or boat ride. Considered the Mongolian Olympic Games, the Naadam Festival celebrates Mongolia's nomadic culture through wrestling, horse racing, and archery exhibitions. The opening ceremony, a parade with singers and dancers dressed in traditional costumes, followed by fireworks, will officially take place on July 11 in Sukhbaatar Square in Ulaanbaatar. However, festivities take place across the country from June to August.
How did they do it? How did those 15th century Inca architects build a stone city without mortar, 2,500 meters high in the Andes? This is engineering of the highest level, in the most spectacular settings, so remote that not even the conquerors could find it. Nowadays, access is a little easier, but the views and achievement are no less impressive. In the state of Karnataka is Hampi, capital of the once great Vijayanagara Empire. The city was destroyed in 1565, but even in its current state, a huge ruin among incongruously shaped rocks, the magnitude of the achievement still reverberates.
Arrive early, rent a bike and marvel at a city that was said to rival Rome. North America is famous for offering huge portions, but Alaska surpasses it by itself. The last border state is the largest in the U.S. U.S., but the least densely populated.
It has 17 of the 20 highest mountains in the country, with the summit of the formidable 6,194 m Mount McKinley, in addition to 70,000 km of coastline, 300 rivers and around 100,000 glaciers. This stepped fortress, with whitewashed walls and ribbed ceilings, is located 1000 m above the Paro Valley. It is built on the site of a sacred cave, to which Guru Rinpoche, Buddha born in Lotus, is said to have flown on the back of a tiger; today, the temple in his honor seems to have fallen if it weren't for the Buddha's blessing. There are more than 60 glaciers that slide towards the west coast of New Zealand's South Island.
Franz Josef is one of the most impressive, galloping from the 3,000 m high of the Southern Alps to sea level in just a few kilometers. Get on a helicopter and see the chilling cracks, the towering seracs and the sculpted caves. The Zambezi divides Zimbabwe and Zambia. After a fall of more than 100 meters over the Victoria Falls, it crosses a narrow gorge for 120 km and becomes the largest sequence of grade V rapids in the world.
Make sure to hold on tight or you'll be in the Zambezi, along with hippos and crocodiles. Most of us, at one time or another, have squinted through a hole in a piece of cardboard or have put on specially dark glasses to see a solar eclipse. However, some travelers are eclipse chasers and travel the world in search of total solar eclipses (which occur every 18 months on average). These big, ancient, and beautiful monuments are so grand that they were actually built twice.
Originally excavated from a cliff in honor of Ramses II in the 13th century BC, the Great Temple and the smaller temple of Hathor were dismembered and relocated, block by block, in the 1960s to save them from the waters of the Nile, caused by the creation of Lake Nasser. Secured on the new riverbank, the 33 m high façade impresses and questions visitors, just as it has for thousands of years. Cartagena, one of the best colonial cities in America, was once a strategic shipping post for the enormous wealth accumulated by Spanish plunder. Today, most of the original walls (built in 161) remain, crowned by cannons and flag poles.
Stroll through attractive squares, grand mansions, and charming cobblestone streets. Yosemite has been a national park since 1890, and every year hordes descend through its riverine meadows, pine forests, and rock walls. Camp, store food in your bear locker, and head to one of the many hiking trails; plan your trip for the fall, when most areas of the park are still open, but people have gone home. Hoi An is an elegant waterfront port with 18th century merchant houses, ornate pagodas, and French colonial flair.
You'll visit museums, drink coffee au laits with views of the Thu Bon River, and then buy clothes. Suits for 20 pounds, cocktail dresses, shirts. And before you know it, you have appropriate appointments all over the city. Woven into a rock pillar 150 m high, this incredible feat of human ingenuity, dating back to the 5th century AD, was home to kings and, later, Buddhist monks.
Explore the water garden, rock garden, and terrace gardens, and climb the city's levels to see the old frescoed paintings that make this place a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Despite the story of whalers firing their harpoons here, the deep, krill-filled San Lorenzo River is still one of the best waterways in the world for whale watching. Come here to see acrobatic humpback whales, blue, 25 m long, almost as huge fins, and apparently smiling belugas. Jump on a kayak and paddle in the world of whales.
This enormous park (with 20,000 km2, the largest in the country) is the suffocating interior, a wetland infested with crocodiles, a scrub dotted with roots and rocks adorned with art from your imagination in Oz. Here, the cliché becomes spectacularly three-dimensional; you can feel millennia of red dust and Aboriginal history floating in the air. Set the alarm early to see how the inky sky inside turns purple and the sleeping monolith wakes up, with its nightshade shining with warm browns and deep reds in the rising sun. At noon, lightning illuminates all the cliffs and cracks of Uluru (the best way to see it is on the 10 km round rock base walk).
At nightfall, old Ayers glows orange, one last hurray. At 130 million years old, the Taman Negara rainforest deserves respect when you pass under its canopy. Located 150 km northeast of Kuala Lumpur, this jungle is home to elephants, hunter-gatherers, orang asli, and mysterious caves and rivers. The walkways are hung between the trees, where gibbons and hill squirrels hunch over the branches.
How many traveling lives have started with an InterRail ticket saved to save and a copy of the Thomas Cook European Rail schedule? Since 1973, the continental rail pass with free stops has been a rite of passage for Europeans, an affordable Grand Tour, and every InterTrailer has its story to tell. Spitsbergen Island is home to the northernmost settlements on Earth, thanks to the moderating influence of the Gulf Stream. However, there are more polar bears (about 3000) than humans (2700), which makes it so attractive to travelers, most of whom see a bear on the coast or on the icebergs. In geological terms, you can virtually see the formation of Iceland before your eyes.
That's what makes diving below the surface of the Thrihnukagigur volcano so exciting. You will slowly descend 120 m to a magma chamber that drains its magma in a unique way, illuminated by purple, sulphurous yellow and blood-red bruises. One of the most famous pilgrimage routes in the world, this UNESCO World Heritage Site is also known as the Camino de Santiago. While there are several starting points, the French Way, which starts at St Jean Pied de Port, is a popular route.
It takes about five weeks to complete the 800 km, but many walkers choose to cover the last 100 km. The grand final is Santiago de Compostela in Galicia. Like neighboring Mexico and Guatemala, this Central American country is rich in Mayan culture (1800 BC). to 900 A.D.).
The 43-meter pyramid of Caracol will no doubt impress, as will its large size: the ruins spread over a site larger than Belize City. Altun Ha is much smaller, but it's one of the best excavated sites, while the Lamanai jungle is accessed by boat. Although this is not a specific road, the Silk Road refers to the connections made during the trade of goods between China and Europe through India, Arabia and Central Asia since 202 BC. until 1453 A.D.
Part of the route is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. If you can't go all the way, visit Kyrgyzstan for the landscapes and Uzbekistan for the culture. If you've already traveled the Camino de Santiago, make this 180 km route your next challenge. The trail covers the Tijuca Forest and the Pedra Branca State Park, which border Rio de Janeiro.
While you can walk all 25 sections individually, wait 10 days to complete the entire route from Barra de Guaratiba in the east to Morro da Urca in the west. This 230-km circuit, which starts and ends in the capital, Reykjavik, connects some of Iceland's top attractions. While you can drive in three hours, three days will give you time to explore the Thingvellir National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. You will also be surprised to see Geysir, which releases boiling water 70 m high, and Gullfoss, a powerful 21 m waterfall.
Traveling isn't a series of glamorous hotels and beautiful beaches, it's not a collection of markers on a map, traveling is a series of memorable moments, all grouped together in a long story. Over the years, you've told us your best travel experiences, so here it is, the ultimate travel wish list. Then travel and take a cheap flight to Dubai or Istanbul, since right now you can't safely travel to most of Jordan's neighbors. .
