Hotel La Montana Magica, Huilo Chile

In the middle of a native forest (a UNESCO biosphere reserve) lies this very unique hotel, covered in moss and vines. It is built inside a man-made volcano that erupts water from the top which flows down the sides.

Hotel de Glace — Quebec City's Ice Hotel

Hotel de Glace — Quebec City's Ice Hotel is located at only 10 minutes from downtown Québec City, the Hôtel de Glace is a must-see attraction to discover every winter. The only Hôtel de Glace in America, has seduced over a million people around the world since its opening in 2001. With its huge snow vaults, its crystalline ice sculptures its 44 rooms and suites, the Hôtel de Glace impresses by its dazzling decor. 

From January 3 until March 22, 2015 come celebrate the 15th anniversary and enter this magical universe by visiting or lodging in this ephemeral work of art.

Marble Cave, Chile

The Marble Caves are located on Lake General Carrera/Buenos Aires Patagonia, Chile, the boat tours usually leave from Puerto Tranquillo (a little town), Río Ibáñez.

The amazing vibrant blue and grey cave chambers, all lay in memorizing turquoise waters of Carrera/B.A Lake.

The caves are on the Chilean side of the lake. the Chapel (La Capilla), the Cathedral (El Catedral), and the Cave (La Cueva). It is a unique geological formation featuring a group of caverns, tunnels and pillars created in monoliths of marble and formed by waves over the last 6,000 years or so. You can travel in a small boat or kayak, (only when the weather is nice and the water is mostly still).

Poseidon UnderSea Resort, Fiji

Poseidon Undersea Resorts was a proposed chain of underwater five-star resorts that was first slated to open by September 2008. The first was to be located on a private island in Fiji. The project was to be the world's first permanent one-atmosphere seafloor structure.


Poseidon was conceived and developed by L. Bruce Jones, president of U.S. Submarines, Inc.

The proposed location was Katafanga Island in Fiji. With a design concept in mind, Jones needed to find an appropriate location. To help find it, Jones offered a $10,000 reward for anybody that came up with the perfect location for the venture. 

After taking the suggestion of a business associate, who recommended a reef off Eleuthera, an island in the Bahamas, negotiations began with the island's American owners. The negotiations did not go well, and after a year of failed back-and-forth offers the location was scrapped and sights were set off Fiji. The Poseidon undersea resort still doesn't exist.

White Heaven Beach, Australia

Whitehaven Beach is a 7 km stretch along Whitsunday Island, Australia. The island is accessible by boat from the mainland tourist ports of Airlie Beach and Shute Harbour, as well as Hamilton Island. The Whitehaven Beach Ocean Swim is a two km open swimming competition held on the Beach in November each year as part of the Hamilton Island Triathlon Event. The 2012 event was held on 11 November 2012.


The beach was awarded Queensland's Cleanest Beach in Keep Australia Beautiful's 2008 Clean Beach Challenge State Awards.In July 2010, Whitehaven Beach was named the top Eco Friendly Beach in the world by CNN.com.Dogs are not permitted on the beach and cigarette smoking is prohibited.

The beach was named and discovered in 1879 by Staff Commander EP Bedwell. Being one of the many names from the then English county of Cumberland Bedwell brought to the area following James Cook's 1770 naming of the island group The Cumberland Islands.

Boulders Beach, Cape Town

Boulders Beach is a sheltered beach made up of inlets between granite boulders, from which the name originated. It is located in the Cape Peninsula, near Simon's Town towards Cape Point, near Cape Town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. 

It is also commonly known as Boulders Bay.It is a popular tourist stop because of a colony of African penguins which settled there in 1982. Boulders Beach forms part of the Table Mountain National Park.

Although set in the midst of a residential area, it is one of the few sites where this vulnerable bird (Spheniscus demersus) can be observed at close range, wandering freely in a protected natural environment.

From just two breeding pairs in 1982, the penguin colony has grown to about 3,000 birds in recent years. This is partly due to the reduction in commercial pelagic trawling in False Bay, which has increased the supply of pilchards and anchovy, which form part of the penguins' diet.

Mararet River, Australia

Margaret River is a town in the South West of Western Australia, located in the valley of the eponymous Margaret River, 277 kilometres (172 mi) south of Perth, the state capital. Its Local Government Area is the Shire of Augusta-Margaret River.

Margaret River's coast to the west of the town is a renowned surfing location, with world wide notoriety for its surf breaks. Colloquially, the area is referred to as Margs.

The surrounding area is the Margaret River Wine Region and is known for its wine production and tourism, attracting an estimated 500,000 visitors annually.In earlier days the area was better known for hardwood timber and agricultural production.

The town is named after the river, which is presumed to be named after Margaret Whicher, cousin of John Garrett Bussell (founder of Busselton) in 1831. The name is first shown on a map of the region published in 1839. European migrants lived in the area as early as 1850, with timber logging commencing in around 1870. By 1910, the town had a hotel which also operated as a post office.

After World War I, an attempt by the Government of Western Australia to attract migrants to Western Australia (known as the Group Settlement Scheme) and establish farms in the region attracted new settlers to the town. In 1922 over 100 settlers moved into the district.

In the early 1920s the Busselton to Margaret River Railway was built and in 1925 the Margaret River to Flinders Bay line opened.

Margaret River is located 9 kilometres (6 mi) inland from the Indian Ocean at a point about halfway between Cape Naturaliste and Cape Leeuwin in Western Australia's South West region.

The climate is humid Mediterranean, with an average annual rainfall of around 1,130 millimetres (44 in). Most rain falls between May and August, when around two days in three record measurable rainfall and around one in ten over 10 millimetres (0.39 in).

Margaret River is the foremost Geographical Indication wine region in the South West Australia Zone, with nearly 55 square kilometres (21 sq mi) under vine and over 138 wineries as at 2008. The region is made up predominantly of boutique-size wine producers, although winery operations range from the smallest, crushing 3.5 tonnes (3.4 long tons; 3.9 short tons) per year, to the largest at around 7,000 tonnes (6,900 long tons; 7,700 short tons).The region produces just three percent of total Australian grape production, but commands over 20 percent of the Australian premium wine market.

Several hundred caves are located near Margaret River, all of them within Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park. Six of these are open to the public.

The most famous of these is the multi-chambered Mammoth Cave, which lies 21 kilometres (13 mi) south of the town and contains fossils dating back over 35,000 years.The cave was first discovered by European settlers in 1850 and has been open to the public since 1904. The cave can be explored by a self-guided audio tour, and is one of the few caves in Australia offering partial disabled access.[citation needed]

The other five caves open to the public in the area are Jewel Cave, Lake Cave, Ngilgi Cave, Calgardup Cave and Giants Cave. Many other caves can be accessed with a permit by experienced cavers.

Cape Maclear, Malawi

Cape Maclear (aka Chembe) is a small fishing village on Lake Nyasa (Lake Malawi) in Malawi. It has one dirt road leading into (and straight out of) town. Along this road, there are a few hostels, some dive shops, a handful of vendors selling curios and fruit and a few bars. The pace of life here is . . . very . . . slow.

Mumbo Island is located about 4km offshore, inside Cape Maclear National Park, to the southern end of Lake Malawi.

The camp, which is set around a small cove on the eastern shore, comprises just six rooms. The island is renowned for its freshwater diving, kayaking and hammocks.

This old hippy hangout has been transformed into a very cool little lodge, but still retains the same laid back atmosphere.

Remember that Malawi suffers from malaria and in this part of Malawi there is a high risk all year round. Talk to your doctor before you go, wear insect repellent and cover your skin while it's dark, and sleep under a mosquito net.

Some parts of the lake are contaminated with flatworms, which can cause schistosomiasis (bilharzia). The parasites enter your body through cuts in the the skin, so just getting your feet wet could make you sick. However, you are not guaranteed to acquire it, even if you swim daily. Among the symptoms (which might not appear for months after exposure) is painless, bloody urine. Other symptoms include abdominal pain, diarrhea, fever, fatigue. 

Bilharzia is easily treated, but convincing a Western doctor that you have bilharzia can be tough; explain that you've been to Malawi and ask for a test, although testing capacity is not common and expensive. As a visitor, if you are worried about bilharzia, buy the inexpensive treatment praziquantel in a pharmacy in Malawi (one pill for every 15kg body weight) and take it after you've finished with Lake Malawi.

Don't drink the water from the taps, it comes straight from the lake.

Bottom Bay, Barbados

Tucked away on the south coast, past the Crane Beach and Sam Lord's Castle is Bottom Bay, a wide expansive beach with smooth rolling waves riding onto the shore.


The beach is semi enclosed by high coral cliffs, providing a panoramic view of the south shore. The scene is completed by the presence of tall palm trees that add to the peaceful and relaxing atmosphere of the bay.

Always a popular picnic spot, it is also becoming a popular place to live and a number of homes are being built on the tops of the cliffs overlooking the beach and ocean. People who live there report spotting turtles and whales in the waters below the rocks.

Bathing here is not recommended, as the waves are very strong, and great care should be shown by those who choose to do so.

Petra

Petra is a historical and archaeological city in the southern Jordanian governorate of Ma'an that is famous for its rock-cut architecture and water conduit system. Another name for Petra is the Rose City due to the color of the stone out of which it is carved.

Established possibly as early as 312 BC as the capital city of the Nabataeans, it is a symbol of Jordan, as well as Jordan's most-visited tourist attraction. It lies on the slope of Jebel al-Madhbah (identified by some as the biblical Mount Hor) in a basin among the mountains which form the eastern flank of Arabah (Wadi Araba), the large valley running from the Dead Sea to the Gulf of Aqaba. Petra has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1985.


Pliny the Elder and other writers identify Petra as the capital of the Nabataeans and the center of their caravan trade. Enclosed by towering rocks and watered by a perennial stream, Petra not only possessed the advantages of a fortress, but controlled the main commercial routes which passed through it to Gaza in the west, to Bosra and Damascus in the north, to Aqaba and Leuce Come on the Red Sea, and across the desert to the Persian Gulf.


Some of the earliest recorded farmers settled in Beidha, a pre-pottery settlement just north of Petra, by 7000 BC. Petra is listed in Egyptian campaign accounts and the Amarna letters as Pel, Sela or Seir. Though the city was founded relatively late, a sanctuary has existed there since very ancient times. Stations 19 through 26 of the stations list of Exodus are places associated with Petra. This part of the country was biblically assigned to the Horites, the predecessors of the Edomites. The habits of the original natives may have influenced the Nabataean custom of burying the dead and offering worship in half-excavated caves. Although Petra is usually identified with Sela, which means a rock, the Biblical references refer to it as "the cleft in the rock", referring to its entrance. In the parallel passage, however, Sela is understood to mean simply "the rock" (2 Chronicles xxv. 12, see LXX).

Josephus (Antiquities of the Jews iv. 7, 1~ 4, 7), Eusebius and Jerome (Onom. sacr. 286, 71. 145, 9; 228, 55. 287, 94) assert that Rekem was the native name, and this name appears in the Dead Sea Scrolls as a prominent Edomite site most closely describing Petra, and associated with Mount Seir. But in the Aramaic versions, Rekem is the name of Kadesh, implying that Josephus may have confused the two places. The Semitic name of the city, if not Sela, remains unknown. The passage in Diodorus Siculus (xix. 94–97) which describes the expeditions which Antigonus sent against the Nabataeans in 312 BC is understood to throw some light upon the history of Petra, but the "petra" referred to as a natural fortress and place of refuge cannot be a proper name and the description implies that the town was not yet in existence.


In 106 AD, when Cornelius Palma was governor of Syria, the part of Arabia under the rule of Petra was absorbed into the Roman Empire as part of Arabia Petraea and became its capital. The native dynasty came to an end but the city continued to flourish under Roman rule. It was around this time that the Petra Roman Road was built. A century later, in the time of Alexander Severus, when the city was at the height of its splendor, the issue of coinage comes to an end. There is no more building of sumptuous tombs, owing apparently to some sudden catastrophe, such as an invasion by the neo-Persian power under the Sassanid Empire. Meanwhile, as Palmyra (fl. 130–270) grew in importance and attracted the Arabian trade away from Petra, the latter declined. It appears, however, to have lingered on as a religious centre. Another Roman road was constructed at the site. Epiphanius of Salamis (c.315–403) writes that in his time a feast was held there on December 25 in honor of the virgin Khaabou (Chaabou) and her offspring Dushara (Haer. 51).

Lake Baikal In Russia

Baikal: The oldest and deepest freshwater lake in the world

Lake Baikal, the world’s oldest and deepest freshwater lake, curves for nearly 400 miles through south-eastern Siberia, north of the Mongolian border.

It lies in a cleft where Asia is literally splitting apart, the beginnings of a future ocean.

Geologists say Baikal today shows what the seaboards of North America, Africa and Europe looked like as they began to separate millions of years ago.

More than 5,000 feet deep (1637m) at its most profound, with another four-mile-thick layer of sediment further down, the lake’s cold, oxygen-rich waters teem with bizarre life-forms.

One of those is the seals’ favourite food, the golomyanka, a pink, partly transparent fish which gives birth to live young. Geologists estimate that Lake Baikal formed somewhere 20-25 million years ago, during the Mesozoic.

Surrounded by mile-high snowcapped mountains, Lake Baikal still offers vistas of unmatched beauty. The mountains are still a haven for wild animals, and the small villages are still outposts of tranquillity and self-reliance in the remote Siberian taiga, as the forest is called.

The Great Wall of China

Greatest Tourist Attraction in the World: The Great Wall of China is one of the greatest sights in the world. The longest wall in the world, it is an awe-inspiring feat of ancient defensive architecture. Its winding path over rugged country and steep mountains takes in some great scenery.

Greatest Human Feat in History: The Great Wall is the building project with the longest duration and greatest cost in human lives, blood, sweat and tears. It deserves its place among "the New Seven Wonders of the World" and the UNESCO World Heritage Sites in China.

The Goal of Millions: Perhaps the most powerful advertising words in history come from the mouth of Chairman Mao: "Until you reach the Great Wall, you're no hero."
Figuratively this means 'to get over difficulties before reaching a goal'.

If your goal is to reach the Great Wall, we at China Highlights are here to help you get over all the difficulties.

History:

The Great Wall of China was built mainly to protect the Chinese Empire from northern invaders. The first sections were built in the Seventh Century BC when China was still divided into many small states.

The construction of the Great Wall continued until the beginning of the Qing Dynasty (1644). Now, in the PRC era, several sections of the wall have been restored as tourist attractions and in other places the wall is quite well preserved.

The Dead Sea

The Dead Sea also called the Salt Sea, is a salt lake bordered by Jordan to the east, and Palestine and Israel to the west. Its surface and shores are 429 metres (1,407 ft) below sea level, Earth's lowest elevation on land. The Dead Sea is 304 m (997 ft) deep, the deepest hypersaline lake in the world. 

With 34.2% salinity (in 2011), it is also one of the world's saltiest bodies of water, though Lake Vanda in Antarctica (35%), Lake Assal in Djibouti (34.8%), Lagoon Garabogazköl in the Caspian Sea (up to 35%) and some hypersaline ponds and lakes of the McMurdo Dry Valleys in Antarctica (such as Don Juan Pond (44%)) have reported higher salinities. It is 9.6 times as salty as the ocean.

This salinity makes for a harsh environment in which animals cannot flourish, hence its name. The Dead Sea is 50 kilometres (31 mi) long and 15 kilometres (9 mi) wide at its widest point.It lies in the Jordan Rift Valley and its main tributary is the Jordan River.

The Dead Sea water has a density of 1,240 kg/m3, which makes swimming similar to floating.

The Dead Sea is an endorheic lake located in the Jordan Rift Valley, a geographic feature formed by the Dead Sea Transform (DST). This left lateral-moving transform fault lies along the tectonic plate boundary between the African Plate and the Arabian Plate. It runs between the East Anatolian Fault zone in Turkey and the northern end of the Red Sea Rift offshore of the southern tip of Sinai. It is here that the Upper Jordan River/Sea of Galilee/Lower Jordan River water system comes to an end.

The Jordan River is the only major water source flowing into the Dead Sea, although there are small perennial springs under and around the Dead Sea, forming pools and quicksand pits along the edges.There are no outlet streams.

Around 3.7 million years ago,[citation needed] what is now the valley of the Jordan River, Dead Sea, and the northern Wadi Arabah was repeatedly inundated by waters from the Mediterranean Sea. The waters formed in a narrow, crooked bay, called by geologists the Sedom Lagoon, which was connected to the sea through what is now the Jezreel Valley. The floods of the valley came and went depending on long-scale climate change. The Sedom Lagoon deposited beds of salt that eventually became 2.5 km (1.55 mi) thick.

Bali In Indonesia

Bali is an island and province of Indonesia. The province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller neighbouring islands, notably Nusa Penida. It is located at the westernmost end of the Lesser Sunda Islands, between Java to the west and Lombok to the east. Its capital of Denpasar is located at the southern part of the island.


Bali is the largest tourist destination in the country[citation needed] and is renowned for its highly developed arts, including traditional and modern dance, sculpture, painting, leather, metalworking, and music. The Indonesian International Film Festival is held every year in Bali. Since the late 20th century, the province has had a rise in tourism.

Bali was inhabited around 2000 BC by Austronesian people who migrated originally from Southeast Asia and Oceania through Maritime Southeast Asia. Culturally and linguistically, the Balinese are closely related to the people of the Indonesian archipelago, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Oceania. Stone tools dating from this time have been found near the village of Cekik in the island's west.

The island of Bali lies 3.2 km (2 mi) east of Java, and is approximately 8 degrees south of the equator. Bali and Java are separated by the Bali Strait. East to west, the island is approximately 153 km (95 mi) wide and spans approximately 112 km (69 mi) north to south; administratively it covers 5,780 km2, or 5,577 km2 without Nusa Penida District,[22] its population density is roughly 750 people/km2.

Bali's central mountains include several peaks over 3,000 metres in elevation. The highest is Mount Agung (3,031 m), known as the "mother mountain" which is an active volcano. Mountains range from centre to the eastern side, with Mount Agung the easternmost peak. Bali's volcanic nature has contributed to its exceptional fertility and its tall mountain ranges provide the high rainfall that supports the highly productive agriculture sector. South of the mountains is a broad, steadily descending area where most of Bali's large rice crop is grown. The northern side of the mountains slopes more steeply to the sea and is the main coffee producing area of the island, along with rice, vegetables and cattle. The longest river, Ayung River, flows approximately 75 km.

In ancient Bali, nine Hindu sects existed, namely Pasupata, Bhairawa, Siwa Shidanta, Waisnawa, Bodha, Brahma, Resi, Sora and Ganapatya. Each sect revered a specific deity as its personal Godhead.


In 1597 the Dutch explorer Cornelis de Houtman arrived at Bali and, the Dutch East India Company was established in 1602. The Dutch government expanded its control across the Indonesian archipelago during the second half of the 19th century (see Dutch East Indies). Dutch political and economic control over Bali began in the 1840s on the island's north coast, when the Dutch pitted various competing Balinese realms against each other.[15] In the late 1890s, struggles between Balinese kingdoms in the island's south were exploited by the Dutch to increase their control.

Angkor Archaeological Park

Angkor Archaeological Park, located in northern Cambodia, is one of the most important archaeological sites in Southeast Asia.



Stretching over some 400 square kilometres, including forested area, Angkor Archaeological Park contains the magnificent remains of several capitals of the Khmer Empire of the 9th to the 15th centuries, including the largest pre-industrial city in the world. The most famous are the Temple of Angkor Wat and, at Angkor Thom, the Bayon Temple with its countless sculptural decorations.


The temples of Angkor are highly symbolic structures. The foremost Hindu concept is the temple-mountain, where the temple is built as a representation of the mythical Mount Meru: this is why so many temples, including Angkor Wat itself, are surrounded by moats, built in a mountain-like pyramidal shape and topped by precisely five towers, representing the five peaks of Mount Meru. The linga, representing the god Shiva, was also critical and while the lingas themselves have largely gone, linga stands (carved, table-like blocks of stone) can be found in many if not most rooms in the temples. There was also a political element to it all: most kings wanted to build their own state temples to symbolize their kingdom and their rule.


Angkor is hot and sticky throughout the year, but the peak visitor season is November to February, when the weather is dry and temperatures are coolest (25-30°C). The flip side is that the temples are packed, especially around Christmas/New Year, and hotel rates are at their highest. March to May is brutally hot, with temperatures reaching 40°C. June to October is the rainy season, and outlying temples and the roads leading to them can turn into quagmires of mud. However, this is also when the temples are at their quietest, and it's still often possible to do a good half-day round of sightseeing before the rains start in the afternoon.