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The Ellora Caves: Cliff Temples of India [25 pics] Photograph by Girl in the Rain Located in the Indian state of Maharashtra, the magnificent Ellora Caves are 34 structures excavated out of the vertical face of the Charanandri hills. An official UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Ellora Caves consists of 12 Buddhist, 17 Hindu and 5 Jain temples and monasteries built between the 6th and 10th century. They stand as a testament to the religious harmony prevalent during this period of Indian history. The Ellora Caves are the most visited ancient monument in the state and are a must-see for any tourists in the area. Enjoy the incredible photographs below with information on these historical monuments sprinkled throughout.

Photograph by Raj Photography Photograph by <3 Cishore Photograph by Kareem Mayan Photograph by Xinoda Photograph by Koshy Koshy - The Buddhist caves (also called Vishvakarma caves) are the earliest of the Ellora Caves, dating from 500 to 750 AD. Photograph by Jon Baldock Photograph by A Lip Rim Toke Photograph by Kezia Cantwell-Wright. The Amazing Monasteries of Bhutan. The Kingdom of Bhutan is sometimes overlooked, locked between Tibet and India, but the Land of the Dragon as the Bhutanese call it is home to some of the most exquisite Buddhist monasteries in the world. Here, we take a fleeting visit to some of the over forty monasteries in Bhutan – quite a number considering the population of the entire country is only around 700,000. Taktsang Dzong Image credit Flickr User taxidesign The Taktsang Monastery (also known as a Dzong) is high up in the Paro valley area of the country and work started on this amazing structure in 1692, the same year as the first Salem Witch Trial.

Punakha Dzong The old capital of the country (till 1955) is Punakha and it is home to perhaps the most imposing Dzong in the country. The monastery is positioned at the confluence of two rivers, which have the most marvellous names. Tango Monastery Travel less than ten miles north of the capital of Thimphu and you will discover the Tango Monastery. Tongsa – The Door to Heaven. Sümela Monastery in Turkey | IcreativeD. Close-up of Sümela monastery from across the valley The Sümela Monastery (Turkish: Sümela Manastırı), Greek: Μονή Παναγίας Σουμελά, i.e. monastery of the Panaghia ("All Holy", the Greek name for the Virgin Mary) at Melá mountain is a Greek Orthodox monastery, standing at the foot of a steep cliff facing the Altındere valley, in the region of Maçka in the Trabzon Province of modern Turkey. At an altitude of about 1,200 metres (3,900 ft), it is a major tourist attraction of Altındere National Park.

The monastery is on a ledge in a steep cliff Sümela Monastery as illustrated in a postcard addressed in 1903 The "backyard" of the monastery today If you enjoyed this post, Leave comment please! 7 Unexpected Dive Spots Around the World. When most people envision scuba diving and snorkeling, they tend to imagine tropical locales with sandy beaches, turquoise water and brightly-colored fish. Places like the Caribbean, South America, and the South Pacific come to mind. But these aren’t the only destinations where you can plunge below the surface and discover a whole new underwater world.

There are plenty of other places where you can see local sea life and dive historic shipwrecks far from the most-popular (and crowded) hot spots. Some are hot, some are cold, some are near, some are far, some are popular tourist destinations, and others are completely off the radar. Iceland The American and Eurasian continental plates meet at Iceland’s Thingvellir National Park, where they are forming a rift in the land as they slowly move apart. At Silfra Lake, the rift runs underwater. Though you won’t see fish in the ice-cold water, you will be treated to the vertigo-inducing sight of the deep fissure far below.

Sudan Alaska Scotland Egypt. Neft Daşları. Neft Daşları (Azerbaijani: Neft Daşları, the Oil Rocks, also Neftyanyye Kamni or Neftekamni in Russian) is an industrial settlement in Baku, Azerbaijan. The settlement forms part of the municipality of Çilov-Neft Daşları in Əzizbəyov raion.[2] It lies 100 km (62 mi) away from the Azeri capital Baku, and 55 km (34 mi) from the nearest shore in the Caspian Sea. A full town on the sea, it was the first oil platform in Azerbaijan, and the first operating offshore oil platform in the world, incorporating numerous drilling platforms. The settlement began with a single path out over the water and grew into a system of paths and platforms built on the back of ships sunk to serve as the Neft Daşları's foundation.[3] The most distinctive feature of Neft Daşları is that it is actually a functional city with a population of about 2,000 and over 300 km (190 mi) of streets built on piles of dirt and landfill.[4] Etymology[edit] History[edit] Construction of the settlement[edit] Post-independence[edit]

Bucket List: 225 Things to Do Before You Die.

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Travel Norway. The Architectural Way. | Jeremy Mercer's top 10 bookshops. After his life as a crime reporter in a Canadian city took a turn for the worse, Jeremy Mercer decided to head for Paris, where he happened upon the city's most famous bookshop, the legendary Shakespeare and Co. In Books, Baguettes and Bedbugs, Mercer describes the time he spent living in the bookshop, the people he met and his relationship with the shop's octogenarian owner. Here he chooses his 10 favourite bookshops from around the world. "Bookstores are sanctuaries. Places to lose yourself, escape the harsh demands of daily life, find new ways to dream and new sources of inspiration. I love all booksellers; anybody who helps spread the word is doing noble work.

But my favourite bookstores are the small eccentric independents run by passionate and usually slightly mad book lovers. These are some of the best. " 1. This is a dream of a bookstore. 2. George Whitman has been running what he calls "a socialist utopia masquerading as a bookstore" for 50 years. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 10 Abandoned Places Explained. Abandoned Technology Scattered Across The Globe. What would we do without technology? Often though, whether from disaster or lack of funding, celebrated technology becomes obsolete and is abandoned. Decay sets in to rust the disused places and objects which were once invaluable to us. Here are defunct and abandoned technologies such as power plants, amusement parks, factories, ships, aircraft, oil rigs, and military installations. Abandoned Balaklava Submarine Base (image credits: English Russia) Until the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Balaklava was a secretive town that was home to a highly secretive nuclear submarine base.

Abandoned Technology: Airplane Graveyard (image credits: Telstar Logistics ) Technology becomes obsolete all the time, but where do airplanes go to die? Abandoned Amusement Park: Woncheon Lakeland (image credits: Dark Roasted Blend) There is something sickly fascinating about places once built for merriment then left to decay in horror.

Berlin Amusement Park (image credits: Gonzo Circus) Ship Graveyards. Rolf Potts' Vagabonding. The Philosophical Traveller. How I Can Afford My Life Of Constant Travel. I’m confused. I’m simply confused as to how it’s possible that I have so far failed to properly explain how I’ve managed to travel/live/work abroad nonstop for 12 years straight (and counting). The questions are still pouring in every single day: How do you do it? How is it possible to travel for so long? Where does the money come from? And while I thoroughly enjoy communicating with readers (I’m being completely serious and encourage you all to continue sending your emails to me as often as you wish), the fact that these very questions are on the minds of so many of you out there has led me to believe that I need to do a better job at providing the answers.

While it’s true that I’ve already written plenty of posts on the matter, clearly all of these posts, even as one collective entity, still fall well short of proving that a life of travel is not some crazy fantasy but a perfectly reasonable and easily attainable lifestyle option instead. So what am I to do? December 25, 1999: March 2000. Countries that can still be travelled on the cheap. Cash-flow issues? Global recession getting you down? No budget, no problem - in this extract from Lonely Planet's 1000 Ultimate Experiences, we bring you the destinations that will blow your mind without blowing your budget. India India has been known as a cheap destination for ages.

But what you might not realise is that there is a lot more to India than just Bollywood films, elephant rides and crazy traffic. Forget just checking out the Taj – what about a trip to the north? Nepal The home of Mt Everest and the Sherpa people has long been on the radar of the budget traveller. Indonesia Indonesia has had a bad run of terrible press over the past few years. Iran Iran? Poland Eastern Europe used to be dirt cheap back in the good old days of the Cold War. Laos Southeast Asia is the promised land of cheap travel – for years Thailand was the de facto destination for the cash poor but these days travellers are looking beyond the old standards for more intrepid el-cheapo places to check out.

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Rivers. Amazing Places To Experience Around The Globe (Part 1) 98 Flares Facebook 13 Twitter 15 Google+ 60 StumbleUpon 0 Pin It Share 10 10 98 Flares × Kayangan Lake, Coron islands, Palawan, Philippines Preachers Rock, Preikestolen, Norway Blue Caves – Zakynthos Island, Greece Skaftafeli – Iceland Golden Eye Hotel – St. Plitvice Lakes – Croatia Crystalline Turquoise Lake, Jiuzhaigou National Park, China Devetashkata Cave – Bulgaria Four Seasons Hotel - Bora Bora Ice skating on Paterswoldse Meer, a lake just South of the city of Groningen in the Netherlands. Marble Caves, Chile Chico, Chile YingXi Corridor of Stone Peaks, China The Gardens at Marqueyssac Ice Canyon – Greenland Coron Palawan, Philippines Capilano Suspension Bridge, Vancouver, British Columbia Awapuhi Trail Kauai, Hawaii Valley of the Ten Peaks, Moraine Lake, Alberta, Canada Multnomah Falls, Oregon Seljalandsfoss Waterfall on the South Coast of Iceland Petra – Jordan (at night) Madeira, Portugal Wineglass Bay, Freycinet National Park, Tasmania, Australia.

Fairytale Destinations. Is it a dream or is it for real? These places will make you wonder whether you step into the land of magic and fantasy or still firmly stand on the ground. With unearthly nature, unreal landscapes or fairy tale architecture, these destinations will take you far away from your humdrum reality. Picturesque Colmar in France, considered the most beautiful city in Europe, looks like it came straight out of a fairy tale. This tiny town in Alsace is famous not only for its magically colourful old town. Colmar, situated along the Alsatian Wine Route, is called the "Capital of Alsatian Wine" - it boasts a sunny microclimate and is the second driest city in France, making it ideal for wine growing. As if being the wine capital was not enough, Colmar, with its pretty squares, fountains and canals, is also called the "little Venice" (la Petite Venise). It is also the home town of Frédéric Bartholdi, who designed the Statue of Liberty, and the painter Martin Schongauer.

Saksun, Faroe Islands. The Most Dangerous Roads in the World. Nov 30, 2010 / Category : Misc / 12 Comments At one time or another, most drivers encounter unsafe road conditions. Hazards can appear in many different forms, for instance, poor weather, drunk drivers, and simple human error can all complicate an otherwise uneventful journey. On the other hand, sometimes the condition of the road itself can put your life in jeopardy. It is hard to imagine how many dangerous roads there are. Stelvio Pass Road, Italy The eastern Alps countryside of Italy are incredibly breathtaking. Trollstigen, Norway Trollstigen translated means "Troll's Ladder. " Col de Turini, France Who doesn't want to go to the south of France? North Yungas Road, Bolivia This road is also known as the "Road of Death.

" Taroko Gorge Road, Taiwan (Chungheng) A tunnel with no lights off a cliff equals a disaster waiting to happen. Los Caracoles Pass, Andes A very popular path through the Andreas Mountains between Chile and Argentina. Lena Highway, Russia Known as the "Highway from Hell. "