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Little-Known Man-Made Wonders of the World.
Linggo, Nobyembre 13, 2011 @ 4:18 AM

Sichuan, China

A Buddha so large it took 90 years to build

It took 90 years to carve the 233-foot-tall
Leshan Giant Buddha out of a remote
Chinese mountainside in the 8th century.
It took almost the entire 8th century to carve the 233-foot-tall Leshan Giant Buddha out of a mountainside in central China—about 1,400 miles west of Shanghai (and far out of sight and mind for most travelers)—but the result still stands as one of the world's largest Buddhas. Its ears alone are more than 23 feet in length (that’s the height of a two-story building), and even its smallest toe is large enough to sit on comfortably. But it’s not only the Buddha’s giant scale that’s impressive. On its head are 1,021 intricate, twisted hair buns hiding a complex drainage system that helps preserve the statue. The Mount Emei area itself has enormous religious significance; Buddhism was first introduced to China here. Thrill seekers can get up close to witness the Buddha’s sheer size by navigating down a steep, 250-step zigzag path along its side; those looking to take in the statue from a distance (and see additional figures carved into the cliff) can opt for a boat ride—the statue sits at the confluence of where three rivers meet.


Karelia, Russia

An open-air museum of elaborate wooden churches


The Church of the Transfiguration of Our Savior on Kizhi Island, Russia.
It requires a flight or overnight train ride from Moscow or St. Petersburg and then a ferry ride to reach Kizhi Island, part of the 1,650-island chain on northern Russia’s remote Lake Onega. Your reward is becoming one of the choice few to explore the one-of-a-kind State Kizhi Museum, made up of nearly 90 wooden structures, including chapels, windmills, and granaries. Its most remarkable portion, set on a narrow strip of land on the island’s southern tip, is Kizhi Pogost, a walled enclosure that houses an octagonal bell tower and two 18th- century wooden churches. Twenty-two cascading bulbous cupolas fashioned from aspen shingles top the 121-foot Church of the Transfiguration of Our Savior. Amazingly enough, this masterpiece was built without a single nail. Legend has it that a sole axe was used to carve the shingles and the interlocking corner joinery that hold the majestic structure up, and after its completion, was tossed into the water so a similar marvel couldn’t be built.


Lalibela, Ethiopia

Medieval churches made out of volcanic red rock


The belowground church of St. George in Lalibela, Ethiopia.
Unless you're from Ethiopia, chances are you don't know about these 11 medieval churches in the small mountain village of Lalibela. The destination is first and foremost a place of worship, which explains why the Ethiopians haven't done more to market it to tourists. You don't have to be devout, however, to marvel at the churches' unusual design. Legend has it that a visit to Jerusalem after its fall to a Muslim general in the 13th century inspired King Lalibela to rebuild the holy city in Ethiopia. He commissioned workers to dig these churches out of the area's red volcanic rock. One remarkable group of four—the House of Emmanuel, House of Mercurios, House of Gabriel, and House of Abba Libanos—was created from the same massive piece and connected by underground passageways. Light filters into the cruciform structures through cross-shaped windows. Another church, the Beta Medhane Alem (House of the Saviour of the World), rests some 35 feet below the surface of the desert.


Kampong Thom Province, Cambodia

Cambodia's oldest temple complex


Cambodia's little- known hidden temple complex of Sambor Prei Kuk, whose structures were built during the 7th century and predate those at Angkor Wat by some 600 years.
Built during the 7th century, the 52 standing temples of Sambor Prei Kuk are part of the remains of the former capital of Chenla, an ancient kingdom that once ruled much of present-day Cambodia. Spread across three square miles of jungle in Cambodia's Kampong Thom province, the complex predates even the oldest temples of Angkor by some 600 years. Amazingly, it's also far beneath the radar of most travelers—a meager 5,000 annual international visitors make it out to this destination, compared to the million-plus tourists who visit Angkor Wat (that may have something to do with the fact that getting to Sambor Prei Kuk entails a three-hour drive from either Siem Reap or Phnom Penh along the bumpy, stray-dog-ridden National Route No. 6). If you do want to visit, the new Isanborei community tourism project provides local English-speaking guides who will take you around the temples on a tuk tuk. If you’re looking for a truly authentic experience, opt for one of their homestays—you can live with a family, learn how to cook traditional dishes, and even help harvest rice.


Choquequirao, Peru

The truly lost Incan city

A 15th-century wall at Choquequirao, whose nearly 200 slope terraces were built about 6,000 feet above the glacier-fed Apurímac River.

These 15th-century ruins, which consist of a central plaza and dozens of slope terraces built some 6,000 feet above the glacier-fed Apurímac River, received fewer than 7,000 visitors in 2006. That’s just a little more than 1 percent of those that made the trek to its far more famous sister site, Machu Picchu, whose nickname “The Lost City of the Incas” seems misleading given its typical tourist crowds. But at its height, Choquequirao was no less significant: It was roughly the same size as Machu Picchu and believed to be the last main religious center of the Incan Empire before its fall. From the tiny town of Cachora (about 100 miles away from Cuzco), getting to Choquequirao is an arduous 20-mile trek. You’ll pass arid country full of cacti and agave before the vegetation turns lush. Take a breather to spot the occasional condor, and exhale with the jagged, snow-capped Vilcabamba Range in the distance.

Source: http://travel.yahoo.com/p-interests-38952444

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