King’s Park and Botanic Garden is located in Perth, Australia and is one of the world’s largest inner city parks. The park covers 400 hectares (988 acres) and is home to over 3,000 species of Western Australia’s unique flora. In addition to being a showcase for Western Australia’s flora it is a popular place for…
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The Golden Pavilion is the tourist name for a Zen temple named Kinkaku-ji located in Kyoto, Japan. The temple consists of several buildings, two ponds and gardens but the highlight of the temple is the building which gives it the name “Golden Pavilion”. The Golden Pavilion is famous for its top two floors which are…
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The Jinek Bay Marine Reserve is located on Lifou Island in New Caledonia and is one of the Pacific Islands’ most pristine marine ecologies. The reserve is a relatively small area but it holds one of the world’s most diverse ranges of coral and more than 2000 fish species. The local community knows how special…
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Chatuchak Weekend Market is the largest market in Asia. The market covers an area of 35 acres and has more than 8,000 market stalls. On a typical weekend more than 200,000 people will come to wander through the market looking for good buys. Most of the market is covered but there is a walking street…
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The Plaza de Espana is located in Seville, Spain and was built in 1928 for the Ibero-American Fair in 1929. The plaza is large and covers an area of 50,000 square meters (slightly larger than 11 football fields). The plaza is shaped in the form of a half-elliptical with the main building of the plaza…
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Niagara Falls is the most visited waterfall in the world and it is normally rated within the top 5 on most list of best waterfalls of the world. Niagara Falls is located on the Niagara River that flows from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario. Niagara Falls is actually made up of three separate falls, the…
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The Merlion Fountain is one of the iconic symbols of Singapore and is easily the most popular tourist attraction for visitors to Singapore. The Merlion received its name from a combination of “mer” meaning sea and lion. This is appropriate for Singapore because of its origin of being a fishing village called Temasek meaning “sea…
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The Blue Mountains are a rugged region of Australia about 50 kilometres west of Sydney. They get their name from the blue haze created by the eucalyptus forest that covers the area. Tiny droplets of oil are released from the trees and are mixed with vapor and sunlight to produce the blue haze over the…
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The changing of the guard ceremony takes place every hour at the “Tomb of the Unknown Soldier” near parliament in Athens, Greece. This is an event that I would classify as a “Must See” activity when visiting Athens and I would say that it was one of the highlights of my trip to Greece. The…
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The Red-Shanked Douc is a critically endangered primate species that is endemic to Indochina. They are only found in North and Central Vietnam and Laos. The largest population of Red-Shanked Doucs are in Son Tra Nature Reserve and are estimated to be around 1300 individuals. They are called the “Queens of the primates” and very…
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Son Tra Nature Reserve is the last remaining coastal rainforest in Vietnam and is home to 287 species of wildlife, of which 29 species are listed as rare including the Red-shanked Doucs (shown in the photo above) a critically endangered primate species that is endemic to Indochina. Among the 287 species of wildlife, there are…
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The Belem Tower is on the northern bank of the Tegus River and was built in 1521 as part of the Tegus estuary defense system to defend Lisbon from sea attacks. The fort was originally built in the middle of the Tegus River on a small outcrop of rocks but with changes of flow of…
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