St. Lucia

Saint Lucia is a sovereign island country in the eastern Caribbean Sea on the boundary with the Atlantic Ocean. Part of the Lesser Antilles, it is located north/northeast of the island of Saint Vincent, northwest of Barbados and south of Martinique. It covers a land area of 617 km² (238.23 sq mi) and has a population of 174,000 (2010). Its capital is Castries.

Petra,Jordan

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.

Yangshuo, China

Yangshuo County is a county under the jurisdiction of Guilin City, in the northeast of Guangxi, China. Its seat is located in Yangshuo Town. Surrounded by karst peaks and bordered on one side by the Li River it is easily accessible by bus or by boat from nearby Guilin. In the 1980s, the town became popular with foreign backpackers, and by the late 1990s packaged tourists began arriving in greater numbers. At that time, domestic tourism represented only a small fraction of the tourists but by 2005 domestic tourists outnumbered foreign tourists by a great margin. Today, the town has become a resort destination for both domestic and foreign travelers.There is a lot to explore in Yangshuo.

Hampi

Hampi (Hampe) is a village in northern Karnataka, India. The name hampi can also mean "champion".It is located within the ruins of the city of Vijayanagara, the former capital of the Vijayanagara Empire. Predating the city of Vijayanagara, it continues to be an important religious centre, housing the Virupaksha Temple, as well as several other monuments belonging to the old city. The ruins are a UNESCO World Heritage Site, listed as the Group of Monuments at Hampi. According to statistics of 2014, Hampi is the most searched historical place in Karnataka on Google.

The emperor Ashoka's minor rock edicts in Nittur & Udegolan (both in Bellary district) lead one to believe that this region was within the Ashokan kingdom during the 3rd century BCE. A Brahmi inscription & a terracotta seal dating to the 2nd century CE were also discovered from the excavation site.

Trolltunga, Odda, Norway

Trolltunga (Troll's tongue) is a piece of rock jutting horizontally out of a mountain about 700 metres (2,300 ft) above the north side of the lake Ringedalsvatnet in the municipality of Odda in Hordaland county, Norway. The cliff is located east of the Skjeggedal area, about 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) east of the village of Tyssedal and the Sørfjorden (a branch off of the main Hardanger Fjord). The name translated to English is The Troll's tongue. The cliff is part of the precambrian bedrock and was formed during the ice age, approximately 10,000 years ago, when the edges of the glacier reached the cliff. The water from the glacier froze in the crevices of the mountain and eventually broke off large, angular blocks, which were later carried away with the glacier. Along the cliff itself, a gneiss, there continues to be deep cracks. The trail to Trolltunga also passes through the bedrock and washed slippery hillsides in the background also containing gneiss.

Cimon della Pala, Dolomites, Italy

Cimon della Pala, sometimes called Cimone and The Matterhorn of the Dolomites (il Cervino delle Dolomiti), is the best-known peak of the Pale di San Martino group, in the Dolomites, northern Italy. Although it is not the highest peak of the group, the Cima Vezzana being a few metres higher, its slender point, which can be seen from the Rolle Pass, dominates the landscape. The mountain lies near the town of Tonadico in Trentino, the southern part of the Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, and is the watershed between the Cismón valley and the Travignolo valley. It is the northernmost peak in the chain of the Pale di San Martino and is flanked by the Vezzana. Between the high, steep walls of the two peaks and descending to the north, lies a steep glacier called Travignolo, which is the source of a river of the same name, a tributary of the Avisio.

Villajoyosa, Alicante, Spain

Villajoyosa is a coastal town and municipality in the Province of Alicante, Valencian Community, Spain, by the Mediterranean Sea. The town is known to the locals simply as La Vila.
It is the historic and administrative capital of the comarca of Marina Baixa and is located 32 km from the city of Alicante, in the coastal area known as Costa Blanca (White Coast). La Vila Joiosa literally means Joyful Town, although the inhabitants often abbreviate it to La Vila. It has over three kilometers of beaches, including La Platja Centre (Central Beach), close to the city centre. The river Amadori runs through La Vila.
The area is famous for its chocolate industry and tourism. One of the most popular tourist attractions is its Gothic Catholic church of the Assumption, with a Baroque altar piece. Another popular destination, the Royal Palm Casino (formerly Casino Costa Blanca), is now closed. The town's festival of Moros i cristians, celebrated at the end of July, was declared an International Tourist Interest Festival.

Khao Phing Kan, Thailand

Khao Phing Kan is an island in Thailand, in Phang Nga Bay northeast of Phuket. About 40 metres (130 ft) from the shores of Khao Phing Kan lies a 20-metre (66 ft) tall islet called Ko Tapu. The islands are limestone tower karsts and are a part of Ao Phang Nga National Park. Since 1974, when it was featured in the James Bond movie The Man with the Golden Gun, Khao Phing Kan has been popularly called James Bond Island. Before 1974, the island was a rarely visited indigenous area. However, it was chosen as one of the locations for the 1974 James Bond movie The Man with the Golden Gun as the hideout for Bond's antagonist, Francisco Scaramanga. After the movie release it turned into a popular tourist destination that has gradually contaminated Khao Phing Kan with household litter. In 1981, the island became the most famous part of the newly established Ao Phang Nga Marine National Park. Since 1998, it is forbidden for tourist boats to approach Ko Tapu. This measure aims to stop erosion of the limestone rocks on and near the islet that might eventually result in its collapse.

Monte Carlo

Monte Carlo officially refers to an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco, specifically the ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is located. Informally the name also refers to a larger district, the Monte Carlo Quarter (corresponding to the former municipality of Monte Carlo), which besides Monte Carlo/Spélugues also includes the wards of La Rousse/Saint Roman, Larvotto/Bas Moulins, and Saint Michel. The permanent population of the ward of Monte Carlo is about 3,500, while that of the quarter is about 15,000. Monaco has four traditional quarters. From west to east they are: Fontvieille (the newest), Monaco-Ville (the oldest), La Condamine, and Monte Carlo. Monte Carlo (literally "Mount Charles") is situated on a prominent escarpment at the base of the Maritime Alps along the French Riviera. Near the western end of the quarter is the world-famous Place du Casino, the gambling center which has made Monte Carlo "an international byword for the extravagant display and reckless dispersal of wealth". It is also the location of the Hôtel de Paris, the Café de Paris, and the Salle Garnier (the casino theatre which is the home of the Opéra de Monte-Carlo). The eastern part of the quarter includes the community of Larvotto with Monaco's only public beach, as well as its new convention center (the Grimaldi Forum), and the Monte-Carlo Bay Hotel & Resort. At the quarter's eastern border, one crosses into the French town of Beausoleil (sometimes referred to as Monte-Carlo-Supérieur), and just 5 miles (8 km) to its east is the western border of Italy.

Yosemite Park in California

Yosemite National Park  is a United States National Park spanning eastern portions of Tuolumne, Mariposa and Madera counties in the central eastern portion of the U.S. state of California. The park, which is managed by the National Park Service, covers an area of 747,956 acres (1,168.681 sq mi; 302,687 ha; 3,026.87 km2) and reaches across the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada mountain chain. Over 3.7 million people visit Yosemite each year: most spend the majority of their time in the seven square miles (18 km2) of Yosemite Valley. Designated a World Heritage Site in 1984, Yosemite is internationally recognized for its spectacular granite cliffs, waterfalls, clear streams, giant sequoia groves, and biological diversity. Almost 95% of the park is designated wilderness. Yosemite was central to the development of the national park idea. First, Galen Clark and others lobbied to protect Yosemite Valley from development, ultimately leading to President Abraham Lincoln's signing the Yosemite Grant in 1864. Later, John Muir led a successful movement to establish a larger national park encompassing not just the valley, but surrounding mountains and forests as well—paving the way for the United States national park system. Yosemite is one of the largest and least fragmented habitat blocks in the Sierra Nevada, and the park supports a diversity of plants and animals.

Pucisca, Croatia

Pucisca is a settlement in the middle part of the northern part of the island Brac turned to the channel of Brac, Omis and Makarska. The settlement originated on stone, at stone and from stone. ith 1706 inhabitants, along with Supetar, this is the biggest town on Brac with original Mediterranean characteristics. Its white roofs are creating a true ambient atmosphere. It is located at the bottom of a deep bay which splits into two smaller bays: Puciski dolac and Stipanska luka. Pucisca is rich of stones and exactly the excellent local stone has contributed o the development of the town. The work with the stone and the life from it are brought over from generation to generation. Nowadays a stonemason- school is working there. Many palaces throughout the world have been built with the local stone from the renaissance age until today. The works (mainly sculptures) of contemporary domestic and foreign sculptors are set on many public places, which are from the same stone. Other economy branches are cattle-breeding and agriculture.

Queenstown, New Zealand

Queenstown is a resort town in Otago in the south-west of New Zealand's South Island. It is built around an inlet called Queenstown Bay on Lake Wakatipu, a long thin Z-shaped lake formed by glacial processes, and has spectacular views of nearby mountains such as The Remarkables, Cecil Peak, Walter Peak and just above the town; Ben Lomond and Queenstown Hill. Queenstown has an urban population of 12,500 (June 2014 estimate), making it the 29th largest urban area in New Zealand, and the third largest urban area in Otago, behind Dunedin and Oamaru. The Queenstown-Lakes District has a land area of 8,704.97 square kilometres (3,361.01 sq mi) not counting its inland lakes (Lake Hāwea, Lake Wakatipu, and Lake Wanaka). The region has an estimated resident population of 30,900 (June 2014 estimate). Its neighbouring towns include Arrowtown, Glenorchy, Kingston, Wanaka, Alexandra, and Cromwell. The nearest cities are Dunedin and Invercargill. Queenstown is now known for its commerce-oriented tourism, especially adventure and ski tourism. It is popular with New Zealand, Australian and international travellers alike. A resort town, Queenstown boasted 220 adventure tourism activities in 2012.

Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Bavaria, Germany

Garmisch-Partenkirchen is a mountain resort town in Bavaria, southern Germany. It is the administrative centre of the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, in the Oberbayern region, and the district is on the border with Austria. Nearby is Germany's highest mountain, Zugspitze, at 2961 m (9714 ft.). Garmisch (in the west) and Partenkirchen (in the east) were separate towns for many centuries, and still maintain quite separate identities. Partenkirchen originated as the Roman town of Partanum on the trade route from Venice to Augsburg and is first mentioned in the year A.D. 15. Its main street, Ludwigsstrasse, follows the original Roman road. Garmisch is first mentioned some 800 years later as Germaneskau ("German District"), suggesting that at some point a Teutonic tribe took up settlement in the western end of the valley. During the late 13th century, the valley, as part of the County of Werdenfels, came under the rule of the prince-bishops of Freising and was to remain so until the mediatization of 1803. The area was governed by a prince-bishop's representative known as a Pfleger (caretaker or warden) from Werdenfels Castle situated on a crag north of Garmisch.

Concordia, Pakistan

Concordia is the name for the confluence of the mighty Baltoro Glacier and the Godwin-Austen Glacier, in the heart of the Karakoram range of Pakistan. It is located in Baltistan region of Pakistan. The name was applied by European explorers, and comes from this location's similarity to a glacial confluence, also named Concordia, in the Bernese Oberland, part of the Central Alps.Around Concordia are clustered some of the highest peaks in the world. Four of the world's fourteen "eight-thousanders" are in this region, as well as a number of important lower peaks. Concordia offers the region's best place to camp for mountain enthusiasts not involved in climbing. With scenic views, it also offers short treks to several important base camps: K2 (5-6 hours), Broad Peak (2-3 hours) and the Gasherbrum I&II (7-8 hours).

Wengen, Switzerland

Wengen is a village in the Bernese Oberland in the canton of Bern, located in central Switzerland at an elevation of 1,274 m (4,180 ft) above sea level. It is part of the Jungfrauregion and has approximately 1,300 year-round residents, which swells to 5,000 during summer and to 10,000 in the winter. It is one of very few car-free resort villages in Europe, although there are a few service vehicles, local farm vehicles, electric vehicles for taxiing to and from the railway station. This creates a tranquil atmosphere throughout the village and reduces traffic noise. For ecological reasons other resorts are considering following the car-free example. Across the Lauterbrunnen valley, Murren, too, is largely car free. Wengen is serviced by the Rack railway system Wengernalpbahn (WAB), and the village is accessible directly from Lauterbrunnen, or by train from Grindelwald via Kleine Scheidegg, as well as by a series of gondola lifts from Grindelwald via Mannlichen. In Kleine Scheidegg, the mountain pass at the foot of the Eiger, Monch and Jungfrau, passengers must disembark and change trains to travel down to Grindelwald and Grund.

Cathedral Cove, Coromandel Peninsula

Te Whanganui-A-Hei (Cathedral Cove) Marine Reserve is at the Coromandel Peninsula in New Zealand overlaying an area of 840 hectares. Cathedral Cove is known as after the cave positioned there, linking Mare’s Leg Cove to Cathedral Cove. Gemstone Bay and Stingray Bay are also located within the reserve. A strolling track exists from the northern cease of Hahei seashore, and it is also feasible to stroll from the neighborhood authority automobile park at the pinnacle of the headland among Hahei and Gemstone Bay.

Zhangye Danxia Landform, China

The Danxia landform refers to various landscapes located in southeast, southwest and northwest China that “encompass a red bed characterised by using steep cliffs”. Danxia landform is fashioned from crimson colored sandstones and conglomerates of in large part Cretaceous age. The landforms appearance very much like karst topography that bureaucracy in regions underlain by limestones, however since the rocks that form danxia are sandstones and conglomerates, they have been called “pseudo karst” landforms. The first research, on what at the moment are known as Danxia landforms, had been conducted at Mount Danxia close to Shaoguan, China.

Perito Moreno National Park

Perito Moreno National Park is a national park in Argentina. It is located in the western region of Santa Cruz Province on the border with Chile. It has an area of 115,000 hectares of mountains and valleys at a height of 900 metres above sea level.

Los Glaciares National Park

Los Glaciares National Park ( Parque Nacional de Los Glaciares, "Glaciers National Park") is a federal protected area in Santa Cruz Province, Argentina. The park covers an area of 726,927 ha (7,269.27 km²; 2,806.68 sq mi), making it the second largest national park in the country. Established on 11 May 1937, it houses a representative sample of the Magellanic Subpolar Forest and western Patagonian Steppe biodiversity in good state of conservation. In 1980 it was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

Arenal Volcano

Arenal Volcano, in Spanish Volcán Arenal, is an active andesitic stratovolcano in north-western Costa Rica around 90 km northwest of San José, in the province of Alajuela, canton of San Carlos, and district of La Fortuna. The Arenal volcano measures at least 1,633 metres (5,358 ft). It is conically shaped with a crater spanning 140 metres (460 ft). Geologically, Arenal is considered a young volcano and the age is estimated to be less than 7,500 years. It is also known as "Pan de Azúcar", "Canaste", "Volcan Costa Rica", "Volcan Río Frío" or "Guatusos Peak".