Beautiful Places On Earth

Have you watched Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy? I bet most of us have. Do you still remember Mount Doom, a fictional volcano located in the black land of Mordor? Well, Ngauruhoe Volcano was used as a stand in for Mount Doom back then.

Mount Ngauruhoe is an active stratovolcano located in North Island, New Zealand and is approximately 25 kilometers to the south of Lake Taupo. It stands at 2,291 meters above the sea level and is one of the youngest volcanoes in the Mount Tongariro volcanic complex. The name Ngauruhoe is believed to be derived from Maori language Nga Uru Hoe which literally means “throwing heated stones”.

Mount Ngauruhoe is located within the Tongariro National Park, which is the oldest national park in New Zealand as well as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1990. Hiking and climbing are popular activities in the national park during summer while skiing and snowboarding are popular during the winter. Some of the most popular tracks among worldwide trekkers in Tongariro National Park are the Tongariro Alpine Crossing and the Tongariro Northern Circuit. The track passes active volcanoes of Tongariro and Ngauruhoe and side trips to the summit of both volcanoes can be arranged.

Mount Ngauruhoe climb

In case if you do not know, Summer Palace refers to both the Old Summer Palace (also known as Yuanming Yuan) and the Summer Palace (also known as Yihe Yuan). Both the palaces are located next to each other northwest of Beijing city center. The Old Summer Palace had suffered 2 major invasions before, namely the Anglo-French allied invasion in 1860 and the 8 power allied force invasion in 1900. It survived and was rebuilt.

Today, the Summer Palace is widely referred to the former Garden of Clear Ripples constructed in 1750 during the Manchu Qing Dynasty by Emperor Qianlong. The garden was first built in celebration of the emperor mother’s 60th birthday. The Garden of Clear Ripples was renamed to Yihe Yuan by Emperor Guangxu in 1888. The Summer Palace has a total area of 2.9 square kilometers and consists of a 60-meter high Longevity Hill and the Kunming Lake. On the Longevity Hill, one could find Hall of Dispelling Clouds, Hall of the Sea of Wisdom, Tower of Buddhist Incense and many other structures of Qing Dynasty architectural styles. The Kunming Lake, meanwhile is a large man made lake built to resemble the West Lake in Hangzhouo.

Yihe Yuan – the Summer Palace in Beijing

The Summer Palace in Beijing was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1998.

Tunnel Beach is located just 2 kilometers south west of Dunedin in the South Island of New Zealand. It is located off the Dunedin to Brighton coastal road. This coastline south of Dunedin boasts of having high sandstone cliffs, arches and headlands that provide breathtaking views on the ocean.

Dunedin, Tunnel Beach

Tunnel Beach draws its name from a hand carved passage that was built in 1870s through a rock promontory down to a secluded and sheltered beach at the base of the cliffs. Now the 2-kilometer passage has become a walkway which requires approximately 1 hour return walk. However, the Tunnel Beach Walkway is closed for lambing from August to October every year.

Annapurna is a series of peaks in the Himalayas within the Nepal boundary. Annapurna in Sanskrit language refers to Goddess of the Harvests. It is a 55-kilometer long massif with several high peaks such as the Annapurna I, the Annapurna II, the Annapurna III, the Annapurna IV, the Gangapurna and the South Annapurna. Among them, the Annapurna I is the 10th highest summit in the world at an elevation of 8,091 meters above the sea level.

The Annapurna peaks are among the world’s most dangerous mountains to climb. Despite of this, the region still attracts many climbers from all over the world every year. The entire massif and surrounding area are Nepal’s first and largest conservation area under the name Annapurna Conservation Area. The Annapurna Conservation Area is the world’s well known trekking region. One of the most popular trekking routes is the Annapurna Circuit. Click to see the Annapurna Circuit in the following clip!

Annapurna circuit trek

Dresden is the capital city of the German federal state of Saxony. Located on both banks of Elbe River, Dresden is known worldwide for the Bruehl’s Terrace and other historic landmarks in the Altstadt (German word for old town). Surprisingly, Dresden was nearly 75% destroyed by the Allied aerial bombing during the World War II.

Restoration work on the Bruehl’s Terrace has been carried out after the war, and one can say that the place looks very much the same today as it did in the past. Some of the landmarks here are Frauenkirche, Zwinger Palace, Semperoper and Katholische Hofkirche, just to name a few. The Frauenkirche or the Church of Our Lady is a baroque church built between 1726 and 1743 and was completely destroyed in the bombing. The Zwinger is now a museum houses collection of fine arts and treasures especially at Alte Meister. The Semperoper is an opera house which was first built as early as 1841 and is lauded as one of the most beautiful opera houses in the world, certainly worth a visit!

Dresden, Germany

Not to miss out is the Dresden Elbe Valley, a former UNESCO World Heritage Site. This is a 20-kilometer valley passing through the Dresden Basin and the city of Dresden which is known for the integration of the urban area into the natural landscape on the river banks. Its status as a World Heritage Site was revoked in 2009 due to the construction of a bridge across the valley. UNESCO believed the construction will bring destruction to the Dresden Elbe Valley eventually.