Beautiful Places On Earth

The Taklimakan Desert is a desert in Central Asia, located in the central of Tarim Basin, in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Prefecture, China. Covering a total area of 270,000 square kilometers, this desert is the 17th largest desert in the world. In Uyghur language, “Taklimakan” means “a place to leave behind”. Some accounts even claim that “Taklimakan” means “go in and you will never go out”.

As the name suggests, Taklimakan Desert is harsh and hazardous to cross because there is very little water in the desert. Taklimakan Desert is home to several oasis towns along the famous Silk Road. Many archeological treasures were found here buried under the sand. Mummies, some 4,000 years old, have also been found in the region.

Taklimakan Desert camel trekking

Have you started to feel like there are no other places on earth worthy a visit? If you do, then you should really consider visiting Skeleton Coast, Namibia. Skeleton Coast is one of the most beautiful and yet the most unusual places to visit on earth! The Skeleton Coast is the northern part of the Atlantic Ocean coast of Namibia. It is mostly the northern part of Namib Desert, which is considered to be the second oldest desert in the world after the Atacama Desert in Chile.

How Skeleton Coast got its name? Immense fogs and strong winds coupled with rocks offshore have sunk or beached many ships over the years. Skeleton Coast is the site of many shipwrecks. More than a thousand ships of various sizes found on the shore here. Besides, there are also bleached whale and seal bones covering the shore due to active whaling industry in the past. The Namib Desert is also one of the driest deserts on this planet. There are a huge group of high, red sand dunes surrounding the famous Sossusvlei. These sand dunes can be as tall as 300 meters and are among the tallest sand dunes in the world!

Skeleton Coast in Namibia, Africa

Another attraction of Skeleton Coast is at Cape Cross Seal Reserve, the cape fur seal colony. You can see thousands of them lazing on the shore in this clip!

Cape Cross Seal Reserve at Skeleton Coast

The Gobi Desert is the largest desert in Asia and is the world’s fifth largest. The desert is divided into 2 parts, 1 part covering northern and northwestern China and another part covering southern Mongolia. The Gobi measures over 1600 kilometers from west to east, bordering Siberia in the north and Tibetan Plateau in the south.

Gobi Desert is notable in history as part of the great Mongol Empire. The desert is also home to several important cities along the silk road. Its landscape is magnificent! Imagine a borderless cloudless blue sky on the top coupled with sand and sky in 1 horizon in a distant. It got to be one of the must see places before you die! The shadow of sunlight often changes the topography appearance on the desert. Crossing across the Gobi Desert will definitely bring Yurt to your view. Yurt is a traditional Mongolian home consists of as simple as a circular wooden frame covered with a felt cover. Bear in mind that majority inhabitants of Gobi Desert are still nomadic. They still carry out the traditional way of living, moving from one place to another. I would say that staying 1 night in a Mongolian yurt will be a worthwhile experience, don’t you think so?

The Gobi Desert – Mongolia

To travel across Gobi Desert, one can hire translator and jeep from Ulan Bator, the Mongolian capital. Chartered flights are also available from Ulan Bator to Dalandzagad, a city which is on the tourist route to Gobi Desert.

Unlike any other deserts in this world, Pinnacles Desert in Nambung National Park, Western Australia is one of its kinds. Pinnacles Desert is known for its thousands of limestone pinnacles rising few centimeters up to several meters from the desert ground. The region is relatively unknown to the outside world until it was included to the Nambung National Park in the 1960s.

How do these peculiar looking pinnacles come from? It is said that its raw material are seashells. When the seashells died, they were broken down into lime rich sands. The last ice age lowered the ocean levels. The lime rich sands were blown onshore from the dry seabed. Over thousand years, rains dissolved calcium carbonate in the sand. The calcium carbonate then seeped downward and cemented into columns and pillars of various shapes, which are now exposed.

The Pinnacle Desert, Cervantes, Western Australia

Pinnacles Desert is approximately 250 kilometers north of Perth and is close to Australia’s southwestern coast. The best season to see the Pinnacles is from August to October, during the spring. It is best viewed in the early morning or late afternoon as the sunlight can best bring out the colors and extended shadows of the pinnacle formations.

Two third of Egypt is covered with desert. Green pastures only exist along the narrow Nile valley and delta. But Siwa Oasis is an exception. The Siwa Oasis is located in the western of Egypt, away from the Nile. It is 50 kilometers from the Libyan border and is 560 kilometers from Cairo.

About 80 kilometers in length and 20 kilometers wide, Siwa Oasis is a mass producer of dates and olives in Egypt. In recent decades, it has become a popular tourist destination. Tourists are lured by its rich history as well as nature beauty. One should visit the Temple of the Oracle, famous because it was visited by Alexander the Great back in 331 BC. The temple is located on the hill of Aghurmi, about 4 kilometers east of Siwa Town. Other historical sites include the Temple of Amun and Gebel el-Mawta (the Mountain of the Dead). Mountain of the Dead is a tomb complex containing some very well preserved mummies. Besides, you can also take a dip in the hot spring at Cleopatra’s Bath.

Siwa Oasis Egypt, sea of dunes

Siwa Oasis could be reached by bus from Cairo. You could also board a bus departing from Alexandria, passing through Siwa to Marsah Matruh. The best time of the year to visit Siwa is from October to April, which temperature is more moderate and bearable.