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50 PLACES OF A LIFETIME

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smurfette
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Posted: Dec 21, 2003 - 03:33 AM
Post subject: 50 PLACES OF A LIFETIME

I bought some new books today , among which I finished this one in two hours , after all , travelling is one of the most joyful adventure in life , and below I would post the names of these place ( which are said by the editor to be recommended by " National Geographic " ) and some of the information and tips from the book and my own comments , Wink

they come in four sections :

I . CITIES :

1 . New York
Info : Statue of Liberty
Ground Zero
Central Park
Metropolitan Museum of Art
smurf : nothing is surprsing in NY , right ?

2 . Istanbul
smurf : where east meets west , lol , even James Bond wishes a X'mas
in Istanbul !

3 . Barcelona
Info : Gaudi
Casa Batllo
smurf : best city for architecture lovers , like me , and it is in Spain !!

4 . Hong Kong
smurf : Looking forward the open of Disneyland !!

5 . Rio de Janeiro
Info : Sugarloaf Mountain & Corcovado Mountain & Copacabana Beach ,
Carnival ,
smurf : sure I wont miss Samba Carnival there !

6 . Paris
Info : Notre Dame de Paris ,
Tour Eiffel ,
Louvre Museum ,
Arc de Triopmphe ,
smurf : of course they list too few attractions here , at least they should
add some shopping centres !

7 . Jerusalem
Info : The Western Wall / The Wailing Wall ,
Dome of Rock ,
El Aksa Mosque ,
smurf : ....

8 . London
Info : Buckingham Palace ,
Tower Bridge ,
Hyde Park ,
Big Ben ,
Westminster Abbey ,
Tower of London ,
smurf : London bridge is falling down , falling down , falling down , ...

9 . Venice
Info : Piazza San Marco ,
Basilica di San Marco ,
Campanile ,
Carnival ,
smurf : hope the annually gradual sinking of Venice would stop in near
future , otherwise we will lose it forever Sad

10 . San Fransico
Info : Golden Gate Bridge ,
Fisherman's Wharf ,
smurf : hmm , sunny western coastal city !

smurfette
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Posted: Dec 21, 2003 - 03:37 AM

hmm , it is not finished yet , shall I go on with it ? This is a new forum and is it the right sector I post the above ?

thx for replying

best wishes ,
smurf

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Michael

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Posted: Dec 22, 2003 - 09:52 AM

This is great.. looks like you are getting ready to do some serious traveling!

smurfette
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Posted: Dec 23, 2003 - 12:44 AM

thx , Michael , heh , yep , always prepared to espcape from the city ,
and if no one objects , please allow me to go on with the list then

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smurfette
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Posted: Dec 23, 2003 - 01:51 AM

II . Open country adventrue :

11 . Serengeti
Info : African prairie between Kenya and Tanzania
Smurf : Hemingway & Hakuna matata

12 . Canadian Rockies
Info : Stretching for 40 kilometres , including southwestern corner of Alberta and southeastern corner of British Columbia
Smurf : rockies = a lot of rocks , oops , more than that !!

13 . Australian Outback
Info : Alice Spring
Rainbow Valley
Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park
Kings Canyon
MacDonnell Ranges
Smurf : lol , amazing pink land with kangaroos jumping around !!

14 . Papua New Guinea Coral Reefs
Info : Capital - Port Moresby
the most beautiful city of South Pacific - Madang Province
Smurf : rainforest , coral reefs , and paradise for diving fans - must be good to be a tropical fish !

15 . Amazon
Info : Fishing and eating piranha ( fish that eat man and animals )
Pink dolphins
Smurf : it is said you will never know what will happen in next minute in Amazon , there are eight kinds of danger : crocodile , poisonous snake ,
poisonous insect , piranha , infectious disease , drug dealer , guerrilla force , hijacker . But still it is the top choice for tourists all over the
world , see how exciting and amazing Amazon is !

16 . Grand Canyon
Info : Arizona
Grand Canyon National Park
Smurf : one of the most impressive Donald Duck cartoons Smurf has ever seen is about Donald's visit to Grand Canyon on a donkey's back !

17 . Galapagos
Info : Darwin
" On the Origin of Species by Natural Selection "
Smurf : it is said that Darwin himself did not really prove his theory using this island , but after all still this is a great place to see huge turtles !

18 . Venezuela's Tepuis
Info : Canaima National Park
Angel Falls
Mount Roraima
Smurf : statistics shows that Angel Falls has the largest drop in level in the world , oops , 979 meters , eighteen times of Niagara Falls !

19 . Sahara
Info : Sahara fresco
Smurf : Smurf needs great courage even to think about life in Sahara , maybe should see some movies first !

20 . Antarctica
Info : If all the glacier there melted , the average sea level of the earth would raise 60 meters .
Smurf : The only place without human history , and no visa or passport trouble would come when trying getting there ! Clean air , white ice and lovely
animals - before human's arrival , temperature rise , ozone hole - after human's arrival , should we really pay a visit there ?

to be continued ...

smurfette
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Posted: Dec 24, 2003 - 01:32 PM

Part III Paradise on Earth --- Eden is not lost , ( quote from the book )

21 . The Pacific Islands
Info : Palau Islands made up of Babeldaob , Koror , Peleliu , Angaur etc main islands ,
Smurf : From the pic given on the book , they really have the PUREST sea water and the CLEANEST ocean ecology that could ever be found on
earth . Paradise for sea-lovers !

22 . Boundary Waters
Info : Number of lakes is over 1000 , number of resident is zero , and number of wolves is around 115 .
Smurf : Coldest place in US expect Alaska , but still excellent for camping in summer !

23 . Japanese Ryokan
Info : Providing simple traditional Japanese style rooms for accommodation and two meals a day , often near hot springs .
Smurf : Japan is really such a country , with both Tokyo lights and Kyoto ryokans , but these maybe the most simply decorated hotels on earth , they
are definitely worth paying a visit and enjoying the hot spring trip ! Simplicity itself can be of great satisfaction !

24 . Greek Islands
Info : Over 2000 islands locating in south Europe , among which about 170 islands are none-resided .
Smurf : lol , if the paradise could only be of two colors , they should go to the pure blue and bright white , just as these Greek Islands , ooops , and
also the BMW logo !

25 . Seychelles
Info : Victoria , the only city in Seychelles , one of the smallest cities in the world , with only one traffic light !
Smurf : First discovered by Arabs , later been occupied by French and Britain , becoming independent in 1976 , this country on a whole is a BIG
tourism attraction , with everything a tourist could expect , sea , sun , sky , and sea-coco !

26 . Torre del Paine
Info : Torre del Paine National Park locates on Patagonia Plateau which is 2,500 kilometers from the capital of Chile , San Diego .
Smurf : With the most beautiful blue lake water as her eyes , She really deserves Miss Universe if she represents Miss Chile !

27 . British Virgin Islands
Info : main islands in the overall 45 islands are :
Tortola , Virgin Gorda , Norman Island , Peter Island ,
Smurf : It is said this is where pirates hided gold bullions in Treasure Islands , not sure if it is real , but a trip there would be really most treasurable !

28 . Amalfi Coast
Info : main towns and villages :
Positano , Salerno , Amalfi , Sorrento , Praiano ,
Smurf : Typical southern Europe style coastal district in Italy , warm sunshine and blue seawater , sun seems never set !

29. Kerala
Info : southwestern province in India , rich in rubber , coco , pepper , coffee , etc ,
Smurf : it is really somehow surprised when Smurf saw the statistic showing that the literacy rate among females of Kerala is as high as 96% when
the overall rate of India remains 39.42% , and their birth rate is even lower than US , and half of the government budget is used for public
education and health , so Smurf guesses that besides the attractive natural sightseeing , they have more resource gaining the peacefully
carefree paradise style life !

30 . Hawaiian Islands
Info : Wailili Beach , Diamond-Head , Hanauma Bay , Pearl Harbor , mu & mumu , hula dance , Luau ,
Smurf : Sorry for the error-correction work this book has done , they misspell Pearl Harbor to Pear Harbor , but so what , ALOHA ! THIS IS Hawaii !
Surfing there must be much more interesting than surfing on Internet !

to be continued ...

lijunj

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Posted: Dec 24, 2003 - 02:52 PM

great.hey smurfette did you buy the chinese edition? I found one in Ji Feng bookstore.
thanks for sharing with us.

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smurfette
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Posted: Dec 24, 2003 - 03:14 PM

haha , yes , i got the Chinese version in Ji Feng too , i tried to find one in Scholar Bookstore , but failed ,
and i dont know if there is any version in other language ,
from the foreword , it told that these have been recommended by National Geographic , not directly translated from English version ,

i have always worried that if my added small words would ruin these great places , i had wanted just quoted the name and info , but as i checked the mission of this forum , i thought that some personal ideas would also be preferred , so i added Smurf's comments along , hope you would still enjoy ,

best wishes
smurf

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smurfette
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Posted: Dec 27, 2003 - 10:57 AM

the day before last , i thought i dreamed that i were at some coral reefs , like Papua New Guinea , or Seychelles , Cool

CHEERS !!!

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smurfette
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Posted: Dec 27, 2003 - 12:17 PM

IV . Sunshine Zone :

31 . England’s Lake District
Info : locate in northwestern coast of England , near the border of Scotland , biggest among the 11 national parks in England and Welsh ,
Windermere Lake , Grasmere Lake , Keswick ,
Smurf : In ancient China , beautiful lake views generate numerous great poets and poems , and it seems that languages or literature are inter-connected since a lot of English poets also favor such lake-bond scene .

32 . North Island , New Zealand
Info : in southwest Pacific Ocean , north one of the two main islands of New Zealand
Smurf : Please refer to Lord of the Rings trilogy .

33 . Loire Valley
Info : in middle France , famous for old castle , white wine , writers ,
Smurf : Along the longest river of France , Loire River , and different from Paris .

34 . Big Sur
Info : in middle California ,
Hearst Castle , New Camaldoli Hermitage ,

35 . Canadian Maritimes
Info : in eastern Canada , north of Maine , famous for lobster , salmon , mussel ,
Smurf : It is informed that McDon at these regions offer lobster wraps , salads and burgers !!

36 . Vermont
Info : in northeast US , adjacent to New York , Massachuset , New Hamshipe , and Quebec of Canada ,
Smurf : Maple view !! See Forrest Gump , where Gump just kept running toward !!

37 . Coastal Norway
Info : centering in Bergen , with Hardanger Fjord in south , Sogn Fjord in north , and ranked the most beautiful bay in the world Geiranger Fjord ,
Smurf : Whoops , this is really where fire meets ice , with the coldest climate , and hottest rock bands !!

38 . Danang to Hue
Info : along coastal places of middle Vietnam , with distance of 113 km between the two ,
Smurf : Besides quiet and carefree Asian sightseeing , Danang is also the first port American troops entered Vietnam .

39 . Alps
Info : the best tourism season being winter times ,
Smurf : Anyone never hears of the beauty of Alps ?

40 . Tuscany
Info : Florence , Pisa , and Chianti
Smurf : Hooray !! Cheers for Italy !!! with one of the best Chinese translation ever , by poet Xu Zhimo , who translated Florence into 翡冷翠 , meaning cold jade !!!

V . World Wonders :

41 . Taj Mahal
Info : Located at the city of Agra in the State of Uttar Pradesh . It was Shah Jehan who ordered the building of the Taj , in honor of his wife .
Smurf : That’s what they call love ! So great was the Emperor love to his wife that he ordered the building of the most beautiful mausoleum on Earth for her !!!

42 . Mesa Verde
Info : Mesa Verde, Spanish for "green table", offers an unparalleled opportunity to see and experience a unique cultural and physical landscape in Colorado . Major attractions -- Cliff Palace , Spruce Tree House ,
Smurf : See John Woo's Broken Arrow .

43 . Vatican
Info : St.Peter's Square , St.Peter's Basilica , The Vatican Museum , Sistine Chapel ,
Smurf : The Holy See , the smallest country in the world , but i bet it is the richest one !!!

44 . Acropolis
Info : The Parthenon , The Erechtheion , Temple of Athena Nike , Propylaia , The Acropolis Museum ,
Smurf : ancient Greek civilization was represented in an ideal way on the hill and some of the architectural masterpieces of the period were erected on its ground , hope 2008 Olympic will add gloria to it !

45 . Petra
Info : was first established sometime around the 6th century BC , by the Nabataean Arabs , a nomadic tribe . Petra lies about 3-5 hours south of modern Amman , about 2 hours north of Aqaba , on the edges of the mountainous desert of the Wadi Araba .
Attractions include --- The Siq , The Al Khazneh , The Royal Tombs , High Place of Sacrifice , El-Deir ,
Smurf : Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade , by Steven Spielberg & George Lucas , with Harrison Ford & Sean Connery , was shot in Petra !! one of my Smurf's I J films !!

46 . Machu Picchu
Info : a fortress city of ancient Incas , in a high saddle between two peaks circa 80 km northwest of Cuzco , Peru , the pre-Columbian ruin , 18 square-km of terranced stonework link by 3,000 steps ,
Napoleon Polo : To visit Machupijchu , you must prepare the soul , sharpen the senses . Forget for some minutes , the small and transendental problems of our lives , of modern ... man ...

47 . The Great Wall
Info : ...
Smurf : ...

48 . Angkor
Info : temples at Angkor are spread out over some 40 miles around the village of Siem Reap, about 192 miles from the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh ,
Smurf : For hundreds of years, the lost city of Legends still remain . This once great city which had slept for so long still posed many questions . Angkor was itself a legend .

49 . Giza Pyramids
Info : Three Grand Pyramids -- Khufu's Pyramid , Khefre's Pyramid , Menkaure's Pyramid ,
Sphinx ,
Smurf : Man fears Time, yet Time fears the Pyramids . -- Arab proverb

50 . Cyberspace
Info : Connecting people !!!
Smurf : Everyone is invited !!!

Appendix : Space