Most Expensive Resort

Isla de sa Ferradura

It is a joy to live on Isla de sa Ferradura. The island has been transformed into a super-hacienda which, as a dream resort, knows no equivalent. This fabulous resort flows in harmony with nature and offers the ultimate in luxury. The architecture is unique; everything has been designed for undisturbed enjoyment.

Location:
Isla de sa Ferradura, also known as Isla del Bosc, is situated in the beautiful bay of San Miguel, next to the rocky island of Isla Murada which was in earlier centuries used to house prisoners.

Accommodation:
The white casa has exceptionally luxurious and majestic living space, in which nothing has been left to chance. The beautiful romantic bedrooms and guest suites have all facilities one could think of. Principal Suite: This suite is possibly more luxurious than the other. The view of the sea and the lush gardens are majestic from here. Bamboo Suite: It gives the guest the feeling of an experienced traveller, arriving in an oasis of tropical relaxation. The bath here is truly a thrill. Perla Suite: The spotless white bathroom with all luxury imaginable, the white bar, the white wardrobe and all other facilities. Suite Azul: In the Azul Suite the blue-azure colours are dominant, which give it a fresh and unusual atmosphere.

Dining:
A large professional and cosy designed Spanish kitchen gives every chef the possibility to create exquisite Spanish-French culinary delights. The kitchen staff will prepare the most delicious dishes. First of all, regional meals of Ibiza consisting primarily of cuisine using vegetables and fruit from the island itself, as well as fresh fish, fresh seafood and various meat dishes.

Activities:
A separate cave complex offers total body relaxation with a whirlpool, Turkish bath, sauna, solarium, infrared cabins and a beauty salon with massage facilities. The island offers all watersport facilities including waterskiing, jetskiing, watercycling, surfing, fishing, diving and more. The island also offers various sporting facilities including fully equipped gymnasium with modern equipment, aerobics, water aerobics, volleyball etc. Isla de sa Ferradura has its own entertainment center with modern flat screens where the latest movies can be shown through the resort«s satellite system or video and DVD computer collection.

Getting there:
Most travellers arrive in Ibiza by yacht, or via the international airport south of Ibiza city, either by private jet, scheduled flight or charter. In the future, you will be able to travel from the international airport to Isla de sa Ferradura by helicopter, which takes only a few minutes or to drive with the island car to Puerto San Miquel where you can be transported to the island by speedboat.

Best time to travel:
Most days during summer, the temperature hovers around 27°C (85°F), in May-June or September-October; the weather is still pleasant and warm. Winter (December, January and February) can be a peaceful time. Even in winter, though, you are bound to get one or two days of the much-touted 300 days-out-of-the-year worth of sunshine.

Price:
Rates (depending on season and number of travellers): EUR 130 000 - EUR 165 000 per week / all-inclusive

Most Expensive Hotel

The Burj Al Arab (Arabic: برج العرب, literally, Tower of the Arabs) is a luxury hotel located in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. At 321 metres (1,053 ft), it is the tallest building used exclusively as a hotel.[2] However, the Rose Tower, also in Dubai, which has already topped Burj Al Arab's height at 333 m (1,090 ft), will take away this title upon its opening.[3][4][5] The Burj Al Arab stands on an artificial island 280 metres (919 ft) out from Jumeirah beach, and is connected to the mainland by a private curving bridge. It is an iconic structure, designed to symbolize Dubai's urban transformation and to mimic the sail of a boat.

Petra - Jordania

Petra or Hor Haggidgad, "the cleft in the rock" (from πέτρα "petra", rock in Greek; Arabic: البتراء, Al-Batrāʾ) is referenced in the Bible as one end of a Nabatean irrigation project along a line of wells from Moseroth to Beeroth near what is today an archaeological site in the Arabah, Ma'an Governorate, Jordan, lying on the slope of Mount Hor[1] 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. It is renowned for its rock-cut architecture. Petra is also one of the new wonders of the world. The site remained unknown to the Western world until 1812, when it was discovered by Swiss explorer Johann Ludwig Burckhardt. It was famously described as "a rose-red city half as old as time" in a Newdigate prize-winning sonnet by John William Burgon. UNESCO has described it as "one of the most precious cultural properties of man's cultural heritage."[2] In 1985, Petra was designated a World Heritage Site.

So far, no method has been found to determine when the history of Petra began. Evidence suggests that the city was founded relatively late, though a sanctuary may have existed there since very ancient times. This part of the country was traditionally assigned to the Horites, probably cave-dwellers, the predecessors of the Edomites.[8] The habits of the original natives may have influenced the Nabataean custom of burying the dead and offering worship in half-excavated caves. However, the fact that Petra is mentioned by name in the Old Testament cannot be verified. Although Petra is usually identified with Sela which also means a rock, the Biblical references[9] are not clear. 2 Kings xiv. 7 seems to be more specific. In the parallel passage, however, Sela is understood to mean simply "the rock" (2 Chr. xxv. 12, see LXX). As a result, many authorities doubt whether any town named Sela is mentioned in the Old Testament.

It is unclear exactly what Semitic inhabitants called their city. Apparently on the authority of Josephus (Antiquities of the Jews iv. 7, 1~ 4, 7), Eusebius and Jerome (Onom. sacr. 286, 71. 145, 9; 228, 55. 287, 94), assert that Rekem was the native name and Rekem appears in the Dead Sea scrolls as a prominent Edom site most closely describing Petra. But in the Aramaic versions Rekem is the name of Kadesh, implying that Josephus may have confused the two places. Sometimes the Aramaic versions give the form Rekem-Geya which recalls the name of the village El-ji, southeast of Petra. The capital, however, would hardly be defined by the name of a neighboring village. The Semitic name of the city, if not Sela, remains unknown. The passage in Diodorus Siculus (xix. 94–97) which describes the expeditions which Antigonus sent against the Nabataeans in 312 BC is understood to throw some light upon the history of Petra, but the "petra" referred to as a natural fortress and place of refuge cannot be a proper name and the description implies that the town was not yet in existence. Brünnow thinks that "the rock" in question was the sacred mountain en-Nejr (above). But Buhl suggests a conspicuous height about 16 miles (26 km) north of Petra, Shobak, the Mont-royal of the Crusaders, aka Montreal.

More satisfactory evidence of the date of the earliest Nabataean settlement may be obtained from an examination of the tombs. Two types may be distinguished—the Nabataean and the Greco-Roman. The Nabataean type starts from the simple pylon-tomb with a door set in a tower crowned by a parapet ornament, in imitation of the front of a dwelling-house. Then, after passing through various stages, the full Nabataean type is reached, retaining all the native features and at the same time exhibiting characteristics which are partly Egyptian and partly Greek. Of this type there exist close parallels in the tomb-towers at el-I~ejr [?] in north Arabia, which bear long Nabataean inscriptions and supply a date for the corresponding monuments at Petra. Then comes a series of tombfronts which terminate in a semicircular arch, a feature derived from north Syria. Finally come the elaborate façades copied from the front of a Roman temple; however, all traces of native style have vanished. The exact dates of the stages in this development cannot be fixed. Strangely, few inscriptions of any length have been found at Petra, perhaps because they have perished with the stucco or cement which was used upon many of the buildings. The simple pylon-tombs which belong to the pre-Hellenic age serve as evidence for the earliest period. It is not known how far back in this stage the Nabataean settlement goes, but it does not go back farther than the 6th century BC.

A period follows in which the dominant civilization combines Greek, Egyptian and Syrian elements, clearly pointing to the age of the Ptolemies. Towards the close of the 2nd century BC, when the Ptolemaic and Seleucid kingdoms were equally depressed, the Nabataean kingdom came to the front. Under Aretas III Philhellene, (c.85–60 BC), the royal coins begin. The theatre was probably excavated at that time, and Petra must have assumed the aspect of a Hellenistic city. In the reign of Aretas IV Philopatris, (9 BC–AD 40), the fine tombs of the el-I~ejr [?] type may be dated, and perhaps also the great High-place.

The Biggest Hotel

WHATEVER it is - boobs, bottoms, buffets - Sin City has the biggest out there. And those are just the Bs.

Small wonder, then, that the biggest hotel in the world - and the second-largest building - has just opened on the Las Vegas Strip.

The £1billion, 50-storey Palazzo extends the existing Venetian to create a hotel with more than 7,000 suites. Its 50 restaurants, cafés, bars and banqueting halls can serve 10,000 diners a night.

“It's a city within a city; the beginning of the meta-resort' era of Las Vegas,” says William Weidner, president of the Palazzo's parent company, the Las Vegas Sands Corporation.

He's not kidding. I was tired when I arrived after my ten-hour flight, but no, my eyes weren't playing tricks. Looming up out of the Nevada desert were towering colonnades that seemed to sweat neon into the warm desert night.

Inside, the giant marble cupola was adorned with reproductions of frescoes by Italian grand masters. Models in togas were tethered to the ceiling on top of giant indoor waterfalls. Down below, on the fake canals that flow through the hotel, gondoliers serenaded grannies.

The sheer scale of the place makes it difficult to get around, but it has its advantages. My suite was the size of Long Island (well, almost) and decorated in the kind of “no embellishment is an embarrassment” style that would make Elton John blush.

There were more frescoes over the four-poster bed and a retro-porno-chic sunken lounge. The huge floor-to-ceiling windows looked out over the giant cartoonish monuments to sex and seven-card stud that line the Strip.

The Palazzo has a vast casino, with 120 table games and 1,400 video poker machines creating an electronic goblin's chorus that accompanies the “kerching!” of the serried ranks of slot machines. The huge theatre - where the Tony award-winning Jersey Boys, the story of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, is playing - was full every night with emotionally incontinent fans.

But its key appeal lies in the scale and ambition of the shops and restaurants. It's the first hotel in the world to have its own department store - and it's not just any old Grace Bros. Barneys New York has three floors, with the best designer collections in the city.

The hotel has poached two of the best American chefs and become the first outpost of one of New York's finest fusion cuisine restaurants that often featured in Sex and the City. Mario Batali's Carnevino offers the best of New York. I opted for the new-style Italian sashimi - raw fish with pesto and olive oil that made Esca in Manhattan Batali's first big hit.

Wolfgang Puck's CUT at the Beverly Wilshire is the must-be-papped-at restaurant in Los Angeles. Now it has its first Vegas outpost. Steaks don't come any rarer - and bills any more overcooked. Carrie, Samantha, Miranda and Charlotte loved Sushi Samba. To find out why, I tried the roast shrimp with toasted brazil nut and “sake-saffron crema”. I think Mr Big would have approved.

No Vegas hotel and casino is complete without a celebrity scene, and the Palazzo has its own “resident” star, Jay-Z, who runs his 40/40 club. The key attraction is the 80 plasma TV screens on which the owner performs with his wife, Beyoncé. The night I went clubbers were not interested in “hanging” with Jay. They wanted to channel their inner Paris Hilton next to the real Paris Hilton, who had just arrived from the Hilton.

The Palazzo is more than Vegas with extra sequins. It's a hotel on crack. My advice? Enjoy the high while it lasts. And when the swirling kaleidoscopic buzz of franchised avarice and sleaze wears off, remind yourself that while what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, you don't have to. And leave.

Borobudur

Borobudur (or Barabudur - the origin and meaning of the name are unknown) is a squat pyramid-shaped stupa 40km to the north west of Yogyakarta, in a volcanic region on the Indonesian island of Java. Erected in the late 8th or early 9th century, presumably by the kings of central Java, this Buddhist monument was probably abandoned within not much more than a century after construction when the power-base moved to east Java. There is no foundation inscription, no way of dating beyond the palaeography of the workers' inscripitions, and no later mention of the sanctuary until 1709 AD.

The quality and importance of Borobudur are world-class, for the sheer abundance and beauty of its figured reliefs, decorated panels and sculptures. In Europe, no such sculptural complexes had been seen since well before the fall of the Roman Empire; and none would be seen until more than 100 years after its abandonment. In the region, it ranks with a much larger complexes at Pagan (Burma) and Angkor (Cambodia).

The stupa is some 31.5m high, and almost square with a side of 123m. From a broad podium, the visitor progresses through four relief-covered galleries to a circular terrace, adorned with 72 bell-shaped perforated stupas, each containing a seated Boddhisatva, surrounding a central stupa, once much taller than it is now, which may once have held a relic of the Buddha. Because the structure was built out of a mid- to dark-grey volcanic stone, the tropical climate, with an average rainfall of over 2m per annum, has ensured that the structure has been invaded by mosses and lichens. Originally, it was probably plastered white, and painted in bright colours. There must have been a substantial monastery for the monks who looked after the structure and the pilgrims, but nothing adequate has yet been discovered. The point of the pilgrimage was that the stupa (its shape perhaps intended as a replica of the universe) allowed the pilgrim to mimic a journey from base life through to enlightenment - from this temporal world to the attainment of enlightenment, symbolised by the Bodhisattvas on the circular terrace. (There are parallels here with the mazes found in mediaeval Christian buildings.)

The shape of the stupa - like a badly-risen cake, says one scholar - results from a mix of climate and ambition. The first building campaign began with a basement covered in 160 relief panels but, when the substantial weight of the first terrace was added, the land slipped, no doubt because the core of the structure (part natural hill, part infill) soaked up water like a sponge. A decision was taken to abandon the basement by girdling it with a terrace - a corset to ensure against future landslips. Hence we might assume that the profile originally intended was taller and sharper than what we see today.

As we see it today, Borobudur is the result of three major restoration schemes. After its description by by the Engineer officer H. C. Cornelius on the commission Sir Stamford Raffles, the English Governor, in 1814, the trees and bushes on the site were felled, and stones dislodged by water and earth movement rolled down to the base (with some damage) to await re-positioning. The resident of Kedu, C. L. Hartmann, did further clearance work in 1834 and 1835. Nevertheless, degradation continued; making casts of all the reliefs was contemplated, and in 1882 it was even proposed that the reliefs be dismounted and displayed in a purpose-built museum. The fact of the filled-in basement was discovered by J. W. Ijzerman in 1885, and this helped provoke the second great restoration which resulted in the monumental monograph by N. J. Krom & Th. Van Erp of 1919, which published photographs of all the sculptures and reliefs, including the hidden base. It is from this monograph that the digital images which adorn our VRML presentation of the stupa were made.

Nor was Van Erp's careful and restrained restoration the final one: the volcanoes and the climate saw to that. IFollowing a request of 1967, UNESCO undertook the dismantling, stabilisation and restoration of the monument once more.

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The Highest Mountain

Almost everyone knows that Mount Everest is the highest mountain in the world and climbers from everywhere travel to Everest hoping to earn the distinction of climbing the "World's Highest".

The peak of Mount Everest is 8,848 meters (29,028 feet) above sea level. This high elevation gives Mount Everest the distinction of being the mountain with the highest altitude.

The Highest Waterfall

Angel Falls is the highest waterfall in the world, at 1,002 m, and is located in the Canaima National Park in Bolivar State, along Venezuela’s border with Brazil. It is more than 19 times higher than Niagara Falls. The uninterrupted descent of water falls 807 m.

Most Archaeological Jewels

Location :

Machu Picchu is located at 120 kilometers (75 miles) North-West of Cusco city, at 2,400 meters (7,900 ft.) above sea level. The only ways to get there is by train (4 hours) or walking. It isn't a road from Cusco to Machu Pichu only a railroad along the narrow Vilcanota canyon. The topography is amazing, steep mountains covered by tropical forests, it's incredible how the Incas built temples and trails on the slopes of these mountains.

Climate :

It's tropical, warm and sunny days and cool nights. It's very rainy between December and March, but it's still wonderful. Bring a rain-jacket or umbrella, and you will be fine.

Landscapes :

Machu Picchu is 1,000 meters (3,300 ft.) lower than Cusco city, that's why the environment here is different. The cloud-forest that covers the steep mountains around the citadel is habitat of an interesting wildlife that includes the Andean bear and the cock-of the rock bird. The ruins and the surroundings are part of a national park to protect the archaeological remains and the environment.

History :

The Inca citadel of Machu Pichu is one of the world’s archaeological jewels and the main tourist destination in Peru. Since it was found by the North American explorer Hiram Bingham in 1911, it has not stopped to surprise the world. The archeologists believe it was built in the second half of the 15th century, but the function of it is still a mystery. It has been proved that many people lived there, but only important people as noblemen, priests and nuns. After the Spanish conquest, the Incas fled and abandoned the citadel, and nobody else heard about it, not even the Spaniards who never got there. The citadel is divided in 3 areas, two neighborhoods, and an agricultural sector, that is a vast network of terraces and channels for its irrigation. The urban sector is divided in 2 neighborhoods, in one of it are many temples, ritual chambers and also the royal bedroom. In the second one are many houses for the noblemen and their servants. Between both neighborhoods is a big plaza. The sceneries are outstanding, the citadel was built on top of a hill and it's surrounded by big mountains. At feet of the mountains flows the Urubamba river, and the sound of its water can be hear all around the citadel. Perhaps the main attraction of the citadel is the degree of technology that its builders achieved in stone work. The joins between the stones in some of its buildings are so snug that it’s impossible to insert even the tip of a needle between them. The most fascinating stone is the "Intihuatana" (hitching post of the sun), which served as an astronomical calendar. Nevertheless, more interesting is the energy and peace you feel when you get in this mysterious place.

Most Dangerous Road

About 300 people a year die on a winding mountain road, what used to be the main path connecting Bolivia's capitol to the Amazon region. Locals have nicknamed it ''El Camino de la Muerte'': ''Death Road.'' But for thrill-seeking bicyclists, the hairpin turns and 800-foot cliff drops are all part of the fun.