Saturday, October 17, 2009

1,000 ULTIMATE EXPERIENCES

       One thousandideas, places and activities to inspire and entertain,for both travellers and lovers of life alike By Lonely Planet
       Lonely Planet's 1000 Ultimate Experiences will inspire travellers - armchair and actual - to start ticking off their own boxes of places they've always wanted to see and things they've always wanted to do, including:
       TOP PARKS AND RESERVES
       Forget just photographs - these mustsees are even more dazzling up close.
       Namib Naukluft National Park, Namibia
       The steaming sands of Namib Naukluft National Park are the most perfect stretch of desolate desert - even photographs of the windswept ridges elicit thirst. The dunes at Sossusvlei, commonly believed to be the oldest in the world, are the preserve's biggest draw. The forceful winds that swerve through the terrain have carved out hills as high as 300-metres. Strong thermal winds also make hot-air ballooning a popular way to discover the preserve from a different angle. From up in the air, the undulating terrain almost looks like the curling waves of an orange ocean.
       Banff National Park, Canada
       In a country so incredibly large, it comes as no surprise that everything at Banff National Park is supersized - foxes are foxier, bears are grizzlier and moose could be mistaken for furry school buses. The idyllic region was discovered in the late 1800s, during the building of the Canadian Pacific Railroad, and was quickly transformed into a nature preserve. Covering 6,641 square kilometres, the park is a natural wildlife corridor in the seemingly impen-etrable Rocky Mountains - visitors will often be treated to a parade of Canada's iconic beasts. At Banff , bear hugs are taken literally.
       Mungo National Park, Australia
       Over the last few decades, several places in Australia's legendary outback have become the top spots on many tourists' todo lists: Alice Springs, the Blue Mountains,even Uluru. Mungo National Park has somehowmanaged to fly under the radar.This quiet preserve, sheltered around clay mounds known as the Walls of China,whispers with a rich history of ancient lakes and roaming megafauna. Skeletal remains prove that humans thrived within the park's boundaries more than 40,000 years ago but today, Mungo's desert-like expanse is so deserted, that it's possible to glimpse the curvature of the earth.
       Khao Sok National Park, Thailand
       Welcome to Jurassic Park - you can almost hear the theme song playing in surround sound while you venture between the soaring limestone karsts. Add a prancing Tyrannosaurus rex and Thailand's first protected preserve would be a dead ringer for Crichton's prehistoric Disneyland. This dripping, juicy jungle is part of the oldest
       rainforest in the world, where snakes,monkeys and tigers lurk within the tangle of lazy vines. The park also features the world's largest flower, the Rafflesia kerrii ,which can reach more than 80cm in diameter. It has no roots or leaves of its own;instead it lives parasitically inside the roots of the liana plant.
       Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona, US
       Like a '56 Chevy or a Big Mac, the Grand Canyon is an American classic and undoubtedly the biggest "kick" on Route 66.The Grand Canyon's endless vistas of gorges and chasms are a favourite locale for geologists - the delicate history of the earth is locked in these myriad shelves of colourful rock. Those who descend into the wide earthen scars will uncover a semiarid terrain punctuated by hundreds of secret grottos. At the canyon's ultimate depth of 1.8km the planet's prehistoric landscape is revealed.
       Northeast Greenland National Park, Greenland
       In an age troubled by pollution and threatened by melting icecaps, Greenland's national park proves that the planet's glaciers haven't disappeared just yet. The biggest national park in the world, measuring roughly twice the size of France, is an unspoilt hinterland home to the polar bears and walruses that cavort between crystalline icebergs. The tiny town of Ittoqqortoormiit is the unofficial gateway into the silent, frigid kingdom. Visitors are limited to surveying scientists and extreme adventurers, but tours are available.
       2008 Lonely Planet Publications Pty Ltd.All rights reserved. For more information
       visit www.lonelyplanet.com.
       This is an edited extract from Lonely Planet's '1000 Ultimate Experiences'ฉ Lonely Planet Publications,2009.

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