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I used to work in Gondar Region in the Tourism sector. I visited the Simien more than ten times. Every time I went there it was just incredible and new. Looking across those gigantic mountains was so amazing. Looking down those vast vast countryside, numerous rolling down mountain hills, folding valleys and escarpments, rustic agricultural fields from the top of the gigantic simien is like looking don planet earth from another planet. Unless you see it with your own eyes words are so limited to express how amazing is to see eagles roaring, the Ibex roaming up and down over the gigantic rocks, rows of mountains racing to the skyline, watching endless horizons and much more. the picture of Simien on my Facebook page always tours me throughout the magnificent Simien. I really begs everyone to see Simien ones in life !!!

What wonderful memories I still have of my time in Durham! I was lucky enough to live the the keep of Durham Castle for four weeks in July 1970 with AIFS. Can you imagine the magic of celebrating my 18th birthday in a castle?? Treasured times, treasured friends.

The Elephanta caves are a wonderful link to our past. We caught a boat from Belapur to the caves. A toy train is available to take us close to the caves. Unfortunately most of the tall statues were destroyed and only a few are still standing. However the famous caves are still worth a visit. There were lots of monkeys too.

Though the site is a national asset it, like other such places in the country, is not taken care of properly. Some of the excavated parts are being destroyed slowly / stealthily as they are used as walkways or dwelling places. Actions should be taken to protect the site but not destroying local settlement. At the same time the area should be excavated extensively.

In November 2007, we spent one week on Tenerife to escape the cold weather in Austria. We visited the Mount Teide National Park as a day trip from our accommodation at the south-west coast. We started early in the morning (at 7am) with our rental car in order to avoid the large tour buses, which start between 8 and 9 am from all major tourist centres. Another reason to get up early is that in the morning the air is clearer and the view is better, in the afternoon the Teide summit could often be hidden by clouds.

We took the road via Guia de Isora and arrived at the National Park after about 1.5 hours. The route is very interesting, you drive from sea level to 2,300 meters through different vegetation zones. First everything is green and colourful, we drove through banana plantations, followed by pine forests, and finally we arrived at the caldera Las Canadas, where rocks and solidified lava flows predominate. It reminded me of pictures from the Moon or Mars. Early in the morning we were almost alone on the road, so that we could stop everywhere to look around and to take pictures.

The most popular and most spectacular viewing point is the Roques de Garcia, opposite are a Hotel Parador and an information centre. The Roques are bizarre, unique rock formations. Plenty of needle-shaped rocks of different colours stand one after another at a length of several hundred meters. The rocks consist of different …

San Cristobal de la Laguna was the ancient capital of Tenerife and is still its cultural centre. Today, La Laguna and the modern capital Santa Cruz form a contiguous urban area. Certainly, there are numerous historical towns on the list that are more impressive, nevertheless I enjoyed strolling through the streets of the old town. The historic town centre is laid out like a chessboard. Colonial buildings from the 16th to 18th Century, beautiful churches, and small squares framed by palm trees dominate the scene. Where it is possible, one should have a look at the patios of the manorial houses. Many of them are abundantly planted and typical Canarian wooden balconies can be seen. Worth seeing is the Casa Montanez, the Teatro Leal from the early 20th Century, the Cathedral (photo), and the ex-Convento de San Agustín. Much of the old town was turned into pedestrian zones, so that it is pleasant to stroll through the narrow streets.

You reach San Cristobal de La Laguna easily via the well developed motorway. The city is worth visiting if you are in Tenerife, and it is a nice contrast to the busy tourist centres in the south of the island.

I visited Modena on February 23 and 24, 2012 and guess what?

The outside of the cathedral is still covered with scaffolding.

The inside, however, is quite impressive, with its high altar and the variety of sculptures, columns, and brickwork. Unlike many churches in the area, it has been spared most of the "updating" from style to style over the years so even the neophyte art historian can get a sense of the Romanesque style without the distraction of Renaissance, Baroque and modern "add-ons"

The city itself has a small historical district which is pleasant enough but pales in comparison to the porticos of Bologna and the streets of Parma. However, do plan to have at least one meal here--the food is some of the best in Emilia-Romagna.

We have been to Haiti 16 times with Mission to Haiti Canada, and only once to the Cap-Haitian area. We lodged in Fort Liberty, and did medical clinics in a nearby church. We took a bus to the Citadel area, then small horses up the long and winding path up the mountain. Some of our group if 12 took motorbike rides up as they had run out of horses. Our 2 guides were very kind and did walk all the way up the hill with us, one leading the animal, and the other at the tail end, keeping us centered on the animal's back at all times. I think they were taking turns reciting memorized chapters of the Psalms to pass the time as they were walking. The scenery was beautiful, though it was a bit foggy. 'The guide' for our group was very informative, and eager to tell us all about each corner of the citadel and surroundings. He did a great job! The trip was well worth it, and probably a once-in-a-lifetime experience. The trip down the mountain was probably more challenging for us than the way up, as the stones were wet from the misty rain that was falling, and the horses' hoofs often slipped. But our walking 'helpers' were quick to steady us by grabbing our arm and asking if we were alright. All in all, it was an awesome experience to be up there and the Haitians must have worked very hard to get all …

Located in the former riverside royal estate park in the suburb area of Moscow, the complex of Kolomenskoye Church is a lovely place to visit for afternoon walking. After a very long subway ride, the Kolomenskoye Park was very near to the subway entrance with clear sign for direction or just followed the tree. The first monument I saw was the big gate with lovely half cut onion dome-like wooden roof, the gate has two doors, the bigger one for royalties and the smaller one for commoners. After the gate I saw the lovely blue onion domes church, at first I misunderstood that this church was the Kolomenskoye Church until I discovered more area in the park.

Just a short walk inside the forest park from the blue domes church, I encountered the very large white gate with green copper spire roof. The gate was really nice like the gate of Disney amusement park, but behind the gate was a very big white church not the princess castle, and again two different size of doors. The big white church I saw was the famous Kolomenskoye Church, the building itself was considered the Russian architecture masterpiece and the first brick church in this country. For me this place was just another big lovely Russian styled church, a white version of the famous Saint Basil Cathedral without smaller chapel of fancy onion domes, but I understood its importance and significance for architectural development.

Unfortunately that the interior was closed during my visit, …

The center of Moscow and the symbolic landmark of Russia, Kremlin and Red Square are truly the magnificent places with unbelievable beauty and clearly one of the must-see World Heritage Sites for every traveler. During my five days visit to Moscow, I went to the Red Square three times to admire the grandness of this place. I still remembered the first time I saw the square via the Resurrection Gate with the image of Saint Basil Cathedral in the far distance at twilight; I was stunned with this breathtaking view. The almost desert square with dreamy lights of surrounding buildings was just fantastic and became my highlight of Russian trip.

The Moscow Kremlin is equally impressive with the square. The whole complex is surrounded by the red high wall with many fortress-like towers; one of my favorites is the Spasskaya tower with its fanciful spire and large clock. Inside the Kremlin at first, I was quite frustrated with many restrict areas and rule of no photograph near administrative buildings. The first building I saw was the Armory; inside was the large exhibition of Russian Imperial treasure with many gold and jewel objects, the highlights for me were many beautiful state coaches and royal robes. Then I saw the Cathedral of the Annunciation, its many golden onion domes were very beautiful; however, the Cathedral of the Archangel and the Assumption Cathedral were closed during my visit, so I did not have a chance to see its famous fresco. …

Every time I met and talked to Russians, they always praised the beauty of St. Petersburg, and that really made me wanted to see this city which was once the capital of Russian Empire. In the late evening, by the long-distance bus from Novgorod, the city of St. Petersburg welcomed me with heavy snow, after managed to take subway to city center, I still had to struck at the subway station entrance for two hours because it was almost impossible to go and find my hotel, so my first day in St. Petersburg was totally white. However, in the next day morning all snow had gone, I decided to walk to the famous Hermitage. After walked through the ceremonial arch gate, the vast winter palace square was absolutely breathtaking. After seeing gorgeous collections of Hermitage, and its equally impressive interior design, I continued my trip to Saint Isaac Cathedral to see its imposing golden dome and then Peter and Paul Fortress which I was impressed with the scenery of the city from the fortress wall, before back to Church of the Savior of Blood which was the only Russian architecture in this very European town.

The next day I went to Peterhof Palace and Katherine Palace, there two palaces are located outside the city; I need to take train and bus to reach both places. The two palaces were unbelievable with their lavish decoration which easily made all European palaces in shame. I never saw too many …

Novgorod or it full official name, Veliky Novgorod which means the Great Novgorod, is an oldest city in Russia and the ancient political center of early Russian state, is well located in the middle of popular tourist route of Moscow and St. Petersburg. To reach Novgorod, I took a night train from Moscow. The train had arrived in early morning; the whole town of Novgorod was still sleeping when I reached the city center. After few directions confusing, I finally saw the large red wall complex of the ancient Novgorod Kremlin. The towers along the wall were fascinating with fairytales-like turret and in a very good condition. Inside the wall, there was a large square with big monument named 'The Millennium of Russia' the monument was full of details of important historical event of this country.

Apart from the monument, there were church and palace complexes inside the Kremlin, but all of them were closed during my visit. Nothing to do I just walked around the complex; I found a group of bells in front of one church was quite astonishing with their large size and wondered why they were here on the ground. Then I walked around the Kremlin wall, admittedly that I really enjoyed the wall more than the Kremlin inside, the color of the wall and its proportion was just right and really photogenic. Then I went to see the riverside, there was a large monastery on the other side of the river. Before I …

I've recently spent one hour at the Khor Al-Adaid, during an half-day trip from Doha. There is no road to reach this place, so the only way is to hire a local driver from Doha with a 4x4 to take you to this desert place. The travel itself is an unforgettable experience, since you have to ride all the sand dunes with the car.. but it's more a touristic experience, rather than linked to the TL site itself. Once you reach the "inland sea" (it takes like 1 hour and half from Doha), you feel lost in this desertic place, with the unreal water laying between the dunes. We could not see any wildlife; some bedouin tents and the tracks of the 4x4 were the only traces of human life here. For sure the landscape is spectacular, and maybe the only way to protect this site is to avoid any road construction. I don't think there is something else that could be done to protect this place. The site is very wide, we could just see a part of it (we haven't reached the 10 km channel linking the inland sea with the open sea, as it's mentioned on the Unesco website), but still we could see many lagoons linked to each other, surrounded by wonderful sand dunes. The return way was much easier, we just followed the sea shore, on the flat way it took much less to reach the road. If this site would ever be added to …

The massive construction of Belvoir is very impressive, but pales next to the gorgeous views of the valley from its commanding hilltop position. It's easy to see how its defenders could have held out against even an attacker such as Saladin. Montfort also has a commanding view of a much smaller valley, but is far less impressive.

have been living at Yogyakarta city for about 8 years, I went to Prambanan Temple for the first time at 2009. It was very easy to go there, used Yogyakarta Trans Bus in the evening to see sunset there. Yogyakarta is hot city, so better to prepare sunblock or go there in the morning/ evening. It was a dance, Ramayana dance which is just showed at every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday night, take place on the outdoor stage use Prambanan temple as the background.

The next my visitation time is at outdoor stage of Prambanan, it was night but no Ramayana dance performed. I went there to see the eclipse. Prambanan temple was full of light and I saw it at the distance. It was unforgettable moment in my life.

I'm sorry to inform our Austrian friend above that there are not at least 20 other cathedrals in France very similar to Amiens . In fact only Chartres and Reims compare in terms of the quantity and quality of statuary on the facade . Only Reims and Bourges compare in terms of vastness of interior space. There are 7 ' plus grande Cathedrales de France ' as the french call them - " Reims, Chartres, Amiens , Bourges , Albi , Strasbourg , Rouen " .

There are many fine ones other than those , but they're mostly about half the size and have suffered over the ceunturies more . The flamboyant window tracery in Amiens is shared only by two other Cathedrals , those of Beauvais and Evreux . The remarkable symbolic quatrefoil carvings on the stylobate ( the bit above the steps and below the porches ! ) are only repeated at one other cathedral - Auxerre -( OK , and a little bit at Metz too - but that's it ! ) . Amiens is France's and Europe's most elegant Cathedral . The fact that it has lost 80 per cent of it's stained glass does not detract from this . Not as immediatley dramatic inside as Reims or Angers - it (to me anyway ) is France's finest building - period !

I stayed a week in Bamberg before Christmas 2000 . It's very charming - but a WORLD HERITAGE SITE ? The sculpture in and on the cathedral is justly world famous - and the adjoining museum has terrific exhibits . But to be honest , after that and the small Altstdat - there's not much to see. It's a good base for exploring Upper Bavaria as transport is excellent . But compared to Lubeck and Goslar , it's small potatoes . Here in the UK we have many small towns more interesting - Shrewsbury , Stamford , Kings Lynn , Conwy , Melrose , Howden ; etc - and believe me none of those will ever be a World Heritage Site ...

I was in Oak Grove from 1969 to 1980 One of the best experience of life this be stated by most of ex students that OG provided us with the best education of that time.

This was one place were students every class and caste mingled with ease the open minded atmosphere prevailing there has till date remained with me. This has helped me a lot. Wish whole of India could be same. It is one of the most democratic school I have seen so far being a teacher myself can say it with confidence that the students passing from this great institution can teach our society tolerance towards others.

Regarding the school buildings they have stood intact for the past hundred and twenty four years and the architecture still amazes me along with the natural beauty as soon as one starts rolling down towards the valley one can feel the tranquility of the place along with the lush green oak trees still standing tall one can easily forget the world and be at peace with one self. Amazing place.

My stay on Gough Island from Oct.83 untill Nov.84 As Radio

Operator of Gough 28 Expedition, one of the most outstanding years of my entire life.I was very fortunate to visit Tristan Da Cunha on our way back and spent several

hours on Tristan soil with the Islanders was memories that i will tressure for the rest of my life...was invited to Marion Hagan 21 st Birthday Party. Meeting the Adminstrator, Jill, Andy Repetto and the and all the rest of them at that time... little did i know how much impact that year have done in my life... Once an Islander allways an Islander...

Ferrara has a certain charm and calmness, but I found it not up to par with great Italian cities like Verona, let alone Venice or Rome. The Michelin Green Guide gives it 2 stars (“worth a detour”), and that is about right. I stayed there for 2 nights, using it as a base for a day trip to Mantua also.

The various sights are scattered around the city center, showing the town’s various stages of development which are so crucial in its OUV of “Renaissance town planning”. To the east lie several small palaces, built by wealthy relatives and supporters of the ruling d’Este family. The Palazzina Marfisa d'Este for example is a villa with a garden that could be lovely if well-attended (I was visiting in winter so maybe it is nicer in spring or summer). There’s a loggia at the back, and the house’s interior has many decorated ceilings and period (or later) furniture. The nearby Casa di Romei is bigger, has two stories and houses a small museum.

At the heart of the city are the Cathedral and the Castle. Both have striking exteriors. In the interior of the Cathedral dark grey colours stand out – I was not too impressed with it. The Castle’s interior is quite barren too but is surely worth visiting. At the lower levels, the history of the city and the d’Este family is told via displays, and in another part, the frescoed ceilings are shown up-and-close via mirrors on …