Ultimate Vacation Spots

posted by Travel Cat on Aug 5

If you want to visit the ultimate waterfall in the Americas - it has to be Niagara Falls!

For sheer scale - this falls is some place you need to visit - like the other 28 million visitors that travel to this amazing site!  It has size, it has width - and it has some of the greatest tourist facilities out there!

Unlike Angel Falls and Iguazu Falls - where you have to trek for hours to get there and then only stay for about 60 minutes - you can get a hotel room right on top of Niagara Falls! 

If you choose the right Niagara Falls hotel - and there are many out there - you can see the whole promenade area lit up with viewpoints, restaurants and bars and other tourist attractions - all from your balcony!

Although you might not want to tumble over the top in a barrel and fall around 50 meters to it’s base - you can certainly catch a boat ride into the mist that shrouds the base of the falls - and hear close up the thundering water travelling from Lake Erie to the Atlantic Ocean!

Facts About Niagara Falls:
Niagara is actually the name of the river that runs here - not the waterfall.  The actual waterfalls (there are 3 of them) have different names:  The largest is the Horseshoe Falls, and the smaller part the other side of Goat Island is called American Falls.  A much smaller waterfall the other side of Luna Island on the American side, is the Bridal Veil Falls!

Over 6 million cubic feet of water fall over the crest of the falls EVERY MINUTE during wet weather - on an average day it is still around 4 million!

Due to this power, the falls have actually retreated just under 7 miles in documented history, and have even changed shape along the way!  It was much straighter to begin, then curved and is now a strong ’horseshoe’ shape (hence the name of that larger part).  Engineering works have slowed the rate of retreat today and have managed to prevent it’s erosion from altering the falls - or the site itself!

The Niagara Falls Area:
When you take a trip here, there is plenty to see and do.  Whether you just soak up the atmosphere in a first class hotel overlooking the crashing falls, take a boat ride, wander the streets at night with the falls lit up in amazing colors, eat out in style, or even pop into the Fallsview Casino for a great night out - there is a whole town set up here to cater for your every need!

The Niagara falls area is now so popular with guests that a whole economy has sprung up to cater for it’s visitors demands.  There are top quality golf courses, helicopter rides, shows, entertainment, casinos, day trips and horseback riding all within a few minutes of the center.

There are also natural beauties to go see including the Cave of Winds, where you take an elevator down to beneath Bridal Falls and go on a walk around passages that create hurricane force winds beneath the falls.  There are view points all over both sides and on the islands between the falls too - as well as behind the falls through rock openings!

Viewing Niagara Falls is perfect in any weather - maybe you catch it shrouded in a rising mist in the early hours, or reflecting moonlight on a full moon - or even surrounded by blankets of snow in the winter!

So, get online and book yourself some great Niagara Falls deals for your weekend vacation this year - and next! 

You won’t regret it!

posted by Travel Cat on Jul 22

Welcome back, and I hope the first 5 beautiful spots tempted you enough to come back for this second part!

So, let’s get straight back into it, and get going on the final 5 - hope you like them…..

6) The Great Rift Valley - East Africa
Needless to say, this huge region is filled with wildlife and absolutely beautiful landscapes!

Surrounded by huge lakes, miles of mountains and plateaus and crammed full of greenery - you will certainly need you camera working on overtime! It contains some of the highest mountains in Africa as well as active and dormant volcanoes and some of the largest lakes in the world!

Witness where man first stepped out into the world and where this massive continent is actually splitting in 2 creating a new ocean!

7) Serengeti/Masai Mara National Park - Tanzania/Kenya
This is one of the largest and most visited National Parks in Africa due to it’s endless landscapes filled with huge game and indigenous tribes.

Famous for its unbelievable migration of around 1.5 million wildebeest and 200,000 zebra every year! As a result it has the largest population of lions of any national park and has the other 4 from the notorious ‘Big Five’.

Be prepared for some endless views of the savanna and the bumpiest car rise you have ever been on!  Alternatively, why not hire a hot air balloon for a champagne ride across the sky and get a panoramic view of this unforgiving landscape.

8.) The Great Dunes - Namibia
Down the southern edge of the continent and bordering the cold southern Atlantic Ocean - this region is one of the driest areas in the region. After years and years of little rain - the dunes have grown and grown into some of the largest dunes in the world!

Although you might think that makes for a bland landscape - you would be wrong. The canyons formed here and the huge wetlands along the coast add to the sheer beauty of the harshness fund here. Spotting a single antelope on an almost endless dune several kilometers in length is something to be admired.

9) Underneath The Red Sea - Egypt

Take yourself to another world underneath the crystal clear waters of the Red Sea Riviera! 

Filled to the brim with tropical and colourful fish, huge shallow-water reefs and marine mammals.  Whether you stay close to the shore or snorkel from the beaches of Sharm el-Sheikh or Hurghada - or you charter a boat out into deeper water and spend the day in this underwater world!

10) Marrakech - Morocco
If you love bright colours, the hustle and bustle of lively markets and a whole host of adobe buildings and materials painted in the brightest of hues - them this is the place for you.

This vibrant city - close to the entrance to the Mediterranean - is a hagglers heaven! With different cultures plying different trades on every corner, and different kitchens offering an endless array of foods and cooked meals - plus the influence of different religions on the architecture: this offers a whole different kind a beauty from the natural landscape surrounding it.

Send in your pictures!

posted by Travel Cat on May 1

Visit 1 of the most talked about natural sight-seeing spots in the States - but you must look down!

This amazing landscape is something that draws crowds day after day, and is one of the locations on millions of peoples ‘Places To Visit’ list - and I’m not surprised at why.

Here are a few of your questions answered about this magnificent semi-arid gorge!

How Was The Grand Canyon Formed?
The Grand Canyon was formed by the natural effect of erosion on the (colorful) soft rocks of the Colorado Plateau - an action that is still continuing today.

Basically, the Colorado River is wearing away at the softer rocks of the Canyon as it head down to the sea.  What makes the Grand Canyon so deep, is the fact that the Colorado Plateau was raised up really high in the past that the river had no choice but to erode down so deep revealing over 2 billion years of geological deposits in the process!

Mind you, many scientists think that it has taken the river around 17 million years to do so!

How Deep Is The Grand Canyon?
Due to the raising of the sediments in this area, the Grand Canyon is over a mile deep along a great part of it’s route - that’s around 6000ft - about as deep down as Mount Rushmore is high!

Are There Any Other Facts About The Grand Canyon? 
Yes plenty, but lets just say that it is around 277 miles long from it’s start to the ocean - in Mexico, between the Baja state and the mainland.  It can be anything up to 18 miles wide - that’s 29 kilometers, or as little as 4 miles depending on the rivers course and the resistance of the neighboring rocks. 

The Native American people of the area were very familiar with the canyon, and believed it to be a Holy Site.  Infact the Pueblo people who lived in settlements on it’s steep sides called it ‘Ongtupqa’ in their Hopi language, meaning just that.  There storage caves and the dwellings of several other tribes can be found in the area.

Where Is The Grand Canyon National Park Located?
The Grand Canyon is located in the northern part of the state of Arizona, although the Colorado River passes through  4 further states (2 before reaching the canyon, and 2 after) as well as Mexico before discharging into the Gulf of California.

The Grand Canyon National Park surrounds the canyon itself, but also incorporates 4927 km2 of other land and reserves including land in Coconino and Mohave Counties.

Most visitors either drive to the area on Arizona State Route 64, where they arrive at the South Rim where the bulk of the sites and visitor facilities are; but the less visited North Rim uses the State Route 67 in.

What Is The Grand Canyon Skywalk?
The Grand Canyon Skywalk is one of the most thrilling parts of a visit to this amazing place - but isn’t something for everyone!  Basically, it is an unsupported glass platform, that juts out over the side of the canyon, leaving ‘air space’ between your feet and the mile down to the Colorado River!

Obviously it is fully secure and has passed numerous Health and Safety tests and re-tests - but would you have the nerve to actually step off of the side of the gorge and look past your feet to a tumbling white-water river passing underneath?

Is It Worth Going On 1 Of The Grand Canyon Helicoptor Tours? 
The thrill of flying over the natural feature is well worth the flight - but as with the skywalk - you don’t want to be afraid of heights!

You will be able to see an awful lot more of the Grand Canyon itself if you do take the helicopter ride, and you will come away from the site with memories that not many people are brave enough to earn themselves.  I mean if you are going to go all the way there to see the canyon in the first place - then make sure you save enough to get the helicopter ride when you get there - I don’t think you will ever regret it!

.

posted by Travel Cat on Mar 30

Welcome back, and we go straight back to the chase with the remaining 5 alternative things to see in Edinburgh - without the crowds…….

6) The Closes or Wynds.
Any guide book will tell you about the tiny little streets that run down off the raised High Street - but make sure you go and have a look up and down a few to really get a feel for their character.  Yes, this is where those steps and slopes come into the picture, so don’t leave these bits to the end of the day, otherwise you will be too tired to bother - and you will miss out on this secret part of the city!

7) Mary Kings Close.
If you are only going to go down 1 of the closes, make sure that it is Mary Kings - because it is actually buried underground!  When they city wanted to build an important building on the High Street, they just built right on over the top of all the houses that were already there - trapping those houses underneath in a permanent time capsule!  You get to wander through these ancient dwellings and along the main street - all of which has been buried beneath the modern city!  It’s not a scary place - but it really gives you an idea of what the city used to be like in the 1500’s!

Victoria Street & Terrace.
This delightful little winding street, leads off down from the main George IV Bridge street at a rate of 1 story every 3 shop fronts!  It’s great to see the tiny cramped first shop curve away into the distance getting lower and lower, while the buildings get higher and higher.  I’m sure the final house has around 12 storeys!  And, above this row of ever-expanding shops is a little terrace that maintains level ground - the only such terrace left in town!

9) Place To Avoid.
If you don’t want to waste your time getting lost and spending £30 a head on your lunch, then don’t go to the National Museum of Scotland!  Although the artifacts and dioramas are nice enough, it was a terrible layout and we kept coming across dead ends! 

We finally made it up to the restaurant which was on the 5th floor that was marked as ‘3′ in the lift, very much hungry - only to find (after 3 more dead ends) that they were serving food from the 13th century!  Quail and roast duck were a common ingredient and the prices started from around £15 for a starter!  I mean, that’s not what you expect in a museum - so we had to leave the whole museum for food - and didn’t bother going back!

10) North Bridge At Night.
Make sure you head out of your hotel room at least one night to see the town lit up at night.  From this spot above the station, you can see some beautiful sites here at night, and of course a walk in any direction will expose even more.  And while you are out at night - why not let yourself be taken on one of the free ghost tours of the city!

A City not to be missed!

posted by Travel Cat on Sep 3

Learn about the amazing UNESCO World Heritage Site before you go!

For example, did you know that the famous white marble domes that everyone poses infront of is only a small part of the whole Taj Mahal complex which took over 20 years to complete and covers over 22 hectares and includes a small town?

The Taj Mahal attracts from 2 to 4 million visitors annually, with more than 200,000 of those from overseas. Most tourists visit in the cooler months of October, November and February. It was also recently announced as one of the ‘New Seven Wonders of the World’ in a recnt poll, alongside Machu Picchu and The Pyramids of Giza.

Taj Mahal History:
A brief history of the Taj Mahal is as follows: The Mughal emperor Shah Jahn was grief-stricken when his third and favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahal, died during the birth of their fourteenth child. So in memory of her life he set about the almighty task of building her a great mausoleum - the Taj Mahal (the Crown/Royal Mahal).

The Taj Mahal (also “the Taj”) is regarded as one of the finest examples of what has become known as ‘Mughal’ architecture; a style combining both Persian, Indian, and Islamic architectural styles.

And, while earlier Mughal buildings were usually built of red sandstone, Shah Jahan promoted the use of white marble inlaid with semi-precious stones for the main building. However, as Muslim tradition forbids elaborate decoration of graves and hence Mumtaz and Shah Jahan are laid in a relatively plain crypt beneath the inner chamber.

Where Is The Taj Mahal Located?
The Taj Mahal is located on a small pocket of land beside the River Yamuna to the south of the walled city of Agra in Uttar Pradesh, Northern India.

Shah Jahan wanted this patch of land so much that he offered the Maharajah Jai Singh a large palace in the center of Agra in exchange for the land!

The completed Taj Mahal complex is bounded on three sides by crenellated red sandstone walls, with the river-facing side left open with the Moonlight Garden. Outside the walls are several additional mausoleums, including those of Shah Jahan’s other wives, and a larger tomb for Mumtaz’s favorite servant.

When Was The Taj Mahal Built?
Construction of the Taj Mahal began in 1632, one year after the death of his beloved wife. The principal mausoleum was completed in 1648 and the surrounding buildings and garden were finished in the following 5 years.

A labour force of an estimated twenty thousand workers from across northern India were employed in it’s construction. And the materials to be used came from all over India and Asia. And over 1,000 elephants were apparently employed to move the materials.

Components were from afar and included the marble from Rajastan, the jasper from Punjab, and both jade and crystal from China. The turquoise came from Tibet and the Lapis lazuli from across the hills in Afghanistan. Sapphire was imported from Sri Lanka and the carnelian was Arabian in origin. In total - 28 types of precious and semi-precious stones were beautifully inlaid into the white marble structure.

Who Was The Architect Of The Taj Mahal?
There is no definitive answer to this but Ustad Isa and Isa Muhammad Effendi of Persia who was coached by Koca Mimar Sinan Agha of the Ottoman Empire is frequently credited with a key role in the architectural design.

Ustad Ahmad Lahauri is also considered the most likely candidate as the principal designer of the complex and Ismail Afandi is credited as the main designer of the large dome.

And Finally:
Neighboring Bangladesh has made a life size replica of the Taj Mahal 18 miles northeast of the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka.

However, this version only took 5 years to build but was by no means cheaper! It still cost around $58 million for the wealthy Bangladeshi film-maker who wanted it built. He was reportedly building it so that ‘the poor of his nation can realise their dream of seeing neighbouring India’s famed monument’.

India aren’t too pleased though!