close
Virgin Travel Insurance’s
Overseas
1. The Treasury at Petra, Jordan
The feeling of coming face to face with The Treasury – a 45-metre high by 25-metre wide temple hewn out of the limestone – after winding along the 1200-metre corridor is so fantastic that you almost believe you have come across a hidden city that no one has yet discovered.
2. The Grand Canal, Venice, Italy
Just as Canaletto painted it. Gondolas ply their way along the main artery of Europe’s most fascinating city, flanked by magnificent restored palazzos. Smaller canals and a fascinating maze of narrow alleyways lead off on both sides.
3. The Masai Mara, Kenya
Nothing prepares you for the sounds and scents of the African bush and nowhere on earth is nature so prolific. The Big Five of lion, leopard, buffalo, elephant and rhino hug the limelight. But it is the supporting cast of giraffe, zebra, hippo, wildebeest and cheetah that help make any safari a success. A hot-air-balloon ride is one of the best ways to see the area – it’s environmentally friendly and gives a completely different perspective of the animals. Sunrise and sunset over the Mara is not to be missed.
4. Sydney Harbour Bridge, Australia
Climbing 134m to the top girder of Sydney Harbour Bridge provides a bird’s-eye view of the city. The feeling of achievement is as strong as the breeze whipping through your protective suit. Anyone can do it, but stepping out onto the first horizontal span induces a feeling of vertigo. However, an ingenious running karabiner allows you to be permanently hooked by a wire to a safety rail throughout the climb. Once you are out over the water all feelings of fear are left behind as the map of Sydney unfolds beneath you.
5. Taroko Gorge, Taiwan
Mornings start early at Taroko Gorge if you are to walk any of the trails before it becomes too hot and humid. The 2km-long Paiyang trail includes clambering through tunnels and a cave, which goes under and behind a waterfall, where it ‘rains’ inside. Bats squeal and reel above as you teeter along the narrow ledge trying not to fall into the deep water. Taroko Gorge was the backdrop for the film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and JK Rowling would love it here.
6. Kings Canyon, Northern Territory, Australia
One of the unsung wonders of the Red Centre, a giddy rock formation as great as Ayers Rock (now renamed Uluru), but one that has so far escaped commercial exploitation. Kings Canyon at sunset provides an optical feast. Take the Rim Walk – the views from the top are dizzy-making, the plant life abundant, and the rock colours of fiery red, ochre, burnt umber and charcoal are spectacular.
7. Cappadoccia caves, Turkey
This is one of the world’s most ancient inhabited areas, with a bizarrely beautiful landscape that stretches back 60 million years. Fierce volcanic activity, coupled with river and wind erosion, left a bizarre legacy of unusual rock formations in the Göreme region – known as ‘fairy chimneys’. Cave houses were carved out of the volcanic rock during the 19th century and today there are beautifully preserved and available for visitors to stay the night.
8. Lake Titicaca, Peru and Bolivia
It is the highest commercially navigable lake in the world at 3812m above sea level and is located in the Andes on the border of Peru and Bolivia. The lake is so big – it measures 190km by 80km, with an average depth of 107m – that it can be seen from space. Some 27 rivers empty into the lake, and it has 41 islands.
9. Cable Beach, Broome, Western Australia
Cable Beach is one of the finest beaches in the world; a sweeping 22km of perfect white sand fringed by the turquoise waters of the Indian Ocean. Broome itself was at the centre of the ‘Pearl Rush’ of the 1880s, when the discovery of mother-of-pearl brought brief fortune to the town.
10. Jungfraujoch, Switzerland
This is the greatest of all achievements of the Victorian railway pioneers, a rack-and-pinion mountain railway that takes you from Kleine Scheidegg, above the ski resorts of Wengen and Grindelwald, to the highest station in Europe at 3454m. The underground route passes behind the North Face of the Eiger. A window cut into the rock has been famously used by mountain guides to rescue injured climbers.
Overseas
1. The Treasury at Petra, Jordan
The feeling of coming face to face with The Treasury – a 45-metre high by 25-metre wide temple hewn out of the limestone – after winding along the 1200-metre corridor is so fantastic that you almost believe you have come across a hidden city that no one has yet discovered.
2. The Grand Canal, Venice, Italy
Just as Canaletto painted it. Gondolas ply their way along the main artery of Europe’s most fascinating city, flanked by magnificent restored palazzos. Smaller canals and a fascinating maze of narrow alleyways lead off on both sides.
3. The Masai Mara, Kenya
Nothing prepares you for the sounds and scents of the African bush and nowhere on earth is nature so prolific. The Big Five of lion, leopard, buffalo, elephant and rhino hug the limelight. But it is the supporting cast of giraffe, zebra, hippo, wildebeest and cheetah that help make any safari a success. A hot-air-balloon ride is one of the best ways to see the area – it’s environmentally friendly and gives a completely different perspective of the animals. Sunrise and sunset over the Mara is not to be missed.
4. Sydney Harbour Bridge, Australia
Climbing 134m to the top girder of Sydney Harbour Bridge provides a bird’s-eye view of the city. The feeling of achievement is as strong as the breeze whipping through your protective suit. Anyone can do it, but stepping out onto the first horizontal span induces a feeling of vertigo. However, an ingenious running karabiner allows you to be permanently hooked by a wire to a safety rail throughout the climb. Once you are out over the water all feelings of fear are left behind as the map of Sydney unfolds beneath you.
5. Taroko Gorge, Taiwan
Mornings start early at Taroko Gorge if you are to walk any of the trails before it becomes too hot and humid. The 2km-long Paiyang trail includes clambering through tunnels and a cave, which goes under and behind a waterfall, where it ‘rains’ inside. Bats squeal and reel above as you teeter along the narrow ledge trying not to fall into the deep water. Taroko Gorge was the backdrop for the film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and JK Rowling would love it here.
6. Kings Canyon, Northern Territory, Australia
One of the unsung wonders of the Red Centre, a giddy rock formation as great as Ayers Rock (now renamed Uluru), but one that has so far escaped commercial exploitation. Kings Canyon at sunset provides an optical feast. Take the Rim Walk – the views from the top are dizzy-making, the plant life abundant, and the rock colours of fiery red, ochre, burnt umber and charcoal are spectacular.
7. Cappadoccia caves, Turkey
This is one of the world’s most ancient inhabited areas, with a bizarrely beautiful landscape that stretches back 60 million years. Fierce volcanic activity, coupled with river and wind erosion, left a bizarre legacy of unusual rock formations in the Göreme region – known as ‘fairy chimneys’. Cave houses were carved out of the volcanic rock during the 19th century and today there are beautifully preserved and available for visitors to stay the night.
8. Lake Titicaca, Peru and Bolivia
It is the highest commercially navigable lake in the world at 3812m above sea level and is located in the Andes on the border of Peru and Bolivia. The lake is so big – it measures 190km by 80km, with an average depth of 107m – that it can be seen from space. Some 27 rivers empty into the lake, and it has 41 islands.
9. Cable Beach, Broome, Western Australia
Cable Beach is one of the finest beaches in the world; a sweeping 22km of perfect white sand fringed by the turquoise waters of the Indian Ocean. Broome itself was at the centre of the ‘Pearl Rush’ of the 1880s, when the discovery of mother-of-pearl brought brief fortune to the town.
10. Jungfraujoch, Switzerland
This is the greatest of all achievements of the Victorian railway pioneers, a rack-and-pinion mountain railway that takes you from Kleine Scheidegg, above the ski resorts of Wengen and Grindelwald, to the highest station in Europe at 3454m. The underground route passes behind the North Face of the Eiger. A window cut into the rock has been famously used by mountain guides to rescue injured climbers.
湊滿三個了 哈哈~
全站熱搜
留言列表
