Situated on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea and 130km east of the capital Tripoli, lies the ancient Roman ruins of this once beautiful city of the Roman Empire.
Leptis Magna was enlarged by Septimius Severus who later became emperor. There is evidence of public monuments, a busy harbour, market place, storehouses, shops and residential regions. Some of the buildings are beautifully preserved all these years on. Leptis Magna gained UNESCO inscription during 1982.
Unfortunately, when I travelled throughout North Africa during the late 1980′s, the borders to Libya were closed to foreigners and I was unable to visit Leptis Magna. This travel destination remains on my Bucket List to this day!
The remnants of the fascinating Mayan civilisation can be marvelled at Tikal National Park, a UNESCO listed site since 1979. Tikal, meaning ‘place of voices’ is now a National Park and located in the northern region of Guatemala and not too far from the border with Belize.
Tikal was the capital of the ancient Mayan civilisation. It is believe that it would not have been its original name but infact the name given shortly after its modern day discovery during the 1840s. Population estimates place the demographic size of the site between 100,000 and 200,000.
The National Park is not only home to archaeological wonders of temples and ruins but also the home to monkeys, parrots, deer, toucans, macaws, ocelots and the rare jaguar.
A highly recommended book by Dr Peter D. Harrison – The Lords of Tikal: Rulers of an Ancient Maya City
Aswan is found on the banks of the Nile River in southern Egypt. It is the last main stopping point before you reach the Sudanese border. Like much of Egypt’s large cities and towns there are numerous archaeological sites to see. The most well-known being the Isle of Philae but it is also the main travelling point to the more southern ‘Abu Simbel’ which was in fact a temple that was moved and reconstructed to make way for the damming of the Nile to form Lake Nasser during the 1960s.
Diary extract – 25 July, 1988 – Abu Simbel to Aswan Taxi Trip.
“…The drive back to Aswan was absolutely unbearable. (I later learnt the temperature was 40C plus) The hot wind that blew off the desert and hit us full-on choking us because we had the windows down due to no air-conditioning, was incredible. All 8 of us in the taxi carried bottled water but it was now ‘hot’ and no longer gave us the cool relief we needed. There was no getting comfortable. Either your back was dripping with sweat, you stuck to the seat or to your neighbour. Beads of sweat trickled and tickled all over and became really annoying. It was the longest 3 hour car trip I’d done and it was truly revolting…”
A short ferry or felucca trip on the Nile takes you to Elephantine Island. Here you’ll find the Museum which displays many Nubian artefacts. Beyond Elephantine Island, is Kitchener’s Island and soley constitutes the local Botanical Gardens, a popular spot for locals and tourists wishing to have some peace and quiet. Continuing across the Nile to the west bank is the Tomb of Agha Khan, a great viewing spot of the traffic on the Nile and Elephantine Island. A great viewing location of the western bank and the Nile River is from the Old Cataract Hotel. It in itself is a landmark of the city.
An essential travel guide to Egypt including Aswan and the other major travel destinations of this historic country.
One great reason to visit Aswan is to sit by the pool at the beautiful Old Cataract Hotel, that majestically overlooks the Nile River that is constantly busy with feluccas.
Petra is an amazing Nabataean archaeological site located south of the capital Amman, in the area known as Wadi Musa. Petra was the capital of the Nabataean civilisation during the 6th century and was registered on the UNESCO world heritage list during 1985.
Petra is a truly amazing place. From my own experience and knowing little about it on arrival, it was my own ‘discovery’. I had no preconceived expectations. I was in awe at what lay before me after reaching the end of the narrow Siq (a narrow gorge, more than 1 kilometre in length and flanked on either side by soaring, 80 metres high red cliffs).
Diary extract – 23 May, 1989
“…started out at 7.30am for the walk from the hotel to Petra. The temperature at that hour was very pleasant. There were a number of horses and donkey’s for the tourists to ride on but we decided to walk to the site of Petra. Part of the way we walked with local girls heading off to school. They were all covered and very curious about our presence at that hour. We began the walk through the mile long Siq, past the most vivid of colours in the gorge walls. The first glimpse of the Treasury as you approached the final leg of the Siq was truly breathtaking. From the Treasury we went up to the Place of Sacrifice. This was a silent, peaceful spot with fabulous views across all of Petra. I could have sat there all day and just gazed at the beauty of the rock colours and distant temples…”
Petra became even more well known in 1989 when Steven Spielberg’s movie, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade was released. The Treasury, together with many other archaeological delights that are carved into the red stone of the area and are very well preserved and warranted the archaeological site being chosen in July 2007 as one of the New Seven Wonders of the World. There are a number of walks throughout the archaeological park and it is advised, to see the park thoroughly, at least 2 days is recommended.
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