Uluru, Australia

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 417.

Machu Picchu, Peru

The fabulous stonework of the ruined Inca city of Machu Picchu is nestled high in the Peruvian Andes. It was built in the mid-15th century but abandoned only a century later, around the time some Spanish visitors arrived bearing malice and smallpox. Archaeologist Hiram Bingham rediscovered the site on behalf of the outside world in 1911 and Peru's tourism bureaucrats are still thanking him. The ruins and the Inca Trail connecting them with Cuzco were becoming buried under tourist numbers and waste until several years ago, when toilets were installed and visitors limited to a mere 500 per day. Solo visitors are now banned. Organised treks must be booked 30 days in advance, plus a nonrefundable entrance fee of US $50.

Massive, monolithic Uluru is embedded in the remote Australian outback and drawshundreds of visitors at dawn and dusk to watch the rock's colours magically change with the rising and setting of the sun. Some people choose to scale this sandstone giant even though the rock's custodians, the Anangu people, ask visitors to keep their feet on the ground out of respect for Aboriginal spiritual beliefs. A more respectful way of exploring enigmatic Uluru is to circumnavigate it via the Base Walk, a 9.5km trail that often allows you a little solitude. Rise above the masses with a 15-minute helicopter ride over Uluru. It costs AU$120 per person; details are at www.uluru.com.

Ex. 5b) Answer the questions:

Which of these tourist spots…