Machu Picchu, Peru

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 386.

Taj Mahal, India

The Taj Mahal was completed at Agra in 1653 by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan to glorify the beauty of his favourite (but dead) wife. So, is this minaret-ringed marvel (чудо)with its domed (украшенный куполом; с куполом) mausoleum, white-marble calligraphy and bejewelled (обвешанный драгоценностями) inner chambers (залы,комнаты?) a romantic dream come true, or is it a lavish folly (чрезмерная прихоть) to which the labours of 20,000 people over 22 years should not have been devoted? You be the judge.

The fabulous stonework (каменная кладка) of the ruined Inca city of Machu Picchu is nestled (укрываться) 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 (таить злобу) and smallpox (оспа). Archaeologist Hiram Bingham rediscovered the site on behalf of (от имени, в интересах?) the outside world in 1911 and Peru's tourism bureaucrats are still thanking him. The ruins and the Inca Trail (след; тропа) 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 (путешествие) must be booked 30 days in advance, plus a nonrefundable (невозмещаемый) entrance fee of US $50.