The Bahamas

The Bahamas is a group of 700 islands and cays located in the Atlantic Ocean by the Caribbean. It is the most prosperous country in the Caribbean. The Bahamas relies on tourism to generate most of its economic activity.

From going to the beach and enjoying its crystals waters, to going partying during the nights there are all sort of activities that you could enjoyed in this islands. For example: snorkeling, hiking and horseback riding. What could be better that watching the underwater wildlife, laying by the beach or simply going around the tropical habitats of these islands?

Depending on which island you want to go, there are different resorts; all of them include different activities for tourists. Nassau, Bahamas’s capital, located at Providence Island is home of The Atlantis resort, one of the biggest resorts in the world, among all of the things to do in the island, this resort has a dolphin cay, water parks, marine habitat and different activities that go from golfing to climbing a rock. At the Grand Bahama Island you can enjoy the different ecotours or cultural tours or you can also go shopping at Port Lucaya Marketplace, where you can find some duty-free stores.

This is a place just to go and relax, have a nice vacation and escape from the stressful life of the city.

Egypt

As some of you may have heard, Egypt has been in the news for the last month. Hosni Mubarak’s regimen for the last 29 years had oppressed Egyptians. Since January25th, a revolution has been the reason why the eyes of the world are on Egypt. Hosni Mubarak’s regimen is over, and the country is struggling to recover and organize.

Egypt is recognized as being one of the first empires in the world and for its pyramids. Egypt was founded by the king Menes in 3150 BC.  There are about 138 pyramids discovered in Egypt as of 2008. They are considered one of the biggest monumental structures in the world and the question about how they were built is a mystery; most people make up stories and myths about it. The most recognized ones are the ones in Giza outside of Cairo, Egypt’s capital. The pyramid of Khufu is the largest Egyptian pyramid and it is the only one of the Seven Wonders of the World still in existence. Cairo is the largest city in Africa and The Nile, the longest river in the world, goes by this city.

I have yet to make a trip to any part of Egypt. If you have been please share with us your experiences.

The Three Gorges Dam

I chose to talk about the Three Gorges Dam in this week’s blog because I like engineering challenges, and this place represents one of the biggest engineering challenges since the Panama Channel was built, 100 years ago. Last week by searching around big engineering projects I found this one. I knew it existed, but I didn’t know how important it was. I did some research and I want to share with you guys some interesting facts I found about it.

The Three Gorges Dam is located in China and is consider one of the modern wonders of the world. It is the world’s largest hydroelectric power station and it took 10 years to be constructed. The construction began in 1996, and it was expected to take 19 years to be finished. The two main reasons why it was build were:

1.       To control the flooding caused by the Yangtze River.

and

2.       To generate electricity.

The idea of constructing a dam by the Yangtze River started in 1919. Engineers and scientist have been studying this idea since 1957, but with all of the economical, social and political problems in China during the last century. It was very hard for china to work in this project.

Today it is a reality. The dam is finished and the hydroelectric is working. The dam wall is about 2,335 meters long and 185 meters high. The project used 28,000,000 m^3 of concrete, 463,000 tons of steel, and moved about 134,000,000 m^3 of earth.

The construction began in 1994 and the first part was finished in 2003. After the hydroelectric began to work in 2003, the water level of the Yangtze River in the Three Gorges area raised more than 100 meters.

The Three gorges dam blew my mind and I hope it sparks interest in your minds as well.

If you would like to see videos about The Three Gorges Dam visit this links

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsVb1lmVmiY&feature=related

http://dsc.discovery.com/videos/discovery-atlas-china-revealed-three-gorges-dam.html

Paris

Paris: “La ville plupart romantique du monde.” This city is recognized worldwide for having the Eiffel tower, the Musée du Louvre, the Arc de Triomphe, and numerous other important places that were built hundreds of years ago and make this city one of the most visited cities in the world.

Paris is located in northern France and is considered one of the world’s major global cities. The earliest archaeological signs of permanent settlement in Paris date back around 4200 BC. The Eiffel tower, one of the most recognized places in Paris, was built between 1887 and 1889 by Gustave Eiffel. It was inaugurated as the entrance arch of the Exposition Universelle, a world fair that celebrated the one hundred year anniversary of the French revolution. The Eiffel tower was going to be demolished 20 years after it was inaugurated, but the city allowed the tower to remain after the expiration of the permit because it proved value for communication purposes. Today it is the most visited paid monument in the world; more than 200 million people have visited it. Paris has one of the world’s biggest museums, the Louvre Museum, which is the most visited art museum in the world and is considered a historic monument. Its artwork includes the Mona Lisa, which is Leonardo Da Vinci’s most famous painting. Paris is also known for its fashion industry. Every year there are different fashion events. An example is the Paris Fashion week. Attending this event are recognized designers like Marc Jacobs, Valentino and Stella McCartney to show their collections to the world.

Paris is the most romantic city in the world. It is full of diversity and I recommend it as a must go place.

Cartagena, Colombia

For my second blog I would like to tell you guys a little bit about Cartagena, Colombia. I’m from Medellin, Colombia and I love my country. Cartagena is one of my favorite places to go to in Colombia, and I would like to recommend it to anyone that wants to go anywhere in South America. This city is right by the Caribbean Sea and is not very big but it has a lot of history. One of its most famous places is “La ciudad Amurallada” (Walled City), it has a colonial architecture that takes you back to the 1600’s. This historic place was built somewhere between 1533 and 1717. The wall was built, because the increasing fame and wealth of the prosperous city turned it into an attractive site for pirates and corsairs. This place is one of the reasons why Cartagena is the most visited city in Colombia. Another historic place is “El Castillo de San Felipe de Barajas.” It was built in the XVII century by Spain to protect themselves from other countries that wanted to invade Colombia, during this time period Spain owned Colombia. When I visited it, I quickly noticed that the image I had of a castle and this place was totally different. Unlike most castles it has a different architecture (for those of you that don’t know what Castillo means, it is the Spanish word for castle).

Besides all of the historic places in this city there are also other places such as “Playa Blanca”, “Las Islas del Rosario”, “Baru” and “Bocachica.”  These islands are all less than 30 minutes away from the port. There you can enjoy the magic of a natural environment and sit at their beaches and relax.

I hope that with this short description of Cartagena all of you get intrigued by it and maybe add it to your list of places you want to visit in your future.

My Idea

My idea with this blog is to talk about different places around the world that I find very interesting. Some of them might be very popular with very high tourism rates and some of them might be places that most people don’t know about.

I come from another country and have been living here for just one year. I am from Colombia and one of my favorite things to do is to travel. If someone invites me on a trip it is so hard for me to say no, but sometimes I have to. I have never been overseas, but I would love to sometime soon.

I hope all of you enjoy my blogs every week and hope to hear opinions about the places I talk about, especially if you have been there. As a tourist I think that something that makes a trip more fun is to hear different opinions and advice regarding the place you’re going to. When you go to a place you have never been to, it is really hard to know where to go or what to do. Usually people get lost and lose a lot of time trying to find what the best things to do are. That is why getting advice is always good; it makes it easier to get around.  I know that travel agencies can help you a lot in this matter, but even though they plan your trip, you still have to be on their schedule. So I personally prefer to plan a trip on my own and just enjoy the places that people recommend me the most.  It is also important to know where you should not go, that way you don’t get a bad surprise.

To end, I would like to invite you all on this journey with me, hope everyone enjoys it!