Saturday 1 December 2012

Top 10 Travel Destinations in the World You Shouldn't Miss

Today, I want to discuss the top 10 my favorite travel destinations in the world. There are thousands of travel destinations in the world with awesome, beautiful and scenic panoramic views. We will pick some of the travel destinations which shouldn't be missed out of your travel list. These places are a must to visit in your life time at least once.

Here is the list of top 10 travel destinations in the world you mustn't wish to miss:

10) Dubrovnik, Croatia





Dubrovnik is a city located in the coast of Croatia on the Adriatic sea. This world heritage city is a most prominent tourist destination on the Adriatic sea. Dubrovnik is a combination of scenic beauty, beaches, luxury hotels and with beautiful buildings.

9) Grand Canyon, USA





Grand Canyon is one of the most famous tourist destination in the United States, which is a steep-shaped canyon made by the river Colorado in State of Arizona. The Grand Canyon has the pride of being one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the world in its pocket. The Grand Canyon is famous for its spectacular views from top.

8) Tulum, Mayan City, Mexico






Tulum is the historic remains of the walled city of Mayan civilizations located in Mexico, which served the major port for Coba. Tulum is a most popular tourist destinations in the world. Tulum was on the last cities inhabited and built by the Mayans. Tulum is situated on 39 ft tall cliffs, which belongs to the 13th and 15th centuries.

7) Ancient city of Machu Picchu, Peru





The mysterious ruins of Machu Pichhu belongs to the 15th century located 7,970 ft above sea level in Urubamba Valley in Peru. The ruins belong to the pre-Columbian Inca civilization. UNESCO authority has set up restrictions for tourists by restricting the flow of tourists by 2500 persons per day.

6) Cappadocia, Turkey





Cappadocia is a historical place in Central Anatolia, Nevsehir Province in Turkey. This place was named because of this regions specialty of exceptional natural wonders with chimneys seen in fairy tales. This is now a famous tourist spot with unique historical and cultural heritage.
The movie Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance was filmed at this very place.

5) Puerto Princesa Underground River, Philippines






Puerto Princesa Underground river is located in the city center of Puerto Princesa, Palawan, Philippines. This river takes the pride of being the world's longest underground navigable river. This is now a world heritage site and a famous tourist spot in Philippines. This wonderful natural beauty stretches nearly 24 km inside caves with small waterfalls, marine creatures, rock formations, large bats and varied rich bio-diversity. On Jan 28, 2012, this river was included in the New 7 Wonders of Nature.


4) Amalfi Coast, Italy


Photograph by Thomas Linkel, laif/Redux - National Geographic



The images above says it all. The Amalfi coast in the Province of Salerno in Southern Italy is one of the world's most beautiful coast with beautiful architectures along the coast. This coast attracts thousands of tourists from all over the world annually and becoming popular day by day. In 1997, this coast was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site as a culatural landscape. The amazing little coast was formed during the 10th-11th centuries. A place to visit before you die.

3) Iguazu Falls, Argentina/Brazil








Iguazu Falls is one of the most breathtaking falls in the world which is often compared with the Niagara Falls and Victoria Falls. The Iguazu Falls/River shares the boundaries between Argentina and Brazil.
This falls is currently the second greatest average annual flow of any waterfall in the world after Niagara with an average rate of 1,746 cubic meters per second, whereas the Niagara Falls is 2400 cubic meters per second. The mist from Iguazu's Devil's throat rises between 30 to 150 meters high in the air. The best part for tourists is, this falls allows better views and walkways for enjoying some spectacular vistas.

2) Bora Bora, French Polynesia








Bora Bora is an island in the Leeward group of the Society Islands of French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of France in the Pacific Ocean.The serene island is located about 230 km northwest of Papeete engulfed by beautiful lagoon and barrier reef. This island also has extinct volcanoes in the center land. This island is a famous international tourist destination with aqua-centric luxury resorts. Scuba diving and holidaying on the luxury water bungalows are famous in this island.

1) Pamukkale, Turkey






Photo credit: National Geographic - Photograph by Luis Filipe Catarino, 4See/Redux
Pamukkale in Turkish means "Cotton Castle". Though, the images above looks like glaciers and ice bergs, they are not. This place is a natural site in the Denizli Province of Southwestern Turkey. The city contains hot springs and travertines, terraces of carbonate minerals left by the flowing water.

Pamukkale's terraces are made of travertine, a sedimentary rock deposited by water from the hot springs. The terraces have 17 hot water springs which has temperature ranging from 35 °C to 100 °C, People have bathed in its pools for thousands of years now. Now, this place is a World Heritage Site after tourism was slowly destroying this natural beauty. Now, people are not allowed to bath with shoes on.

Hope you liked this article. I loved this article composition very much because of these wonderful and breathtaking pictures of these amazingly beautiful places on the Earth. Hope you too enjoyed these pictures and places. Visiting these places is a boon for mankind. Don't forgot to leave a nice comment about this article. Thanks for watching the post.

Image Credit: Various

Sunday 7 October 2012

Top 10 Evergreen English Albums

Today, was listening to some great albums all day long. Thought of compiling my favourite list of all time top 10 music albums for you guys. These are only English albums.

The list of my top 10 favorite english albums:

1) PINK FLOYID - Dark Side of the Moon

Released1 March 1973

2) Abbey Road - The Beatles

Released26 September 1969


3) Pet Sounds - The Beach Boys

ReleasedMay 16, 1966


4) Velvet Underground & Nico



ReleasedMarch 12, 1967


5) Highway 61 Revisited - Bob Dylan


ReleasedAugust 30, 1965


6) Thriller - Michael Jackson


ReleasedNovember 30, 1982


7) Slanted & Enchanted- Pavement


ReleasedApril 20, 1992

8) OK Computer - Radiohead



ReleasedMay 21, 1997

9) The White Album - The Beatles (Self Titled)


Released22 November 1968

10) Physical Graffiti - Led Zeppelin



Released24 February 1975
Hope you liked the list, please let us know your choice by commenting below. Thanks for visiting the site.

Saturday 14 July 2012

Top 10 Tallest Buildings in the World 2012

Top 10 worlds tallest buildings in 2012. Skyscrapers are becoming a toy game in the ever growing world. With the advancement in technology and equipment, the man kind in trying to reach the sky with the help of mere bricks.

In this post, you will see the list of top 10 world's tallest skyscrapers as of now.

10. Guangzhou International Finance Center


General information
TypeMixed use
LocationGuangzhou, China
Construction startedDecember 2005
Completed2010
Opening2010
CostGBP £ 280 million (project total)
Height
Architectural438.6 m (1,439 ft)
Roof437.5 m (1,435 ft)
Top floor415.1 m (1,362 ft)
Observatory415.1 m (1,362 ft)
Technical details
Floor count103 (4 basement floors)
Floor area250,095 m2 (2,692,000 sq ft)
Elevators71
Design and construction
ArchitectWilkinson Eyre
References

9. Kingkey 100




General information
StatusComplete
TypeHotel / Office
LocationShenzhen
China

Construction started2007
CompletedSeptember 2011
Opening2011
Height
Architectural441.8 metres (1,449 ft)
Top floor427.1 metres (1,401 ft)
Observatory427.1 metres (1,401 ft)
Technical details
Floor count100
Floor area220,000 square metres (2,368,060 sq ft)
Elevators66
Design and construction
OwnerKingkey Group
ArchitectTerry Farrell and Partners
Structural engineerArup

8. Willis Tower (Sears Tower )



Former namesSears Tower
Record height
Tallest in the world from 1973 to 1998
Preceded byOne World Trade Center(1971)
Surpassed byPetronas Twin Towers
General information
TypeOffice, observation, communication
Location233 S. Wacker Drive
Chicago, Illinois 60606
United States
Construction started1970
Completed1973
Height
Architectural442.1 m (1,450 ft)
Tip527 m (1,729 ft)
Top floor412.7 m (1,354 ft)
Technical details
Floor count108 (+3 basement floors)
Floor area416,000 m2 (4,477,800 sq ft)
Elevators104, with 16 double-decker elevators, made by Westinghouse, modernized by Schindler Group
Design and construction
ArchitectSkidmore, Owings and Merrill (Fazlur Khan & Bruce Graham)

7. Zifeng Tower



General information
StatusComplete
TypeMixed use
LocationNanjing, China
Construction started2005
Completed2009
Opening18 December 2010
Height
Architectural450 m (1,480 ft)
Roof381 m (1,250 ft)
Top floor316.6 m (1,039 ft)
Observatory271.8 m (892 ft)
Technical details
Floor count66 (+5 basement floors)
Elevators54
Design and construction
ArchitectAdrian Smith at SOM
Structural engineerSkidmore, Owings and 

6. Petronas Tower



General information
TypeCommercial offices
LocationJalan Ampang
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Groundbreaking1 January 1992
Construction started1 March 1993
Completed1 April 1994
Inaugurated1 August 1999
Renovated1 January 1997
CostUS$1.6 billion
Height
Architectural451.9 m (1,483 ft)
Roof378.6 m (1,242 ft)
Top floor375 m (1,230 ft)
Technical details
Floor count88 (+5 basement floors)
Floor area395,000 m2 (4,252,000 sq ft)
Elevators78
Design and construction
OwnerKLCC Holdings Sdn Bhd
ArchitectCésar Pelli
DeveloperKLCC Holdings Sdn Bhd
Structural engineerThornton Tomasetti
Main contractorTower1: Hazama Corporation
Tower2: Samsung Engineering & Constructionand Kukdong Engineering & Construction
City Center: B.L. Harbert International

5. International Commerce Center



General information
StatusComplete
TypeHotel, observation, office, parking garage, retail
LocationHong Kong West Kowloon, Hong Kong

Construction started2002
Completed2010
Opening2010
Height
Architectural484.0 m (1,587.9 ft)
Top floor118
Observatory387.8 m (1,272.3 ft)
Technical details
Floor count108
Floor area274,064 m2 (2,950,000 sq ft)
Elevators
  • 30 passenger lifts
  • 14 shuttle lifts
  • 2 VIP lifts
Design and construction
ManagementKai Shing Management Services Limited
Architect
  • United States Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates (design)
  • Belt Collins & Associates (landscape)
  • Wong & Ouyang (HK) Ltd.
DeveloperSun Hung Kai Properties
Structural engineerUnited Kingdom Arup
Main contractorSanfield Building Contractors Limited

4. Shanghai World Financial Center



General information
StatusComplete
TypeOffice, hotel, museum, observation, parking garage, retail
Location100 Century Avenue, Pudong,Shanghai, China
Construction started1997
Completed2008
OpeningAugust 28, 2008
CostRMB ¥ 8.17 billion
(USD $ 1.20 billion)
Height
Architectural492.0 m (1,614.2 ft)
Tip494.3 m (1,621.7 ft)
Roof487.4 m (1,599.1 ft)
Top floor474.0 m (1,555.1 ft)
Observatory474 m (1,555.1 ft)
Technical details
Floor count101
Floor area381,600 m2 (4,107,500 sq ft)
Elevators91
Design and construction
OwnerShanghai World Financial Center Co., Ltd.
ArchitectKohn Pedersen Fox
DeveloperMori Building Co.
Structural engineerLeslie E. Robertson Associates RLLP
Main contractorChina State Construction Engineering Corp and Shanghai Construction (Group) General Co.

3. Taipei 101



General information
TypeMixed use: communication, conference, fitness center, library, observation, office, restaurant, retail
LocationXinyi District, Taipei, Taiwan

Construction started1999
Completed2004
OpeningDecember 31, 2004
CostNT$ 58 billion
(US$ 1.80 billion)
Height
Architectural509 m (1,669.9 ft)
Roof449.2 m (1,473.8 ft)
Top floor439 m (1,440.3 ft)
Observatory391.8 m (1,285.4 ft)
Technical details
Floor count101 (+5 basement floors)
Floor area193,400 m2 (2,081,700 sq ft)
Elevators61 Toshiba/KONE elevators, including double-deck shuttles and 2 high speed observatory elevators)
Design and construction
OwnerTaipei Financial Center Corporation
ManagementUrban Retail Properties Co.
ArchitectC.Y. Lee & partners
Structural engineerThornton Tomasetti
Main contractorSamsung C&T

2. Abraj Al Bait Towers


General information
StatusTopped-out
TypeMixed use:
hotel, residential
LocationMecca, Saudi Arabia
Construction started2004
Opening2012
Height
Architectural601 m (1,972 ft)
Top floor558.7 m (1,833 ft)
Observatory558.7 m (1,833 ft)
Technical details
Floor count120 
Floor areaTower: 310,638 m2 (3,343,680 sq ft)
Development: 1,575,815 m2(16,961,930 sq ft)
Design and construction
ArchitectDar Al-Handasah Architects
Main contractorSaudi Binladin Group

1. Burj Khalifa



Former namesBurj Dubai
General information
StatusComplete
TypeMixed-use
LocationDubai, United Arab Emirates
Construction startedJanuary 2004
Completed2010
Opening4 January 2010
CostUSD $ 1.5 billion
Height
Architectural828 m (2,717 ft)
Tip829.84 m (2,723 ft)
Roof828 m (2,717 ft)
Top floor584.5 m (1,918 ft)
Observatory452.1 m (1,483 ft)
Technical details
Floor count163 floors
plus 46 maintenance levels in the spire and 2 parking levels in the basement
Floor area309,473 m2 (3,331,100 sq ft)
Design and construction
ArchitectAdrian Smith at SOM
DeveloperEmaar Properties
Structural engineerBill Baker at SOM
Main contractorSamsung C&T, Besix and Arabtec
Supervision Consultant Engineer & Architect of Record Hyder Consulting
Construction Project ManagerTurner Construction
Grocon
Planning Bauer AG and Middle East Foundations
Lift contractor Otis
VT consultant Lerch Bates
Hope you enjoyed the list of world's currently tallest buildings. Thanks for viewing.
Source: Wiki