Petra

Located in the Jordanian governorate of Ma'an, Petra is city cut out of the side of Mount Hor. It was established by the Nabataeans in the 6th century BC as their capital city. Since 1985, Petra has been a World Heritage Site and was notes as being "one of the most precious cultural properties of man's cultural heritage." Parts of Petra were shown in the film Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade as well as a number of other films.

The Petra Visitors Center is located in the town of Wadi Musa (The Valley of Moses). The easiest way to get to Petra is to fly into King Hussein International Airport in Aqaba and making your way north to Wadi Musa.

Uluru

Uluru, also known as Ayers Rock, is one of the most recognizable natural features in Australia. Jutting up 1,142 feet out of the plains of central Australia, the site attracts thousands of tourists each year. The mountain is a sacred place to the local Pitjantjatjara people. This, along with it's many ancient paintings, made Uluru a World Heritage Site. The name Uluru comes from the Pitjantjatjara people though that word has no particular meaning in their language.

You can reach Uluru by plane via the nearby Ayers Rock Airport. Once there, there are scenic viewing areas and areas to go hiking or climbing.

The Karst Peaks of Guilin

Located in the Guilin Prefecture of China near the Li River, the Karst Peaks are a breathtaking site. There are many ways to enjoy these beautiful mountains. You can rent a bicycle or take a riverboat tour or, for the more adventurous, there are a number of companies have set up climbing routes. The best place to enjoy these peaks is the town of Yangshou which can be reached by bus or boat from the city of Guilin. There are also a number of caves to be explored.

The Gateway to Hell

Far off the beaten path in the middle of Turkmenistan's Karakum Desert lies the gateway to hell. The gateway is positioned close to the small village of Derweze. The gateway opened up following a drilling accident in 1971. While some geologists were drilling, they hit a large cavern filled with natural gas. Weakened by the hole and weighed down by the heavy drilling equipment, the roof of the cavern collapsed. This created a 70 meter crater in the ground with poisonous gas leaking out of it. To avoid further disaster, the geologists set the gas on fire figuring it would run out of fuel within a matter of days. The fires have been burning ever since.

Getting to The Gateway to Hell is easy enough as long as you don't mind long drives through the desert. To get there you have to travel north from the city of Ashgabat for about 150 miles. Luckily, you can fly right in to Ashgabat via the Ashgabat International Airport.

Cerro Roraima

Between Venezuela, Brazil, and Guyana lies a mammoth tabletop mountain that rises up to 9,219 feet. This incredible geological feature was the inspiration for Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World and Disney/Pixar's Up. The mountain is covered almost entirely in sandstone with very few bushes able to survive. Combined with the near-daily rainfall, this is one of the most inhospitable places in the world. Torrents of water wash over the edges and create some of the world's tallest waterfalls. 


There are a few ways to reach this mountain. The most popular is to travel to the village of Paraitepui in Venezuela. Paraitepui is on a dirt road off of the main Gran Sabana road between kilometer 88 and Santa Elena de Uairen. After reaching the village, your best bet is to hire a local Pemon Indian guide to take you up the mountain. While the path up is marked, once you reach the top there are no markings and the poor conditions on the top make visual referencing difficult. Tour companies organize five-day tours.