Any in Italics and Bold can not be accomplished because they do not exist any more or they are not able to be seen.
Seven Wonders of the Ancient World
- Great Pyramid of Giza
- Hanging Gardens of Babylon
- Statue of Zeus at Olympia
- Temple of Artemis at Ephesus
- Mausoleum of Maussollos at Halicarnassus
- Colossus of Rhodes
- Lighthouse of Alexandria
Seven Wonders of the Medieval World
- Stonehenge
- Colosseum
- Catacombs of Kom el Shoqafa
- Great Wall of China
- Porcelain Tower of Nanjing
- Hagia Sophia
- Leaning Tower of Pisa
Other sites sometimes included on such lists:
- Taj Mahal
- Cairo Citadel
- Ely Cathedral
- Cluny Abbey
Seven Engineering Wonders
- Channel Tunnel
- CN Tower
- Empire State Building
- Golden Gate Bridge
- Itaipu Dam
- Delta Works/Zuiderzee Works
- Panama Canal
New Seven Wonders of the World
- Great Wall of China
- Petra
- Christ the Redeemer
- Machu Pichu
Spending over 4 months in Peru I decided to do this wonder properly, so I set off with a bunch of other crazy travellers on the famous Inca Trail to Machu Pichu.
We were all shiny and clean heading to Ollantaytambo near the start of the trek. We had hiking sticks, state of the art backpacks, ultra comfy boots and our light trekking clothing. When we saw the porters who we had hired to carry our stuff and cook our food we looked down in shame... they were wearing sandals made from old car tyres, had big plastic woven bags stuffed with 25kgs of tent, food and everything else with homemade straps tyed from bags and rope every morning... I started to feel that my way of 'doing it properly' was definatly not the hardest way.
As we set off on a slight incline, our group did not fail to complain; as we neared our first set of steep stairs down, our group did not fail to complain; but as we neared our first lunch spot we could not find anything to complain about. The porters had already set up a big tent with tables, chairs and napkins folded into little shapes with our knives and forks all laid out. We entered in awe thinking this could not possibly be real. As soon as we entered one of the porters poured out cold chicha morada, a local cool drink made from corn (purple, sweet and really good!) soon after we were offered coca tea to help with the altitude and passed little plates with bruchetta and mushrooms, next we were served an awesome vegetable soup and finally plates filled with rice, meat, boiled veggies and sauce were placed in the middle of the table... smorgousboard in the middle of nowhere... and every meal (including breakfast) just kept getting better, even catering well for the two vegos in our group!
Finally reaching our campsite 8 hours later we were sweaty and tired, but still these porters had already set up our tents and had afternoon tea wating for us... popcorn and buiscuits! I met a brother (Jose) and sister (also called Angela) about 5 and 7 years respectively and gave them a marble I had Picked up along the path, chatting in my disjointed spanish they wished me luck and sat wide eyed looking at the marble and fighting about who got to play with it first. We sat munching on popcorn looking out at the rose garden of the local family and the donkeys, chickens, sheep and geese wandering around, and at the huge mountains beyond the cliff we were perched on top of. After a game of cards and hot chocolate we headed for an early night preparing for the hardest day ahead of us.
Being woken at half five by two porters handing us steaming hot coca tea, we changed, breakfasted and set off walking up... up... up... and up... to a place called dead womans pass. It was 6 hours of walking on a steep incline, people were in tears and cuss words were yelled as people slipped and thought they were about to go over the 20m cliff right beside them. There was heavy breathing and altitude sickness made it even worse for most travellers... but the porters tottered up with their car tyre sandals and 25kg packs without a word of complaint. I powered up the last fifty stairs, puffing heavily and danced through the arch two of my (faster) mates created with their arms at the top. We took the neccisary photos, cheered the rest of our group and heading on the downhill to our campsite.
The following day began with coca tea, an amazing breakfast, a sharp incline, some inca ruins and more heavy breathing. Eventually we reached the downhill and I slowly (and I mean slowly) decended the steep Inca staircases with my tiny little legs making it hard for me. As soon as the stairs stopped and the decline became a path with just rugged rocks I began to run having a ball decending faster and faster overtaking people, looking out over the other mountains and then slowing as they became steps again only to run again once the steps stopped. It was a long day with a bit of rain, but I had a lot of fun running down the mountain and exploring a few small inca cities.
That night we came into a campsite on terraces. Unfortunatly we were camped on the terrace above the bathrooms... which STANK! as the night went on the bathrooms became worse. Travellers seemed to miss the squatteres with aweful diarhea, the porters prefered to pee on the wall outside the bathrooms and the bathrooms next to the bar were blocked up with more diarhea and overflowing causing a flood. But that said, there was a bar and expensive hot showers and we all treated ourselves to a very expensive beer or three. We gave our guides, porters and cooks very generous tips (they certainly deserved them) and slept early eager for Machu Pichu the following day.
Rising at half three we scoffed breakfast, packed and sat in cue at the gate untill half five when it opened and we were able to start the final hour walk to the Sun Gate overlooking Machu Pichu. I started feeling a bit funny in the tummy but ignored it because I was so eager to get to Machu Pichu. Halfway through the climb I realised I really did not feel good and needed to find a bathroom... and soon. I began walking faster got to the Sun Gate, saw clouds covering Machu Pichu and kept walking as fast as a could down to Machu Pichu. Once I arrived, I didnt even look or take a photo at the postcard photo spot but kept decending to the bathrooms at the enterance. Just in time, i paid my 30 cents and stayed there for quite awhile.
Feeling better after a few gastro-stops, I joined my tour and listen to my guide explain the way this ancient civilisation used to live and worship, there were diamond shaped carved rocks pointing exactly north, south, east and west, carefully placed windows so the the sun would shine on a significant stone on a certain day of the year and so many rooms, paths and steps in a huge maze! After being told that the 400 people who are allowed to climb wynapichu (the mountain behind machu pichu in all the famous shots) would probally be finished by the time we got there my hopes were low of being able to do so (my legs were kind of hoping I wasnt able to after so much trekking in the last couple of days) but my guide promised he would try. After a bit of negotiation, I got my ticket and after all my group decided they were too tired, I entered, met an English bloke whose friends had also chickened out and we began to climb the two mountains.
I tell you it was hard going up such a steep incline after trekking for four days but near the top of wynapichu we decided to take a small detour... the adventure route. We climbed inca stairs (just four stones sticking out of the wall) which went from solid ground and then over a 50m cliff... I tell you it was SCARY and I had to keep calm so as not to fall. Once we were up we went up another level and had to jump a metre over another great gap to get to the path. We also had to squeeze through a tiny cave and scale a rope ascent to reach the top. And BOY was it worth it! Such an incredible view and because it was such a pointed mountain and it was such a great drop down from all sides. we messed around at the top for awhile, got some victory shots, looked over the ancient Machu Pichu city and headed on the very scary steep decline... one 20cm wide step at a time.
Properly nackered by the time I reached the bottom I got into an airconditioned bus and found the rest of my group eating mexican. It has to be one of the best days I have ever had exploring that ancient city... even with the 3000 other tourists that day.
- Chichen Itza
- Colosseum
- Taj Mahal
- Great Pyramid of Giza
Seven Natural Wonders of the World
- Grand Canyon
- Great Barrier Reef
- Harbor of Rio de Janeiro
- Mount Everest
- Aurora
- Parícutin volcano
- Victoria Falls
Seven Wonders of the Underwater World
- Palau
- Belize Barrier Reef
- Great Barrier Reef
- Deep-Sea Vents
- Galápagos Islands
- Lake Baikal
- Northern Red Sea
Seven Wonders of the Industrial World
- SS Great Eastern
- Bell Rock Lighthouse
- Brooklyn Bridge
- London sewerage system
- First Transcontinental Railroad
- Panama Canal
- Hoover Dam
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