South Asia

After East Asia because I really didn't want to go home. First I went to the Taj Mahal in north central India. Shah Jahn built this masterpiece in memory his Persian princess wife, Mumtaz Mahal, who died during her 14th childbirth. This masterpiece is actually a tomb for his wife, which is surrounded by a 980 sq. ft. garden filled with beautiful flowers and fruit trees. This is considered one of the new seven wonders of the world.



Next I went to Nepal to climb the tallest mountain in the world. Mt. Everest is 29,029ft at its summit.which is approximately 27,877ft above my current elevation. This climb absolutely sucked. Well I mean it was cool and all but it was the most difficult thing I've ever done. It also didn't go over to well when I saw one of the well over 200 bodies that have never been recovered from the mountain. It was all worth it though when i reached the top.

 

East Asia

This week it was snowy in the Northland so i decided to take a trip far west. How far west you ask? West, to East Asia!

Tokyo, Japan was the first stop. In Tokyo I went to the biggest fresh fish market in the world, Tsukiji. I was told by locals that the market opened very early in the morning and started closing around mid-morning, so i woke up at about 6 AM to wander and soak it all in. I was amazed by the sheer size of this market that housed so many vendors. I now realized that because of it's abundance, seafood was a huge staple of Asian cuisine and it tasted good to me!

Next I visited the Great Wall of China near Beijing. Talking with tour guides I learned a few things that really amazed me about this giant, ancient structure. Built over the course of 2000+ years it spans a massive length of about 13,000 miles. It was built in the past to protect the Chinese empire from the northern invading Mongols. Today it is used for nothing more than a tourist attraction.

 

Central Asia

I decided to visit the Babur Gardens in Afghanistan. These gardens are thought to be over 400 years old, the exact origin date is not known. This is a known tomb and was a pilgrimage for many Muslims in the 1600s. As I was walking through the garden I felt very at peace with myself, the plant life was just beautiful, and it took all worries of my upcoming six-page research paper away. It was lush and green; I did not expect it to be as green as I always viewed Afghanistan as a desert area. It was very relaxing to wander around and I would recommend it to anybody going to Afghanistan.



I also visited the capital city of Turkmenistan, Ashgabat. I was surprised to see that it was actually very modern. I guess I thought that everyone in Central Asia was nomadic goat herders and boy was I wrong! All over were people  with lives not unlike mine in America. The city was very beautiful with buildings like the Ertuğrul Gazi Mosque and Oguzkhan Presidential Palace. Founded in 1881 I found the city very similar to American cities. Overall it was a great trip that was an eye open the whole way.

Russia

We're off to Mother Russia! I arrived in the largest city in Russia as the sun was setting. As I flew into Moscow, the heart of the city was lit with the lights of the Kremlin and Saint Basil's Cathedral, both of which I would visit later. The Kremlin is made up of many cathedrals and walls including one of the most famous Saint Basil's in the Red Square. Saint Basil's Cathedral finished its construction in 1560. It was built to commemorate the capture of Kazan from the Mongols in 1552. Originally white with gold domes to match the Kremlin it was redecorated in 1860 which is the present colored designs. It certainly is a site of historical significance relating to Russia as a country and the Russian Orthodox Church.



 I continued on to the Grand Kremlin Palace which is the biggest building in the Kremlin and the official residence of the Russian President although rarely used for that. Construction on this 25,000 square meter building ended in 1849 and housed the imperial family of Moscow's tsar but as times changed it slowly changed uses from a residence to a reception building and museum bringing in people from all over the world, like Ronald Reagan in 1988.

Europe

So much history in this place! Next up was a trip to Europe. I visited many sites but the most interesting were probably, the Colosseum in Rome, Italy and  the Parthenon in Athens Greece. Built in 70 A.D. the Colosseum was built for the entertainment of the Roman people. The Colosseum was used to host gladiator fights where gladiators, condemned criminals, animals or other gladiators entertained the crowds with fights to the death. The Colosseum was also built with a great deal of tunnels underneath it to house these gladiators and animals until the fights, and also with seating for 50,000 so everyone could come see the gruesome show.

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Athens, Greece was a blast! Everything was very cool but the Parthenon was hard to beat. At 45ft and weighing in at 22,000lbs this was the most massive marble temple ever in that time. It sat atop the acropolis with a giant statue of Athena, after which Athens was named, standing inside watching and guarding her city. I also found out that this Greek architecture was used as the basis for some very important buildings of today.

Southwest Asia / North Africa

This trip through SW Asia I visited two sites, The Burj Khalifa and the Pyramids of Giza. When I arrived at the foot of the Burj Khalfia, located in the United Arab Emirates, I was astonished by it's sheer size. It is the tallest building in the world holding the top spot with 2,722ft of gleaming tower to catch the eye of any onlooker from miles away. How was it paid for you ask? Oil. Lots of oil.

Next I arrived in Egypt, a land being ripped apart by social unrest, an unstable government, and crumbling infrastructure, but it was not always this way. Egypt used to be a land of pharaohs, mummies and gods, and everyone else was envious. Built in a period of about 85 years starting in 2630 B.C.,  these pyramids were some of ancient architects greatest feats of the time as well as some of the biggest. The Great Pyramid, which is the tallest and oldest, stands at about 481ft. Even after visiting I was still left with questions. Did the aliens help build them? Is there some other secret meaning behind these monstrous tombs? Are they really cursed? I guess the world may never know.

Sub-Saharan Trip

 The first place I went in Sub-Saharan Africa was Mauritania. This site was used during the 12^th to the 16^th century as trade routes. This site gave me a new understanding of how life was back then. It was so interesting to see the buildings in ruins. They aren’t like Mayan ruins; they looked like kind of like sand castles.  I learned this was a hot bed for Islam during this time period. By the time I toured through half of it I felt as if I could blow my nose and sand would come out, it was very dusty. It was  interesting to learn about the way the bought,sold, and traded in this 400 year time period.

  

I decided to get a little more adventurous and went to the Tomb of Askia in Mali. Built by Askia Mohamed, the emperor of Songhai around the 1495, this tomb almost liked like a porcupine. I’ll be honest I was kind of hoping for a legend about how when you enter to tomb you become cursed. But there were two problems, one: they don’t actually let you into the tomb, and two; I guess those tales are pretty much confined to Egyptian tombs. Still it was very interesting to learn about emperor Askia, and his work in Islam, which he made the official religion of the empire.