The Monastery of Tatev  is a 9th century Armenian monastery located in the Tatev village in Syunik Province in southern Armenia. The term “Tatev” usually refers to the monastery. The monastery performed an important role in the history of the region, becoming its political, spiritual and cultural center.Read more on wiki .

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Phang Nga is world famous for its unique limestone formations and pristine beaches and has gained international acclaim through the James Bond movie “The Man with the Golden Gun” and the recent movie “The Beach” staring Leonardo DiCaprio.

Traveling gives wonderful enjoyment and snatches all worries with ease. Your body and mind grab complete relaxation after visiting to a wonderful place full of excitement and adventure as well. Luxurious Volcano seashore is the right place for you, if you want to spend your vacation in a different and exciting way! These volcano seashore trips can be made by land, sea, or even airways. The scenes of flowing lava of the volcano give the visitors a special pleasure and enchant them so much that they make their volcano trip again and again.

The wonderful thing about these luxurious volcano seashore trips is that the visitors can view all the striking activities of volcano at a stone’s throw and capture the beautiful and natural scene in their cameras to see them over and over. Apart from this, you can even visit to various national parks situated near the volcano where you would see the wild animals and unique green plants at the top of rocks. In fact, these eye-catching landscapes catch the heart of every visitor for their innocent beauty. If you like climbing and can dare to go there, enjoy climbing to rocks that will add enthusiasm to your trip.

There are plenty of beautiful islands in the world filled with volcanoes and you can go them one by one to explore exciting activities. Well, Kilauea, Mauna Loa, Mauna Kea, Hualalai and Kohala are some of the most sought after volcanoes and visitors like you move there again and again. Mauna Loa is an active volcano where you can see continuously flowing lava the whole year. Overall, the luxurious volcano seashore trips are full of pleasure and give you amazing experience!

The luxurious volcano seashore safari trip provides numerous dazzling and striking sights to the visitors, as they can look at the melting and elegant hot lava from the volcanoes, haze voicing of the volcanoes. Additionally, you can observe all these places of interest at very close range. The sights of the building and redesigning of the volcanoes’ rocks due to its flowing lava exerts a pull on the visitors immeasurably. You can make a luxurious volcano trip with your family and show them the natural volcano that will be a unique scene for them ever viewed.

Sacsayhuaman which are also known as Saksaq Waman is considered to be one of the most ancient Inca ruins. They are located at an elevation of about 3,071 meters from the ground. Sacsayhuamán is a wall complicated structure that holds an overloaded amount of mystery and anonymity, located near the old city of Cusco, Peru.

This enormous fortification has said to be carried out by huge stone particles each weighing about 300 tons. These stones are arranged and designed in such a manner that nobody could tell how they were manufactured, arranged and cited. The production methods which builders used to construct these gigantic walls are still a mystifying thought. The techniques that were assembled were so fine that you cannot even put a single piece of paper among the wall distances. The accurate and diligent artwork is exhibited bent corners and turns made by limestone blocks. It’s varyingly shaped up wall features are still considered in modern architecture.

Cusco City View

The measurements of these Sacsayhuamán wall structures are about 400 meters in length and 6 meters height. About 6,000 cubic meters volume of stone blocks is supposed to be consumed during the construction work. The limestone blocks that comprise the shapes of the walls weigh about 300 tons each which is quite massive. By these instincts, you can visualize of the effective transportation people had in such century. Some of the bigger stones were carried on more than 50 miles across the mountain ranges. This approves of the vehicles they had to implement at that time; they were not wheeled for sure. However, the identification of the chief architect following Sacsayhuamán still remains conflicted.

Inca walls

“A good example of Inca stonework at Sacsayhuamán, Peru. They cut and hauled huge stones to make walls like this, and fit them together — without mortar! — so tightly that you coudn’t get a knife-tip or a piece of paper between them. Solid enough to have survived tremendous earthquakes.”

Photo from dibopics

Another interesting construction is the Muyuqmarca or Muyucmarka, which is a small Inca ruin consisting of 3 concentric circular walls, all connected with radial walls located within the Sacsayhuamán archaeological site.

Cusco Sacsayaman Round Tower

Sacsayhuamán. Peru

The Spanish, who invaded the region, extracted a large quantity of rock from the walls of Sacsayhuamán walls to build churches in Cuzco region. For this reason, the walls are perfect up to a certain height and then suddenly missing beyond that point. The relic is famous for extensive underground crisscrossing passages called Chincanas. These Chincanas also connect the fortress with other parts of the Inca remnants. Mystery continues to be unfolded at Sacsayhuamán. In 2008, a temple was discovered in the premises. The temple dates back to sometime between 900 and 1200 AD.

Photo from vcastelo

Photo from Paseos

The mysteries around the construction of Sacsayhuamán have boosted its claim to fame. The fortress, which could contain about 5000 people, still has an impressive size and can raise the eyebrows of some of the most renowned architects of today’s age. Some of the stone blocks are really huge and as large as a medium-sized truck! Most importantly, they are still in their designated place even today! Some of the bigger blocks weigh over 50 tons and are still tightly stuck together like bits of puzzles.  At times, you cannot but remain wonderstruck at how the biggest block, weighing over 120 tons, was moved to the site with precision at that age? What tools did the Incas had in their possession for cutting these gigantic blocks that precisely fitted together?

Photo from bks22

Photo from Edwort

The Spanish invaders considered themselves superior in military technology than the Incas. They were shocked at the Incas’ achievement. Some Spanish chroniclers have degraded the Incas in their chronicles and have written that the fortress had been built by evil spirits and demons. Some people even today believe that the structure was not constructed by the Incas. They believe that extraterrestrials could have arrived in our planet and built the Sacsayhuaman fortress. Alternatively, they might have taught the Incas how to build it.

Ruins of Sacsayhuamán, a grand ceremonial and shaman burial site near Cusco. This entrance is double walled, which in Inca architecture always leads to a temple

Stones in Saqsaywaman

However, the specialists after a simple analysis of the structure and style of construction have come to the conclusion that the Sacsayhuamán fortress was indeed a construction work of the Incas. The estimated workforce behind the fortress was around 20,000 – 30,000 men and the approximate time of construction was about 60 years.

Inca festival

Inca ruins at Saqsaywaman, Cuzco, Peru

Home is certainly an easy and feasible place where a person could stay for a long period of time. It includes all of the basic, fundamental and secondary needs of life that are needed to live a contented and proper life. A home can either be a simple and precise one that is pretty much enough for five to six people including a living room, kitchen, dinning area, restrooms and bedrooms for the most part. But there are certain houses which you can only think of as an imaginative place. They are simply luxurious and stunning in their structure and accessories. The style and furnishing done to them is simply eye-catching and gorgeous. For those of you that cannot afford this level of glamour in your own homes, there are many luxury hotel deals available online.

In this article, I am going to talk about a few of the most expensive homes all around the globe that are the utmost symbols of excellence and extravagance. These spectacular and astonishing creations are among the world’s most expensive properties with the credit crunch in full swing. This is the reason why it is difficult to sell these homes.

Villa La Leopolda costing about $50m is the second name we are going to consider. It was formerly the home of Bill Gates but now belongs to really rather rich Roman Abramovich. It is more likely to set up a price of about L250, 000,000, close to half a billion. The property is about 10 acres of verdant green garden filled area that requires around 50 gardeners to look after it with the best home insurance to satisfy the safety needs.

Villa Leopolda is a $750 million estate that is located in the south France. The area is generally known as Côte d’Azur. This place was pulled by Russia’s richest man Mikhail Prokhorov to a great extent. However, after the recession of the last decade, he amassed great misfortune and the home had to be put on sale which is still a disputed matter.

Mikhail Prokhorov, Russia’s richest man had to pull out on the much reported deal to purchase Villa Leopolda, a $750 million estate in Côte d’Azur, the South of France after seeing a good portion of his amassed fortune lost in the current global recession.

The much reported sale was widely speculated over around August last year and now it seems that all the excitement has been for nothing. But the saga continues as the current owners of the villa simply refuse to hand Prokhorov back his initial deposit of €44 million.

Even though his lawyers are seeking a refund, they might be out of luck since the French law states that purchasers lose their deposits if they pull out after the sales agreement has been signed.

The Southampton, Village Oceanfront Sanctuary New York tops the list with $80m. These homes are built on an area of about 13,500 square feet having an inner space up to four stories. The outline of the houses ranges from nine bedrooms, eleven bathrooms, and four powder rooms to a home theatre. Amazing, isn’t it? Not just those, these homes are located between a pond and the ocean giving it an exceptional look. There is a 1,000 feet of shore front and 1,000 feet of pond front.

Ira Rennert House, New York - $170m
The billionaire found of the Renco Group, Ira Rennert, owns a place in Sagaponack, New York, and at 63 acres of grounds, is considered by many to be the largest residential compound in the whole of America.

The house itself has 29 bedrooms, 39 bathrooms, as well as the usual gigantic dining room, sport courts and bowling alley and contents insurance to cover it all. The property is valued at roughly $170,000,000-180,000,000.

Updown Court, Surrey, England - $140m
With neighbors like Elton John and the Queen of England, Updown Court in Surrey is going to be a rather decadent household. Launched with a price of £70,000,000 (roughly $140,000,000).

Containing 24 bedrooms, each with a marble en-suite bathroom, and an underground garage, the property is estimated to cost around £250,000 ($500,000) a month to run, not to mention the cost of the house insurance!

This property even has it’s own website: www.updowncourt.com

And check out the video of this amazing home:

Donald Trump House, Florida - $250m
Donald Trump owns this 18-bedroom waterfront palace, which is listed as costing £125,000,000.

Situated in Florida, Trump says it’s location in Palm Beach is “the richest community in the world” and it doesn’t seem like he’s joking! We also doubt that he’s one to settle for cheap building insurance, either!

Check his house out…


Tree Ponds, New York - $75m
In Bridgehampton, New York, there sits a $75,000,000 estate that has its own golf course!

Called “Three Ponds” due to the fact that it has, er, three ponds (each stocks with an ample supply of fish, which are hopefully included in the home insurance), and the expansive grounds also house 14 different gardens, each with their own theme!

Fleur de Lys in Beverly Hills, California - $125m
This $125 million estate was modelled after Louis XIV’s palace at Versailles, France. It encompasses 45,000 square feet and took five years to build in all. It all came to fruition when Suzanne Saperstein accumulated five acres in the 1990s.

What was once a dream became a reality and today Fleur de Lys features a 50-seat screening room, an nine care auto garage with a treasured collection of automobiles and a library filled with first-edition books.

Jacobean Manor, Greenwich, Connecticut - $90m
The manor sits proudly on 40 acres of rolling green hills, broken only by lawns and meadows to provide ample privacy for the owners.

The 14 bedrooms and 13 bathrooms are spread over 21,897 square feet. Features such as marble floors, vaulted ceilings, limestone walls, bay windows and wood panelling impress the ficklest of visitor.

There is also a 52-foot long indoor swimming pool. Ah yes, the manor is priced at a hefty $90 million.

Tranquility” Lake Tahoe, Nevada - $100m
Situated on the tax-free side of Nevada’s Lake Tahoe, this 210-acre property is owned by Joel Horowitz, the co-founder of fashion label Tommy Hilfiger. He built the property from scratch.

The house is made up of 20,000 square feet of living space and modelled after a northern European mountain home. It also has a 3,500-bottle wine cellar, an indoor swimming pool and atrium, as well as a 19-seat movie theatre, ensuring constant entertainment, even if snowed in. It is worth $100 million.

Eurasia Estate, Moscow, Russia - $100m
No list is complete without a bit of Russian flavour.

This property consists of an 11,700-square-foot manor house, as well as two 4,000-square-foot guest houses and a massive 91,000-square-foot recreation centre that features a pool, Turkish and Russian baths, a gym, sauna and lounges. Eurasia is worth $100 million.

Hillandale, Stamford, Connecticut - $95m
You will be forgiven to think you are looking at an English country manor when you see Hillandale. With a stone construction, hedged and manicured gardens, a grassy tennis court and distinctive chimneys, this 20,000-square-foot residence has eight bedrooms and 10 bathrooms.
Hillandale is so big that the property straddles the New York-Connecticut border. The grounds also include four guest and staff residences and two barns, all connected by five miles of private roads. The price tag is $95 million.

BootJack Ranch, Pagosa Springs, Colorado - $88m
The ranch includes a massive 3,100 acres of land. This luxury property is much more than a working ranch. The main house alone is 13,800 square feet and has four bedrooms and four bathrooms.

Further, outlying guest cabins and lodges can host up to 50 people and bring the total interior space up to 77,000 square feet.

In addition, there’s a 12,000-square-foot spa and aquatic centre. Just the right thing to soak your weary feet at the end of a long working day. That is if you can part with $88 million.

All the above homes must have absolutely massive bills just to keep them in running order. Just imagine the quotes on home insurance for these homes yet alone the energy bills, electricity and water!

Lofoten Islands, Norway

Roatan, Honduras

Luxury Paradise Island of Tahiti

Sveti Stefan, Montenegro

Petit St Vincent, Caribbean

San Blas Islands, Panama

Taprobane, Sri Lanka

Los Roques, Venezuela

North Island, Seychelles

Dhoni Mighili, Maldives

Aitutaki, South Pacific

Malapacao Island, The Philippines

Nature has always kept within itself a charm and attraction. It could either be the sky, the sun or the moon or the oceans and the rivers which are the perpetual source of figmentation of your imaginations and illusions. People tend to be less resistive about spending time at beaches and bays because they want to take the most out of the sight and splendor which remains craved on the windows of their memories until after a long time. If you are one of those people who love splattering around the romantic sea shores and islands, you should know the possible places where you can seek the utmost joy.

Your imaginations and expectations are even enriched when you go and visit some of the best creations or you can say the best diving destinations of the world. If you are crazy about swimming, diving and water boarding you should be aware of the ten best places you don’t want to miss carrying that out. If it important for you to know about these ten best places so you can gather as much information and facts about them as possible.

The Bahamas comprise of about 700 islands which expand on the area of about 100,000 square miles on the Western Atlantic Ocean. It is regarded due to the fact that you would observe shallow seas all over. They are formed by the sinking of a plateau. The calculated depth of the shore is about 20 feet.

Bahamas - Stuart Cove’s shark feeding

A warm ocean current influences this islands and is responsible for the vivid marine life particularly the extensive coral reefs. You can have endless scopes of adventure in the longest cave and cavern network found on the Grand Bahama Island.

A complete vacation package is very advantageous for you can get diving, accommodation and transportation facilities. There are separate charters for snorkeling, exploring the caves and wrecks and plunging into the Blue Holes. You must not miss the Biminis, Abacos, Eleuthera, Cat Island, San Salvador and Inagua if you want to make the most of your diving vacation in the Bahamas.

2. Papua New Guinea, Bismarck Sea

Nakajima Kate

The coastlines of Papua New Guinea are marked by rugged mountainous terrain that is difficult to cross. Papua New Guinea stands at the confluence of three seas namely the Bismarck Sea, the Solomon Sea and the Coral Sea and hence a rich site for marine flora and fauna.

Pez Escorpion

Triggerfish

You can get both live-aboard and land-based diving facilities in these islands that you can take up to explore the marine life and World War II wrecks found in the Bismarck Sea. Chartering the neighboring area in local boats leaving from Alotau is also a great way to explore the place. However, if you are bent on a diving spree, you must visit Kimbe Bay, Madang, Rabaul and Kavieng to have an unforgettable diving experience.

3. Galapagos Islands

Whale Shark

Galapagos Islands archipelago is a real paradise for scuba divers because of its wide array of gorgeous marine life and challenging geographical conditions. You must take the advice of the dive shops to know which areas for diving should suit your level best and get the right diving gears for the varying temperatures. You must know how to tackle the marine creatures, currents, shape and depth of the dive spots to enjoy the experience.

Green Turtle. Chelonia mydas.

Wolf island

The Pacific water of Galapagos is clear as a glass and as such, there is nothing to impede your vision of the colored fish through 15 to 25 meters depth. In some places, you can find bright rich waters due to the presence of green algae phytoplankton. Most of the islands of the Galapagos group are suitable for drift diving, night diving and deep diving.

If you like, you can take up the offers of dive trips, day trips and shore diving classes.

4. Rangiroa, Polynesia

Rangirora - Green Lagoon

The vast coastline of Rangiroa will tell you that it counts among the largest atolls of the world and definitely the biggest one of the Tahiti Islands. Its intricate network of islets and coral rings are the home to various species of sea animals. Rangiroa consists of two different dive locations located near the lagoon Paio motu, namely Ava Toru and Tiputa pass. Both these spots offer fantastic glimpses of marine wealth of French Polynesia.

Under the sun

The average temperature of the seawaters remains around 70 F in winter and 80 F in summer, and hence Rangiroa is a year-round diving destination. You can take a dive for 45 minutes at a stretch in the clear underwater region. The maximum depth is around 80 feet and you must take a boat dive to look at the dolphins, sharks, manta rays and jack fish floating around.

5. Riviera Maya, Mexico

Cenote - Yucatan, Mexico

Riviera Mayo or the Mayan Riviera is located beside the Highway 400 running parallel along the Caribbean coastline of Quintana Roo, Mexico. The reef formations of the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System along the coasts attract tourists and divers alike. The best way to explore this underground river network is to dive through sinkhole collapses. You can see the wonderful natural phenomenon in the formation of the carbonate caves due to the commingling of fresh and saline waters.

Cavern diving in the Chac Mool cenote in Quintana Roo. /

In fact, Riviera Maya contains the two longest underwater cave systems in the world called Sac Actun and Ox Bel Ha. These offer rare sights to divers like fresh water creatures swimming atop the saline water floods. If you are a novice in diving, go for snorkeling in the reefs of Playa del Carmen and Tulum. More seasoned divers can enjoy the incomparable experience of cave diving in the sinkholes of Dos Ojos. You can access a range of diving facilities including live-aboard between every resort.

6. Great Barrier Reef, Australia

Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, Queensland, Australia

Consisting of more than 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands, the Great Barrier Reef is the largest reef system sprawling over 2,600 kilometers in Coral Sea. This World Heritage Site is the home to several wonderful species of marine creatures and hence, divers are rewarded by the sight of an astounding bio-diversity. You could also enjoy staying at its live-aboard as a tourist or a scuba diver.

Heart of a Giant Clam

While you take the plunge into warm seawaters, you can catch sight of over 400 coral species and other endangered species of sea animals. You must do the necessary paperwork, planning and preparations before undertaking a diving expedition here.

7. Little Cayman, British West Indies

Grand Cayman 9ft Bronze Mermaid

The Little Cayman Islands is a UK dependency situated in the Caribbean Sea just to the south of Cuba. This is an abode for rare species of birds as well as aquatic animals. If you choose Little Cayman Islands as a diving destination, you must make your visit between June and August when the water temperature remains favorable and the calm sea permits maximum visibility. The north part of the island containing a protected marine park is best for diving. You could sail here in boats though anchoring is forbidden.

Silversides Spawning

If you are looking ahead to wall dives, come to the Bloody Bay Wall on the northwestern side of the islands. You can go down to more than 3000 feet underwater and observe the undisturbed oceanic world up to a distance of 100 feet. Jackson’s Bay is another hot diving spot in Little Cayman Islands from where you can wade off to the Big Blue. While exploring the underwater crevices and tunnels, you can encounter a Gray Reef Shark over the wall, Nurse Shark, Sting Rays, Eagle Rays and Turtles adding to the fun of diving.

8. Bonaire

Farewell Bonaire

The geographical location of Bonaire is perfect for the flourish of aquatic flora and fauns. Its perfectly calm waters and natural shelter from trade winds encourages the growth of corals and makes a beautiful location for family vacations. As a diver, you will enjoy exploring its marine parks full of the vivid richness of the Caribbean waters. The spot has been preserved as a virgin diving locale and its crystal clear waters with a visibility up to 150 feet offer a toast to underwater photographers.

Turtle

9. Bikini Atoll, Marshall Islands

Marshall Islands

Situated amid the Micronesian Islands of the Pacific Ocean, Bikini Atoll is counted as a part of the Republic of the Marshall Islands. This group of 36 islands is located midway between Australia and Honolulu and one of the best spots for divers to view shipwrecks. Among the most famous wrecks are the former warships like USS Saratoga and the Japanese Nagato. Bikini Atoll has also remained an experimental ground for nuclear tests conducted around the 1950s.

Nagato Battleship

USS Saratoga Aircraft

Today Bikini Atoll and lagoon is one of the prospective sites for diving, fishing and other water sports. Though this island is barely inhabited because of the radiation pollution, it is an abode for an amazing variety of fishes. It recently came into the limelight as a diving destination and only a handful of divers have been venturing forth because of the extravagant $5,000 charged for a weeklong diving holiday.

10. British Columbia, Canada

Orca

British Columbia is the most amazing diving destination of North America, thanks to its extraordinary variety of sea-life. As a diver, you will be rewarded by the sight of prawns, Dungeness crabs, Orca whales, sea lions, large octopuses, lingcod or any other creature belonging to the 5,000 species of invertebrates or 400 species of colored fish. Its coastline is protected keeping the divers’ safety in mind.

Orca Breeching

Although British Columbia is characterized by some of the strongest currents of the world, its mild mid-40 degree water will perfectly suit long diving expeditions. You can start by testing the slack tides near the underwater rock walls and gradually go into deeper waters. As you swim round the myriad straits surrounding Vancouver Island, you can see the beauty of the colorful algae that add to the beauty of the marine world.