The Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, 100 000 Dollars

The Victoria Falls or Mosi-oa-Tunya are situated on the Zambezi River, on the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe, (17°55′1″S, 25°51′0″E) and are roughly 1.7 km (1 mile) wide and 128 m (420 ft) high. They are considered a remarkable spectacle because of the peculiar narrow slot-like chasm into which the water falls, so one can view the falls face-on.

David Livingstone, a Scottish explorer, visited the falls in 1855 and renamed them after Queen Victoria, though they were known locally as Mosi-oa-Tunya, the "smoke that thunders". The falls are part of two national parks, Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park in Zambia and Victoria Falls National Park in Zimbabwe, and are one of Southern Africa's major tourist attractions. They are also a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Vastly larger than North America's Niagara Falls, Victoria is only rivalled by South America's Iguazu Falls (excluding large rapid like falls such as Livingston de Chutes). Whilst Iguazu is divided into over 270 (relatively) 'small' falls and cataracts, Victoria is the largest single sheet of water in the world , over 100 metres tall, and over one mile wide.

Text Source: Wikipedia

New! See The Victoria Falls Satellite Image (Source: Google Maps)

Gandzasar Monastery, Nagorno Karabakh, 2 Dram

The Gandzasar Monastery is perhaps the most important architectural monument of Artsakh and Armenia. It is located near the town of Vank of the Mardakert district of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic, in the very heart of Artsakh's historical province of Khachen. For long a symbol of Artsakh's Armenian statehood, the word "Gandzasar" is translated from Armenian as "Treasure-Mountain" (with "gandz" meaning "treasure" and "sar" meaning "mountain"). And it is a treasure indeed. According to renowned Russian scholar A. L. Yakobson of St. Petersburg's Hermitage, Gandzasar Monastery is "the encyclopedia of Armenian architecture."

Professor Charles Diehl of Sorbonne, a prominent French art historian and specialist of Byzantium, called Gandzasar the third most important artifact of Armenian monastic architecture that is on the list of world architectural masterpieces.

Karabakhi locals believe that the monastery was founded on the place of a shrine containing the scull of St. John the Baptist, which was brought to the land of Artsakh directly from Palestine during the Crusades. At that time, the Armenian nobility of Artsakh maintained strong contacts with the royal families of the maritime Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia (sometimes called "Lesser Armenia"), which aided the Crusaders.

The 13th century Armenian author Kirakos Gandzaketsi, himself a native of Artsakh, wrote in his "History of Armenia": "... there where stands their family vault, Ishkhan (i.e. "prince," in Armenian) Asan-Jalal built a church with exquisite adornment, a celestial cathedral dedicated to the glory of God ..." By the mid-13th century, Asan-Jalal of Khokhanaberd, founder of Artsakh's Jalalian aristocratic family, emerged as the most powerful Armenian feudal ruler in the Eastern Territory of Armenia. Gandzaketsi describes him as: "The Great Prince Asan, who is flatteringly called "Jalal," a man pious, honest, and Armenian."

The central Hovhannes Mkrtich (St. John the Baptist) Cathedral is masterly embellished with bas-reliefs depicting the Crucifixion, Adam and Eve and dozens of other stone figures, including the sculptures of the kings of Khachen holding two models of the Cathedral above their heads. According to an inscription on the wall of the Cathedral, it was completed in the year 1236. Overall, up to 150 Armenian stone-borne texts are found on the walls of the Cathedral, including a wall-large inscription made by the order of Asan-Jalal himself.

Gandzasar Monastery represents the so-called "Gandzasar Style" of medieval Armenian architecture. Two other important Armenian monastic complexes, Hovhannavank and Harich, located far away, on the territory of today's Republic of Armenia, replicate Gandzasar in many details.

Gandzasar Monastery is also known as the center of Armenian independence movement of the 18th century, initiated by the Armenian dukes (meliks) of Artsakh. In was in Gandzasar where the representatives of Armenian nobility prepared and signed the famous appeal for assistance addressed to the Russian monarch Peter I the Great.

A traditional domain of the Catholicos (archpriest) of the Eastern Territory of Armenia, Gandzasar Monastery is the center of Nagorno Karabakh's religious life and present-day seat of the Archbishop of Artsakh of the Armenian Apostolic Church.

Gandzasar immensely suffered in the course of Azerbaijani aggression against Nagorno Karabakh, in 1991-1992. Periodical aerial attacks on the monastery, aimed at destroying this masterpiece of Armenian architecture by heavy bombardment, lasted throughout 1992. It is symbolic that it was near Gandzasar Monastery where the first large regiments of Azerbaijani Army were rounded up and destroyed by Nagorno Karabakh self-defense units.

Image source: Banknotes.com

Text Source: Architectural Monuments Of The Nagorno Karabakh Republic

National park of Alisher Navoi, Uzbekistan, 5 sum

The park of the Poets, on the highest hill of which there is a monument to Alisher Navoi, stretches out near the madrasah. There are many artificial reservoirs, canals and fountains, summer cafes and it is crowded here in the evenings.

Alisher Navoiy

An ingenious poet and the thinker, the musician and the artist, the teacher and the scientist, a great statesman and one of the most cultural persons of his time. Alisher Navoi was the conventional head of the cultural life of Herat, the patron of numerous representatives of sciences, arts and cultures. “Due to Alisher many people have received literary and art education and talent strengthening and there is no any other patron and the tutor of people as Alisher”. - wrote Babur

Alisher Navoi was born on February 9, 1441 in the city of Herat, the capital of Huroson State.

From the childhood Alisher was interested in reading the works of classics of Persian-Tadjik literature: Saadi, Attar and others. According to Navoiy himself, such poets as Lutfi Sheikh Kemal Turbati have directed, assessed the verses written by him. Navoiy studied at the most educated people of that time, took part in their highly intellectual and deeply instructive conversations.

Having no family, no children, no successors, the poet spent a significant part of his huge wealth for charity. He has constructed a lot of educational institutions, hospitals, a caravan–sheds, channels, bridges and roads.


Text sources: Tourism.uz and Uzbektourism.uz

Special thanks to Igor Bronnicov for the 5 sum that is big rarity these days.

Kasikasima Mountain, Surinam, 20 Dollar

This stunning 718 metre-peak lies deep in the south of the Suriname jungle and is the ideal destination for those in search of some adventurous trekking deep in the undisturbed wilds of the rainforest.

Text Source: METS Tours & Travel

The Rivers of Guianas Sights & Sounds

About WWF Expedition to Guianas