Sunday 11 May 2008

New 7 Wonders of the World

I didn't realise that there was a new list of 7 wonders of the world until M and I started wondering if Angkor Wat was one of them or not.

The list was released on the 07 - 07 - 2007 and it can be found on its official website here.

All the pictures below are taken from the official website.

The 7 Wonders:
Machu Picchu, Peru (1460 - 1470) (Sounds like Pikachu!)
Located deep in the Amazon jungle bye the Incas. Was lost once but found again in 1911.

Petra, Jordan (9 B.C. - 40 A.D.)
Located on the edge of the Arabian Desert but it is a city with many water chambers and tunnel constructions.

The Great Wall of China, China (220 B.C and 1368 - 1644A.D.)
If it can be seen from space, it must be huge! Built as a defence system against Mongolian attacks.

The Taj Mahal, Angra, India (1630 A.D.)
Built in the name of love by Shah Jahan for his beloved late wife.

The Roman Colosseum, Rome, Italy (70 - 72 A.D.)
Built during the Roman Empire for fights between prisoners and vicious animals like lions.

Christ Redeemer, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (1931)
38 meters tall statue of Jesus which took 5 years to construct.

The Pyramid at Chichen Itza, Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico (before 800 A.D.)
Great Mayan temple. I wonder how many steps are there to climb to the top.


My dream is to visit all of them in future.


Some other special mention to the other finalists:


Statues of Easter Island, Easter Island, Chile (10th - 16th Century)
25 meter high stone sculptures located on an island in the middle of nowhere. I was telling M that I would disappear with the island while visiting if it ever sunk below the sea like Atlantis.


The Kremlin and Red Square, Moscow, Russia (1156-1850)
So colourful! It has a complex history to it.

It was difficult taking the picture of the whole Eiffel Tower standing so close to it.The Eiffel Tower, Paris, France (1887 - 89)
It is only very beautiful at night. In the day time, the whole thing is made of steel and it's of an ugly dark brownish greenish rusty looking colour. There's a lift which you can take but cost about 8 Euro to take up up to the 2nd and 3rd levels or you can choose to walk up the stairs for free.

Neuschwanstein Castle, Schwangau, Germany (1869 - 1884)
It was speculated that Walt Disney's castle's design was inspired by this castle. It is truly a beautiful castle worth making it's way to the top 7. There were meant to be 3 castles in the area but only 2 were completed as the King went bankrupt after building this castle halfway. They repainted the 1st castle yellow which was very striking.


So, after all that browsing through, I came to the conclusion that Angkor Wat is not one of the 7 wonders. However, it made it to the finalist!

Angkor, Cambodia (12th century)
World's largest sacred temple. Too bad it's not one of the 7. I'm planning to visit this magnificent looking temple this summer. So, anybody interested? It's going to be in August. Contact me or M for more details.

3 comments:

Sakura said...

Wah, among all I have visited Eiffel Tour, the Castles in Germany, and Colsseum, Itlay. Wish can visit all of them and make a record. Hehe. Eh, lets make a trip to Angkor Wat.

h.3.l.3.n said...

we shud have a goal, to visit all 7 wonders of the world!!!

Windchaser said...

that was once my dream which was forgotten and remembered again. i can't believe i've never been to any of the 7 wonders, just 2 of the finalists. i really like the statues of easter island one because i was fascinated by them since i was little because of the picture book that my parents bought me. i want easter island statues!