Aurangabad, now officially known as Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, is a historic city in Maharashtra’s Deccan region, surrounded by dry hills, agricultural land, and the basalt landscapes of the Deccan Plateau. It is best known as a gateway to some of India’s most important rock-cut monuments, including the UNESCO-listed Ajanta and Ellora Caves. The city itself combines Mughal-era architecture, Buddhist cave sites, historic gateways, and traditional craft industries. I

Iringa is a highland city in southern Tanzania, built on steep slopes overlooking the Little Ruaha River. Its elevated setting gives the city a cooler climate and broad views across surrounding hills and agricultural land. Iringa is an important regional centre and serves as a gateway to Ruaha National Park, one of Tanzania’s major wildlife areas.

Ooty, officially known as Udhagamandalam, is a hill town in Tamil Nadu’s Nilgiri Hills, surrounded by tea estates, eucalyptus-covered slopes, shola vegetation, and rolling mountain scenery. Sitting at more than 2,000 metres above sea level, it has a notably cooler climate than the plains of southern India. The town developed as an important hill settlement and remains the main urban centre of the Nilgiris.

Shenandoah National Park follows the crest and eastern slopes of Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains, protecting a long, narrow landscape of forests, ridges, streams, and mountain valleys. The park stretches along Skyline Drive, a scenic road that provides access to numerous overlooks and trailheads. Elevations vary considerably across the park, creating changes in vegetation and climate over relatively short distances.

Saty is a small mountain village in the Almaty Region of southeastern Kazakhstan, set at the foot of the Tian Shan ranges. It serves as the main gateway to Kolsai Lakes National Park and is the usual base for visits to the Kolsai Lakes and nearby Kaindy Lake. The village is surrounded by open valleys, mountain slopes, and coniferous forests, giving it a rural setting closely connected with the surrounding landscape.