Tissamaharama, often called “Tissa” by seasoned travelers, sits in southern Sri Lanka as a town steeped in history and living culture. Once the capital of the ancient Ruhuna Kingdom in the 3rd century BCE, this settlement still radiates stories from the distant past in its temples, reservoirs, and even the streets where market life unfolds each day.
Tema, a vibrant city in Ghana's Greater Accra Region, offers a captivating blend of urban energy and coastal charm. As Ghana’s largest port city, Tema is a hub of economic activity, but it also boasts rich cultural and recreational attractions. The city's Harbour is one of the busiest in West Africa, facilitating significant maritime trade. Visitors can explore the port area, which provides insight into Ghana’s commercial and industrial sectors.
St Lucia is a small coastal town in northern KwaZulu-Natal, positioned beside the St Lucia Estuary and within the iSimangaliso Wetland Park. The town is surrounded by a landscape of wetlands, coastal forests, grasslands, dunes, lakes, and the Indian Ocean. Its location makes it a base for exploring one of South Africa’s most diverse protected areas, where freshwater and marine environments occur close together.
Telč, a charming town in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic, enchants visitors with its well-preserved Renaissance architecture and picturesque surroundings. The town's central attraction is its beautifully preserved Historic Centre, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, renowned for its colorful facades and quaint medieval charm.
Butre is a small coastal village in Ghana’s Western Region, set around the Butre River near the Atlantic Ocean. Its landscape combines a fishing settlement, forested hills, wetlands, and a broad sandy shoreline. The village is known especially for Fort Batenstein, which stands on a hill overlooking the coast and the surrounding countryside. Fishing remains an important part of local life, while the nearby river creates a sheltered setting for small boats and canoes.
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The popular resort Fethiye boasts an imortant marina at the head of a beautiful bay strewn with islands. A hill crowned by teh ruins of the crusader fortress built by the Knights of Rhodes overlooks the little port. Above the town, numerous Lycian rock tombs, reproducing the facades of ancient buildings, were cut into the cliff face. The Tomb of Amyntas, which probably dates from the fourth century B.C. is the most remarkable.
Other Popular Destinations in Turkey
Istanbul
Istanbul is a city built on layers of empire. Spanning two continents, it was once the capital of three major empires: Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman. Visitors walking through the Sultanahmet district can witness this timeline firsthand, from the Roman-era Hippodrome to the Byzantine mosaics of Hagia Sophia, and the towering minarets of the Blue Mosque. At nearby Topkapi Palace, rooms still display the jeweled swords, ceremonial robes, and handwritten Qurans once used by Ottoman sultans.
Cappadocia
The ancient region of Cappadocia lies in Central Anatolia, between the cities of Nevsehir, Kayseri and Nigde. Here, the traveler finds one of the most fantastic landscapes in the world. Wind and weather have eroded the soft volcanic rock with hundreds of strangely shaped pillars, cones and "fairy chimneys", often very tall, and in every shade from pink through yellow to russet browns.