An undiscovered gem: The pyramids of Tikal

by Jerry Guo on

I talked yesterday about a little known alternative to Machu Picchu. Today, I bring you the Mayan version: the ruins at Tikal in Guatemala. But here’s the zinger: they’re actually more impressive than the much better known pyramids at Chichen Itza in Mexico.

Here’s what one American had to say about the place. “I saw the Pyramids [in Egypt] … This is better, because you can go on top of them, and see what they saw.” The best part is that they’re in the middle of the jungle. Yes, that does make it harder to get to the place, but once you’re there, it feels like you’ve traveled back in time 3,000 years. There’s also authentic Mayan rituals performed every once in a while, since the government opened the national park to Mayans in 1996.

King Tut: you just can’t get enough!

by Abha Malpani on

Well, I certainly can’t.

I don’t know why, but the whole King Tut deal was one of the very few things that stuck with me in history class.

There is something spooky yet exciting about pharaohs and mummies, and King Tut is the 3500-year old mummy of all mummies. Unbound in the 20th Century by an English dude who died shortly after (apparently from the ‘curse‘ of having the balls to open Tut’s tomb!), his story seems to be forever looming in mummy context.

This probably explains why 225,000 tickets have been pre-sold in London for a Tutankhamun Treasures exhibition that will be held there from November 15, 2007 – August 31, 2008. The exhibition will then move to Dallas for 7-months, sometime in October 2008.

King Tut began his rule in Egypt when he was nine, and died at 19 — how and why remains unclear, but his mummified body lay untouched until 1922. Ever since, forensic scientists have tried to reconstruct his face and body, but not without debate on it’s structure and real skin color. In this exhibition for the first time ever, his ‘true’ face will be revealed!

This is fascinating, and if I was in London I would definitely go, but what I fail to understand is that with over 8.6 million tourists visiting Egypt every year, why does Egypt let this treasure tomb tour the world?

Experts Find Evidence of Giant Pyramid in Bosnia

by Karen Walrond on

Ever dream of seeing the great pyramids?  You
know, traveling to Central America?  Or Egypt?  Or …

…Bosnia?

From MSNBC.com:  Experts in Bosnia have discovered solid evidence that
what appeared to be an odd-shaped hill in the small village of Visoko in Bosnia, is actually a giant pyramid, a third
larger than the Great Pyramid of Giza.  If correct, this will be the first pyramid ever found in Europe.

Semir Osmanagic, a Bosnian archaeologist, said the discovery significantly bolsters his theory that the 2,120-foot
hill is actually a step pyramid.  "We can see the surface is perfectly flat," he said.  "This
is the crucial material proof that we are talking pyramids."  In addition, satellite photographs and thermal
imaging revealed two other, smaller pyramid-shaped hills in the Visoko Valley.

Cool.