1000+ WONDERS OF THE WORLD – THE NEW, THE NATURAL, AND THE ANCIENT WONDERS
The New Seven Wonders of the World came about in 2000 when a company based in Zurich Switzerland, “The New 7 Wonders Foundation (N7W)”, decided to launch a campaign to name the New 7 Wonders. Considering only one of the original ancient Wonders of the World was still standing, it made sense. More than 100 million votes were cast (This was long before bots came into play on the Internet, so I trust that it was mostly real people) and in 2007 the New Seven Wonders of the World was announced.

We had been to a lot of ancient cities before we made our way to Petra. We thought we had seen it all until we walked through the 1.2km long siq (a narrow gorge with high rock walls reaching 80 meters into the air) leading to the incredible Treasury building. The journey was beautiful but once we arrived at the opening in the middle of a canyon, we gasped in awe. This ancient wonder was hidden from the outside world for centuries. It wasn’t until 1812 that it was “discovered” by Swiss explorer Johann Ludwig Burckhardt. Since then the Lost City has become Jordan’s premier tourist attraction.

We have had the privilege of visiting The Great Wall of China, not once, but twice! We have been to two sections the Muytianyu Wall and the Badaling Great Wall. Both were equally impressive. We really feel that the Great Wall of China lives up to the hype. The location is breathtaking as it weaves through the mountains and spans for miles and miles. Even with the crowds of Badaling which is closes to Beijing, we loved it. The wall was built the 7th century and spanned nearly 9000 km.

Rio De Janeiro is one of our favourite cities on earth. Christ the Redeemer stands proud overhead high on a mountain overlooking the city and can be seen from all vantage points. The most amazing experience we had was doing a doors-off helicopter ride to view Christ the Redeemer from above. The statue of Jesus perched on Mount Corcovado began construction in 1926. Standing 30 meters tall it is a massive achievement and has contributed to making Rio one of the most popular tourist destinations on the planet.


It was always our dream to see the Colosseum of Italy. When we finally made it to Rome, we not only had the chance to see it, we stayed in the most incredible apartment right beside this wonder with a view of the ruins from our window. Built in the 1st century, this amphitheater has a bloody past with Gladiators fighting to the death and Christians being thrown to the lions.

When we first arrived at Machu Picchu in Peru it was shrouded in clouds. I’ll never forget the look on Dave’s face. He was dejected. It was our one and only time visiting this wonder of the world and we weren’t going to see it! Luckily, as the morning progressed, the heavens opened up and we witnessed the awe-inspiring sight of this ancient city high in the Andes mountains.

Chichen Itza was the first of the new wonders of the world that Dave and I ever visited. In fact, our trip to Mexico in 1999 was one of the first international trips we ever took together. I’ll never forget a friend telling us to go and I am glad we listened. Back then you could still walk up the ancient pyramid and it was harrowing.

The Taj Mahal in India was our least favorite of all the new seven wonders to visit but it is still impressive to see. We actually never wrote about our time there as we didn’t love Agra or the Taj. Obviously many people disagree with us as it was named one of the seven. The Taj Mahal is considered one of the finest examples of Mughal Architecture. It is also considered to be a beautiful love story as it was completed in 1658 by Emperor Shah Jahn who built it for his wife. She died in 1631, just three years after he began construction but he continued on to honor her memory.



These are our experiences at the new seven wonders of the world.