Things to Do in Anaheim & Buena Park

Also known as the Fortress of Seven Towers, the Yedikule Fortress is located just over 3 miles southwest of Sultanahmet. It was first built as the Golden Gate during the reigns of Theodosius I and II in the 5th century. With enormous doors covered in gold, the gate had four towers and was the ceremonial entrance to the city for those arriving from Europe. After the conquest of Constantinople in 1453, Mehmet the Conqueror added three towers to the structure to transform it into a fortress, treasury and prison.  The towers today are known as the Armory Tower, the Flag Tower, the Sultan Ahmet III Tower, the Dungeon Tower (also known as the Tower of Inscriptions), the Top Tower, the Tower of the Treasury and the Young Osman Tower, where Sultan Osman II died while imprisoned.

The Yedikule Fortress also marks the end of the remaining land walls surrounding Istanbul. If you’re feeling adventurous, it’s possible to walk all the way on or along the walls between the fortress and Ayvansaray, about 7 kilometers north on the Golden Horn.

The Yangon Circle Train offers visitors an easy, affordable and relaxing way to take in the sites and sounds of local Yangon life. The 28.5-mile railway winds through 39 stops that travel across lush farmland, suburban neighborhoods and rural villages. The commuter railway is one of the cheapest ways to get around the city, making it ideal for people watching, visiting with locals and getting around on a budget.

Tourists can ride in cars reserved exclusively for foreigners, or join up with area residents as they travel to work or home from the market. Most trains traverse the loop in approximately three hours, but air conditioned trains can make the voyage in closer to two. Travelers hoping to capture photos of the scenery and people should opt for non-AC trains, since windows can’t be opened and are often too smudged to capture crisp pictures.

Overlooking the beautiful Mopan River from a stunning hilltop, the ruins at Xunantunich are some of the most visited Mayan sites in the world. Located in the Cayo region, Xunantunich, which means "stone woman" in Mayan, dates back to the Classic Era, about 200-900 AD.

The complex is made up of 6 groups and about 25 different temples and palaces, and is dominated by the astonishing El Castillo, which stands 40m (130ft) tall, and from the top, provides an amazing view of the jungle canopy, the other ruins, and even past the Guatemalan border. 

Learn about the incredible history of the Mayan inhabitants, the excavations, and the environment on the site, and stop into the visitors' center for more information. 

Yangmingshan National Park is busy Taipei’s safety valve. When stressed city dwellers feel like they’re going to erupt they come to this protected volcanic landscape for an instant fix of relaxation. It is particularly popular in spring when its gentle green hillsides are garlanded with azaleas, rhododendrons and (briefly) cherry blossoms.

All year round you can enjoy bird-watching or hiking numerous trails through the area’s famous grasslands. Like Wulai, this area is known for its hot springs, with the added twist of sulfur which turns the lake of Lengshuikeng an eerie milky pale blue.  

The Yasawa Islands are unlike anywhere else in Fiji. Taller and more grandiose than the neighboring Mamanuca Islands, the remote Yasawas are less developed, less commercialized, and closer to the heart of traditional Fijian culture.

Up until 1987 village life on the Yasawa Islands existed much as it had since the area’s original settlement. Handfuls of tourists began visiting the Yasawas in the 1950s, but it was forbidden to spend the night on shore and they were required to return to their ship. With the opening of the Yasawas to tourism, however, villagers opened up budget accommodations and entrepreneurs erected luxurious resorts. Despite the moderate growth, however, the Yasawas remain a secluded chain of 12 islands which are further from Nadi in both distance and mindset than the popular shores of the Mamanucas.

Reaching the Yasawa Islands is easy and straightforward for passengers on the Yasawa Flyer “yellow boat”, which departs from Denarau Marina daily at 8:30 a.m. Once on shore on the island of your choice, the two largest activities in the Yasawa Islands are hiking to the summit of jungle-strewn peaks and scouring the corals of the offshore reefs. At night, take part in a traditional kava ceremony or dance the night away with late night entertainment. For accommodations, unless you’re staying in an ultra-luxurious privately owned resort, many of the hotels in the Yasawa Islands are of the budget backpacker variety and feature mosquito nets, rain catchment systems, and the sound of waves lulling you to sleep each night. The Yasawas are developing quickly, however, and more moderately-priced accommodations are becoming available every year.

For many, the Yasawa Islands represent the white sand beaches of Fiji they had dreamt about, without the price tag their friends had warned them about. Despite only being two to four hours by boat from the Mamanucas, a visit to the Yasawas is a cruise back in time to when life was simpler and days were slow. It’s an oceanfront hammock, a blank to-do list, and a verdant mountain peak exploding from a lagoon where you start your day with a swim each morning. Even though the islands take a bit longer to get to, the hardest part isn’t arriving in the Yasawas, it’s getting up and trying to force yourself to leave.

High on a cactus-studded plateau, the ruins of Yagul offer a view of Oaxaca’s Tlacolula valley. Yagul dates back to at least 500 AD, but most of the existing structures were built several hundred years later, after the decline of the nearby city of Monte Albán . When the Spanish arrived in Oaxaca, Yagul still had a population of 6000.

Due to the easy-to-defend location and fortifications, archeologists believe Yagul was a military center. Like the other major ruins in the area, the site was occupied at various times by both the Zapotecs and the Mixtecs. The ruins include the second largest ancient ball court in Mesoamérica, several typically creepy tombs, and a labyrinthine stone palace with six small stone courtyards.

Xing Tian Gong temple (Hsing Tian Kong) is one of Taipei’s busiest working temples and an excellent place to visit if you want to witness modern Chinese Buddhism. Devotees come to worship Guan, a war general who after his death became deified as the god of war and the patron saint of businessmen. Guan lived from 162 to 219 AD and was a famous general during the Three Kingdoms period.

Xing Tian Gong wasn’t built until 1967, making it one of the youngest in the city. In the inner courtyard, you’ll often see throngs of worshippers kneeling and bowing in front of various alters; many leave flowers and tea as offerings on the main alter to Guan. The temple is said to bring good luck, and dozens of fortune tellers line the path outside of the temple to offer spiritual advice and guidance to those passing through.