Snow blankets parts of boats docked on the Rhine near Lahn, Germany. Besides gorgeous scenery, the Rhine presents an arresting overview of a busy working river connected by canals and tributaries
to most of Europe.
Gondolas ply the waters of Venice's Grand Canal, one of Italy's most popular tourist attractions.
Tour guide Mario Rojas looks over an edge of "the abyss," 9,094 feet high, in Canaima National Park in Venezuela's Gran Sabana region.
The mesas inspired Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's novel, "The Lost World," in which dinosaurs live on an isolated plateau in the Amazon.
Snow-covered trees provide a stark contrast to the fall foliage below in this scene from October at Cannon Mountain
in Franconia, N.H.
People relax in the Blue Lagoon spa in Grindavik, Iceland. The Blue Lagoon was created in the mid-1970s, when some communities on
Iceland's Reykjanes peninsula, in the southwestern part of the island, sought to harness heat generated by a geothermal area.
Rafters take a break from the rapids at Redwall Cavern in Marble Canyon near Grand Canyon National Park, Ariz. The
popular spot along the Colorado Rover is about 33 miles from Lee's Ferry.
The wonders of Angkor Wat, the Khmer empire-built temple, lie at the end of a rainbow in northwest Cambodia. The world heritage site,
built in the 12th century, is among more than 100 Buddhist and Hindu temples in the area that draw ever-increasing numbers of tourists, helping to rebuild the impoverished nation's economy.
Sand dunes stretch into the distance on the northern edge of the Sahara desert at al-Ramla in western Libya. Since the government of
Moammar Gadhafi began its campaign to open its doors to the outside world, tourists are increasingly visiting Libya.
An iceberg gets a pinkish halo in the sunset in Ilulissat fjord, on Greenland's western coast. Located 155 miles north of the Arctic Circle, Ilulissat is home to 5,000 people, most of whom live off of shrimp and halibut fishing as well as the all-important tourism
industry. Some 15,000 tourists visit the town each year, or about half of all those who visit Greenland.
A tourist looks out on the fog-shrouded valley below the Baeknyeong-Sa temple in Gangjin province in southwestern South Korea. South Korea is making a big effort to attract
tourism.
The sun sets as visitors to the observation deck of the Empire State Building look south over the Manhattan skyline in New
York City.
Kashmiri vegetable sellers gather at a floating market on Dal Lake in Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir state. Srinagar
was once a popular destination for international and domestic tourists, attracting 720,000 tourists a year to the "Switzerland of the
East." These days, a 13-year revolt against Indian rule by Muslim militants has turned Kashmir into one of the world's most heavily
militarized zones.
Bicyclists travel through a narrow street in the old town of Kashgar in Xinjiang, China.
Two people travel across the Uyuni salt flat about 300 miles south of La Paz, Bolivia.
A guide shows an ancient castle in Nalut in western Libya. Built into a rocky peak, the 800-year-old castle features
seven stories of caves where people stored food to protect it from raiding enemies.
Peruvian people work at the Maras saltern. The saltern is considered an Incaic "hidden treasure," offering historical and natural beauty similar to the world-recognized Machu Picchu
complex.
A couple stands in the "Door of No Return" on Goree Island off Senegal. The door in the courtyard of a centuries-old slave house is the passage that captured Africans walked through before boarding
ships that carried them into slavery.
The sun sets over Mawenzi Peak on Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. Kilimanjaro's mystique beckons climbers of all skill levels because, though it's not a technical climb, it's the highest mountain in Africa
at 19,340 feet.
Tenacious tourists brave a sandstorm at the Taj Mahal in Agra, India, during a June visit.
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