Things to Do in Fiordland & Milford Sound

This giant yellow dome first opened in 1937, and today, more than 70 years later, the Central Market is remains a destination for first-time visitors to Cambodia’s capital city. Here, travelers can wander through hundreds of stalls selling bargain goods, antique coins, clothing, clocks, fabric, shoes, food and traditional souvenirs. A popular spot, heavy rains can flood the grounds, so it’s a better bet in drier seasons.

Antwerp’s main railway station is a much-loved city landmark, a spectacular domed building of majestic proportions on Koningin Astridplain and nicknamed the Spoorwegkathedraal (Railway Cathedral) by its local fans. It was designed by Flemish architect Louis Delacenserie and was completed in 1905; it is 400 m (1,300 ft) long with a grandiose façade completely covered in fancy patterned brickwork and gilded flourishes. Along with a massive central dome topped by an ornate cupola, it has eight smaller towers and an interior lavishly decorated in different shades and patterns of marble. The platforms are covered by a vast glass-and-iron vaulted ceiling designed by Clement van Bogaert, while Jan van Asperen was responsible for the elevated section of track that passes four km (2.5 miles) through the city; this was completed in 1898 and ornamented with over 200 white stone mini-towers. An extensive restoration of the station was started in 1993 and finally completed in 2009, when a shopping mall and two further platforms were added to the complex. Today the station has four levels and 14 tracks; it is used daily by 50,000 passengers traveling to Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Brussels and all stations in between.

Kuala Lumpur’s Central Market was established in 1888 as an open wet market for the local communities and ended up being so popular and conveniently located that it underwent several expansions and eventually moved into the Art-Deco structure it lives in today. The wet market moved out in the 1980s, but the Malaysian Heritage Society managed to save the original structure from demolition, instead renovating it into an arts center and heritage site.

Only two and half hours from the glitzy beaches of Beirut, the cedar groves of Lebanon are the pride of the Lebanese mountains. Northern Lebanon has some of the tallest peaks in the Middle East, some rising to over 10,000 feet, many of which used to be covered in dense forests of precious cedar.

From as early as 3,000 BC the surrounding civilizations of Egypt, Mesopotamia, and later the British lusted for the hard wood found in the forests of Lebanon. Unable to provide wood of their own for shipbuilding and railroad ties, the cedar forests of Lebanon were rapidly depleted and nearly destroyed.

Despite the international demand, however, some of the most remote groves managed to remain, the most famous of which is located in the village of Bsharre just 15 minutes from Lebanon’s most popular ski resort. Believed to be the oldest cedar grove in Lebanon, four of the largest cedars reach heights of over 115 feet and are locally referred to as Arz el Rab, “Cedars of the Lord”.

One of Lebanon’s greatest natural treasures, the mountainous area offers terrain and panoramas unlike anywhere else in Lebanon. After ambling amongst the cedars in Bsharri or taking to the slopes, visitors can descend into nearby Qadisha Grotto, an entrancing cave complex filled with limestone stalactites and stalagmites and which gushes with springtime waterfalls.

Given the distance of the cedars from the capital city of Beirut there are many hotel options available nearby, and although the ski resort is only open from December through April there is never a bad season for exploring the recesses of the Lebanese mountains.