List Description Are you a real geek? Like a super, super geek? Well, all geeks need to make their pilgrimages, and they need to go to the right places. We’re here to remind you where you should be heading. Remember, you’re a special class of human being and a trip to Disney World or a week on the beach will not cut it for you!
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About This List Created by: komodoDate Created: 1/7/2008 Times Viewed: 233 Item Count: 10
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| 0 1. The Nazca Lines and Machu Picchu, Peru
Yes, you were obsessed with UFOs and the mysteries of the universe when you were 10 years old. These two amazing places will allow you to relive the debates! What amazing being created them? The Lines are over 1,500 years old and show shapes, birds, animals, and even an astronaut! The flat plain is mysterious enough as it is! The image of the Lost City of Macchu Picchu may have adorned your high school Spanish class’ wall, but now it will be all for you. Did aliens help the wheel-less Incans build it” It’s up to you to decide! Just hope that your high geek factor will allow you to literally stomach the obnoxious flying over the mystical lines and the altitude of the Inca Trail!
How to get there: Fly into Lima, Peru. Take the bus (or fly if you’re not up to it) to the City of Nazca. Arrange for a flight for the next day—the hour flight is enough to take in the Lines. Then, hop on another flight or bus and head to Cuzco. Get acclimated for a few days before taking your pre-booked Inca Trail hike (could be a killer!) or take the pre-booked train journey to Aguas Calientes and then take the local bus or hike up! It’s a great 10 day to 2 week trip! |
| 0 2. The Great Wall of China, China
The ancient Chinese produced some of the most amazing inventions of all time; sadly, there is no way to pay homage to these inventions directly. Ancient China’s grandest building project is still as imposing as ever. Just imagine how many statisticians and mathematicians had to be involved!
How to get there: Fly into Beijing, China. If you want to go to the touristy part of the wall, join either a small tour group or take a bus to Badaling or if you’re up to it, join a small tour for a 10+ kilometer hike along an impressive stretch of the wall (available from almost all accommodation in the city!). It’s a great day trip. For the rest of your one to two week stay, visit Xi’an by night train, and wake up to a tour of the Terracotta Warriors! Talk about a statistician’s masterpiece! Stay for a couple of nights in the great city, before returning to Beijing for more sightseeing! |
| 0 3. The Great Pyramid of Giza and the Tombs & Temples of Luxor, Egypt
Yes, you were an Egyptologist at the age of 7. You studied hieroglyphics and thought that you were cool for doing it. Now it’s time for you to see the greatest monument from Ancient Egypt as well as the only remaining Seven Wonders of the World (which you already knew, of course)! The Temples and Tombs of Luxor will be “wrapping on the mummy” if you’re an Egyptologist—the Valleys of the Kings, Queens, and Nobles will amaze you. The Egyptian Museum in Cairo will allow you to stare into the face of Ramses II. How cool is that?
How to get there: Fly into Cairo, Egypt. Take a taxi (BARGAIN HARD!) to get to Giza or join a tour. There is a limit to the amount of people who can go inside the Great Pyramid—check when you arrive! The Egyptian Museum is worth the fee as is the Mummy Room! Take the night train to get to and from Luxor. Join a tour or take the ferry across the river and get a taxi for the morning. Start early! The afternoon temperatures are killers! Also ante up for the Tomb of Nefertari. It is absolutely stunning. If you have time to go to Abu Simbel and take a felucca ride, do it! Depending on activities 10 days to three weeks is plenty of time! |
| 0 4. The Galapagos Islands, Ecuador
You were a disciple of Darwin and a whiz at biology. What better a place for you than the Galapagos? You can attempt to check off all of the Darwin finches from your checklist and talk more about the animals than your guide. What could be more fun? Swimming with penguins does not hurt the equation!
How to get there: Fly into Guayaquil (cheaper connection) or Quito, Ecuador. Then fly to one of the islands (A pre-arranged tour is recommended! Most include plane fare from the mainland) where you will be met by your guide (if on a pre-arranged tour) and take off on your boat. If you pre-arrange your tour, you can often stay longer by going to the Tame office or other airlines and request a later departure. Five and Eight Day Tours are terrific, but make sure your boat will go to the islands that you want to visit! |
| 0 5. Seattle, Washington, USA
It’s percolating with computer wizards and high tech though. Nearby one can homage to Mega Geek Bill Gates at the gates of Microsoft, and in town, one can consider picking up their order at Amazon.com or plugging in to Google! Of course, what better way for a geek to settle down but a cup of mocha chai latte with whipped cream with some pseudo-geeks at Starbucks’ corporate headquarters? Silicon Valley is so 20th Century….
How to get there: Fly to Seattle, Washington, USA! A nice long weekend is a great amount of time to spend, but if you want to also catch some nature or make a daytrip to nearby Vancouver—make it a week or two! |
| 0 6. Stockholm, Sweden
You route for them like teams in the World Cup, the World Series, or the Super Bowl or actors at the Oscars—those scientists and academics of the Nobel Prize! Yes, every year the winners are announced and awarded at the Golden Hall in the City Hall of Stockholm (The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded in Oslo, Norway). After checking out the hall, enjoy the city which sadly has no geeky air about it!
How to get there: Fly into Stockholm, Sweden. A long weekend or five days is a great amount of time to explore the capital and its region. Make sure you add a few more weeks to explore the islands and the northern regions. |
| 0 7. Cambridge and Boston, Massachusetts, USA
The home of Harvard, M.I.T., and scores of other institutes of higher learning, how could geeks not travel to the birthplace of the first super computer? Yes, Bill Gates dropped out of Harvard, but perhaps he couldn’t take the full-on geekiness of it all! The “Athens of America” has had a long history of geeks from native son Ben Franklin to Mark Wahlberg…OK well, maybe not him…
How to get there: Fly into Boston, Massachusetts, USA. There’s a lot to see so a long weekend may not be enough time. You’ll have to decide for yourself. You’re a geek—figure it out! A long weekend to a week could be enough time, but if you want to go to the windiest place in the world—Mt. Washington in New Hampshire (take that, Chicago!)—or visit the natural splendor of Cape Cod, you’ll need a couple of weeks. |
| 0 8. Syracuse, Sicily, Italy
Archimedes of Syracuse discovered that most elusive of numbers there—Pi! Yes, you have memorized the first 20 digits of this number—now see where it was born! Syracuse was a great Greek colony on what became an island known for another cult following—The Godfather. Recite lines from the film and then rattle off a bunch of numbers—what can be more perfect than that?
How to get there: Fly into Palermo, Sicily, Italy and then take a bus to the Syracusa. There’s a lot to be seen and experienced on the island. Ten days would be wonderful and remember once you think you’ve had your full—they pull you back in! |
| 0 9. Crac de Chevalier, Syria
If you want to live out your secret D&D Fantasy (Dungeons and Dragons for those of you pretending not to know), you’ll have to head to Syria to the most magnificent of all castles! It’s a Crusader castle in the middle of the desert—towering over the local landscape. No annoying frilly things to take away its power!
How to get there: Fly into Damascus or Aleppo, Syria (or for more fun—take the train or bus overland from Jordan or Turkey!) A couple of weeks would be great for the entire country. A full day of playing in the castle ruins should suffice! |
| 0 10. Star Wars Tours, Tunisia
OK, admit it—you are hooked! You have even watched all of the new Star Wars Films more than once—although not as many times as Empire Strikes Back! So you’ll have to make that pilgrimage to that place far far away in Tunisia to relive those great memories! If you’re lucky, you can sleep over the Cantina Bar! Now that is Geek Heaven!
How to get there: Fly into Tunis, Tunisia and then either join a Star Wars tour there or take buses to Matmata. The Hotel Sidi Driss is known as being where the Cantina scene was filmed, but in fact it wasn’t really. However, several scenes involving the Lars family were filmed there! Ten days would be perfect even if it is far far away! |
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