Wonders of the world (Wonder where they all went? Try these)

Part I

The Hanging Gardens of Babylon...The Colossus of Rhodes......man, the ancients had the best tourist destinations. Or did they? Lately, the press (impatient tourists if I ever knew any) has been buzzing about naming new world wonders. For a real thrill (and stories to make your descendants jealous after global warming does God-knows-what), try these lesser-known contenders:

Kumbhalgarh Fort,  India

China, schmina. While your friends are making kooky faces atop the Great Wall of You-Know-Where, you can be high in the north of India, in a place I dubbed "The top of the world." Precipitous, twisting hills rich with green foliage hide wild leopards, lazing buffalo in still pools, and vine-covered stone steps to somewhere.

A rumbling 250-kilometer bus ride from Jodhpur, this is a land where the sun burns through cool winds and the hazy air turns faraway mountains blue. In the midst of almost nothing man made, discover the entrance to the Jainist fort Kumbhalgarh--home of the second-longest wall in the world.

Twenty feet thick and 36 kilometers long, The Great Wall of Kumbalgarh is a stone snake that invites you to follow it--if your 'what-it-takes' measures up. Bring excellent walking shoes, sun screen and stamina, and start hiking like you mean it. Bathrooms? Prepare for the stone holes in the ground that open to the level below (consider yourself warned). It is worth the hour climb. Gaze down from the top, and the rolling green earth lays down at your feet. (Admission: About 50 cents.)

Powder Tower, Prague, Czech Republic

Like a shadowy cut-out against the sky, this soot-dark Gothic remnant of 1475 crouches on the edge of Stare Mesto (Old Town), seeming to crook a beckoning finger at passing tourists. Dare you climb the 186 steps within?

Claustrophobes, take a breath of sky before attempting.

A tightly spiraling, crumble-edged stone staircase offers a shredding rope "railing" to assist your ascent. I was wiping cold perspiration from my palms by the time I reached halfway, trying not to focus on the ever-deepening funnel drop below me. At last, breathless, I reached to top--where a stout, old woman sat in a ticket booth. Perhaps she takes a helicopter to work? Or maybe she is the true wonder here. (Admission: Under $3.)

Stay tuned for Part II. Got more wonders in mind? Leave me a comment--I love suggestions.

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