Rising from the broad desert plain in the deep centre of Australia, Uluru / Ayers Rock is Australia’s most recognisable natural icon and one of one of the world’s most beautiful natural wonders.

There are many remarkable things about Uluru (Ayers Rock), the huge monolith 465km southwest of Alice Springs in Australia’s Red Centre.

But perhaps the most remarkable is how few people have ever visited it. Maybe because it’s a long way to go from most population centres and people think there’s little to do once you get there. Think again. A trip to Uluru, and the neighbouring Kata Tjuta (the Olgas), represents one of the world’s most memorable walking holidays. Firstly, there’s the opportunity to walk around the rock (some 9.4km – our tip: start early in the day), which is possibly the oldest walking track on the planet. This walk showcases why Uluru has been given World Heritage status, for both ecological and cultural reasons.

Many also decide to ignore the wishes of the Anangu people and climb the rock, which rises 348m above the surrounding countryside. Guided tours enable visitors to grasp the ancestral creation theories offered by the traditional owners, and the scientific model or “erosion over millions of years” put forward by western science.

“To get the best out of this world icon, don’t just fly straight into nearby Yulara. The longer the drive to get there, the more remarkable it is.”
– David Whitley

Make no mistake: close up, Uluru is powerful, awe-inspiring and intimidating. From a distance, Uluru famously changes colour, anything from blue or violet to glowing red. There are numerous places to watch the sun rise or set over this remarkable pebble (a term coined by explorer Ernest Giles in 1872). You’ll typically be standing on a rise, surrounded by lush vegetation and the famous red earth of the Red Centre.

The Olgas provide further excellent walking opportunities, and the night sky at Uluru, undimmed by the lights of civilisation, is spectacular nearly every evening. Various “dinner in the desert” options are available, some with guided astronomy tours.
Quite apart from on foot, there are various options to see Uluru from the air, but the cheapest way to do this is to insist on a window seat when flying in to Alice.

Did you know?
Only a small portion of Uluru is on the surface. The rock, which is made of arkose (a course-grained sandstone) is at least 2.5km thick. Some report a light source emanating from it at various times of the year. Most likely this can be explained scientifically, but the ancestral owners believe there’s a hollow below ground which houses an energy source they call “Tjukurpa”, or the Dreamtime.

How to get there
You can fly direct to Ayers Rock Airport daily from Perth, Sydney, Cairns and Alice Springs, plus, four times a week from Melbourne. Or you can fly into Alice Springs and drive to Uluru, but plan to take your time to make this drive – it is a long way.
Best time to go
It is obviously very hot during the summer months. Check out the websites below for temperatures during the year.

Further information
Useful websites:

www.deh.gov.au/parks/uluru/
The Department of the Environment and Heritage site for Uluru – Kata Tjuta National Park. Must-visit site before you visit!

www.ayersrockresort.com.au
Accommodation site for Yulara, the resort facing Uluru.

[Via - australiantraveller.com]

If your into martial arts consider enrolling in Asia’s ultimate boot camp at Deng Feng, China’s Kung Fu capital and home of the famous Shaolin monks. The Shaolin Temple in Henan, known in the martial arts world as the birthplace of kung fu and home to the famed “fighting monks,” welcomes foreigners to train in its martial arts classes.

There are around 50 schools in the Shaolin and Deng Feng area with thousands of students training from dawn to dusk. The largest school, Tagou, has 10,000 students. The Shaolin Monastery Wushu Institute at Tagou is foreigner-friendly, with an English-speaking office that can help to arrange travel, lodging, and training. They provide a serious course in one of the most serious martial art forms out there, Shaolin-style fighting. This form of fighting began over a thousand years ago with the monks of the Shaolin Temple. You can train at the Shaolin Temple for a few weeks or a few years. Some children start as young as six years old, most hoping to be the next Hong Kong martial arts movie star!

The Shaolin way of life is spiritual and regimented and a training session gives you a whole new respect for this intense discipline. If you’re not up to the physical demands of trying Kung Fu yourself, the demonstrations by the Shaolin monks are amazing. They leap into the air, balance on blades, break bricks and pretty much defy anything you’ve thought was humanly impossible.