Explorica's Seven Wonders of the World

Explorica’s Seven Wonders of the World

Ask a few friends what the seven wonders of the world are, and each of them will probably give you a different answer. We decided to poll the Explorica team — some of Boston’s most well-traveled citizens — to see what they think are the big seven.

Not only did they choose some of the most fascinating sites in the world, but many have also visited one or more of them, with one employee even boasting that she’s seen all seven.

Here are Explorica’s Seven Wonders of the World, with a few staff photos and stories:

Great Wall of China

“Last year I lived in China and for one awesome experience, I with a small group of people camped and hiked with our packs on top of the Great Wall for 3 days. It was the coolest and most exhausting experience ever. We went way into the crumbling parts of the wall that were from the original part of the structure. My favorite fact of the great wall is that the wall was created by putting sticky rice inside to hold it together.”

-Elise Cather (left), International Program Consultant

The Colosseum

“Something I found really interesting while touring the Colosseum was that it was originally covered in marble, but around the fourth century scavengers and builders began to take materials to build other projects. So what we see today is not actually what it looked like and it was even more immaculate back in Roman times.”

-Isabel Flynn, Product Coordinator

Stonehenge

“We got back on the bus and drove to Stonehenge, which is pretty much on the side of the highway. Our bus driver said that no matter what the weather is like in the rest of England, it will be worse at Stonehenge, and he was right. It was wet and cold and windy.

I was surprised to learn that each stone weighs about five tons and come from 150ish miles away. It was built in about 2000 BC ish….and that’s pretty much all we know about Stonehenge. We went there because it’s supposed to be where Merlin helped the king build a monument to honor knights killed in battle, but that was supposed to have happened in like 400 AD. Go figure.”

-Jess Price, Copywriter, from her 2009 travel diary

Machu Picchu

“My best story is when I was hiking up Machu Picchu I accidentally dropped my bag (which contained all of my belongings including wallet, passport and phone) off the side of a 20-foot cliff! Luckily one of the nice tour guides climbed down and retrieved it!”

-Isabel Flynn (bottom right), Product Coordinator

“We got these amazing photos all because we took a wrong turn!! We mistakenly missed the turn that we were supposed to take to start heading up to the summit and just kept trudging along. We finally realized we were on the wrong path when we found ourselves at the sun gate. The sun gate is the first vantage point that hikers get of Machu Picchu when they’ve done the four-day hike along the famous Inca Trail. It’s one of the most spectacular vantage points for Machu Picchu. This just goes to show you that some of the best experiences (and photos) when you’re traveling happen because you took the wrong turn or made a mistake!”

-Cara Bolin (top), Sales Director

The Pyramids of Giza

“The camel I rode in Giza was named Charlie Brown. He repeatedly tried to run away from the guide (with me on his back — the camel, not the guide). At one point, the guide asked me if I wanted to go faster. I said that I didn’t, but he made Charlie Brown gallop about 200 yards while I screamed ‘make him stop!’ Terrifying yet exhilarating (I suppose).”

-Rachel Linso Metcalf (right), Domestic Program Consultant

Angor Wat

“It was really cool…my travel partner and I had a great time exploring the temple. We rented bicycles and went all over!”

-Julia Gualtieri, Product Coordinator

Taj Mahal

“While the Taj Mahal was way smaller than I expected it to be, it was way more cool. I perceived the Taj Mahal to be just a completely white marble structure because you only see pictures taken from far away. When you get up close, you can see the that they entire building has teeny-tiny colored tiles covering most of the structure. After the Taj Mahal visit, we went to the place where they make these little tiles. We learned that each one of these tiny tiles takes HOURS to make from very skilled workers. Which is just crazy because they cover the entire building and are smaller than a dime coin.

Also, there are so many wild monkeys there that will try to steal your food…”