Sacred Places Around the World: 108 Destinations EBOOK

“Crumbling ruins and abandoned cities beckon mysteriously from the long gone past. To name just a few, Italy has Pompeii, India has Hampi, Jordan has Petra, Iran has Persepolis, Peru has Machu Picchu, and Mexico has Chichen Itza. Recorded miracles, supernatural, or significant religious events draw pilgrims to shrines, grottoes, mountains, rivers, valleys, and caves from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, from the Sahara Desert to Siberia. Many sites listed in the book are well known, England's Stonehenge for one. But it may surprise you to learn that America's New Hampshire also claims a Stonehenge. You probably know of Peru's Nazca Lines, but did you know about the three early humans who left their footprints on Tanzania's Laetoli Plain three million years ago? To visit these places, according to Olsen, is to "open our minds to the world around us, our collective history, the cosmos above and also to each other." I would read this book for inspiration rather than as a take-along how-to guide. The author does include a few practical though brief getting-there details along with descriptive illustrations and maps, but the book is mainly interesting for the background information it provides about the mystical places that dot our planet from Angkor to Zanzibar. As a bedtime read, it served me well as a launch to dreams of future journeys.” -CONNECTING: SOLO TRAVEL NETWORK

”Brad Olsen is at the forefront of a growing trend in travel guides. In a series of notes exchanged with this column, Olsen told of his fascination for "pyramids, mountains, sanctuaries, lost cities and pilgrimage routes" that constitute sacred places of the world. Having written two books on the subject, the author is now developing a television series based on his relatively unique interest. The open-minded reader traveling along with Olson will likely be informed, challenged and may at times take exception to the author's conclusions. Are these places genuinely sacred, or are they simply possessed of mystique? "You can view a sacred place as an interesting pile of rocks or a place long venerated by our ancestors," he observes. "Some will inspire, some disappoint." A careful reading will show that for the most part, our tour guide is careful not to make outright assertions. In an item on Chaco Canyon in New Mexico, he notes when that many modern American Indians make the claim of Anasazi heritage. Many anthropologists dispute that. Olsen is obviously sympathetic to the claim, but not doctrinaire.” -INSIGHT MAGAZINE (3/2004)

“Sacred sites (to) the ruins, sanctuaries, mountains, lost cities, temples, and pilgrimage routes of ancient civilizations.” –SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE