Spectacular images of the world around us


A selection of the most beautiful landscape images


Buddhist monks Seigen (bottom), Jisho Handa and Fabricio Costa (top) from the Busshinji temple, meditate on the helipad of Copan building in downtown Sao Paulo February 18, 2011.


The pack of riders take a curve near Yverdon during the second stage of the Tour de Romandie cycling race in Lucens, Switzerland, May 3, 2007.



Climbers trek on Argentina's Perito Moreno glacier near the city of El Calafate, in the Patagonian province of Santa Cruz, Argentina, December 16, 2009.


A frozen river is seen next to a group of houses located on the outskirts of the Mongolian capital city of Ulan Bator April 3, 2012.


A mass of ice broken off from the Upsala glacier floats on the waters of Lago Argentino in Parque Nacional Los Glaciares, southwest of Argentina in the Patagonian province of Santa Cruz, March 27, 2007. 



 Freshly cut wheat stands under approaching storm clouds on a property owned by farmer Scott Wason near Roma, 430 km (267 miles) west of Brisbane, Australia, October 29, 2011


A rock sand formation is seen in the El Cuzco region of the Tatacoa Desert in southwest Colombia December 7, 2009.


A development is seen on one of the islands of The World Islands project in Dubai January 7, 2012.


 Sheep grazing on a field are seen at the "Crete Senesi" (Siennese clays) area near Asciano, Italy, October 6, 2011.


''Tourists explore sand dunes in the Mauritanian desert near the capital Nouakchott, July 29, 2005.


Workers harvest cranberries at the Atoka cranberry farm in Manseau, Quebec, September 27, 2006.


Two farmers walk on a terraced paddy field in Gaopo Township, Guiyang city, southwest China's Guizhou province, September 20, 2005.


Rice is planted in graceful terraced paddies near Jatiluwih in central Bali August 11, 2003.


 A local farmer leads a row of camels at a tourism resort of the Kumtag Desert in Shanshan county, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China, 


 A general view of lightning striking over the city of Kobe in Japan, May 26, 2002.


Shanghai's financial district is seen at the Bund promenade as snow falls in downtown Shanghai January 20, 2011.