We ain’t saying you’re a gold digger, but if you are, flight comparison site Skyscanner.net maps out where to find the world’s richest people.
Forbes has just released its latest Top 100 Billionaires’ list and despite the worldwide recession, the super-rich are still getting richer with the number of billionaires increasing by 17% to 1,210.
America has by far the biggest number of billionaires with one in three (413) of the world’s wealthiest living in the US, including seven ‘tech-geek’ billionaires from social networking site Facebook.
Star of Oscar-nominated movie The Social Network, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg
now has an estimated wealth of $13.5billion and is joined in the list by Facebook colleagues including the world’s youngest billionaire Dustin Moskovitz, aged 26.
For the first time since the 1990s, Asia has more billionaires than Europe, with 332 compared to a European total of 300, while Moscow is home to 79 billionaires, more than any other city on earth. And while the world’s richest man, telecoms magnate Carlos Slim Helu, who is worth an estimated $74billion, is Mexican, outside of the USA only 76 other people from the Americas made the list.
Join the gold rush!
Sugar daddies (or mummies) are all very well, but if it’s real gold you’re after, go gold digging for real and visit one of these Golden destinations!
1. Wat Traimit, Temple of the Golden Buddha, Bangkok, Thailand
It’s official, Buddhism is all about the bling. The Buddha in Wat Traimit claims the prestigious title of not just being the world’s biggest solid gold Buddha – but the world’s biggest solid gold statue. Weighing nearly five and a half tons and sitting at three meters in height, the statue spent two centuries encased in plaster to disguise its value when the Burmese invaded. Now visitors enjoy it in all its golden glory in one of the most visited temples in Bangkok.
2. Kinkaku-ji, Temple of the Golden Pavilion, Kyoto, Japan
All that glitters is not gold. But Kinkaku-ji most certainly is. As one of Japan’s most prized temples, you’d think they might take better care of it; not so, Kinkaku-ji has burned down twice (once by a mad monk) and hence the present structure is actually fairly recent, only dating from 1955. However, this three storey Japanese temple that is covered in glittering gold leaf is one of Japan’s must sees.
3. Kromdraai Gold Mine, Johannesburg, South Africa
For over 100 years, South Africa claimed the title of largest gold producer in the world (although China recently stolen the title). Even though they are now only in second place, the country is still well known for its gold mining. Take a tour to the Kromdraai Gold Mine just outside of Johannesburg and go deep into the heart of the mountain to learn about the traditional methods of mining gold ore.
source: Skyscanner, Forbes
