On my fourth day, the way dropped dramatically into Glendalough, the steep-sided "valley of the two lakes" that shelters one of Ireland's most impressive monastic settlements.
The ruins at Tikal date from as early as 900BC, but the site is best known for structures originating at the time of Christ, and which subsequently flourished into one of the largest, most impressive human settlements in the Americas.
Although it has impressive dispute-settlement powers, it has been battered not just by the lobbyists but also by the EU's recalcitrance over bananas and hormone-treated beef, and by America's growing disenchantment with curbs on its unilateralist instincts.
Particularly impressive is the settlement at Los Millares (Almería), which extends over five acres (two hectares) and is protected by triple walls of stone reinforced with towers at regular intervals.
It isn't that these massive bank settlements aren't impressive.
Besides, the lawyers argue, if the lawsuit had no merit, should that not make the settlement that much more impressive?
Most gringos who visit the Patacancha Valley go for a specific purpose: to visit the archaeological ruins of Pumamarka, an immense Inka settlement surrounded by an impressive wall that sits on a ridge above the valley floor.
Early emphasis was on the relics, then on the processes, of European colonization and spread of settlement, also on Australia's impressive convict remains.
Sharples believes this would have created an impressive entrance and was a demonstration of the settlement's high status.
Shortly afterward, another mosque was built at Ras Mkumbuu, also on the beach, while the stone houses formed an impressive waterfront, completing the town's transformation from hilltop settlement to seaward-facing community.
