It's an unsolved mystery. In Kin-pun, Myanmar, a massive gilded boulder, topped by a pagoda shrine, teeters on the edge of a sheer cliff face. Why doesn't it crash into the valley below? According to legend, the shrine is said to contain a single strand of the Buddha's hair, which maintains the rock's balance.

This is one of many intriguing entries in the new book, 1001 Natural Wonders You Must See Before You Die (Barron's) by Michael Bright, an executive producer with the BBC, and author of more than 75 books on natural history.

His latest effort is a 960-page tome with spectacular colour photographs of deserts, frozen wastes, lakes, rivers, mountaintops and ocean depths and includes contributions from some of the world's leading explorers.

It's a great concept for a book -- a compilation of places to see before you die -- though not entirely original. At least four other books with similar titles have appeared in the last few years.

The most recent of the bunch is Unforgettable Journeys to Take Before you Die (Firefly) by Steve Watkins and Clare Jones.

Unlike their previous book, Unforgettable Things to Do Before You Die (Firefly), which contains 40 beyond the ordinary travel experiences, this latest release is a compilation of 30 trips where the journey itself is the highlight.

Not surprisingly, the luxurious Eastern and Oriental Express from Singapore to Bangkok, and the Route 66 road trip through the heart of America are included.

But so are a few lesser known journeys, such as a drive on the Uyuni Salt Flat in the deserts of Bolivia's Altiplano or the Gibb River Road in the outback of Western Australia.

Colour photographs take up at least half of the book's 242-pages. It's similar in appearance to another Firefly release that came two years earlier called Unforgettable Places to See Before You Die by Steve Davey.

With so many books covering a similar topic there is bound to be some overlap.

Davey's selections of world famous sites such as Machu Picchu, Taj Mahal, Great Barrier Reef, Petra, St. Petersburg (Russia), Angkor Wat and the Grand Canyon, are also included in a few of the other books.

What's interesting is to see how they differ. Davey, for example, includes Monet's garden in Giverny and the carved stone churches in Lalibela, Ethiopia.

Of all the books, one that includes the widest range of attractions is 1,000 Places to See Before You Die: A Traveler's Life List (Workman Publishing) by Patricia Schultz.

The 974-page book, which took seven years to research, is more than a compilation of great sites on and off the beaten track. It also includes notable hotels, museums and restaurants around the world.

Compared to the other four books, this one places less emphasis on photography but it does a better job of providing practical information. Each entry concludes with details on costs, best time to go and contact information.

My own list would have to include a train trip through the Canadian Rockies, the beaches in Anguilla, and a few boat journeys: The Norweta on Canada's Mackenzie River and the Aranui to the Marquesas Islands.

And every seasoned traveller should experience culture shock at least once. For that, I recommend travelling on your own through the islands of Nusa Tenggara in Indonesia for a few weeks.

Though few people will ever get to all 1,000 must-see places some of the authors suggest, these books may at least tempt you to compile your own list -- a smaller one -- of sites to see or journeys to take before you die.