As the days tick away approaching the rumored Mayan apocalypse on Dec. 21, just one question remains: Have you chosen your Armageddon adventure?
NASA and the U.S. government continue to try to dispel our anxieties and fears that the world is ending in Dec. 21, claiming "False rumors about the end of the world in 2012 have been commonplace on the Internet for some time," in a post on the government's official blog.
"Many of these rumors involve the Mayan calendar ending in 2012 (it won't), a comet causing catastrophic effects (definitely not), a hidden planet sneaking up and colliding with us (no and no), and many others. The world will not end on December 21, 2012, or any day in 2012," the government assured.
NASA also noted in an Armageddon myth debunking video that scholars of the Mayan civilization, and even the Mayans themselves, have debunked such end of the world claims. The current fanaticism was all but the result of a wrong interpretation on the 5,125-year-old calendar of the ancient Mayans, they said.
While there might be science and history to back up those claims, it's also just no fun.
So, let's assume the world is ending Dec. 21. If you'd like to spend your last moments on the planet confirming the existence of alien life - and who wouldn't? - we've got two destination vacations for you to blow your life savings on; c'mon, like you're really going to need rent money Dec. 22?
Mount Rtanj, Serbia
Many Mayan apocalypse cults are flocking to the remote village of Mount Rtanj deep in Serbia's Carpathian Mountains. Observers believe the pyramid-shaped mountain conceals a "pyramidal" structure left behind by alien visitors thousands of years ago that will emit a powerful force field at the moment of Armageddon, protecting those in its vicinity, according to the Daily Mail.
Hotels in the small town are now overflowing with doomsday tourists looking to outlive the apocalypse.
"In one day we had 500 people trying to book rooms. People want to bring their whole families," Obrad Blecic, a local hotel manager, told The Telegraph.
The 5,100ft-high mountain has long been believed to have mystical powers. According to legend, a wizard lived in a great castle at its summit, guarding a hoard of buried treasure.
The castle is now gone, replaced by a small chapel to Patron Saint of England Saint George; the chapel, however, was destroyed by treasure hunters in the trying to unearth the hidden gold, according to the Daily Mail.
Iconic British science-fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke is also said to have believed in the mountain's mystical properties, referring to Mount Rtanj as "the navel of the world" that held a "special energy."
Doomsday cultists plan to await the apocalypse inside a giant safe room within the mountain where they believe there are buildings constructed long ago by aliens in preparation for the supposed end of the world, according to local hotel owners, reported the Mail.
Bugarach Mountain
Apocalypse 2012 rumors have some people so fired up, they've quit their jobs, and devoted the rest of their time on Earth to awaiting the end in the tiny town of Bugarach, France.
Various cults have gathered around a mountain in southwestern France to anticipate the apocalypse. The cults' members have converged on the hamlet praying aliens will emerge from the nearby 4,040ft cloud-shrouded summit of the Pic de Bugarach Mountain on Dec. 21 and save them from Armageddon.
"We saw how hippies and New Age oddballs have thrown up makeshift camps in the shadow of [the mountain]," reported The Sun.
Police and troops have been drafted in to deal with the sudden influx and stop believers from scaling the mountain. Although many believe this is merely a cover for the investigation of dozens of recent UFO sightings.
With its deep network of caves, the mountain is thought to have inspired the Steven Spielberg movie "Close Encounters Of The Third Kind" and the classic novel "Journey To The Centre Of The Earth."
Alien-fever and conspiracy theories are running high in the mountain town as Mayan date quickly approaches.
Patrice Etienne, who runs an organic cafe in the village, is certain the mountain holds a major secret. "People walking on the mountain report that their cameras jammed when they tried to take pictures. They heard strange noises coming from underground," he said.
"We have seen military aircraft, police and soldiers. It's like a Spielberg movie. They are looking for something. There is something in this mountain, definitely."
According to The Daily Mail, The Internet is full of myths about the small town. "These include beliefs that the mountain is surrounded by a magnetic force, that it is the site of a concealed alien base, or even that it contains an underground access to another world," noted the paper.
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