AUSTRALIA // At sunset, when its wavy walls blaze gold, Uluru looks like a ship on fire in a desert sea. Rising to 348m (1142ft), the sandstone monolith seizes your eyes from miles away. It's easy to see why it's a sacred site. The Anangu people, the area's original inhabitants, believe it's still home to spirit ancestors like the python woman Kuniya and the hare-wallaby people, the Mala. But it's become an icon to all Australians, a symbolic heart beating in the country's Red Centre. Until recently, visitors were allowed to summit Uluru. This went against the wishes of the Anangu, who worried about degradation and climber injuries. But in 2017, the park board voted unanimously to ban the practice. Luckily there are dozens of far more rewarding things to do. Watch dawn paint a rosy blush on the eastern wall. Take in the spectacle of Kata Tjuta, 36 bulbous red rock domes, about 30km (18 miles) from Uluru. Join a ranger-guided walk past red gum tree groves and sacred waterholes. Spy peregrine falcons wheeling over rocky slopes, and spot kangaroos hopping through the spinifex. Ride a bike - or a Segway - on dusty park trails. And learn about the Anangu, who have cared for Uluru since time out of mind. The cultural centre has a fantastic display on tjukurpa, the creation period, when mythical beings roamed the land. You can also work with local Anangu artists to create Aboriginal-style dot paintings. While you watch the light play across the rock's vast surface, consider this: two thirds of Uluru is actually underground. As the Anangu have always known, there's more to this place than the eye can see.