Oddity Central - Collecting Oddities » Travel

Japan’s Famous Wine Spa Reopened

Spooky — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:50:07 +0000

Located in Kowakien Yunessun, the biggest, most popular spa center in Japan, the outdoor has opened its gates once again.

Hundreds of gallons of Beaujolais Nouveau, the most popular wine in Japan, are used during the 12 day period the wine spa welcomes its guests. Four the last four years, Japanese wine lovers have had the opportunity to drink and bathe in the liquor they love so much, at the Hakone Kowakien Yunessun.

The red pool is constantly fed wine through the wine-bottle-shaped spring, while a sommelier stands by to fill up the glasses of those craving some more Beaujolais Nouveau.

Apart from a wine pool, the spa center also features a sake spa, green tea spa and coffee spa, where clients can bathe in the drinks mentioned.

Above photos by Xinhua via CCTV

Green Tea Spa

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Coffee Spa

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Sake Spa

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Mexico’s Island of the Dolls Is Beyond Creepy

Spooky — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:43:49 +0000

Known as “La Isla de la Munecas”, by the Spanish, The Island of the Dolls is perhaps the creepiest tourist attraction in Mexico. Located within an extensive network of canals, south of Mexico City, the island is a place of mystery and superstition.

Almost every tree growing on the island is decorated with old, mutilated dolls that give anyone the feeling that they’re constantly being watched. The story behind the Island of the Dolls began when a hermit by the name of Don Julian Santana moved here. Although he was married he chose to live the last 50 years of his life alone.

Don Julian used to say he was haunted by the ghost of the little girl who had drowned in one of the canals around the island. Some say he used to fish the dolls from the water because he though they were real children, but the truth is he was collecting and placing them around his home as a shrine for the spirit that tormented him. At one point he even traded home grown fruit and vegetables for old dolls.

Ironically, in 2001 Don Julian Santana was found dead by his nephew, in the same canal that he said the little girl drowned in. Now his Island of the Dolls is one of the world’s weirdest tourist attractions. Some tourists who visited this place claim the dolls whisper and you must offer them a gift upon setting foot on the island, to appease their spirits.

via Bizarre

China’s Kingdom Of The Dwarves

Spooky — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 11:19:01 +0000

Over 100 height-challenged Chinese people perform in a show called Kingdom Of The Dwarves, close to Kunming, Yunnan Province.

Casting for the Kingdom Of The Dwarves show took place last summer, with only two conditions stipulated: the performers had to be between 18 and 40 years old and be shorter than 130 cm (4′3″). No other special skills were required. Now they take the stage of the Kunming World Butterflies Garden twice a day, singing, dancing and performing comedy sketches to entertain the crowds.

I know it looks like exploitation and discrimination, but the short performers see it only as another form of migrant labor and a haven away from people who mock and tease them on a daily basis. With discrimination and unemployment still high in China, the little people saw the Kingdom Of The Dwarves as an opportunity.

Just to clear things up, this is just a profitable theme park, not a community formed by the dwarves themselves as a shelter, and the mushroom houses only serve as decor and changing rooms, not as living quarters.

Photos by REUTERS

via Telegraph.co.uk

The Story of the Cardrona Bra Fence

Spooky — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:25:01 +0000

The Cardrona Bra Fence was one of the most bizarre tourist attractions in New Zealand. Located in Central Otago, it was admired by some, but considered an eyesore by others.

The famous fence was born on Christmas of 1999, when 4 bras were discovered hanging on the fence. Word spread fast and, by the end of February, 60 bras were dancing in the wind, at Cardrona. They were soon removed, but news of the Bra Fence spread fast and by the year 2000, over 200 bras covered the fence. Once again, the bras just disappeared, but by 2006 over 800 women underwear garments were hanging in the wind.

While some of the locals were grateful for this offbeat tourist attraction, some landowners found the Cardrona Bra Fence vulgar and made attempts to have it removed. Because it was located on public road reserve, the local council declared the fence a traffic hazard and ordered the bras removed.

Though it no longer exists, the story of the Cardrona Bra Fence won’t soon be forgotten and thankfully, there are some photos around the interwebs:

[Photo Credits]

Watts Tower – One Man’s Dream Turned Reality

Spooky — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 19:40:23 +0000

“I had in mind to do something big and I did it.” That’s what Simon Rodia said about his work.

Designed by Italian immigrant Sabato (Simon) Rodia, Watts Towers are a famous example of vernacular architecture, located in the Watts district, Los Angeles. The talented construction worker spent all his spare time, between 1921 and 1954, working on this collection of 17 interconnected steel towers. The amateur structures are made from steel rods wrapped in wire and coated in mortar.

Rodia decorated his architectural masterpieces with found stuff, like bottle caps, seashells, broken glass and pottery. Children from all over the neighborhood would search for pieces of glass and bring it to Simon Rodia, in hope their findings would be included in his project.

Unfortunately, the talented Italian didn’t get along with his neighbors and he’d often find his Watts Towers vandalized. One day, sick of all the abuse, he left and never came back. In the following years his work became more and more popular, but the towers were about to be teared down by the city, when community activists formed the Committee for Simon Rodia’s Towers in Watts and managed to save them.

Nowadays, Watts Towers is a Historical Park.

[Photo Credits]

Golden Rock – Nature’s Balancing Act

Spooky — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 15:48:57 +0000

The gold-covered granite boulder perched atop a stone pedestal known as Golden Rock, is one of the most breathtaking sights in Burma.

The third most sacred place in Burma, after Schwedagon Pagoda and Mahamuni Pagoda, Golden Rock lies at the top of Mount Kyaiktiyo, in Mon State. It is completely covered with gold leaves layered by Buddhist devotees and is topped by a 5.5 meters-tall pagoda.

Legend has it Buddha, on one of his travels on Earth, gave a strand of his hair to a hermit, who with his dying breath asked his son Tissa to enshrine the lock in a boulder shaped like his head. The child later became King of Burma and fulfilled his father’s wish by placing the divine gift in a boulder on Mount Kyaiktiyo. Burmese Buddhists believe it’s the strand of hair that keeps Golden Rock in place, defying gravity.

[Photo Credits]

The Other Upside-Down House

Spooky — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 15:00:01 +0000

I chose to name this post “the other upside-down house” because I wrote about a very similar house when I started this site.

Built in 2008, for an art exhibition, the “other upside down house” is located on Usedom, an island in northern Germany. It was financed and constructed by Polish partners Klausdiusz Golos and Sebastian Mikiciuk, who just wanted to make something different. Only, I wonder if they know a practically identical house already exists in their native country of Poland.

The builders said they were inspired by similar structures in America and Spain, that were upside down on the outside, but normal on the inside. Visitors of the “other upside-down house” said the weird interior make them feel dizzy and disoriented.

Although the house is perfectly safe, nobody is living in it right now.

Photos by Hemmy

Oasis of the Seas – The Giant of the Waters

Spooky — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 14:29:11 +0000

The Titanic, Queen Elizabeth 2 or Grand Princess were all very impressive boats, but when it comes to size, the Oasis of the Seas is in a league of its own.

Featuring a length of 1,184′ and a weight of 220,000 tons, the Oasis of the Seas is the world’s largest passenger vessel. It’s able to accommodate 6,300 passengers and 2,000 crew members on 16 decks. The floating giant was commissioned by Royal Caribbean International in 2006 and was finalized on October 29, 2009, in a Finnish shipyard.

The Oasis of the Seas left its birthplace and is now on route to Florida, in the USA, where it will receive thousands of exotic plants, before its commercial debut. The plants will decorate one of the ship’s seven neighborhoods, called Central Park. It will feature trees, lawns and flower beds.

Other attractions of the Oasis of the Seas include an ice rink, a water theme-park, a fairground carousel and a giant shopping area. Until next year, when her sister, the Allure of the Seas, will be completed, the Oasis of the Seas is the only ships in its class.

[Photo Credits]

Witches’ Well – An Estonian Oddity

Spooky — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 11:01:50 +0000

Located in Tuhala, northern Estonia, Witches’ Well has fascinated locals and tourists for thousands of years.

Founded around 3,000 years ago, Tuhala host one f the most unique natural phenomena in the world, Witches’ Well. Most of the time the 2.5 meters deep well looks totally normal, but after heavy rains it starts spouting up water and floods the entire area. The local population have been blaming this strange occurrence on witches. It’s said they gather in a sauna below the ground and beat each other with birch branches causing a commotion on the surface.

Scientists say the bizarre phenomenon occurs when the underground Tuhala River can’t handle the volume of water gathered from rainfalls, but the people of Tuhala don’t want an explanation, they like living in a world surrounded by magic. There are some who claim to have seen burning demons flying over their town, while others still believe in the Estonian God Taara.

Whether you choose to believe that witches are behind the flooding of Witches’ Well, or you believe it’s nothing more than a perfectly explainable natural phenomenon, Witches’ Well remains a must-see attraction of Estonia.

[Photo Credits]

Djavolja Varos – Devil’s Town in Serbia

Spooky — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 10:11:47 +0000

Djavolja Varos is a strange rock formation in south Serbia, created by strong water erosion of the surrounding soil

Djavolja Varos, which means “Devil’s Town” in Serbian, features 202 earth pyramids, each between 2-15 meters high and 4-6 meters wide. Most of these rock towers have an andesit cap that protects them from further erosion. When an earth pyramid protects its protective cap, it is quickly disintegrated by the falling rains, but they form just as quick, because of the heavy water erosion. This is what inspired locals to name this extraordinary site Djavolja Varos, because they believe changes like these happen when demons fight each other for power.

The strange sounds made by the wind in this place are also behind its creepy name. The murmurs, howling and squeaking coming from Djavolja Varos on windy nights have frightened local population for centuries and are at the bottom of their eerie legends.

[Photo Credits]