Grandparents Create Real-Life Totoro Station for Their Grandchildren, It Becomes Viral Tourist Attraction
An agricultural field is one of the last places you would expect to find a tourist attraction for fans of Hayao Miyazaki’s anime, but this one farm in Japan’s Miyazaki Prefecture is actually home to a popular Totoro Bus Station. If you’ve ever watched Miyazaki’s “My Neighbour Totoro” anime, you’re probably familiar with the simple […]
How the World’s Largest Signature Is Used by NASA to Analyze Satellite Imagery
In the late 1990’s, when a Texas farmer decided to clear up some new grazing land for his cattle by leaving up just enough trees to spell his name in giant letters, he probably never imagined that his signature would one day be used by NASA to evaluate the quality of their satellite cameras. Jimmie […]
Horsetail Falls – The Yosemite Waterfall That Turns Into a Natural Firefall in February
A temporary waterfall in Yosemite National Park has become a popular tourist attraction in the mouth of February, because under the right conditions sunlight makes the water flowing down the rock face look like fire, hence its nickname, Yosemite Firefall. Every year, from December to April, water from melting mountain snow flows toward the eastern […]
Small Italian Town Lights Up World’s Largest Christmas Tree
For nearly three decades, Gubbio, a small medieval town at the foot of Mount Ingino in Italy’s Umbria region, has held the Guinness Record for the world’s largest Christmas tree. In 1981, the 750-meter Christmas tree spread over the slope of Mount Ingino was lit up for the first time. Every year since, on the […]
Just Room Enough Island – The World’s Smallest Inhabited Island
Just Room Enough Island, is an aptly-named private-owned island with literally just enough room for its owners’ house, a couple of trees and a miniature beach with a pair of bench chairs. Part of the Thousand Islands archipelago on the border between the U.S. and Canada, Just Room Enough Island measures about 3,300 square feet […]
The Japanese City Where Beautiful Koi Fish Swim in Drain Channels
Can you imagine an inhabited city where the water running through the the drain channels is so pure that beautiful koi fish can swim in it? Well, such a place exists on Japan’s Kyushu island. It’s called Shimabara, and it’s quite a sight to behold. When the area around Shimabara was affected by the natural […]
This Famous Tree Log Has Been Floating Vertically for 120 Years And No One Knows Why
A floating tree stump known as the “Old Man of the Lake” has been bobbing in the blue water of Oregon’s Crater Lake for at least 120 years, baffling scientists with its upright orientation and allegedly even controlling the local weather. The first account of the Old Man of the Lake dates back to 1896, […]
This Whimsical Unicorn Cafe Is Probably the World’s Most Colorful Place
If you’re ever in Bangkok, Thailand, and you;re a fan of unicorns, ponies or just colors in general, there’s a place you simply must visit. It’s called “Unicorn Cafe” and, just like you’d expect, it’s full of plush unicorns, rainbows and lots of other colorful treats. To say Unicorn Cafe is a colorful place would […]
Doll’s Head Trail – Probably the World’s Creepiest Hiking Trail
Just outside the city of Atlanta, in Georgia, lies one of the strangest, most disturbing hiking trails in the world – Doll’s Head Trail. Faithful to its name, this 1.5-mile course is lined with creepy doll heads that seem to be following you with their gaze as you walk by. Long before it became home […]
How a Quirky Village Pond in Indonesia Became an Underwater Selfie Hot-Spot
It’s not very common for small ponds to have their own Instagram accounts, let alone tens of thousands of followers, but then again Umbul Ponggok is not your usual village pond. Located in Indonesia’s Central Java region, Umbul Ponggok is a small pond measuring just 20 meters by 50 meters, but boasting the cleanest water […]
Monet’s Pond – The Japanese Pond So Beautiful It Looks Like a Real-Life Monet Painting
Up until four years ago, Monet’s Pond, a small body of water just outside Seki City, in Japan’s Gifu Prefecture, didn’t even have a name, but thanks to social media and a catchy nickname, it has become one of the most popular tourist destination in the Land of the Rising Sun. Before it became known […]
SkyCycle – Japan’s Sluggish Yet Terrifying Pedal-Powered Roller Coaster
Most roller coasters rely on speed, tight turns and steep slopes to get riders’ adrenaline levels up, but SkyCycle, a pedal-powered coaster ride in the Japanese city of Okayama is proof that roller coasters can be even more terrifying at low speeds. Located on a greenery-covered hill at the Washuzan Highland amusement park in Okayama, […]
Monte Neme – Spain’s Very Own Toxic Maldives
During the same time that a turquoise but toxic lake near the Russian city of Novosibirsk is making international headlines as the “Siberian Maldives“, a similarly dangerous attraction is gaining notoriety in Spain. During the first and second World Wars, Monte Neme was a prized tungsten mine that supplied the material necessary for making light […]
The Siberian Maldives – An Alluring But Dangerous Tourist Attraction
Russian Instagram users in search of the perfect selfie have been flocking to a lake near the Siberian city of Novosibirsk that boasts turquoise water and white sandy beaches similar to those in the Maldives. But unlike the popular Indian Ocean archipelago, there is nothing natural about its beauty. Dubbed the “Siberian Maldives” or “Novosibirsk […]
World’s Longest Water Slide Will Take You on a Four-Minute Ride Through a Malaysian Jungle
Located on a jungle-covered hillside in Malaysia, the new 1,140-meter-long water slide being built at Penang’s Escape Theme Park will most likely be declared the longest in the world when it opens, in August 2019. The current Guinness record for the world’s longest water slide has been held by the 605-meter slide at Action Park, […]