Buzkashi is a traditional Central Asian team sport, played on horseback. It’s a known fact that the people of the steppes were skilled riders, able to pick up sheep and goats from the ground while riding a horse in full gallop, and this sport is inspired by their extraordinary skill.

The goal of a Buzkashi player is to pick up the carcass or head of a dead goat or calf, get it as far away from the other players and ultimately pitch it across a goal line or into a circle or vat. I know, it sounds a lot like horseback polo, except for the dead animal, but there is another big difference between these sports: players can use any means, except tripping the horse, to stop scoring attempts. Players usually wear thick clothes and head protection to shield them from kicks or whip lashes.

Although some Central-Asian countries have tried to get Buzkashi accepted as an olympic sport, they haven’t succeeded in convincing anyone.

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Who says you have to go to the tropics to enjoy a tropical vacation?

Open since 2004, Tropical Islands is an indoor resort, built inside a large aircraft hangar, an hour’s drive from Berlin. It’s a man-made micro-ecosystem complete with hundreds of species of plants, sandy beaches, crystal-clear waterfalls and even bird and insect sounds made by speakers disguised as boulders. It spreads over 5 million cubic meters and it is taller than the Statue of Liberty; when the sun shines outside, visitors can actually get a tan, thanks to the effect of the sunbeams penetrating the hangar’s transparent roof, even if the weather is freezing outside.

Malaysian entrepreneur Colin Au says: “My resort means they hardly have to leave home, yet when they’re here it’s like being on a tropical cruise.”

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Now you can see what human rainbows look like.

Holi or Phagwa is a Hindu spring festival that takes place every year in India and Nepal. On the first day of celebrations, bonfires are lit, signifying the burning of the demoness Holika. On the second day, the real Festival of Colors begins; spring and the change of weather are believed to bring illnesses like fever, flews and colds, so people throw colored powders, with medicinal significance, to chase away these illnesses. The powder can now be bought from marketplaces, but there are still those who make it in the comfort of their own homes, using various plants and flowers that give it a mesmerizing fragrance.

The Festival of Colors usually takes place at the end of February or the beginning of March, depending on when the full moon occurs.

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One of the most beautiful canyons in the world, Antelope is the most visited and photographed canyon in America.

Antelope is also the place where Britney Spears shot her “I’m not a girl, not yet a woman” video and also the place where many scenes from 1996 motion picture Broken Arrow were filmed.

Antelope canyon has been open to the public since 1997, when the Navajo Tribe turned it into a Navajo Tribal Park. It’s famous for being a place that transforms photography into an art; due to the light reflecting from the walls, taking a decent picture becomes quite a challenge for those who lack the talent or the right tools.

It’s also a very dangerous place, flash floods can fill the canyon in just a few minutes, even if rain falls dozens of miles upstream of the canyon.

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This is where you have to go if you want to see the biggest crystals on the planet.

Found in Naica mine of Chihuahua, Mexico, the Crystal Cave of Giants is a chamber hosting some of the most amazing crystals you’ve ever seen. They look like silver or golden giants, and reach 11 meters in length, 1.5-2 meters in diameter and 55 tons in weight. Until 2007, the reason for their abnormal size was unknown, but now it’s clear it has something to do with mineral rich water the crystals bathed in for millions of years and the constant temperature than never drops bellow 150 degrees Fahrenheit.

Ever since it was uncovered, The Crystal Cave of Giants has sustained considerable giant from the outside world, so the mining company operating in the mine has installed iron doors to seal off access.

Photo: Alexander Van Driessche/Wikimedia Commons

These are the things that make me feel grateful for the life I live every day.

This pictures have been taken in Cambodia and this is pretty much what people must resort to in order to survive – searching through trash all day long. Just imagine having to live there, let alone having to raise your beloved children in that kind of an environment. This is just as bad as the sea of garbage, only it’s happening dry land.

If you think that being a bar is the only fascinating thing about this tree, you’re dead wrong!

This amazing tree is located in Limpopo, South Africa and it was transformed into a bar to keep the thirsty locals happy. But now more than 7000 tourists visit this place every year. The bar is inside a 155feet circumference baobab tree, with its own cellar and natural ventilation system. It takes about 40 people with their arms stretched to grasp the whole thing and the owner says one time he threw a party and managed to fit 54 people inside, although he doesn’t think he’ll ever do that again.

But the most impressing thing about this baobab is that, according to scientists, it’s about 6.000 years old, older than most of the pyramids in Egypt. It actually makes this tree-bar the oldest living organism on the planet! That’s just fascinating!

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Some people are just too lucky! Lucky enough to receive a whole island in an exotic paradise, as a gift.

Which brings us to Michael Schummacher, the best Formula 1 pilot that ever lived, who retired at the end of 2006 and received a $7 million gift, an island in “The World” from Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, crown prince of Dubai. Scummacher‘s island is located in Antarctica and it’s simply beautiful.

Other stars like Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, Richard Branson, Michael Jackson, David Beckham or Rod Stewart are rumored to be owners of islands in the man-made archipelago.

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Of course you’ll need to travel to Barcelona, Spain in order to get one but I hear they work every time.

This has to be one of the most ingenious ideas I have ever heard, we all know sweets make everyone feel better so why not use them as actual anti-depressives? That’s exactly what the Happy Pills shop in Barcelona is doing, it raps all kinds of tasty, gummy sweets in plastic bottles, labeled with pink crosses and prescriptions like: “against Mondays” or “against the intolerable lightness of being”. The shop is like a long hallway and you can get a bottle and a spoon and serve yourself from the various medicines.

I have to remember this place for when i visit Barcelona…hope it’s going to be soon!

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I have to be honest and start by saying I’m a huge fan of winter and all that it implies, snow, ice, cold weather, the whole enchilada, so I guess I was a little subjective in picking this piece over others. But even you sun worshipers have to admit that these snow sculptures, especially the castles are simply amazing.

These were all sculpted in blocks of snow and ice, during the Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival, in China by the most talented sculptures in the world. The festival dates back to 1963 and is one of the four largest ice and snow festivals, along with along with Japan’s Sapporo Snow Festival, Canada’s Quebec City Winter Carnival, and Norway’s Ski Festival.

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If you haven’t started saving up for a house on the Palm Paradise of Dubai, you’d better start soon the construction will be done soon. Progress is significant according to these pics, with several houses actually finished and ready to welcome their owners. Just imagine walking out of one of those beauties and plunging into the clear blue waters…must be heaven on Earth!

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As you all know, Chinese are very serious when it comes to their historical legacy, their centuries old customs and traditions, so it comes as no surprise that even though it’s rapidly becoming one of the most industrialized nations in the world they still honor their forefathers by performing ancient ceremonies.

Avery good example is this Cin dynasty traditional ceremony, performed in the city of Hangzhou. Progress is great but history is fascinating.

I have to say that after seeing these pics, I’ve decided I’d love to visit this place as much as I’d love to visit Devil’s Pool, at Victoria Falls, in Zimbabwe. It’s just one of those sights that simply takes your breath away.

This man-made wonder is 1013 meters long covers 80 acres, its deepest end reaches 115ft and it holds 66 million gallons of water. If you want to take a dip in the world’s largest swimming pool you’ll have to travel to San Alfonso del Mar in Algarrobo, Chile, where a computer-controlled suction and filtration system continuously pumps water from the ocean, keeping crystal clear.

Although it wasn’t cheap, costing around $2 billion to build and another $4 million/year for maintenance, the pool seems to be worth it as it has been attracting huge crowds of curious tourists, since it opened in December.

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Hundreds of Japanese grown-men wrestle each other in the mud water of Mimusubi shrine in Yotsukaido, a settlement near Tokyo. Every year on February 25 these men take part in this strange yet fun looking rite, believed to bring good harvest for the whole year and good health for babies.

So what you see in these photos is practically what you get if you decide to marry in some Ethiopian tribes, a woman with a huge round circle through her lower lip and no lower front teeth…That’s right, in order for her to be able to wear that thing, 2 or sometimes all four lower front teeth are yanked out.

Now I’ve always supported cultural diversity, but this and what they do at Phuket Vegetarian Festival, just make me sick. I wouldn’t go out there and try to impose my culture on them but still…I can’t agree with I’m seeing either. I wonder how they kiss in Ethiopia? Even with that thing off, it’s got to be something nasty! Read More »