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 […]
Tokyo Bar Only Lets People In if They Come Alone
Nights out on the town are much better when shared with friends or loved ones, but while most bars and clubs around the world welcome groups, one particular Tokyo establishment only welcomes parties of one. Hitori, a small bar in Tokyo’s Shinjuku neighborhood, has a very particular admission system – everyone is welcome as long […]
Italian Town Bans Use of Google Maps After Too Many Tourists Stranded Because of It
Baunei, an idyllic mountain village on the Italian island of Sardinia, has launched an appeal to visitors asking them to stop relying on the directions of Google Maps when driving around the area. Salvatore Corrias, the mayor of Baunei, claims that in the last year alone the local fire service or mountain rescue team have […]
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 […]
Japan Gets Its Very Own Whimsical Coloring Book Cafe
Tokyo’s Shin Obuko neighborhood recently became the home of what will undoubtedly become one of the most popular cafes in the Japanese capital – 2D Cafe, a place that lets you feel like you’re in a real-life illustration. Most likely inspired by the success of Cafe Yeonnam-dong 239-20, the Seoul-based cafe that went viral around […]
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, […]
The Indonesian Island That Somehow Makes Mammals Smaller
Ever since the remains of “Homo Florensis”, an extinct species of unusually short humans, were discovered on Flores Island, in eastern Indonesia, scientists have been fascinated with this patch of land, which apparently has the power to somehow make mammals shorter and smaller. It all began in 2004, when the remains of a human who […]
Isolated Lighthouse in Iceland Hailed as Perfect Location to Survive Zombie Apocalypse
Perched on top of a tall slither of rock, six miles off the coast of Iceland, Þrídrangaviti Lighthouse is considered by many an introvert’s dream home and a wonderful placed to be in case of a zombie apocalypse. Þrídrangaviti, which translates as “three rocks”, was built in 1939, soon before the start of World War […]
This Famous Vietnamese Villa Has a Tomb in the Middle of the Living Room
From the outside, the famous “Tomb Villa” in the Vietnamese province of Ben Tre looks like an ordinary household, but step foot through the front door and you’ll notice that instead of the usual dining table there is a creepy marble tomb complete with a shrine to the person buried in it. Living in a […]
Tourists Won’t Stop Visiting Australia’s “Asbestos Town”
It’s considered the most contaminated site in the southern hemisphere and one of the most toxic in the world, but for some reason tourists just can’t stay away from the abandoned mining town of Wittenoom, deep in Western Australia’s remote Pilbara region. In its heyday, between 1930 and 1966, Wittenoom was home to around 20,000 […]
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 […]
Phone of the Wind – The Tragic Story Behind a Phone Booth Connected to Nothing and Nowhere
Outside the Japanese town of Otsuchi, on a hill overlooking the Pacific Ocean, there is a white, glass-paneled phone booth with a black rotary phone connected to nothing and nowhere. Ever since the tragic tsunami of 2010, which claimed nearly 20,000 human lives, thousands of grieving people have visited the booth to “call” their lost […]