Isolated Villagers Spend 15 Years Carving a Road Through a Mountain
The people of Shenlongwan, a once-isolated village in the mountains of China’s Shanxi Province, spent 15 years carving through rock with chisels and hammers to connect their home to the world and escape poverty. Benefiting from a very favorable climate, Shenlongwan has always been famous for its exquisite walnuts and pears, but getting their harvest […]
No One Has Been Able to Locate the Source of This Mysterious Spring
For centuries, people have been asking themselves what the source of the underground spring known as Fosse Dionne spring in France’s Burgundy region might be, but they never got to the bottom of it, because they literally couldn’t get to the bottom of it. The Fosse Dionne is a huge upsurge of water around which […]
Life-size Fire-Breathing, Three-Headed Dragon Statue Draws Crowd to Russian Village
In recent years, the village of Kamenka in Russia’s Lipetsk region has become famous as the home of Zmei Gorynich, a giant three-headed statue of one of the most iconic villains of Slavic folk stories. The “Kudykina Gora” family park on the outskirts of Kamenka village has become one of the most popular tourist attractions […]
The World’s Narrowest River Is Only a Few Centimeters Wide
The Hualai River, in China, is apparently the narrowest river in the world, measuring only a few dozen centimeters at its widest point. At its widest point, the Amazon is more than 6 miles wide during the dry season, and a whopping 24 miles wide during the wet season. It’s by far the widest river […]
The New York Earth Room – An NYC Apartment Filled With 140 Tons of Dirt
The New York Earth Room at 141 Wooster Street is a unique NYC attraction created in 1977 by local artist Walter De Maria by filling an apartment with 140 tons of dirt. Consisting of 250 cubic yards of fertile dirt covering the floor of an apartment located on the second floor of a building on […]
The Rig – Saudi Arabia Turns Offshore Oil Platform Extreme Theme Park
As part of its ambitious efforts to attract tourists from across the world, Saudi Arabia has announced plans to turn an abandoned offshore oil platform into an oil-themed extreme theme park. Named ‘The Rig’, the upcoming offshore theme park is part of the Saudi Vision 2030’s strategy, which aims to diversify the country’s economy and […]
Les Grands Buffets – Probably the World’s Most Impressive All-You-Can-Eat Buffet
Les Grands Buffet à Narbonne is a unique all-you-can-eat buffet in Narbonne, France, where you can stuff your face with the most decadent dishes of French cuisine, in a luxurious environment, and without breaking the bank. While the above paragraph may sound like the beginning of a sponsored post, that is most certainly not the […]
Pressing 1,000 Buttons Is the Perfect Way to Complete an Elevator Button Factory Tour
An elevator button factory in Japan allows visitors to test its vast collection of buttons by pressing no less than 1,000 of them on a specially designed display. Shimada Denki Seisakusho is a specialized manufacturer of custom-made elevator buttons and arrival lights based in Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1933, the factory is a piece of […]
Sweden Hills – An Idyllic Piece of Sweden in Japan
Walking through the streets of Sweden Hills, with its traditional read-and-white Swedish houses, Swedish flags and traditional Swedish outfits, you’d never guess you were on the island of Hokkaido, in Japan. Located in Tōbetsu, about 30 kilometers from Sapporo, the largest city on Hokkaido, Sweden Hills (スウェーデンヒルズ) was inspired by the visit of a Swedish […]
This Indian Temple Is Home to a ‘Vegetarian’ Crocodile
Sri Ananthapura temple in north Kerala’s Kasaragod district is allegedly home to a vegetarian crocodile named ‘Babiya’ who has been living there for over 70 years. Pictures of a large crocodile inside the Sri Ananthapadmanabha Swamy Lake Temple made international news headlines last year, boosting the small Hindu temple’s popularity. But in reality, this was […]
The Tiny Russian Village Where Everyone Knows How to Walk a Tightrope
Tsovkra-1, a small village in the mountains of Russia’s Dagestan autonomous republic, is famous for being the only place in the world where the entire able-bodied population knows how to walk a tightrope. No one knows exactly how the tightrope-walking tradition of Tsovkra-1 (named ‘1’ because of another Tsvokra village nearby) began, but one thing […]
Route 36 – Bolivia’s Notorious Cocaine Bar
Route 36 is an illegal pop-up bar in the Bolivian capital city of La Paz notorious for being the world’s first and only cocaine bar. South America is home to many popular tourist attractions, like the ruins of Machu Pichu, the Salar de Uyuni salt desert, or Angel Falls, but when it comes to drug […]
The World’s Oldest Grape Vine Has Been Around For Nearly 500 Years
The Slovenian city of Maribor is home to the world’s oldest grapevine still producing fruit, a resilient plant that dates back to the year 1570, when the city was facing an Ottoman invasion. The Old Vine is the only plant in the world with its own dedicated museum, the Old Vine House, once part of […]
The Dancing Mangrove Trees of Sumba Island
Indonesia’s remote Sumba Island is famous for a great many things, but above all its uniquely shaped mangroves, dubbed “dancing trees” for the way they seem to sway with the setting sun in the background. Calm waters, a white sandy beach, and inviting waters are all things you can expect to find at Walakiri Beach, […]
Gaet’ale Pond – The Saltiest Body of Water on Earth
Located near the Dallol crater in Ethiopia’s Danakil Depression is Gaet’ale Pond, a small pool of water with a salinity of 43%, making it by far the saltiest body of water on Earth. To put into perspective just how salty Gaet’ale actually is, you should know that the Dead Sea, the world’s most famous hypersaline […]