Bambooze – Chinese Liquor Matured in Living Bamboo Trunks
Bamboo was already one of the most versatile resources available to man, but villages in various parts of China have come up with yet another use for the giant grass – living casks for maturing liquor. Villagers and liquor producers in several Chinese provinces have come up with a way of using living bamboo trunks […]
This Russian Beach Is Covered With Hundreds of Man-Made Stone Towers
Cape Vyatlina, one of the most picturesque places in the Russian Far East, has come to be known as the Russian Stonehenge in recent years, after people started building stone towers on its rocky beach. Today, there are hundreds of them, and new ones are erected almost every day. The tradition of building towers at […]
Italian Winemakers Set Vineyards Ablaze to Keep Them from Freezing
Breathtaking photos of vineyards in northern Italy lit up at night by hundreds of torches have been doing the rounds online for the past week. As temperatures unexpectedly dropped below zero last week, winemakers had to come up with a way to keep the vineyards from freezing, and fire was apparently their best choice. Farmers […]
Fuggerei – The German Housing Complex Where Rent Hasn’t Gone Up in 500 Years
In a time when the cost of renting a home seems to be getting higher virtually everywhere in the civilized world, the residents of an idyllic housing complex in Germany are living in an inflation-free utopia. The people of Fuggerei, a walled district on the outskirts of Augsburg, pay only $1 a year on rent, […]
Ingenious Sprinkler System Turns Entire Japanese Hamlet into a Water Fountain
Kayabuki no Sato, a small hamlet in Kyoto famous for its traditional thatched roof houses, features a concealed sprinkler system that turns the whole place into a water fountain. Known as Miyama’s Thatched Village, Kayabuki no Sato has a higher percentage of thatched roof farmhouses than any other place in Japan. This makes it very popular with […]
Japan’s Famous Aquarium Toilet
If you love exotic fish and don’t mind hundreds of them eyeballing you while you answer nature’s call, you’ll probably love using this unique aquarium toilet in Akashi, Japan. Hipopo Papa (formerly Mumin Papa) Cafe, used to be known as one of the most popular dating spots on Hayashizaki Matsue Coast. It still is, but ever since […]
Solothurn – The Swiss Town Obsessed with the Number 11
Solothurn is a picturesque town in the north-west of Switzerland known primarily for its special affinity for the number 11. It seems like everything in this place was designed around this magical number, from the fact that there are precisely 11 churches and chapels, as well as eleven historical fountains, eleven museums and eleven towers in Solothurn, […]
Montenegro’s Water Tree – A Rare Natural Phenomenon
The small village of Dinoša, in Montenegro, is home to an old mulberry tree that turns into a water fountain every time it rains heavily. As we all know, water doesn’t normally gush out of living trees, but at least in this case the phenomenon has a perfectly reasonable explanation. You see, the meadow that […]
Conch Island – A Man-Made Island Built Out of Millions of Conch Shells
Conch “Island” isn’t technically an island, but a mountain of conch shells discarded by fishermen in the same place over hundreds of years. Located just east of Anegada, the second largest of the British Virgin Islands, in the Caribbean, Conch Island is both a stunning tourist attraction and a testimony to the popularity of conch […]
Would You Pay to Sleep in a House Surrounded by 77 Lions?
The Lion House is a unique rentable property in South Africa that allows tourists to spend their vacation in the middle of a nature reserve, surrounded by 77 adult lions. Imagine going to sleep to the sound of lion roars, knowing that the only thing standing between you and dozens of predators is an electrified […]
The Levitating Stone of Shivapur, a Controversial “Miracle”
Every day, hundreds of tourists and devotees visit a shrine in Shivapur, a small village about 180 km east of Mumbai, in India, to witness a controversial “miracle” known as the Levitating Stone of Shivapur. The Shrine of Qamar Ali Darvesh, a Muslim Sufi Saint who lived about 700 years ago, features an ancient stone […]
Popcorn Beach – A Unique Tourist Attraction That Looks Good Enough to Eat
Fuerteventura, the second largest of Spain’s Canary Islands is mostly known for its white sandy beaches, but few people know that this island also hosts one of the world’s most stunning attractions, a beach that has popcorn for sand. There are plenty of tourist spots named after things they resemble, even if just vaguely, but […]
Please Don’t Step on the Fish! Vietnam’s Unique Flooded Cafe
Animal cafes where you can enjoy a hot cup of coffee and pet cute animals like cats, dogs or even sheep have been springing up all over the world, but Amix Coffee is the only cafe in the world where you can relax as dozens of decorative fish swim at your feet. Located in Vietnam’s […]
South Korean Cafe Makes You Feel Like You’re in an A-Ha Music Video
Cafe Yeonnam-dong 239-20 is a uniquely-designed cafe in Seoul’s Yeonnam-dong district that makes visitors feel like they’ve miraculously steeped into a cartoon or a comic. Remember the song “Take on Me” by Norwegian band A-ha? It’s one of the catchiest tunes of all time, but I remember being fascinated with its music video, as a child. […]
This Chilean Community Requires Residents to Have Their Appendix Removed
Can you imagine needing to have your appendix removed just to be able to live in your city? That’s exactly what the residents of Villa Las Estrellas, a small Chilean settlement in Antarctica, are required to do in order to live there long-term. To be able to comprehend such a bizarre requirement, you first need to […]