IanBorder Between Netherlands and Belgium
January 13th 2012 01:39
This is the Frontière Café in Baarle-Nassau.
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The Strangest Places on Earth
June 13th 2011 03:41
As seen on the Matador Network (link above to original article), there are some places on our planet which really do seem to be from another world. A few examples below:
Antarctica’s Pole of Inaccessibility — the point farthest from the sea in all directions — is probably the most remote spot on the planet. It’s also the coldest, with an average year-round temperature of -58.2C (-72F).
The exact location is always in dispute, but the best marker lies where a creepy plastic bust of Vladimir Lenin sits atop a cabin built by the Soviets in 1958. The cabin is completely buried in ice, but should you manage to dig it up there’s a golden visitor’s book left for intrepid souls to sign their name.
Bir Tawil is a barren trapezoid of land between Egypt and Sudan that is so useless neither country will admit they own it. Both states claim its much more attractive sister territory, the Hala’ib Triangle, but due to treaty terms neither state can claim both.
It’s little more than sand, rocks, and a well in the middle, but it has the distinction of being the only unclaimed piece of Earth outside of Antarctica.
The Trans-Siberian railway was completed in 1916, but its builders made sure to avoid the Zilov Gap. It’s a 640km (400 mile) stretch of wilderness so inaccessible that it wasn’t crossed until 2000.
Although not a particularly tall mountain, Mount Thor is home to the greatest purely vertical drop in the world.
At 1250m (4101ft), the drop is over one and a half times higher than the tallest man-made structure ever built — currently the Burj Dubai.
An American team set the world record for longest rappel (abseil) in 2006 on Mount Thor; another attempt by a Canadian park ranger ended tragically when his equipment failed and he dropped to his death.
The Mir diamond mine in Mirny, Eastern Siberia is one of the biggest manmade holes in the world. At 525m (1720ft) deep and 1200m (3900ft) wide, it’s so huge it can suck in helicopters flying over it due to the downward air flow (the air space above is off limits because of this).
The Southern Pole of Inaccessibility. Location: Antarctica
The exact location is always in dispute, but the best marker lies where a creepy plastic bust of Vladimir Lenin sits atop a cabin built by the Soviets in 1958. The cabin is completely buried in ice, but should you manage to dig it up there’s a golden visitor’s book left for intrepid souls to sign their name.
Bir Tawil. Location: The Egyptian-Sudanese border
It’s little more than sand, rocks, and a well in the middle, but it has the distinction of being the only unclaimed piece of Earth outside of Antarctica.
Zilov Gap. Location: Central Siberia
Mount Thor. Location: Baffin Island, Nunavut, Canada
At 1250m (4101ft), the drop is over one and a half times higher than the tallest man-made structure ever built — currently the Burj Dubai.
An American team set the world record for longest rappel (abseil) in 2006 on Mount Thor; another attempt by a Canadian park ranger ended tragically when his equipment failed and he dropped to his death.
Mir Mine. Location: Mirny, Siberia
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Fake Holidays
March 7th 2011 01:25
Below is a selection of Reiner Riedler's work titled "Fake Holidays", click the link above to find out more and view the full photoset.
Green-screen, Las Vegas, Nevada
Ski Dubai, Dubai
Golf Range, Tokyo
Tropical Islands, Germany
Window of the World, China
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World's Creepiest Places
November 8th 2010 23:36
There are many tourist websites that cover popular travel destinations.
But what about the areas that are a little freaky? They're also well worth a visit.
Concierge.com investigates the creepiest spots to visit around the globe. Read about a few below, or get information the full list of 14 eerie destinations here.
India's Bhangarh, in the Rajasthan region north of Jaipur, is a town with a mysterious history. Built in the 1630s, it was abruptly abandoned ten years later for reasons that are still unclear. Legend has it that after a convoluted series of events involving a princess and a jar of enchanted oil, a massacre occurred and the town was never repopulated. Nowadays there are tourists aplenty by day, but no one stays at night. This might have something to do with the supposed curse placed on the town by a jealous shaman. Even the local archeological office is located half a mile away (better safe than sorry). But the magnificent ruins—not to mention the Palace of Prostitutes—imply that Bhangarh was something of a Gomorrah of extravagant goings-on. Perhaps that history—and not the ghost stories—is why a sign at the entrance reads, "Staying here after sunset is strictly prohibited." Either way, we're happy to rest our heads at the ultra-luxe Amanbagh resort six miles away.
From the sliced human head floating in a glass case, à la Damien Hirst, to the gruesome collection of preserved presidential tumors and a plaster cast of Siamese twins Chang and Eng (as well as their actual conjoined livers), Philadelphia's Mütter museum is a must-see, especially for those who found the movie Dead Ringers oddly compelling. Part of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, the oldest medical school complex in North America, it combines exhibits of pathological objects, surgical tools, and anatomical curiosities. Other wonders on display include the tallest skeleton in North America and a collection of 2,000 objects removed from people's throats, each with its own case history. There is an almost gleeful disconnection between the museum's mission—"to advance the cause of health, and uphold the ideals and heritage of medicine"—and the often shocking displays. High on the ugh-list are the painted papier-mâché models of the effects of gangrene and the wax faces with various eye injuries; the air outside is bound to seem fresh afterward, no matter what the weather.
One of the most unnerving things about the 30-foot carved heads that dot Easter island is that they're not looking out at you as you arrive; the famous unsmiling moai sculptures look inward from the sea, as if guilty of some crime. Perhaps it has something to do with the virtual disappearance of the people who made them. At only 63 square miles, tiny Easter Island is home to more mystery for its size than just about anyplace else on earth. The Rapa Nui people, nearly extinct a century ago but flourishing now, kept no written records of how they moved the enormous moai around the island, sometimes as far as 14 miles, from the volcanic quarry where they were carved. We like the theory that UFOs were behind it all. It's said that the Rapa Nui grew so devoted to their stone heads that they sacrificed their civilization in the interest of bigger, better, and more perfect specimens. The island's now accessible via Chile (a five-and-a-half-hour flight), and the new Explora property offers a range of treks, as well as luxury accommodation.
Bones and skulls are stacked on either side of a narrow corridor like merchandise at a warehouse—a lot of merchandise. The air is close and cool, with just a hint of decomposition, and there's rude graffiti dating from the French Revolution, mainly about the king and the feeble nobility. Once inside, you can easily see why Victor Hugo and Anne Rice have set stories in Paris's famous Catacombs. Snaking some 187 miles through underground passages around the city, only a tiny portion is open to the public—it's said that the rest is patroled by the legendary cataflics, a special underground police force. Though guided tours are available, it's more creepy and effective to go on your own, when it's just you and millions of bones lit by the occasional low-wattage bulb. The catacombs were originally a Roman-era quarry, but when the Innocents Cemetery in central Paris started overflowing to the point of being a public health hazard in 1785, the tunnels came into their present state. Bones were carted off in elaborate nighttime ceremonies, and until 1814 the catacombs filled up with Paris's dead. You can reach out and rattle the ivory yourself if you like, but the greatest chill is in wondering which of them didn't die of natural causes.
Walk through the abandoned town of Pripyat in the Ukraine, and you'll find a large-scale crime scene abandoned in a hurry: A nursery full of children's shoes, and apartment complexes with the morning newspaper, dated April 28, 1986, open on the breakfast table. Two days before, the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, minutes away, melted down, but it took 48 hours for the authorities to alert locals and clear them out of the world's biggest nuclear disaster site. Now that radiation levels are safe for short-term exposure, Chernobyl's nuclear complex has become an unlikely tourist attraction since opening to visitors in 2002. The power complex is at the center of the 20-mile-radius "Exclusion Zone," a regrown area of forests now populated by wolves and bears. Reactor #4 is the star of this sad show, today sheathed in a concrete and lead sarcophagus 200 feet high. A tour organization called Welcome to Ukraine offers day trips from Kiev via bus (you're advised to book two weeks in advance): You'll tour the forest and get to inspect the plant's exterior, including mounting an observation post to see the reactor, before walking to Pripyat, which was built in the 1970s and celebrated in official USSR propaganda as the "world's youngest town." It died young, but failed to leave a beautiful corpse.
But what about the areas that are a little freaky? They're also well worth a visit.
Concierge.com investigates the creepiest spots to visit around the globe. Read about a few below, or get information the full list of 14 eerie destinations here.
Bhangarh, India
Mütter Museum, Philadelphia
Easter Island
Paris Catacombs, Paris, France
Chernobyl, Pripyat, Ukraine
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Bike Eating Tree
May 5th 2010 02:38
On Vashon Island (near Seattle), there is an unusual sight. A tree which has literally eating a small bicycle. The story goes that in 1914 a boy went to war and left his bike tied to a tree. The tree the grew engulfing the bike and rasing it up.
Author Berkeley Breathed was so moved by the bike-in-a-tree that he used it for inspiration on his children's book Red Ranger Came Calling.
For a time the front wheel and handlebars were removed from the bike but have now been returned leaving it in good shape for visitors.
*Images source 1 & source 2.
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Travelling With Peeps
May 3rd 2010 02:11
Peeps are marshmallow candies, sold in the US and Canada, that are shaped into chicks, bunnies, and other animals.
National Geographic launched a "Peeps in Places" competition for travellers to send in their most innovative tourist shots involving Peeps.
Below are some of the best contenders, view the full set here
[ Click here to read more ]
National Geographic launched a "Peeps in Places" competition for travellers to send in their most innovative tourist shots involving Peeps.
Below are some of the best contenders, view the full set here
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Read More Who Doesn't Use The Metric System?
March 3rd 2010 01:34
The metric system is an international decimalised system of measurement, first adopted by France in 1791, that is the common system of measuring units used by most of the world.
A primary goal of the metric system is to have a single unit for any physical quantity; another important one is not needing conversion factors when making calculations with physical quantities. All lengths and distances, for example, are measured in metres, or thousandths of a metre (millimetres), or thousands of metres (kilometre), and so on. There is no profusion of different units with different conversion factors, such as inches, feet, yards, fathoms, rods, chains, furlongs, miles, nautical miles, leagues, etc. Multiples and submultiples are related to the fundamental unit by factors of powers of ten, so that one can convert by simply moving the decimal place[ Click here to read more ]
A primary goal of the metric system is to have a single unit for any physical quantity; another important one is not needing conversion factors when making calculations with physical quantities. All lengths and distances, for example, are measured in metres, or thousandths of a metre (millimetres), or thousands of metres (kilometre), and so on. There is no profusion of different units with different conversion factors, such as inches, feet, yards, fathoms, rods, chains, furlongs, miles, nautical miles, leagues, etc. Multiples and submultiples are related to the fundamental unit by factors of powers of ten, so that one can convert by simply moving the decimal place
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Most Dangerous Places on Earth
September 18th 2009 11:11
Everyone has to deal with the perils of mother nature, but for some residents on earth these perils are worse than others, so bad in fact that it's hard to understand why anybody would want to live there. Thanks to popularmechanics.com, here are some of the most hazardous and life threatening locations to live on the planet. Read more here.
The Cold Pole
On the frigid taiga, 3000 miles east of Moscow, deep in the heart of Siberia, sits Verkhoyansk, the oldest city above the Arctic Circle. For more than three centuries, Russians have continuously resided here, braving endless winters on the banks of the Yana River, which is frozen solid for nine months of the year. Today, approximately 1500 people live here [ Click here to read more ]
The Cold Pole
Verkhoyansk, Russia
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Subway Maps of the World
August 10th 2009 02:34
What do you think makes a good map of a city's metro or subway system?
Geographically accurate, spaced out, easy to read, colourful, interesting, aesthetically pleasing or just simple to understand?
Different cities seem to have different ideas, see what you think of the examples below. Click on each image to open a full version. These maps and information sourced from TreeHugger. More metro maps from large towns can be seen here
[ Click here to read more ]
Geographically accurate, spaced out, easy to read, colourful, interesting, aesthetically pleasing or just simple to understand?
Different cities seem to have different ideas, see what you think of the examples below. Click on each image to open a full version. These maps and information sourced from TreeHugger. More metro maps from large towns can be seen here
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Tourist Traps You Don't Need to Avoid
August 5th 2009 12:06
When travelling the world, there are many people who would be more than happy to take your holiday money in return for a cheesy gimmick. However, some tourist traps are well worth a visit despite the large number of visitors and expense. Thanks to concierge.com, here are some tourist spots where you won't mind being ripped off. More can be found here.
[ Click here to read more ]
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Mud Festival in South Korea
July 31st 2009 07:23
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Holiday Ideas For The New Year
January 23rd 2009 01:34
Looking to do something different with your next holiday?
Here are some fantastic ideas for you!
Here are some fantastic ideas for you!
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Chinese Anyone?
June 4th 2008 13:33
Thanks to Speigel Online for a look at this exclusive restaurant in Beijing.
The Guolizhuang Restaurant in Beijing. There are four franchises in the city alone, and the chain is expanding: there's one in Atlanta, Georgia, in Chinatown [ Click here to read more ]
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Got Beer???? A Landlord's Nightmare.
November 2nd 2007 02:22
A SINGLE GUY LIVED IN THIS TOWNHOUSE FOR 8 YEARS IN OGDEN UTAH , USA
THE LANDLORD THOUGHT HE WAS THE BEST RENTER BECAUSE HE NEVER CALLED OR COMPLAINED AND WAS NEVER LATE ON A PAYMENT.
[ Click here to read more ]
THE LANDLORD THOUGHT HE WAS THE BEST RENTER BECAUSE HE NEVER CALLED OR COMPLAINED AND WAS NEVER LATE ON A PAYMENT.
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