🇳🇴 LONGYEARBYEN

 78°13'31.16"N 15°37'32.29"E

(From BBC)

   The photo from above shows one of the many typical idyllic "Christmas villages" spread around Scandinavia. So what's so interesting in Longyearbyen to end up in this blog? A lot. Firstly, it isn't a village; it is the northernmost city in the world, second, it isn't idyllic; as it is the remains of a dirty coal mining town, third, it is not typical; the residents have adapted to the isolation and the extreme conditions creating unusual laws and developing an unique culture. 

🇨🇳WULINGYUAN MOUNTAINS

24°30'38.74"N 111°12'27.54"E

(from Diversity Plus) 

    No wonder that the Wulingyuan Mountains are the most scenic highlight from Zhangjiajie, the eldest national park in whole China. Its beauty has stunned generations for over 700 years, something that has granted them a lot of legends while being, at the same time, a geological masterpiece. But it was James Cameron who chose this wonderful landscape for his world-famous movie Avatar to represent the "Hallelujah Mountains", and therefore, it attracted tourists from all over the world. Let's discover in detail the Wulingyuan Mountains, from their formation to their performance in Hollywood.

🇦🇿NEFT DASHLARI

40°17'14.49"N 50°43'13.65"E

 

(from Senses Atlas)

   Annecy is the "Venice of the Alps", Saint Petersburg is the "Venice of the North", Fort Lauderdale is the "Venice of America" and so on. Each town with canals has the nickname of Venice, doesn't matter where it is (Interesting article of other Venices). But today we're going to focus on the "Soviet Venice", which is far more interesting than the others as it is actually just a settlement made for the workers of an offshore oil platform. Welcome to Neft Daşları, the city of oil.

🇪🇹DANAKIL

14°14'30.81"N 40°17'59.50"E

(from Sidetracked Magazine) 

   Hostile. Fatal. Deadly. Three perfect adjectives for describing the environment of the Danakil Depression, Ethiopia. Considered by many an extraterrestrial zone, it is one of the world's hottest and most acid place, making life impossible for almost any organism. Even so, scientists have found out that this unique ecosystem could be of big help for science in a future.

🇮🇳AUROVILLE

 12°00'18.87"N 79°48'24.81"E

(from Rough Guides) 

   If it wasn't because of the surrounding trees, you'd already see it from the distance: from the empty fields of Tamil Nadu rises a majestic golden globe made by numerous steel circles on the outside, and each day, hundreds and even thousands of people visit it. These are not a conspiracy cult or a group of lunatics, they are citizens from the bizarre utopia of Auroville, and you are too. But to understand this, you'll need first a bit of history.

🇺🇸FLY RANCH GEYSER

40°51'34.02"N 119°19'54.73"W

(from Azertag)

    At a first glance, Fly Ranch Geyser looks martian. Three big colorful cones which constantly spit boiling water isn't very common in the world, and even less in the Black Rock Desert, separated 85 kilometers from the nearest geyser activity. Of course it has got a logical explanation, however, it is also a very unique one as it isn't a work from nature; it's human-made.