Naica Crystal Cave: Mexico's Cocoon Cavern Of Giant Crystals

 27°51'03.07"N 105°29'47.05"W

(from Wikimedia Commons)

   Buried a good thousand meters below the Naica mountain in the Mexican province of Chihuahua, the cave of crystals is a chef d'oeuvre built by geology. This cavity contains some of the world's largest natural stones, measuring up to 10 meters (34 feet) and weighing up to 55 tons, and indeed some of the most beautiful ones. However, along with this shining beauty, the spot is inhospitable for human living due to extremely high temperatures and a humidity rounding 100% ---yet, science has localized a bunch of microbial residents.

Slab City: California's Off-The-Grid Counterculture Haven

 33°15'28.75"N 115°27'44.23"W

(from Wikimedia Commons) 

   It is hard to imagine the world without rules and without authorities. But even if it sounds pure fiction, so is day-to-day life in Slab City, an off-the-grid shantytown in the southern Californian desert where taxes and police don't exist. People simply enjoy life in a bohemian hippie style, something that has awarded Slab City the famous nickname: "The Last Free Place on Earth". However, even freedom has a cost.

Tristan Da Cunha: The Remotest Inhabited Island On Earth

 37°04'05.30"S 12°18'37.31"W

( from Wikimedia Commons) 

   Throughout this blog we have investigated and will investigate many detached wonders, but nothing quite compares to the one we have in front of us today. Tristan da Cunha is widely considered the world's most remote inhabited island, with its roughly 250 citizens living 2400 kilometers (1500 miles) apart from South Africa, the nearest part of the mainland. But beyond this world record, Tristan also features multiple kinky facts together with a rather absurd history. Let's dive in.

Hill Of Crosses: Lithuania's Sacred Mound Of Hundred Thousand Crosses

 56°00'55.18"N 23°24'58.77"E

(from Wikimedia Commons )

   Northern Lithuania is called "The Highlands", although this can sound ironic and confusing at the same time, because in reality it is formed by a vast agricultural landscape with the nearest equivalent of a mountain being some dispersed hummocks. Besides and most importantly, it differs from the rest of the country because of its singular language, its iconic folk singing and the cross-crafting tradition, which has been designated as an Intangible Cultural Heritage by the UNESCO. This practice is perfectly reflected on today's wonder, the Hill of Crosses (Kryžių Kalnas); a remote little hill which contains over 100 000 handcrafted Christian crosses of diverse sizes. And the number keeps growing.

Barhout Pit: Yemen's Pitch-Black Bottomless Sinkhole

 17°20'25.35"N 52°26'37.96"E

(original file from Open Aerial View)

   No wonder Barhout is nicknamed "Well of Hell" or "Prison of Demons". This remote, massive, dark sinkhole in Yemen is home to many curses and legends the locals fear. This has kept not only the locals from coming near it, but also explorers, transforming Barhout into one of the few unexplored places on Earth. Although that would change in 2021, when the Omani Cave Exploration Team reached the bottom and unveiled the mysteries it contained.