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 extreme high temperatures and a humidity rounding the 100% ---yet, science has localized a bunch of microbial residents...

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

 56°00'55.18"N 23°24'58.77"E

(from Matador Network)

   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.

Tristan Da Cunha: The Remotest Inhabited Island On Earth

 37°04'05.30"S 12°18'37.31"W

(from Global Fishing Watch)

   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.

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

 33°15'28.75"N 115°27'44.23"W

(from Atlas Obscura)

   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.

Barhout Pit: Yemen's Pitch-Black Bottomless Sinkhole

 17°20'25.35"N 52°26'37.96"E

(from Cultura Colectiva)

   No doubt Barhout is nicknamed "Well of Hell" or "Prison of Demons". This remote big dark sinkhole in Yemen is home to many curses and legends which the locals fear. And this has not only prevented them from coming near it, but also explorers, making Barhout one of the few unaccessed places on Earth. Although that would change in 2021, when an Omani exploration team reached the bottom and unveiled the mysteries it contained.

Longyearbyen: World's Northernmost City, Where Dying Is Forbidden

 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. However, Longyearbyen is in false disguise. 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 developing an unique culture and creating unusual laws, such as the one which forbids burials. 

Wulingyuan Mountains: China's Spectacular Avatar Landscape

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 Daşları: Azerbaijan's Soviet City Built Completely Isolated Over The Caspian Sea

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 or how it looks like. Today in Weird Wonders, we're going to focus on the rather unknown "Soviet Venice", but 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: World's Hottest And Most Inhospitable Place

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: India's Utopia Without Money Or Laws

 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: Nevada's Colorful Geyser Was Created By Human Accident

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.