Mar 24, 2010

12 lesser known ruins in the world

While places like Machu Picchu, Angkor Wat, and Petra grab the headlines, these sometimes overlooked monuments to the past make for memorable visits…and even better photos. Enjoy in this amazing collection of 12 lesser known ruins of the world and maybe some of it will inspire you to go and visit them while you’re on your vacation, not only the “mainstream” archeological places. :)

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1. Palmyra, Syria This ancient desert oasis of a metropolis, 200km from Damascus, is at least 4,000 years old and can still be visited by camel caravan.

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2. Borobudur, Indonesia Borobudur was an active Buddhist temple from the 9th to 14th centuries and is located rather precariously between two Javanese volcanoes.

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3. Teotihuacan, Mexico Sitting less than an hour outside Mexico City, this pre-Aztec pyramid city may have been the most populous in the world during its heyday between A.D. 150 and 450.

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4. Göreme, Cappadocia, Turkey The unique stone formations of this region in central Turkey were made even more picturesque when homes and monasteries (and today hotels) were carved into them beginning around A.D. 300.

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5. Khara-Khoto, Inner Mongolia Marco Polo is said to have passed through this Mongol trading outpost before it was sacked by a Ming Dynasty army. Since then, the Gobi has slowly been taking up residence.

12 lesser known ruins of the world066. Wat Phu, Laos The lazy riverside town of Champasak is the gateway to these Khmer temple ruins, granted Unesco World Heritage status in 2001

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7. Tikal, Guatemala Though only questionably qualifying as “lesser-known,” this stop on the Maya Trail did lose out on becoming a “New 7 Wonder of the World” to its cousin farther north, Chichen Itza.

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8. Volubilis, Morocco The Romans sure got around, leaving behind their characteristic triumphal arches and columned temples in unlikely places — such as a few dozen kilometers outside of Meknes, Morocco.

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9. Bagan, Myanmar This ancient Burmese capital and its 2,217 peaked-dome temples should be better known, but its location within a “rogue state” is holding it back.

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10. Tiwanaku, Bolivia Tiwanaku (or Tiahuanaco) is still being excavated, as funds become available, but has already revealed countless secrets about a pre-Inca empire that ruled the Altiplano until A.D. 1000.

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11. Mesa Verde National Park, USA The Anasazi’s cliff-carved city, built in the 11th century, is considered the largest in North America and is the centerpiece of this national park in the Four Corners region.

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12. El Djem, Tunisia More evidence of the Roman presence in North Africa comes in the form of this ruined amphitheater — the ancient empire’s third largest.

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History Behind The Abandoned Subway In Cincinnati

Beneath the streets of Cincinnati, Ohio, a set of visibly unused tunnels and stations for a rapid transit system could be seen. It is the abandoned subway of Ohio, called the Cincinnati Subway, infamous for its incomplete construction. The subway has been termed as “one of the city’s biggest embarrassments” and “one of the Cincinnati biggest failures”.

The construction began from 1920 and continued till 1925 with finance of $6 million which relatively got exhausted before the completion of the project. The project but, highlighted the technological advancement of that period, but had to be abandoned in mid-way even before reaching the 16 mile target, after the great depression and World War II, leaving behind with only 2.1 miles of tunnels (between Walnut street and near Western Hills) and three stations (Liberty St., Race St. and Brighton’s Corner) completely built underneath the Central Parkway.

Many of the items had really collapsed long back, and there was way made for I-75 and the Norwood Lateral in the 1950’s and 1970’s respectively. Earlier, the engineers planned out the extension from the Walnut St. south to downtown with one station at Fountain Square but it never got materialized. And moreover, several moving lines are untraceable as only three of the dozen planned stations above the ground were built.

The portions of I-75 and the Norwood Lateral somehow follow the path of the line, but a long stretch near the Dana Avenue of I-71 was considerably built where you can check out for the subway’s loop that was planned on the eastern half side of the subway.

The tunnel can still be used by public, as the government has looked into the relative maintenance of the subway in the past recent years. The “Metro Moves” sales tax in 2002 could have been a great funding for the maintenance of the tunnel, but it was never favored by the common public.

Via Cincinnati Transit.

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The Island Of The Dolls – A Dark Tourist Attraction In Mexico

A world renowned tourist destination is “La Isla de la Munecas”- a Spanish name which means the Island of the dolls. This Island of dolls is situated in Mexico and as the name suggests, one expects to see a beautiful world which will leave an everlasting impression. But the reality is exactly opposite and very harsh when one discovers the thousands of mutilated ugly dolls hanging from every tree on the island.

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Don Julian Santana, a hermit who renounced the world and his family to inhabit this island dedicated his last fifty years of his life to the make the “La Isla de la Munecas”. It is believed that, he did this to please the spirit of a little girl who had drowned in the canal. Whatever may be the reason, he managed to turn this island into a bizarre, scary place where an eerie eye of mutilated dolls haunts your every move, on this strange island.

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Don Julian is said to have led an isolated life ,except when he ventured to collect old dolls that he either scavenged from the garbage dump or bought in exchange for his homegrown fruits and vegetables. Personally one is made to believe that he obviously did not like intrusion and tried to scare off inquisitive onlookers by hanging scary doll faces. In 2001, Don Julian was discovered drowned to his death in the same canal surrounding his home. Don Julian is dead to the world but his eerie disturbed vision stays on, in the faces of lifeless dolls mutilated and hung in the worst forms of human torture and punishment.

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This is a ghostly sight that serves as a dark tourist attraction especially for the young generation who is fascinated by gore and death. Many visitors are overwhelmed by the dead childish faces of dolls that never lived but appear to haunt this place, always looking at us as though we were responsible for their deaths. A world renowned tourist destination is “La Isla de la Munecas”- a Spanish name which means the Island of the dolls. This Island of dolls is situated in Mexico and as the name suggests, one expects to see a beautiful world which will leave an everlasting impression. But the reality is exactly opposite and very harsh when one discovers the thousands of mutilated ugly dolls hanging from every tree on the island.

island of the dolls 4

Don Julian Santana, a hermit who renounced the world and his family to inhabit this island dedicated his last fifty years of his life to the make the “La Isla de la Munecas”. It is believed that, he did this to please the spirit of a little girl who had drowned in the canal. Whatever may be the reason, he managed to turn this island into a bizarre, scary place where an eerie eye of mutilated dolls haunts your every move, on this strange island.

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Don Julian is said to have led an isolated life ,except when he ventured to collect old dolls that he either scavenged from the garbage dump or bought in exchange for his homegrown fruits and vegetables. Personally one is made to believe that he obviously did not like intrusion and tried to scare off inquisitive onlookers by hanging scary doll faces.

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In 2001, Don Julian was discovered drowned to his death in the same canal surrounding his home. Don Julian is dead to the world but his eerie disturbed vision stays on, in the faces of lifeless dolls mutilated and hung in the worst forms of human torture and punishment.

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This is a ghostly sight that serves as a dark tourist attraction especially for the young generation who is fascinated by gore and death. Many visitors are overwhelmed by the dead childish faces of dolls that never lived but appear to haunt this place, always looking at us as though we were responsible for their deaths.

Via David Lida.

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Top 10 Places You Don’t Want To Visit

In previous lists we have looked at amazing holiday destinations – today we are looking at the bottom ten; these are ten places you don’t want to visit! Having said that, maybe the curious would get a thrill from visiting some of these strange and dangerous places, but for most of us, reading about it is quite enough. Feel free to mention any other contenders for the list in the comments.

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Great Pacific Garbage Patch
Pacific Ocean

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The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, also described as the Pacific Trash Vortex, is a gyre of marine litter in the central North Pacific Ocean located roughly between 135° to 155°W and 35° to 42°N. Most current estimates state that it is larger than the U.S. state of Texas, with some estimates claiming that it is larger than the continental United States, however the exact size is not known for sure. The Patch is characterized by exceptionally high concentrations of pelagic plastics, chemical sludge, and other debris that have been trapped by the currents of the North Pacific Gyre. The patch is not easily visible because it consists of very small pieces, almost invisible to the naked eye, most of its contents are suspended beneath the surface of the ocean. This is not a place the average Joe would want to visit.

9
Izu Islands
Japan

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The Izu Islands are a group of volcanic islands stretching south and east from the Izu Peninsula of Honshū, Japan. Administratively, they form two towns and six villages; all part of Tokyo. The largest is Izu Ōshima, usually called simply Ōshima. Because of their volcanic nature, the islands are constantly filled with the stench of sulfur (extremely similar to the smell of thousands of farts). Residents were evacuated from the islands in 1953 and 2000 due to volcanic activity and dangerously high levels of gas. The people returned in 2005 but are now required to carry gas masks with them at all times in case gas levels rise unexpectedly.

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The Door to Hell
Turkmenistan

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Address: Derweze, Turkmenistan

This has featured on listverse before, but it would be remiss of us to exclude it from this list. While drilling in Derweze in Turkmenistan in 1971, geologists accidentally found an underground cavern filled with natural gas. The ground beneath the drilling rig collapsed, leaving a large hole with a diameter of about 50-100 meters. To avoid poisonous gas discharge, scientists decided to set fire to the hole. Geologists had hoped the fire would go out in a few days but it has been burning ever since. Locals have named the cavern The Door to Hell. As you can see from the picture above, it is one hell of an amazing place, but certainly one you wouldn’t want to visit.

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Alnwick Poison Gardens
England

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Address: Denwick Lane, Alnwick, NE66 1YU, England

Inspired by the Botanical Gardens in Padua, Italy (the first botanical garden which was created to grow medicinal and poisonous plants in the 1500s), the Alnwick Poison Garden is a garden devoted entirely to plants that can kill. It features many plants grown unwittingly in back gardens, and those that grow in the British countryside, as well as many more unusual varieties. Flame-shaped beds contain belladonna, tobacco and mandrake. The Alnwick Garden has a Home Office license to grow some very special plants; namely, cannabis and coca which are found behind bars in giant cages – for obvious reasons.

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Asbestos Mine
Canada

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Address: Thetford-Mines, Quebec, Canada

Asbestos is a set of six naturally occurring silicate minerals highly prized for their resistance to fire and sound absorption abilities. On the downside, exposure to this stuff causes cancer and a variety of other diseases. It is so dangerous that the European Union has banned all mining and use of asbestos in Europe. But, for those curious enough to want to get close to the stuff, all is not lost. In Canada at the Thetford Mines, you can visit an enormous open pit asbestos mine which is still fully operational. The workers in the mines aren’t required to wear any sort of respiratory protection, and in some sections of the nearby town, residential areas are butted right next up against piles of asbestos waste. The mine offers bus tours of the deadly environment during the summer months. Tickets are free (would you expect it to be any other way?). If you decide to visit, don’t forget your full body bio-hazard suit.


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Ramree Island
Burma

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Ramree Island in Burma is a huge swamp home to 1000s of salt water enormous salt water crocodiles, the deadliest in the world. It is also home to malaria carrying mosquitos, and venomous scorpions. During the Second World War, the island was the site of a six week battle in the Burma campaign. Here is a description of one of those horrifying nights: “That night [of the 19 February 1945] was the most horrible that any member of the M.L. [motor launch] crews ever experienced. The scattered rifle shots in the pitch black swamp punctured by the screams of wounded men crushed in the jaws of huge reptiles, and the blurred worrying sound of spinning crocodiles made a cacophony of hell that has rarely been duplicated on earth. At dawn the vultures arrived to clean up what the crocodiles had left…Of about 1,000 Japanese soldiers that entered the swamps of Ramree, only about 20 were found alive.”

4
Yungas Road
Bolivia

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The North Yungas Road (Road of Death or Death Road) is a 61 kilometres (38 mi) or 69 kilometres (43 mi) road leading from La Paz to Coroico, 56 kilometres (35 mi) northeast of La Paz in the Yungas region of Bolivia. It is legendary for its extreme danger with estimates stating that 200 to 300 travelers are killed yearly along it. The road includes crosses marking many of the spots where vehicles have fallen. The road was built in the 1930s during the Chaco War by Paraguayan prisoners. It is one of the few routes that connects the Amazon rainforest region of northern Bolivia, or Yungas, to its capital city. Because of the extreme dropoffs of at least 600 metres (2,000 ft), single-lane width – most of the road no wider than 3.2 metres (10 ft) and lack of guard rails, the road is extremely dangerous. Further still, rain, fog and dust can make visibility precarious. In many places the road surface is muddy, and can loosen rocks from the road.

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Mud Volcanoes of Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan

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In the Spring of 2001, volcanic activity under the Caspian Sea off the Azeri coast created a whole new island. In October 2001 there was an impressive volcanic eruption in Azerbaijan at Lokbatan, but there were no casualties or evacuation warnings. But Azerbaijan does not have a single active volcano, at least not in the usual sense of the word. What Azerbaijan does have is mud volcanoes – hundreds of them. Mud volcanoes are the little-known relatives of the more common magmatic variety. They do erupt occasionally with spectacular results, but are generally not considered to be dangerous – unless you happen to be there at the wrong time: every twenty years or so, a mud volcano explodes with great force, shooting flames hundreds of meters into the sky, and depositing tonnes of mud on the surrounding area. In one eruption, the flames could easily be seen from 15 kilometers away on the day of the explosion, and were still burning, although at a lower level, three days later.

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The Zone of Alienation
Eastern Europe

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The Zone of Alienation is the 30 km/19 mi exclusion zone around the site of the Chernobyl nuclear reactor disaster and is administrated by a special administration under the Ukrainian Ministry of Extraordinary Situations (Emergencies). Thousands of residents refused to be evacuated from the zone or illegally returned there later. Over the decades this primarily elderly population has dwindled, falling below 400 in 2009. Approximately half of these resettlers live in the town of Chernobyl; others are spread in villages across the zone. After recurrent attempts at expulsion, the authorities became reconciled to their presence and even allowed limited supporting services for them. Because of looting, there is a strong police presence – so be warned.

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Ilha de Queimada Grande
Brazil

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Off the shore of Brazil, almost due south of the heart of São Paulo, is a Ilha de Queimada Grande (Snake Island). The island is untouched by human developers, and for very good reason. Researchers estimate that on the island live between one and five snakes per square meter. That figure might not be so terrible if the snakes were, say, 2 inches long and nonvenomous. The snakes on Queimada Grande, however, are a unique species of pit viper, the golden lancehead. The lancehead genus of snakes is responsible for 90% of Brazilian snakebite-related fatalities. The golden lanceheads that occupy Snake Island grow to well over half a meter long, and they possess a powerful fast-acting poison that melts the flesh around their bites. This place is so dangerous that a permit is required to visit.

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Incredible Levitation Photography: People Can Fly

What would flying feel like? I bet you have asked this question dozens of times while you were a kid.

By the looks of these photos, some people have stuck with that magical feeling and grew up with Levitation skills. They are able to fly by employing the power of mind to defy the laws of gravity. At least, for the split second it takes to get a cool photo of oneself flying.

These are some incredible levitation photos of people flying in mid-air. A fine example of the power of digital photography used to create art.

Levitation Photography - People Flying

Levitation Photography - People Flying

Levitation Photography - People Flying

Levitation Photography - People FlyingLevitation Photography - People Flying

Levitation Photography - People Flying

Levitation Photography - People Flying

Levitation Photography - People Flying

Levitation Photography - People Flying

Levitation Photography - People Flying

Levitation Photography - People Flying

Levitation Photography - People Flying

Levitation Photography - People Flying

Levitation Photography - People Flying

Levitation Photography - People Flying

Levitation Photography - People Flying

Levitation Photography - People Flying

Levitation Photography - People Flying

Levitation Photography - People Flying

Levitation Photography - People Flying

Levitation Photography - People Flying

Levitation Photography - People Flying

Levitation Photography - People Flying

Levitation Photography - People Flying

Levitation Photography - People Flying

Levitation Photography - People Flying

Levitation Photography - People Flying

Levitation Photography - People Flying

Levitation Photography - People Flying

Levitation Photography - People Flying

Levitation Photography - People Flying

Levitation Photography - People Flying

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