Tuesday, March 29, 2011

World Top 10 Most Unique Lakes

1. Plitvice Lakes (Croatia): Sixteen Lakes interconnected by Spectacular Waterfalls

The Plitvice Lakes are a series of sixteen lakes interconnected by spectacular waterfalls, set in a deep woodland and populated by deers, bears, wolves, boars and rare bird species. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, the lakes are renowned for their distinctive colours, ranging from azure to green, grey or blue. The colours change constantly depending on the quantity of minerals or organisms in the water and the angle of sunlight.

2. Boiling Lake (Dominica): A Flooded Fumarole

The Boiling Lake is situated in the Morne Trois Pitons National Park, Dominica's World Heritage site. It is a flooded fumarole, or hole in the earth’s surface, 10.5 km east of Roseau, Dominica, on the Caribbean. It is filled with bubbling greyish-blue water that is usually enveloped in a cloud of vapor. The lake is approximately 60 m across.

3. Red Lagoon (Bolivia): Red (algae) + White (borax)

The Laguna Colorada (Red Lagoon) is a shallow salt lake in the southwest of the altiplano of Bolivia, close to the border with Chile. The lake contains borax islands, whose white color contrasts nicely with the reddish color of its waters, caused by red sediments and pigmentation of some algae.

4. Five-Flower Lake (China): Beautiful Multi-Coloured Lake with Fallen Tree Trunks

The Wuhua Hai, or Five-Flower Lake, is the signature of the Jiuzhaigon National Park in China. The lake is a shallow multi-coloured lake whose bottom is littered with fallen tree trunks. The water is so clear that you can see the trunks clearly. The water comes in different shares of turquoise, from yellowish to green, to blue. It is located at an elevation of 2472 meters, below Panda Lake and above the Pearl Shoal Waterfall.

5. Dead Sea (Israel and Jordan): Lowest Point on Earth

The Dead Sea is a salt lake situated between Israel and the West bank to the west, and Jordan to the east. It is 420 meters (1,378 ft) below sea level and its shores are the lowest point on the surface of the Earth on dry land. The Dead Sea is 330 m (1,083 ft) deep, the deepest hypersaline lake in the world. It is also the world's second saltiest body of water, after Lake Assal in Djibouti, with 30 percent salinity. It is 8.6 times saltier than the ocean. This salinity makes for a harsh environment where animals cannot flourish and boats cannot sail. The Dead Sea is 67 kilometers (42 mi) long and 18 kilometers (11 mi) wide at its widest point. It lies in the Jordan Rift Valley, and its main tributary is the Jordan River.
The Dead Sea has attracted visitors from around the Mediterranean basin for thousands of years. Biblically, it was a place of refuge for King David. It was one of the world's first health resorts (for Herod the Great), and it has been the supplier of a wide variety of products, from balms for Egyptian mummification to potash for fertilizers.

6. Lake Baikal (Russia): Deepest and Oldest Lake in the World

Lake Baikal is located in Southern Siberia in Russia, and it's also known as the "Blue Eye of Siberia". It contains more water than all the North American Great Lakes combined. At 1,637 meters (5,371 ft), Lake Baikal is the deepest lake in the world, and the largest freshwater lake in the world by volume, holding approximately twenty percent of the world's total fresh water. However, Lake Baikal contains less than one third the amount of water as the Caspian Sea which is the largest lake in the world. Lake Baikal was formed in an ancient rift valley and therefore is long and crescent-shaped with a surface area (31,500 km²) slightly less than that of Lake Superior or Lake Victoria. Baikal is home to more than 1,700 species of plants and animals, two thirds of which can be found nowhere else in the world and was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996. At more than 25 million years old, it is the oldest lake in the world.

7. Lake Titicaca (Bolivia and Peru): World's Highest Navigable Lake

Lake Titicaca is a lake located on the border of Bolivia and Peru. It sits 3,812 m (12,500 ft) above sea level making it the highest commercially navigable lake in the world. By volume of water it is also the largest lake in South America. Lake Titicaca is fed by rainfall and meltwater from glaciers on the sierras that abut the Altiplano.

8. Caspian Sea (Russia): World's Largest Lake

The Caspian Sea is the world's largest lake or largest inland body of water in the world, and accounts for 40 to 44 percent of the total lacustrine waters of the world. With a surface area of 394,299 km² (152,240 mi²), it has a surface area greater than the next six largest lakes combined.

9. Crater Lake (USA): its waters are considered one of the World's Most Clearest

Crater Lake is a caldera lake located in Oregon; due to several unique factors, most prominently that it has no inlets or tributaries, the waters of Crater Lake are considered one of the world's most clearest. The lake partly fills a nearly 4,000 foot (1,220 m) deep caldera that was formed around 5,677 (± 150) BC by the collapse of the volcano Mount Mazama. Its deepest point has been measured at 1,949 feet (594 m) deep, making it the deepest lake in the United States, and the ninth deepest in the world.

10. Lake Karachay (Russia): Most Polluted Spot on Earth

Lake Karachay is a small lake in the southern Ural mountains in western Russia. Starting in 1951 the Soviet Union used Karachay as a dumping site for radioactive waste from Mayak, the nearby nuclear waste storage and reprocessing facility, located near the town of Ozyorsk. According to a report by the Washington, D.C.-based Worldwatch Institute on nuclear waste, Karachay is the "most polluted spot" on Earth. The lake accumulated some 4.44 exabecquerels (EBq) of radioactivity, including 3.6 EBq of Caesium-137 and 0.74 EBq of Strontium-90. For comparison, the Chernobyl disaster released from 5 to 12 EBq of radioactivity, however this radiation is not concentrated in one location.

7 Unbeliveable Places in The World







Monday, March 28, 2011

The Underground Town of Coober Pedy

Known by most as the opal capital of the world, the small town of Coober Pedy has quickly become one of Australia’s most popular tourist destinations. And that shouldn’t come as a big surprise since this is the world’s only underground town.


Set in South Australia, the driest state on the driest continent on Earth, Coober Pedy was established as a town at the beginning of the 20th century, in 1915, when opal was discovered here and miners started settling in. It soon became clear that the harsh temperatures were too hard to withstand so the miners started digging houses in the hillsides of the area, hoping they would find shelter from the burning sun. And they made the right choice, to this day many prefer to live in an underground house than build one on the surface, although the building costs are relatively similar.


Temperatures exceed 40 degrees Celsius during the Summer months and you must have air conditioning if you want to battle the heat in your living quarters above ground, whereas in the underground homes, the temperature remains constant at a cool 24 degrees. The humidity also doesn’t climb over 20% during these hot days, but it does get a bit cool in the winter.


Coober Pedy became a tourist location in 1981 when a local named Umberto Coro realized the huge potential of this unique settlement and decided to invest in building a hotel. News about the underground town spread fast and people from all over Australia began to show up, and today Coober Pedy is an international traveling destination. People can choose to stay in the Desert Cave hotel as well as in other small local inns in Coober Pedy and private underground houses.

 

Tourists say sleeping underground, in cool, dark, spacious rooms is an incredible experience and most of them swear it’s the best sleep they have ever had. The underground houses aren’t bad to look at either, the walls are beautifully finished and the furniture is chosen so that it reflects the reddish color of the rock..
If you’re looking for an offbeat travel experience, you simply must consider Coober Pedy, after all, an underground town is not something you see every day. One more tip, be sure to check out the underground churches, they are said to be very beautiful.

Tour the World Free Virtual Tour of The World, Beautiful Buildings and Cities, Photos and Wallpapers

New York City
New York City reigns as the ultimate tourist destination. In a single day, you can visit the place where George Washington was inaugurated as the first U.S. president, attend a performance of the world famous New York City Ballet and escape the city’s chaos with a walk through Central Park.


Taj Mahal
An icon of India, Agra's Taj Mahal was built by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan, who created the mausoleum in honor of his beloved wife Mumtaz Mahal. Since then, it has survived the rise and fall of empires and remains one of India’s most popular destinations.


Miami
Miami really has it all: a tropical climate, a glamorous, diverse population — and it was ranked one of the cleanest cities in America by Forbes magazine in 2008. Another interesting fact: Miami is one of the few major U.S. cities founded by a woman, Julia Tuttle.


São Paulo
Emperor Pedro I declared Brazil's independence from Portugal in the city of São Paolo in 1822. Since then, the city’s population has grown to more than 18 million, and includes one of the world’s largest Japanese communities outside of Japan.


Grand Canyon
With more than 5 million visitors each year, this World Heritage Site in Arizona is home to several major ecosystems, but only seven land crossings of the Colorado River for 750 miles. Navajo Bridge, above, is one of them.


Boston
The Puritans called it their “shining city on a hill.” Today, it’s known to many as the “Athens of America.” A city of firsts, Boston is home to the nation’s first public library, one of its first universities and its first subway system — not to mention Fenway Park.


Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Air-conditioned beaches, sailboat-silhouette d skyscrapers and islands shaped like palm trees: If you can imagine it, Dubai likely has it — or is building it. The Dubai Marina is the second largest man-made marina in the world, but it's working toward becoming its largest.


Provence
This carpet of purple finery provides more than just a pretty landscape. Lavender is used for cooking, cleaning, healing and a host of other things. You don’t have to travel to France to find world-class herbs; you can grow them in your own back yard. Still, it’s no wonder that celebrities, monarchs, epicures and plain old tourists flock to this part of France like moths to a light.


 Death Valley
These majestic waves of sand span an area in California and Nevada known to have the lowest elevation in North America. But Death Valley is more than just desert and heat — it’s also home to the Devil’s Hole pupfish, a tiny fish that can be found only in a 92 degree Fahrenheit pool in this park.


London
The Tower Bridge is just one sight in a city full of attractions. This famous structure is a combination drawbridge, suspension bridge and museum. The bridge is raised around 1,000 times per year and was designed to match the Tower of London.


Victoria, British Columbia
Victoria sits on the southern tip of the largest island off the Pacific Coast of North America. In a city known as the "City of Gardens," Butchart Gardens, above, is its crown jewel. You might be surprised to know that this world-class botanical garden is an exhausted limestone quarry.

 

 Egypt
These massive statues guard the gates of the Luxor Temple, a tribute to Amon, king of the Egyptian gods. Egypt is home to one of the world’s oldest continuous civilizations, and evidence of this long history can be found throughout its lands.

Bavaria
Bavarian King Ludwig II would come to be known as the “Fairy Tale King” for building this ornate castle, which has since become one of Germany’s most popular tourist attractions. From high on its perch, the castle overlooks a part of Germany famous for its castles, mountains, forests — and beer.
 

Turkey
The name of this place — Travertine Pools — means “cotton castle” in Turkish. The pools are made of travertine, a kind of limestone deposited by evaporating water from the hot springs, and visitors have been coming to soak in them since at least 200 BC.

  

Spain
Legend has it that visitors should ring the bell and make a wish at the top of this 237-step climb. The Knights Templar are credited with building the small hermitage that sits at the top of these stairs, which overlook a section of the Basque Country’s rough, rocky coastline.


 New Zealand
Astonishing beauty is one hallmark of New Zealand, and Milford Sound is no exception. You’re looking at one of the most remote areas of one of the most remote nations in the world. Notably, this country is a nuclear-free zone — no nuclear-powered or nuclear-armed ships may dock in its ports.

 Thailand
Thailand is home to Buddhist temples, coral reefs and floating markets. King Rama IV ordered the construction of a 32-kilometer- long canal in 1866, which later became home to the famous Damnoen Saduak floating market. Foodies claim it’s the place to find the freshest produce around.


Alaska
Minerals stain the mountains with rainbow hues here in the Polychrome Pass in Denali National Park. Home to the highest mountain in North America, the park spans an area larger than Massachusetts. Much of it is inaccessible by road, so park rangers use dogsleds to patrol its wilds during the winter months.


And My Beautiful Pakistan