Unusual Places On Earth

Wang Saen Suk, 90 minutes outside of Bangkok on the way to Pattaya, is a garden full of statues depicting what is supposed to be hell.

Ball’s Pyramid is a sea stack, a great jagged spire rising from the Tasman Sea. Its steep base, roughly 650 feet across, is battered by the rugged sea, making the landing a serious challenge. It is located off the southeast shores of Lord Howe Island, over 400 miles northeast of Sydney, Australia.

The building is located in one of the newly urbanized parts of the seaside city of Batumi, Georgia. It includes fuels station, McDonald’s, recreational spaces and reflective pool.

Fraser Island, Australia

Fraser Island is considered to be the largest sand island in the world at 1840 km². The total volume of sand above sea level on Fraser Island is directly proportional to the mass of 113 cubic kilometres (27 cubic miles).

Madain Saleh

The Abu Lawha, the largest Nabataean tomb at the desert archaeological site of Madain Saleh, in Al Ula city, 1043 km (648 miles) northwest of the capital Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Mont-Saint-Michel

Mont Saint-Michel is a rocky tidal island and a commune in Normandy, France. The population of the island is 41, as of 2006. The island has been a strategic point holding fortifications since ancient times, and since the 8th century AD it became the seat of the Saint-Michel monastery, from which it draws the name.

Krimml Waterfalls

 

Confluence of Rhone and Arve rivers, Geneva

The Rhone is one of the major rivers of Europe, rising in Switzerland and running from there through southeastern France. The river on the left is the Rhone, exiting Lake Lehman. The river on the right is the Arve, which receives water from the many glaciers of the Chamonix valley (mainly the Mer de Glace) before flowing north-west into the Rhone on the west side of Geneva, where its much higher level of silt brings forth a unique contrast between the two rivers.

 

Solvay Hut

The Solvay Hut at 4003 m is the highest hut on the Matterhorn. It is a small emergency refuge for about 10 persons situated on a ledge immediately above the Moseley Slab on the Hörnligrat. It is strictly to be used in the event of an emergency. About two thirds up the mountain, 743 m above the Hörnli Hut and 475 m below the summit, many Matterhorn climbers have rested on the small ledge outside the hut admiring the spectacular view of all the Monte Rosa summits.

 

Moon Bridge in Taiwan

A moon bridge is a highly arched pedestrian bridge, which in its wooden form may require the walker to initially climb (as one would a ladder) and also when descending. The moon bridge originated from China and was later introduced to Japan and Taiwan.

 

World’s Largest Swimming Pool San Alfonso del Mar

The San Alfonso del Mar resort, located north of the city, is home to the world’s largest outdoor pool.

 

Archipelago Cinema

Ole Scheeren, a German architect based out of Beijing, China designed a floating movie theater to give viewers a truly unique experience while watching films. By using local lobster fisherman rafts with tires, Scheeren created a floating screen and a separate platform for the audience to sit back, relax and enjoy the show. The screen was placed in front of two beautiful rocks in the archipelago in the Bay of Bengal for a film festival called “Film on the Rocks Yao Noi.” After the film festival concluded, the rafts were given back to the fisherman and life as usual went on in the small villages of the region. It may be brought back for next year’s festival. Scheeren explains his vision for the project:

A screen, nestled somewhere between the rocks with the audience floating and hovering above the sea, somewhere in the middle of this incredible space of the lagoon

 

Drina River, Tara National Park

House on the Drina River / Kućica na steni

 

Piano House

This unusual Piano and Violin shaped building built in 2007 serves as showroom for exhibiting the plans for newly created district of Shannan in Huainan City, China.

 

Vardzia

Vardzia is a cave city that was founded by Queen Tamar in 1185. An earthquake in the 13th century destroyed about two thirds of it and exposed the caves to outside view. Before the earthquake nothing of the city could be seen from the outside, there were merely two entrances, one on each side.
These days a few monks still live there and the caves can be visited. Some of the frescoes are still preserved as is a spring inside the mountain.

The monastery was constructed as protection from the Mongols. and consisted of over six thousand apartments in a thirteen story complex. The city included a church, a throne room, and a complex irrigation system watering terraced farmlands.