1. Ashikaga Flower Park
The Japanese love flowers, and wisteria are
among their favorites. Wisteria are called fuji in Japanese, like Mt. Fuji, but
unlike the mountain, the flower is pronounced by stressing the second syllable.
One of the best places to view fuji flowers is
the Ashikaga Flower Park (あしかがフラワーパーク) in Ashikaga City, Tochigi
Prefecture. Ashikaga Flower Park features lots of blue, white and pink fuji, as
well as yellow laburnum (Japanese: kingusari) that look like yellow colored
fuji.
One large fuji tree is 100 years old and its
branches are supported to create a huge umbrella of blue fuji flowers. There is
also a long tunnel of white fuji flowers, while a tunnel of yellow kingusari
needs a few more years to become an actual tunnel. Yae-fuji, a variety with
more than the usual number of petals, can also be viewed.
Besides the fuji, you will find many other flowers, restaurants and a shop
selling plants and local products. The entrance fee depends on the season's
beauty and is around 1000 Yen per adult during the fuji peak season.
The fuji in Ashikaga Flower Park are usually
in full bloom in the beginning of May, one to two weeks later than the fuji of
Tokyo. Because Ashikaga Flower Park is considered one of the best spots to view
fuji flowers in Japan, the park can be very crowded even on weekdays during the
peak season.
In recent years, the park has also become very
popular in the winter season for putting on a massive winter illumination
display. Drawing larger and larger crowds every year, the park opens its gates
every evening from early December to early February to let visitors wander
through the elaborate exhibition.
Almost
every corner of the park grounds are decorated in hundreds of thousands of
multi-colored LED lights, covering flower bushes, lining walkways, and arranged
into huge, creative objects and sets on an impressive scale. Some of the more
eye-catching attractions include several large, continually-changing LED
"screens" which cycles though creative imagery, music-syncronized
light shows, light tunnels, and countless fuji-like LED chains hung from the
same lattices the flowers hang from in the spring.
2. Vatnajokull Glacier Cave
This winter, ice caves have become a popular
tourist attraction. And no wonder, since they are quite an attractive
phenomenon with their blue colour and intriguing light. The winter is also the
best time to visit an ice cave in terms of safety and accessibility. However,
it is always a risk to enter an ice cave and that risk increases late in the
winter.
Ice caves are usually formed by water or geothermal heat and can shift and
alter with the movement of the glacier. They are not a constant phenomenon but
melt away and disappear. Increased air temperature also weakens the walls and
ceilings of the ice caves, and they can collapse without notice, either partly
or entirely. In the last decade, at least two fatal accidents have occurred in
Iceland due to collapsing ice.
No one should enter an ice cave without minimum safety equipment, which is a
crash helmet. Conditions can also be different between caves and further safety
equipment might be required, such as crampons and ice axes.
In some cases it may be necessary to cross a part of a hard ice glacier to get
to an ice cave. When doing so it is essential to know how to select a route on
a glacier. Far too often groups have been seen taking a route above a crevasse
or a moulin (glacier mill), where the slightest slip is almost certain to
result in a serious accident. When it is necessary to cross such a section of a
glacier, it is essential that everyone in the group is appropriately secured
with a security line connected to a harness.
Safety is one of the key components of sustainable tourism. Therefore it is to
the benefit of all that everyone involved in the tourism business takes every
precaution necessary. This concerns glacier and ice cave visits as much as
anything else. It is therefore important that travellers and their guides put
the emphasis on the safety of others and
3. Salar De Uyuni, Bolivia
Salar de Uyuni (or Salar de Tunupa) is the world's largest salt flat at 10,582 square kilometers (4,086 sq mi). It is located in the Daniel Campos Province in Potosí in southwest Bolivia, near the crest of the Andes and is at an altitude of 3,656 meters (11,995 ft) above sea level.
The Salar was formed as a result of transformations between several prehistoric lakes. It is covered by a few meters of salt crust, which has an extraordinary flatness with the average altitude variations within one meter over the entire area of the Salar. The crust serves as a source of salt and covers a pool of brine, which is exceptionally rich in lithium. It contains 50 to 70% of the world's lithium reserves, which is in the process of being extracted. The large area, clear skies, and the exceptional flatness of the surface make the Salar an ideal object for calibrating the altimeters of Earth observation satellites.
The Salar serves as the major transport route across the Bolivian Altiplano and is a major breeding ground for several species of flamingos. Salar de Uyuni is also a climatological transitional zone since the towering tropical cumulus congestus and cumulonimbus incus clouds that form in the eastern part of the salt flat during the summer cannot permeate beyond its drier western edges, near the Chilean border and the Atacama Desert.
4. Naica Mine, Mexico
The Naica Mine of the Mexican state of Chihuahua, is a working mine that is best known for its extraordinary selenite crystals. Located in Naica in the municipality of Saucillo, the Naica Mine is a lead, zinc and silver mine operated by Industrias Peñoles, Mexico's largest lead producer. Caverns discovered during mining operations contain crystals of selenite (gypsum) as large as 1.2 m (4 ft) in diameter and 15 m (50 ft) long. Peñoles announced in October 2015 that it was indefinitely suspending operations at Naica Mine.Currently, the high temperature is 58° C (136° F) with 99% humidity, which interferes with breathing and increases the risk of asphyxiation. Because of this, researchers require specialized suits with an oxygen supply to survive working in the environment.
The Cave of Crystals is a cave approximately 300 m (1,000 ft) below the surface in the limestone host rock of the mine. The chamber contains giant selenite crystals, some of the largest natural crystals ever found. The selenite crystals were formed by hydrothermal fluids emanating from the magma chambers below. The cavern was discovered while the miners were drilling through the Naica fault, which they were worried would flood the mine. The caves are closed to the public, and remain closed after a worker tried to enter the cave to steal some of the selenite, only to suffocate and die in the cave's humid and inhospitable atmosphere. After enough research on the crystals has been carried out, some of the chambers will be allowed to flood again and continue the process of crystal growth.
5. Crater Lake, Oregon - US
Crater Lake (Klamath: giwas) is a caldera lake in the western United States, located in south-central Oregon. It is the main feature of Crater Lake National Park and is famous for its deep blue color and water clarity. The lake partly fills a nearly 2,148-foot (655 m)-deep caldera that was formed around 7,700 (± 150) years ago by the collapse of the volcano Mount Mazama. There are no rivers flowing into or out of the lake; the evaporation is compensated for by rain and snowfall at a rate such that the total amount of water is replaced every 250 years. With a depth of 1,949 feet (594 m), the lake is the deepest in the United States. In the world, it ranks tenth for maximum depth, and third for mean (average) depth.
Crater Lake is also known for the "Old Man of the Lake", a full-sized tree which is now a stump that has been bobbing vertically in the lake for over a century. The low temperature of the water has slowed the decomposition of the wood, hence the longevity of the bobbing tree.Two islands are in Crater Lake: Wizard Island, formed from a cinder cone that erupted after Crater Lake began to fill with water, and the smaller Phantom Ship, which has seven trees living on it. There are also colonies of violet-green swallows and several varieties of wildflowers and lichens living there.
While having no indigenous fish population, the lake was stocked from 1888 to 1941 with a variety of fish. Several species have formed self-sustaining populations. Since 2002, one of the state's regular-issue license plate designs has featured Crater Lake. The commemorative Oregon State Quarter, which was released by the United States Mint in 2005, features an image of Crater Lake on its reverse.
6. Zhangye Danxia Landforms, China
The Gansu Zhangye National Geopark (Chinese: 甘肃张掖国家地质公园, herein, the ″Zhangye National Geopark″), is located in Sunan and Linze counties within the prefecture-level city of Zhangye. It covers an area of 322 square kilometres (124 sq mi). The site became a quasi-national geopark on April 23, 2012 (provisional name: Gansu Zhangye Danxia Geopark). It was formally designated as ″Gansu Zhangye National Geopark″ by the Ministry of Land and Resources on June 16, 2016 after it has passed the on-site acceptance test. Known for its colorful rock formations, it has been voted by Chinese media outlets as one of the most beautiful landforms in China.
7. Red Beach in Panjin, China
Red Seabeach, Panjin, China. The red grass genus Sueda (Seepweed) defines the unusual and impressive landscape in this Chinese city. Shalow seas and tidelands attract thousands of migrating birds to the biggest wetland and reed marsh in the world.
Every autumn the 26 kilometers long area of nature reserve turns all red. The incredible Red Seabeach lies on the bank of the Liaohe River. Seepweed matures and gains this crimson red color in September: during summer it remains green.The area is in the middle of the route for 236 migrating bird species. They stop here while traveling from Asia to Australia. The tourists are allowed to visit Red Seabeach in particular areas with bridges, specially designed for tourism. You can catch a bus or a train from Beijing or Tianjin to get here and admire this striking view once in your lifetime.
8. Hillier Lake, Australia
We learn from geography classes that water bodies are marked with blue on the map.
But nature likes to mess with us and creates oddities just like Lake Hillier in Western Australia.With its mere 600 meters in length, Lake Hillier is not one that will impress you by its size. Nor will it impress you by its diverse fishes that inhabit it.
Lake Hillier delights your eye with its pink colour. Moreover, it lies just next to the Pacific Ocean, thus if you watch it from above, the contrast between the mellow pink of the lake and the blue of the ocean is striking.
The reason of its unique colour is still a topic that is not fully understood by scientists, although most suspect it has to do with the presence of the Dunaliella salina microalgae. The Dunaliella produces carotenoids, a pigment found in carrots as well. But the presence of halophilic bacteria in the salt crusts could be another explanation. A reaction between the salt and the sodium bicarbonate that is found in the water may cause it as well.
The Hillier Lake was first discovered in 1802 by navigator and cartographer Matthew Flinders who took samples from the lake and mentioned its existence in his journal.
The lake is located on Middle Island, off the coast of Western Australia. As noted above, the Hillier Lake is quite small, its length is 600 meters and its width is no more than 250 meters. It is surrounded by eucalyptus and paperback trees and the ocean on its northern part.
Its pink color is less accentuated when viewed from the surface but it is very prominent from above. However, unlike other pink lakes around the world, its water is still distinctively pink even when it is in a glass.
For a few years they used to extract salt from the lake but nowadays it is only used for tourism purposes. The water of the lake is otherwise clear and it causes no harm to the human skin and the Dunaliella salina alga is completely harmless as well. In fact, swimming in the lake’s water is safe and fun but impossible to do for normal tourists as the lake can’t be visited.
9. Tunnel of Love, Ukraine
Tunnel of Love is the eighth studio album by Bruce Springsteen. The album was originally released on October 9, 1987. Although members of the E Street Band were used occasionally on the album, Springsteen recorded most of the parts himself, often with drum machines and synthesizers. Although the album's liner notes list the E Street Band members under that name, Shore Fire Media, Springsteen's public relations firm, does not count it as an E Street Band album and 2002's The Rising was advertised as "his first studio album with the E Street Band since 'Born in the USA'".
In 1989, the album was ranked #25 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "100 Best Albums of the Eighties" while in 2003, the same magazine ranked it at #467 on their list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. "Brilliant Disguise", "Tunnel of Love", "One Step Up", "Tougher Than the Rest", and "Spare Parts" were all released as singles.
10. Nibana No Sato Light Tunnel
If you happen to be in Japan from now to March 31, 2013, make sure to check out one of Japan's most stunning displays of light called Winter Illuminations at Nabana no Sato, a botanical garden turned light theme park on the island of Nagashima in Kuwana. Opened just yesterday, it's been called one of the best winter light shows in all of Japan. The park really outdoes itself by using millions of sparkling LED lights all over the vast grounds including on the water and in the gardens. This year's theme is "nature" and it promises gorgeous scenes including a beautiful sunrise inspired by Mt. Fuji at dawn, a rainbow across the sky, and even an aurora.
The stars of the show are the famous walk-through tunnels of light that completely envelop the viewer, making it seem as if they're walking through bright, magical portals. As Joanna Tocher of Wide Island View said, "if you can shut out the noise of the hundreds of people around you it really does feel like you’re stepping into another world."11. Waitomo, New Zealand
The Waitomo Caves is a village and solutional cave system forming a major tourist attraction in the northern King Country region of the North Island of New Zealand, 12 kilometres northwest of Te Kuiti. The community of Waitomo Caves itself is very small, though the village has many temporary service workers living there as well. The word Waitomo comes from the Māori language wai meaning water and tomo meaning a doline or sinkhole; it can thus be translated to be water passing through a hole.
The caves are formed in Oligocene limestone.
12. Antelpe Canyono
Antelope Canyon is a slot canyon in the American Southwest. It is located on Navajo land east of Page,Arizona. Antelope Canyon includes two separate, photogenic slot canyon sections, referred to individually as Upper Antelope Canyon or The Crack; and Antelope Canyon or The Corkscrew.
13. Halle Forest, Belgium
Halle (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈɦɑlə], French: Hal) is a city and municipality of Belgium, in the district (arrondissement) Halle-Vilvoorde of the province Flemish Brabant. It is located on the Brussels-Charleroi Canaland on the Flemish side of the language border that separates Flanders and Wallonia. Halle lies on the border between the Flemish plains to the North (thick loam) and the undulating Brabant lands to the South (thinner loam). The city also borders on the Pajottenland to the west. The official language of Halle is Dutch.
14. Paumukalle, Turkey
Pamukkale, meaning "cotton castle" in Turkish, is a natural site in Denizli Province in southwestern Turkey. The city contains hot springs and travertines, terraces of carbonate minerals left by the flowing water. It is located in Turkey's Inner Aegean region, in the River Menderes valley, which has a temperate climate for most of the year.
Travertine terrace formations at Pamukkale, Turkey. May 21, 2011
The ancient Greco-Roman and Byzantine city of Hierapolis was built on top of the white "castle" which is in total about 2,700 metres (8,860 ft) long, 600 m (1,970 ft) wide and 160 m (525 ft) high. It can be seen from the hills on the opposite side of the valley in the town of Denizli, 20 km away.
Tourism is and has been a major industry. People have bathed in its pools for thousands of years. As recently as the mid-20th century, hotels were built over the ruins of Hierapolis, causing considerable damage. An approach road was built from the valley over the terraces, and motor bikes were allowed to go up and down the slopes. When the area was declared a World Heritage Site, the hotels were demolished and the road removed and replaced with artificial pools. Wearing shoes in the water is prohibited to protect the deposits.
Waitomo, New Zealand is a must visit.
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