www.buzzfeed Amazing Festivals Around The World That You Should See Before You Die Tweet Once a year some of the countries around the world hold magical and outrageous festivals. Some like the Brazilian carnival and Spanish bull chase are famous world wide while others few people know about. So if you fancy living it up then check out our list of 20 of the most amazing festivals from around the world that we recommend you should see before you die. 1. Much like Mardi Gras in New Orleans and Carnevale in Venice, Canaval is a nonstop party, just with special addition of Brazilian flair. [SEE ALSO - 35 Clearest Waters In The World To Swim In Before You Die] 2. Though there are many smaller offshoots of Oktoberfest around the world, Munich’s original fair is the biggest beer festival in the world. 3. The Harbin festival is the largest snow and ice festival in the world, and it features carvings towering over 20 feet in height and full-size buildings made from gigantic blocks of ice. 4. 5. 6. Carnevale, or “Carnival,” has been a Venice tradition since the 13th century. 7. 8.
Beautiful Villages Popeye Village, is a group of rustic and ramshackle wooden buildings located at Anchor Bay in the north-west corner of the Mediterranean island of Malta. Photo by: Mosin Village on the bank of the Niger river, Mali. Hidden mountain village in Southern China. Mist over countryside in Southwest England. Hobbiton village – “Lord of the Rings” movie location in New Zealand. Riomaggiore is a village and comune in the province of La Spezia, situated in a small valley in the Liguria region of Italy. Mountain Village, Iran. Beautiful African sea side village. Hallstatt, Upper Austria, is a village in the Salzkammergut, a region in Austria with 946 inhabitants. Gásadalur village, Faroe Islands. Village located in Himalayas, Tibet. Fort Bourtange is a star fort located in the village of Bourtange, Groningen, Netherlands.
On a wing and a prayer: The extraordinary hanging monasteries that cling to the sides of cliffs On a wing and a prayer: The extraordinary hanging monasteries that cling to the sides of cliffs When you”re trying to connect with your god, it helps to find some peace and quiet, if you can. But that was, indeed, no such problem for the architects of these impossibly built monasteries. Constructed at dizzying heights on the sides of mountains, they ensured only the most devoted – and vertigo-free – followers would join them for prayer. Gripping: This gravity-defying hanging monastery clings to the side of Mt Huashan in China and is only accessible via steep and dangerous paths Between a rock and a hard place: The Holy Trinity is part of the Meteora – which translates as “suspended in the air” – complex of monasteries in Greece, one of the largest collections of such buildings in the country Many were only accessible by steep and secret paths in order to provide the most seclusion as they sought uninterrupted spiritual awakening.
27 Breathtaking places to visit in your lifetime... Zhangye Danxia landform in Gansu, China The rainbow formation is the result of red sandstone and mineral deposits being laid down for over 24 million years. The swing at the “End of the World” in Baños, Ecuador At the edge of Ecuador sits a rickety tree house (casa del árbol) overlooking an active volcano in the near distance. With it comes a swing with no harnesses, inviting only the bravest of risk-takers to experience a killer view. The Great Blue Hole in Belize The Great Blue Hole is a submarine sinkhole off the coast of Belize. Tulip fields in the Netherlands Many people often mistake Keukenhof, also known as the Garden of Europe, as the designated space of the tulip fields. The Hang Son Doong cave in Quang Binh Province, Vietnam Son Doong is the world’s largest cave, created 2–5 million years ago. Hitachi Seaside Park in Hitachinaka, Ibaraki, Japan The park is in full bloom during spring and tourists often visit to see 4.5 million “baby blue-eyes” flowers blossom. Source: Buzzfeed
30 Adventures I need to Experience! Surfing and photography, Costa Rica Taking pictures of the sea is almost as tricky as surfing. Improve both skills in Costa Rica, with a new course of lessons in surfing and digital photography at Jaco Beach, Puntarenas. It costs £363pp for a week or £649pp for two, with student-style accommodation from £107pp a week (golearnto.com). Surfing equipment is provided, but not cameras.• Fly to San José from Heathrow from £567 with Air Canada Trans-Siberian rail, Russia EasyJet (easyjet.com) is starting flights to Moscow from Manchester in March from £129 return, and promises services from London soon. Sights on a budget, Sri Lanka Tucan Travel (020-8896 1600, tucantravel.com) has a new 15-day adventure tour of Sri Lanka and if you book in January you get 20% off which makes it £599pp. Cracking adventure, Cambodia My Adventure Store (0800 781 3270, myadventurestore.co.uk) sells deals and tours from a range of companies. Discount road trip, US How about a winter sun road trip across the US?
Seven Alternative Natural Wonders of the World With all the natural wonders in the world, it’s an almost impossible task to narrow the wonders down to just seven. You’ve heard of the “official” seven wonders, but check out these; just seven more of the hundreds or thousands or millions you could choose from. You probably have heard of some of these, but hopefully a few will be new discoveries for you. We’d love to hear about your favorite natural wonder, so please leave your comments. Keep it natural. 1. Like many natural wonders, this one is a result of volcanic activity and weathering. 2. About 4,000 feet above sea level, Antelope Canyon is found. 3. This is a spot well known to the diving enthusiast. 4. With it’s endless coastline, we all know Australia has some great surf. 5. In the Dominican Republic, you can have an active encounter with 27 Waterfalls, or Damajaqua Cascades. 6. Extreme conditions define this cave of giant crystals (Cueva de Los Cristales) made of selenite (a delicate, translucent form of gypsum). 7.
18 Unique Hotels From Around the World Some travelers think that the place where you lay your head on the road is just that - a place to sleep, or change clothes. But there are some trips where the accommodations are the main attraction. To the more daring traveler, the flower-quilted double bed and lacquered furniture of a typical hotel room is just plain boring. For the intrepid, quirky and adventurous globetrotter, here are 18 unique hotels from around the world. 1. Czech architect Karel Hubáček is responsible for the retro-futuristic tower rising over 300 ft (91m) above majestic Ještěd mountain. The tower was designed to naturally extend the silhouette of the mountain it tops, but isn't merely decorative. Built between 1966 and 1973, the Ještěd Tower was awarded the Perret Prize, an honor bestowed by the International Union of Architects. The view is one of the most breathtaking in all of the Czech Republic, looking out over parts of Germany and Poland, and the majority of Bohemia. 2. 5. 6. 9. 12. 13. 15.
Mediterranean Map Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea was an important route for merchants and travelers during ancient times as it allowed for trade and cultural exchange between emergent peoples of the region. Several ancient civilizations were located around its shores; thus it has had a major influence on those cultures. It provided routes for trade, colonization and war, and provided food (by fishing and the gathering of other seafood) for numerous communities throughout the ages. This inland sea is bordered on the north by Europe, the east by Asia, and in the south by Africa. This 969,100 sq. mile body of water is approximately 2,300 miles in length, and has a maximum depth of 16,896 ft. The typical Mediterranean climate is hot, with dry summers and mild, rainy winters. Major subdivisions include the Adriatic Sea, Aegean Sea, Balearic Sea, Tyrrhenian Sea, Ionian Sea and Ligurian Sea.
The Universal Packing List 9 Ridiculously Creepy Medical Museums Open to the Public The gruesome appeal of medical museums is twofold. While dissected cadavers, preserved parasites, and diseased organs fulfill the sick fascination for human oddity in all of us, the fact that it is a “museum” makes visiting them a commendable act of self-education. A real win-win! This dichotomy between repulsion and fascination for the human body is nothing new. The first “medical museums” were actually personal collections of medical oddities, and they’ve been incredibly popular since Renaissance Europe when aristocrats would create their own and charge for viewing. Whether they were called Cabinets of Wonder, Kunstkammer, or Wunderkammer, these collections fulfilled both private curiosities and played an important role in assisting medical professionals– they play a similar role in modern culture. Medical museums are unquestionably not for the squeamish, but there are a surprising number of them out there. 1. Image: Curious Expeditions/Flickr Solution? 2. 3. Image: C. Image: C. 4. 5.
21 Tips to Help You Pack for a Trip We have compiled a great deal of packing tips after years of travelling and together with some members suggestions, we thought we should share them with other travellers setting out. 1. Security and Keeping Details Safe Scan your passport, passport photos and paper tickets (if not the e type) in. Also consider writing your home and destination address (and mobile number if you have one) on a self-adhesive sticky label to stick INSIDE your luggage in a visible place. 2. Split up your bank cards, cash, travellers' cheques and credit cards as much as possible in different pockets, your bags and wallet when packing. 3. Use nalgene/small bottles to pack toiletries and other small items. 4. When you are packing things into a backpack, place the lighter items at the bottom and the heavier ones on top. 5. It is always handy to have a few plastic bags around certain items, especially toiletries. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. For those using suitcases without a divider. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20.
Afflicted: 11 Abandoned American Hospitals and Asylums “Open” for Exploration With some of the most disturbing and tragic histories of any buildings in the US, asylums and hospitals are way beyond creepy . Many of them were built in the late 1800s, when “mental illnesses” (such as masturbation, menopause, and teenage rebellion) were considered dangerous enough to lock someone in an asylum. A pain-inflicting misunderstanding of mental illness combined with a chronic mistreatment of its sufferers meant that many people were never released and spent the remainder of their lives in these horrible institutions. In addition to asylums, many sanatoriums were constructed around this time to care for the poor and very sick. Utilizing radical treatments that were incredibly painful yet ineffective, early hospitals often created more suffering than good for the inflicted. To make matters worse, infectious outbreaks forced patients to be quarantined from the rest of society, further isolating them. If you decide the risk is worth the reward, we didn’t send ya. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.