Band-e Amir - Afghanistan

Band-e Amir refers to five lakes high in the Hindu Kush Mountains of Central Afghanistan near the famous Buddhas of Bamyan. They were created by the carbon dioxide rich water oozing out of the faults and fractures to deposit calcium carbonate precipitate in the form of travertine walls that today store the water of these lakes. Band-e Amir was to become Afghanistan's first national park in the

Study shows life was tough for ancient Egyptians

CAIRO, Mar. 30, 2008 (Reuters) — New evidence of a sick, deprived population working under harsh conditions contradicts earlier images of wealth and abundance from the art records of the ancient Egyptian city of Tell el-Amarna, a study has found. Tell el-Amarna was briefly the capital of ancient Egypt during the reign of the pharaoh Akhenaten, who abandoned most of Egypt's old gods in

Lake Assal - Djibouti

Lake Asal (Lake Assal) is a crater lake in central Djibouti, located at the southern border of Tadjoura Region, touching Dikhil Region. It lies 153 m (502 ft) below sea level in the Afar Depression and is the lowest point in Africa. It measures 10 by 7 km and has an area of 54 km². The mean depth is 7.4 meters, which makes for a water volume of 400 million m³. The catchment area measures 900 km².

Giant's Causeway - United Kingdom

The Giant's Causeway (or Irish: Clochán na bhFómharach) is an area of about 40,000 interlocking basalt columns, the result of an ancient volcanic eruption. It is located on the north-east coast of Northern Ireland, about two miles (3 km) north of the town of Bushmills. It was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1986, and a National Nature Reserve in 1987 by the Department of the

Barringer Meteor Crater - Arizona

Meteor Crater is a meteorite impact crater located about 35 miles (55 km) east of Flagstaff, near Winslow in the northern Arizona desert of the United States. The site was formerly known as the Canyon Diablo Crater, and scientists generally refer to it as Barringer Crater in honor of Daniel Barringer who was first to suggest that it was produced by meteorite impact. Meteor Crater lies at an

Colca Canyon - Peru

Colca Canyon is a canyon of the Colca River in southern Peru. It is located about 100 miles (160 kilometers) northwest of Arequipa. It is more than twice as deep as the Grand Canyon in the United States. However, the canyon's walls are not as vertical as those of the Grand Canyon. The Cotahuasi Canyon to the northwest is a deeper canyon at 11,488 ft (3,501 m). Since they are such major features

The Pinnacles Desert - Australia

The Pinnacles is contained within Nambung National Park, near the town of Cervantes, Western Australia. Contrary to the title of this article the Pinnacles are not called "the Pinnacles desert". The Pinnacles are limestone formations. The raw material for the limestone of the Pinnacles came from seashells in an earlier epoch rich in marine life. These shells were broken down into lime rich sands

The Old Man of Storr - Scotland

The Storr is a rocky hill on the Trotternish peninsula of the Isle of Skye. The hill presents a steep rocky eastern face overlooking the Sound of Raasay, contrasting with gentler grassy slopes to the west. The Storr is prime example of the Trotternish landslip, the longest such feature in Great Britain. The area in front of the cliffs of The Storr is known as The Sanctuary. This has a number of

Beautiful clouds

Depending on sunshine and the surrounding weather patterns, cloud formations can be as beautiful as waves of ocean water and wondrous as a pottery wheel..Two eyes and a head what else do I see?They are in the clouds looking down at me.Who put them there and why,perhaps the answer is a mystery.Just to notice: those photos ARE NOT photoshoped! They are caught by people or sites credited here:Karen

China in mist

I have to admit, I did not expect China to be so visually stunning... Many imagine harsh mountains, endless plains and a glut of industry (and there's plenty of that), but in actual truth China can be a photographer's paradise, all the same.Click to enlarge.images source pic.yesky, 360.bolaa, hinhuanet

Burj Dubai: Now the Tallest Building in the World

Any day now Burj Dubai will overtake Taipei 101 and become the world's tallest building. It's already significantly higher than the Chicago Sears Tower (not counting the spire), and is quickly approaching the title of the highest concrete free-standing structure. Skyscraperpage forum has been quick to announce: "Ladies and Gentleman, the next tallest structure EVER built by the humans race !!!!!"

Amazing Photos of China

China, (People's Republic of China), is situated in eastern Asia, bounded by the Pacific in the east. The third largest country in the world, next to Canada and Russia, it has an area of 9.6 million square kilometers, or one-fifteenth of the world's land mass. It begins from the confluence of the Heilong and Wusuli rivers (135 degrees and 5

Trip around the World

Cherry bloom in JapanThe cherry blossom (sakura) is Japan's unofficial national flower. It has been celebrated for many centuries and takes a very prominent position in Japanese culture. There are many dozens of different cherry tree varieties in Japan, most of which bloom for just a couple of days in spring. The Japanese celebrate that time of the year with hanami (cherry blossom viewing)

The biggest creche on earth - King Penguins

From the sky, it looks like a giant swirling frothy coffee.Yet this scene shows an extraordinary community at work - thousands of king penguins instinctively herding their recently born young into giant huddles to stop them freezing to death.Parental instinct takes over in the inhospitable climate of the South Atlantic and the furry brown chicks are made to crowd together to retain their body

Autumn in Switzerland

Switzerland , officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country of roughly 7.5 million people in Western Europe with an area of 41,285 km². Switzerland is a federal republic consisting of 26 states called cantons. Berne is the seat of the federation and de facto capital, while the country's economic centres are its two global cities, Geneva and especially Zürich. Switzerland is one of

Tropical Islands of Fiji - second word for paradise

The Republic of the Fiji Islands, or Fiji, is an island nation in the South Pacific Ocean, east of Vanuatu, west of Tonga and south of Tuvalu. The country occupies an archipelago with two sizable islands, Viti Levu and Vanua Levu, where the majority of inhabitants live, and is joined by over eight hundred islands, with about one hundred regularly inhabited. The name Fiji is the old Tongan word

So clear water !

A single boat seemingly floats in midair in the beautiful crystal clear beaches in the Republic of Maldives in the Indian Ocean.Maldives, officially the Republic of Maldives, is an island nation consisting of a group of atolls in the Indian Ocean, south of Lakshadweep group of islands of India, about seven hundred kilometers (435 mi) south-west of Sri Lanka. The twenty-six atolls encompass a

Water Bridge in Germany

Water Bridge in Germany... What a feat!Six years, 500 million euros, 918 meters long.......now this is engineering!This is a channel-bridge over the River Elbe and joins the former East and West Germany, as part of the unification project. It is located in the city of Magdeburg, near Berlin. The photo was taken on the day of inauguration.Taking six years to build and costing around half a billion

Ten Longest Bridges In World

Here is a list of the ten longest bridges in the world with pictures and descriptions. Those beautiful photos are showing to us that there are no borders and everything is reachable.10. Seven Mile BridgeThe Seven Mile Bridge, in the Florida Keys, runs over a channel between the Gulf of Mexico and the Florida Strait, connecting Key Vaca (the location of the city of Marathon, Florida) in the Middle

Beautiful Hawaii

Situated nearly at the center of the Pacific Ocean, Hawaii marks the northeast corner of Polynesia. While it was once a major hub for the whaling, sugar and pineapple industries, it is now economically dependent on tourism and the U.S. military. The natural beauty of the islands continues to be one of Hawaii's greatest assets.Where tourism is concerned, Hawaii has something for everyone. The

Creepy high voltage installations

Russian countryside yields sometimes most improbable sights - abandoned artifacts and installations from bizarre military/scientific research, strangely futuristic forms left to rust and decay - to be found by a curious photographer. "Master" stumbled upon this installation close to Russian city of Istra (50 km from Moscow) quite by chance, and these mysterious shots were percolating for a while

Avalanches On Mars Photographed By NASA Spacecraft

The High Resolution Imaging Experiment (HiRISE) on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter took the photograph Feb. 19. It is one of approximately 2,400 HiRISE images being released today. Ingrid Daubar Spitale of the University of Arizona, Tucson, who works on targeting the camera and has studied hundreds of HiRISE images, was the first person to notice the avalanches. "It really surprised me," she

World's most beautiful beaches

Summer, sun, vacation...and offcourse beautiful beaches... Here is the list of some beautiful beaches...Horseshoe BayHorseshoe Bay is definitely the most popular and arguably the most beautiful of Bermuda’s beaches. Unsurprisingly its pink sands are shaped like a horseshoe. It also boasts more facilities than any other public beach in Bermuda.The Horseshoe Bay Beach House serves cold drinks,