Namche Bazaar - The last town before Everest

Namche Bazaar is a village in the Khumbu region of Nepal. Namche is located at 3,440 metres (11,286 ft) (the low point that is), populating the sides of a hill. Namche is the main trading center for the Khumbu region so there are many Nepalese officials, a police check, post and a bank.Almost everyone trekking in the Khumbu region will visit Namche Bazaar, as it is the gateway to the high

Megastructures - Kansai International Airport - Japan

Kansai International Airport is an international airport located on an artificial island in the middle of Osaka Bay, off the shore of the cities of Sennan and Izumisano and the town of Tajiri in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. (It should not be confused with Osaka International Airport, which is closer to the city and now handles only domestic flights.) It was ranked 4th overall in the Airport of the

Flood fears force huge evacuation - China, Sichuan and Shaanxi provinces

Just two weeks after a devastating tremor in which more than 68,000 lives were perished, a pair of powerful aftershocks on Tuesday collapsed hundreds of thousands of more homes in Sichuan and Shaanxi provinces, adding to the suffering of millions of local residents. As the frequency of follow-up earthquakes does not bode well, a rising number of rural and urban households in Sichuan, its

Tian Shan - China

The Tian Shan , also commonly spelled Tien Shan, and known as Tangri Tagh ("celestial mountains" or "mountains of the spirits") in the Uyghur language, is a mountain range located in Central Asia. The now widely used name Tian Shan is a Chinese translation of the Uyghur name, which may in turn go back to a Xiongnu name, qilian reported by the Shiji as the last place where they met and had their

Dubai night skyline

The modern emirate of Dubai was created consequent with the formation of the United Arab Emirates in 1971. However, written accounts documenting the existence of the city have existed at least 150 years prior to the formation of the UAE. Dubai shares legal, political, military and economic functions with the other emirates within a federal framework, although each emirate has jurisdiction over

Ben Bulben - Ireland

Ben Bulben (alternatively spelt Benbulben or Benbulbin) is a large rock formation in Ireland. It is a Ben (the Irish name for a large, glacier-carved rock). It is in the part of Ireland known as Yeats Country, though it is officially in the Irish county of Sligo.Ben Bulben was formed during the Ice age, when large parts of the Earth were under glaciers. It was originally merely a large ridge,

Megastructures - Niagara Tunnel Project

The Niagara Tunnel Project is the most recent in a series of additions to the Sir Adam Beck hydroelectric generation complex in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada.First constructed in 1922, the initial Sir Adam Beck power generating station, now abbreviated as SAB 1, derived its water supply from a canal connected to the Welland River. However, due to increased power demand in later years, a second

A small island in Lower Saranac Lake in the Adirondacks in the U.S.

Lower Saranac Lake is one of three connected lakes, part of the Saranac River, near the village of Saranac Lake in the Adirondacks in northern New York. The Saranac Lake Islands Public Campground provides 87 campsites on inlands in Lower and Middle Saranac Lake. In addition to the Saranac River, it is fed by nearby Lake Colby, Fish Creek, and Lilly Pad Pond.

Rainbow Over Blue Ice

A glacier is a large, slow moving river of ice, formed from compacted layers of snow, that slowly deforms and flows in response to gravity. The processes and landforms caused by glaciers and related to them are glacial (adjective); this term should not be confounded with glacial (noun), a cold period in ice ages (see glacial period). The process of glacier growth and establishment is called

Erta Ale - Ethiopia

Erta Ale is an active shield volcano located in the Afar Region of northeastern Ethiopia. It is the most active volcano in Ethiopia. Erta Ale stands 613 metres tall, with a lava lake, one of only four in the world, at the summit. It is located in the Danakil Depression, a desert area spanning the border with Eritrea. Erta Ale's last major eruption was in 2005, when thousands of nearby residents

Pantanal - Brazil

The Pantanal is the world’s largest area of wetlands , a flat landscape, with gently sloping and meandering rivers. The region, whose name derives from the Portuguese word “pântano” (meaning “swamp” or “marsh” ), is situated in South America, mostly within the Brazilian states of Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul. There are also small portions in Bolivia and Paraguay. In total, the Pantanal

The Coldest Places on Earth

A few days ago, I woke to find my pipes frozen. The outdoor temperature was in the single digits, and the house temperature hovered in the 50s all day. The next day was warmer, but an ice storm soon followed. I made myself feel better by looking up the coldest places in the world.International FallsInternational Falls, Minnesota is known as the coldest spot in the lower 48 states. The town of

What You'll See From the Top of the Empire State Building

The Empire State Building is a 102-story art deco skyscraper in New York City, New York at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and West 34th Street. Its name is derived from the nickname for the state of New York. It stood as the world's tallest building for more than forty years, from its completion in 1931 until construction of the World Trade Center's North Tower was completed in 1972. Following

Hamersley Range - Australia

The Hamersley Range is a mountainous region of the Pilbara, Western Australia. The range runs from the Fortescue River in the northeast, 460km south. The range contains Western Australia's highest point, Mount Meharry, which reaches approximately 1,249 m AHD. There are many extensively-eroded gorges, such as Wittenoom Gorge. Karijini National Park (formerly Hamersley National Park), one of

Beautiful View of the Night Sky in San Francisco

One of those rare crystal clear nights with the perfect big puffy clouds above my city San Francisco. This picture was taken from my former backyard in Oakland. I since then moved but I never forgot how awesome the views were from that first purchased house. The house was really small, 900 sq ft. but the back yard was huge and had a great viewas you can see. When I was driving home from work in

Mount Katmai - Alaska

Mount Katmai is a volcano with glacier-covered walls and a large crater, located near the head of the Alaska Peninsula, in Katmai National Park. It was once much higher, but a violent eruption in 1912 collapsed the mountain. Its crater today is eight miles in circumference and 3,700 feet deep, and holds a lake with a small island. It rises near the shore of the Shelikof Straight, across which

Siberia

Siberia is the name given to the vast region constituting almost all of Northern Asia and for the most part currently serving as the massive central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, having served in the same capacity previously for the U.S.S.R. from its beginning, and the Russian Empire beginning in the 16th century. Geographically, it includes a large part of the Eurasian Steppe

Beautiful Panorama of Aurora and Meteor over Alaskan Lake

Auroras (North/South Polar Lights; or aurorae) are natural colored light displays, which are usually observed in the night sky, particularly in the polar zone. The aurora typically occur in the ionosphere. Some scientists call them "polar auroras" (or "aurorae polares"). In northern latitudes, it is known as the aurora borealis (or the northern lights), named after the Roman goddess of dawn,

Great Glen - Scotland

The Great Glen (Scottish Gaelic: An Gleann Mòr), also known as Glen Albyn or Glen More is a series of valleys in Scotland running 100 kilometres from Inverness on the Moray Firth to Fort William at the head of Loch Linnhe.The Great Glen follows a large geological fault known as the Great Glen Fault. It bisects the Scottish Highlands into the Grampian Mountains to the southeast and Inverness to

Erupting volcano prompts new evacuation in Chile

PUERTO MONTT, Chile, May 5, 2008 (Reuters) — Chile prepared to evacuate another town in its remote Patagonian south on Monday, as ash spewed from a snowcapped volcano for a fourth day after its first eruption in thousands of years.President Michelle Bachelet made her way to the small town of Futaleufu, the second town to be evacuated, as residents packed what belongings they could carry. The town

19 (Colorful) Places to See Before You Die

Even if you haven’t yet been able to travel as your wildest dreams may desire, put these locations on your list of places to see in life. I hope you enjoy the pictures in our color-centric version of the series, and we regret it can’t contain every one of the world’s gorgeous locations.The Pyramids of Giza, EgyptThe Great Pyramid of Giza , also called Khufu's Pyramid or the Pyramid of Khufu, and

Global Warming Affects World's Largest Freshwater Lake

Russian and American scientists have discovered that the rising temperature of the world's largest lake, located in frigid Siberia, shows that this region is responding strongly to global warming.Drawing on 60 years of long-term studies of Russia's Lake Baikal, Stephanie Hampton, an ecologist and deputy director of the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS) in Santa Barbara