The Yaku Island

Situated about 70km (45mi) south of Kyushu’s southern tip, the small mountainous island of Yakushima amazes the visitors with its breathtaking vegetation ranging from subtropical at sea level to subarctic on the mountain tops.

Thanks also to heavy rainfall, the location is a primeval forest covered area and home to some of the oldest trees in the world, known as the Yaku cedars. With the ancient specimens being around 3500 years old, the biggest among them, known as the Jomon Sugi, is believed to be about 7000 years old.

The cedars, other than considered sacred, are also interesting because of the names and the story that follows them. The phrase Meoto-Sugi means Married Couple and suggests that over the years the once separate trees joined and begun to coexist.

Another thing which will make your eyes pop out, is the Wilson stump . There’s a small stream running through it, you can walk into it and also visit a small shrine inside of it.

Other than the fascinating forests you can enjoy small waterfalls and tropical gardens throughout the area. The site is also a nesting place of endangered species of green and loggerhead turtles, so checkout the Sea Turtle Museum, but also the Yakushima Fruit Garden, and the Yakushima Environmental and Cultural Centre.

The Skeleton Coast

The Skeleton Coast conjures up mysterious visions of mist-enshrouded beaches strewn with bleached whalebones and rusted shipwrecks.

Stretching from the south of Namibia up into Angola, the Skeleton Coast is a landscape of haunting beauty. It is a vast area of rolling sand dunes, expanses of uninhabited desert plains, fossil beds, unique geological formations, desert-adapted animals and strange vegetation.

The climate, very atypical of an arid desert, is also surprising. The dense fog, the cold currents offshore and the heat of the desert cause the temperatures to vary - from 6 to 36 deg. C (42-97 deg. F).

A surprising number of plants and animals thrive in this harsh conditions. Unusual plants such as the Elephant’s Foot anchor themselves into the rocks. Also, the strong and sturdy oryx feel completely at home in the desert and can stay for weeks withoust water.

Even if it seems that nobody can exist here, on the edge of the desert the Himba tribe copes with life. If you are fortunate enough to visit the Skeleton coast you won’t easily forget this immense walk back through time.

Colosal Mystery Jars

The beautiful grassy meadows and the rolling brown and purple hills that mark the large plateau in the north-east Laos, reveal mysterious groupings of large stone jars scattered around in dozens of sites.

Believed to be about 2000 years old, the jars weigh from about 600kg (1300lb) to 1 tonne. Some of them even have stone lids lying nearby. Many theories about their purpose have been advanced during the years, but since the area was a frequent war site for the decades that have passed, they still remain a mystery.

The largest of the jars weighs about 6 tonnes. Among other theories they’re been thought of as storage vessels or possibly funerary urns. Some local legends say that they were made to ferment the rice wine needed to celebrate victory over a cruel chieftain.

Because of frequent wars the area is still not free of unexploded ordnance, and only the main three jar sites are considered safe to visit with the experienced guides. If you plan to visit, be sure to stay on the footpaths!

Superman’s Cave

Buried a thousand feet (300 meters) below Naica mountain in the Chihuahuan Desert, this astonishing cave was discovered by two miners only in the year 2000.

A sort of south-of-the-border Fortress of Solitude, Mexico’s Cueva de los Cristales (Cave of Crystals) contains some of the world’s largest known natural crystals – translucent beams of gypsum as long as 36 feet (11 meters).