Category: places

Vulcan Point: An Island Within a Lake on a Volcano Within a Lake on an Island

Taal Volcano is a complex volcano located on the island of Luzon in the Philippines. It is the second most active volcano in the Philippines with 33 historical eruptions. All of these eruptions are concentrated on Volcano Island, an island near the middle of Taal Lake. Viewed from the Tagaytay Ridge in Cavite, Taal Volcano and Lake presents one of the most picturesque and attractive views in the Philippines. Moreover, this lake contains Vulcan Point, a small rocky island that projects from the surface of the crater lake, which was the remnant of the old crater floor that is now surrounded by the 2-kilometre wide lake, now referred to as the Main Crater Lake. Therefore, Taal has an island within a lake, that is on an island within a lake, that is on an island within the sea: Vulcan Point Island is within Main Crater Lake, which is on Volcano Island, which is within Taal Lake, which is on the main Philippine Island Luzon, which is within the western Pacific Ocean.
info source: wikimedia

TheCoffee (Mike Gonzalez) [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

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Picturesque Ramsau in the Bavarian Alps

The Church of St. Sebastian, with the Reiter Alpe in background – By Softeis – work of Softeis, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link

Ramsau is a German municipality in the Bavarian Alps close to the border with Austria. Notable sights of Ramsau include the third highest mountain in Germany called the Watzmann, Lake Hintersee, Lake Königssee, Wimbachklamm Gorge, the Buchenwald or Enchanted Forest and the village’s church.
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Crannogs: Neolithic Artificial Islands

Crannog on Loch Tearnait – By Peter Bond, CC BY-SA 2.0, Link

A crannog is typically a partially or entirely artificial island, usually built in lakes, rivers, and estuarine waters of Scotland, Wales, and Ireland. Crannogs were used as dwellings over five millennia, from the European Neolithic Period to as late as the 17th/early 18th century. Crannogs took on many different forms and methods of construction based on what was available in the immediate landscape. The classic image of a prehistoric crannog comes from both post-medieval illustrations and highly influential excavations . The choice of a small islet as a home may seem odd today, yet waterways were the main channels for both communication and travel until the 19th century in much of Ireland and especially Highland Scotland. Crannogs are traditionally considered as simple prehistorical farmsteads. They are also interpreted as boltholes in times of danger, as status symbols with limited access and as inherited locations of power that imply a sense of legitimacy and ancestry towards ownership of the surrounding landscape. Today, crannogs typically appear as small, circular islets, often 10 to 30 metres (30 to 100 ft) in diameter, covered in dense vegetation due to their inaccessibility to grazing livestock.

info: Wikipedia

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World’s Most Remote Teahouse

Mount Huashan is located in Huayin, part of the Shaanxi province in China. Huashan has a variety of temples and other religious structures on its slopes and peaks. The teahouse, which was once an ancient Taoist temple, is located on the south side of the mountain, at an altitude of 7,000 feet (2,133 meters) above sea level. The journey to the remote teahouse starts with a 20-minute cable car ride. Next the visitor will have to hang onto a chain bolted into the mountain and slot their feet into holds chiseled into the sheer rock face. And finally the visitor will have to ascend the Heavenly Stairs. Impossible pathways and stairs leading to the mountain’s peaks that have been carved all over the mountain by monks, nuns and pilgrims. Despite the dangers nearly a million people a year visit the Buddhist and Taoist temple and Huashan Teahouse.

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the thrilling mountain #huashan #shaanxi

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Havasu Falls – Grand Canyon’s Hidden Jewel

Havasu Falls is a waterfall located in the Grand Canyon, Arizona. The water flows out of limestone, which gives it a pleasing blue-green hue, into a series of plunge pools.

By Jeremy Evans – Havasu Falls at NightUploaded by PDTillman, CC BY-SA 2.0, Link

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Shiprock – A unique rock formation in the dusty New Mexico desert

By U.S. Geological Survey – https://www.flickr.com/photos/27784370@N05/14465655209/, CC BY 2.0, Link

Shiprock is an isolated rock rising above the high-desert plain of the Navajo Nation in San Juan County, New Mexico. It is the erosional remnant of the throat of a volcano formed around 30 million years ago,. Governed by the Navajo Nation, the formation plays a significant role in Navajo religion, myth, and tradition. In Navajo called Tsé Bitʼaʼí or “the rock with wings,” myth says that the Shiprock was a piece of land that became a bird, carrying the ancestral people of the Navajo on its back. The name “Shiprock” derives from the peak’s resemblance to an enormous 19th-century clipper ship. Due to recent deaths, littering, and vandalism hiking, filming, and driving are all prohibited to the public due to its sacred nature and its sacred space. It is recommended that the public stay at least three miles (4.8 km) away from the formation and 20 feet (6.1 m) from the lava dikes or wall when visiting.
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Castle in China looks like it’s been plucked straight out of a fairytale

Jilong Castle Country Club, a four-star hotel, sits in the center of  Wanfeg lake in Southwest China’s Guizhou Province. The castle  looks  like the famous Bavarian Neuschwanstein Castle. In recent decades, modern takes on  medieval structures have popped up around China.

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