Reynisfjara Beach, Iceland

White sandy beaches are off course yes for all. But what you do, when there’s a lava beach that has risen from the ashes? Actually, Iceland has many volcanic beaches, but Reynisfjara Black Sand Beach is hands down the coolest with its black sand, insane basalt columns, lava formations, towering cliffs, and caves. One of the rarest beaches on the planet is located near the village of Vík í Mýrdal, in Iceland, which faces the open Atlantic Ocean and is situated in 180 kilometers from Reykjavik. You won’t find garbage on the beach; people are infrequently guests here due to the cold and wet weather. Southern Iceland is framed by a black sand beach that was ranked in 1991 as one of the ten most beautiful non-tropical beaches in the world.

In Iceland this is wettest place, as rains are permanent feature, as here for 340 days a year. Moreover sand is also clean from the stones and any other impurities. It’s clean fine sand of tremendously black color! The clarification is very simple, because during the volcanic eruption, lava flowed into the ocean and cooled there, and then, for the long centuries water used to break it into tiny particles making exceptional kind of sand. Thus, progressively the water ousted it to the coast. The American journal “Islands Magazine” named this outstanding black beach one of the 10 most astonishing non-tropical beaches on the planet. The coastline of the strange black sand beach stretches for five kilometers.

The black basalt columns are called “Reynisdrangar” and they appeared as a result of exposure of the water on the coastal cliffs. They are located next to the majestic towering mountain Reynisfyadl. Furthermore, this area is popular for its caves and huge black boulders. The creatures petrified here, when couldn’t hide from the sun in time. However, to drag three ships ashore, other to sink the Icelandic ship. The locals of such unusual places like this like to turn everything into a fairy tale, maybe, to attract tourists, or they can really trust in it. Moreover, cold water of the coast beach, the infinite fogs, penetrating winds and somber landscapes but a sense of delight wins the gloom; everything here seems to be very distinct and scarce! The unreal surroundings beckon travelers, photographers and filmmakers. Some kind of science fiction or horror film is often filmed here. Reynisfjara black sand beach is seriously one of the coolest places in Iceland. A MUST see for anyone doing a South Iceland drive or looking for a day trip from Reykjavik.

Laguna Verde, Bolivia

Southwest Bolivia contains some of the world's wildest and most remarkable landscapes, including the Laguna Verde, backed by the dormant 19,555ft Licancábur volcano. Laguna Verde is also called "green lake" actually a salt lake in an endorheic basin, in the southwestern Altiplano in the Sur Lípez Province of the Potosí Department in Bolivia. Laguna Verde is close to the Chilean border, at the foot of the volcano Licancabur. In the backdrop of the lake there is the perfectly cone shape inactive volcano Licancabur is believed that an ancient crypt used to be at its peak. Moreover NASA used the upper reaches of Licancábur for tests to prepare for future missions to Mars.

The Laguna Verde covers an area of 1700 ha, and a narrow causeway divides it into two parts. It is at the southwestern extremity of the Eduardo Avaroa Andean Fauna National Reserve and Bolivia itself. It has mineral suspensions of arsenic and other minerals which renders color to the lake waters. Its color varies from turquoise to dark emerald depending on the disturbance caused to sediments in the lake by winds. Therefore, icy cool winds are a common marvel here and lake waters can reach temperatures as low as -56 degree C but because of its chemical composition its waters still remain in a liquid state. It is 30 kilometers far from Palques Lake. This is one of some striking colored lakes, including the Laguna Colorada, where the fiery red waters and arctic-white shores a result of salt and borax deposits contrast with the colors of the lake's three species of breeding flamingos. Moreover you can climb the volcano or join a tour of the lakes and other landscapes, including the vast and similarly celebrated salt pans to the north.

Playa de Gulpiyuri – A Strange Beach in the Middle of a Meadow

Playa de Gulpiyuri is a strange beach as we know it, has 50m of sand but it’s actually in the middle of a field, around 100m from the sea. A tunnel beneath the rocks channels water from the Cantabrian Sea into a cove, beach is off the A8 road between Santander and Oviedo. Gulpiyuri Beach is nothing like anything you’d have ever seen, or even imagined existed outside of imaginary books or fictional planets. Playa de Gulpiyuri is one of the most astonishing beaches in the world, tucked away into a small inland hollow. The other famous hot water beach of New Zealand or California’s glass beach, but none like the beach of Gulpiyuri. The beach is over 100 meters away from the sea shoreline and stumbling over a small appealing beach right in the middle of a green meadow. And though you may find other beaches totally hidden from the open sea, around the world, this one is actually fully tidal and even has waves bathing the small strip of golden sand.

Though sometimes referred to as the “world’s smallest beach,” Playa de Gulpiyuri is one of the world’s strangest and picturesque. This tiny golden sand beach, with crystal clear waters and hemmed in by cliffs, is frequently voted as being Asturias' best. Moreover, the salt waters of the Cantabrian Sea bored through the earth, forming a series of underground tunnels that constantly feed water to Gulpiyuri Beach. Water from the nearby Bay of Biscay comes in through the underground tunnel network and washes up on Gulpiyuri in gentle waves, adding to the charm of this magical cove. Playa de Gulpiyuri in Llanes is now listed as a natural monument by the Principality of Asturias.

Therefore, the shallow crystal clear water of this place acts as a swimming invitation that cannot be refused, but you may find it a little cold, because the water tends to remain underground for a while, before washing into Gulpiyuri Beach. If you visiting this magical beach then make sure during the peak summer months, it can and does get busy. Because, hundreds of visitors a day flock here to take images. It has the uncertain reputation of being one of Spain's most photographed beaches. At high tide you can just about swim, although at most times, the water levels remain at knee height, shallow enough to ensure that the Atlantic chill has been taken off, but still fairly cold.

 

 

 

 

 

Catacombes de Paris, France

In 2004, Parisian police were transferred to complete a training exercise in an uncharted part of the Catacombs of Paris beneath the Palais de Chaillot. Entering the catacombs through a drain, officers first came across a sign that read “Building site, no access,” and move ahead a camera that actively recorded images of those who passed. The police descended deeper into the tunnels and discovered a 500-square-meter cavern with a fully equipped giant cinema screen, projection equipment, chairs and a handful of films, from film noir classics to recent thrillers. Someone had turned this abandoned underground cavern into a secret amphitheater. Moreover, in the next “room,” police discovered a fully-stocked bar and restaurant, with tables and chairs. This discovery left police perplexed, not to mention the professional installation of electricity and three phone lines.

Thus, police returned with specialists from the French Board of Electricity to try and find out where the power was coming from. The cables had been cut and a note lying on the floor read, “Do not try and find us.” The Catacombs of Paris are underground ossuaries in Paris, France, which hold the remains of more than six million people in a small part of the ancient Mines of Paris tunnel network. The bones of around six million people lie beneath the streets of Paris in 280km of dank passageways. The officials were pushed to move bones into the catacombs because the cemeteries above ran out of room for the dead.

The limestone quarries tunnels have existed on the outskirts of Paris since Roman times built Paris and eventually, abetted the city expand to the point where the quarries were directly underneath the busy metropolis. About 200 miles of labyrinthine tunnels are believed to exist. Despite the vast length of the tunneled, underground world, only a small section of it is open to the public. This minute portion, identified as Denfert-Rochereau Ossuary, or more commonly, “The Catacombs,” has become one of the top tourist attractions in Paris on a small scale from the early 19th century, and has been open to the public on a regular basis since 1874 with surface access from a building at Place Denfert-Rochereau in the extreme southern part of the city of Paris. This is easily called Paris’ most macabre sight is its underground tunnels lined with skulls and bones. In 1785 it was decided to rectify the hygiene problems of Paris’ overflowing cemeteries by exhuming the bones and storing them in disused quarry tunnels and the Catacombes were created in 1810.

The popular place houses the skeletal remains of some six to seven million former Parisians, however not all areas of the Catacombs are open to the public. Back in the late 18th century, cemeteries were becoming over-populated, such as Les Innocents were so stuffed with the dead that it led to improper burials, open graves, and unearthed corpses. Neighbors began getting sick with infectious diseases due to the unhealthy conditions of the cemetery. Les Innocents was not the only cemetery that was condemned. Several other graveyards were becoming overpopulated, causing glitches for the inhabitants of Paris. As tons of empty quarries, police and priests similar discreetly moved the bones over the period of a few decades to the renovated section of the tunnel. The Catacombs became a favorite attraction for royal families and in 1867; the area was opened to the general public.

The Catacombs are among the 14 City of Paris Museums managed by Paris Musées since January 1, 2013. The catacombs are called "The World's Largest Grave" due to the number of remains buried. Although the ossuary comprises only a small section of the underground "carrières de Paris" Parisians presently often refer to the entire tunnel network as "the catacombs". Due to their old age, the quarries not part of the official Catacombs have been deemed unsafe by Parisian officials. Yet, the size and length of the tunnels make it problematic to keep secret societies, thieves, artists and the inquisitive public from entering the unsafe network. In the 1980s, a movement was steadfast to the exploration of the tunnels.

After the discovery of the secret cinema, Patrick Alk, a photographer close to the group responsible said the discovery “was a shame, but not the end of the world.” There are dozens of other meeting places just like the one the police discovered in the mysterious labyrinth. He concluded, saying, “You guys have no idea what’s down there.” Due to vandalism and the theft of numerous skulls, the catacombs were closed in Oct 2009 till December of the same year. With the reopening of the site comes an additional security and bag check upon exiting. During WWII these tunnels were used as a headquarters by the Resistance; however now a days, thrill-seeking cataphiles are often caught (and fined) roaming the tunnels at night.

Cave of Crystals - Chihuahua, Mexico

Planet earth indeed most extraordinary place as “Secret Marvels of the World” is a compendium of the world’s weirdest and most wonderful sights that really do have to be seen to be believed. You'd be forgiven for wondering if movie fiction had become fact while gazing upon the Cave of the Crystals in Mexico.  The Giant Crystal Cave is an amazing cave connected to the Naica Mine at a depth of 300 metres, in Naica, Chihuahua, Mexico. This remote part of northern Mexico, located is an hour to the south of Chihuahua, is famous for crystals, and paychecks at the local lead and silver mine, where almost everyone works, are meager enough to inspire a black market.

The cave was discovered by the brothers Eloy and Javier Delgado. These days’ scientists are working in the cave to conduct research on the crystals. Although the conditions are extremely difficult, but their efforts seem to be paying off. Investigators have discovered a new type of gypsum formation, collected ancient pollen in the crystals, and extracted the DNA of extremophiles trapped in the crystals to match them to their closest living relative.

Unfortunately, the crystal caves at the Naica mines are open to scientific investigation only. Even in this case, each visitor needs the proper equipment, as the temperature and humidity can easily overheat the human body. The cave contains staggeringly huge crystals as some of four metres thick. Researchers believe some of the crystals are 500,000 years old. The cave of crystal is extremely hot, with air temperatures reaching up to 58 °C with 90 to 99 % humidity. The main chamber contains some of largest natural selenite crystals. The largest crystal found in this case is 12 m in length, 4 m in diameter and 55 tons in weight.

The cave is relatively unexplored due to many reasons without proper protection; people can only endure about 10 minutes of exposure at a time. The underground magma lies about 2 to 3 miles below the cave, heated the ground water which was saturated with sulfide ions. Thus, cool oxygenated surface water contacted the mineral saturated heated water, but the two did not mix due to the difference in their densities. Therefore, the oxygen gradually diffused into the heated water and oxidized the sulfides into sulfates. Moreover, the hydrated sulfate gypsum crystallized at a particularly slow rate over the course of at least 500,000 years, forming the giant crystals found nowadays.

In 1910 miners unearthed a cavern beneath the Naica mine workings, the Cave of Swords, located at a depth of 120 metres, above the Cave of Crystals, and contain spectacular, smaller 1 to 3 ft. long crystals. It is speculated that at this level, transition temperatures may have fallen much more rapidly, leading to an end in the growth of the crystals. Giant Crystal Cave was discovered in April 2000 by miners excavating complex in Naica contains substantial deposits of silver, zinc and lead. The Cave of Crystals is a horseshoe-shaped cavity in limestone, covered with perfectly faceted crystalline blocks. Huge crystal beams jut out from both the blocks and the floor.

The caves are accessible nowadays because the mining company's pumping operations keep them clear of water. If the pumping were stopped, the caves would again be submerged in water. The crystals deteriorate in air, so the Naica Project is attempting to visually document the crystals before they deteriorate further. The cave was featured includes credence to the existence of further chambers, but further exploration would have required significant removal of the crystals. As the cave's accessibility is dependent on the mine's water pumps, when mineral exploitation is ended in the area it is expected the pumps will be shut off and the cavern's water level allowed to rise again.