Hotel in a Real Train

An old abandoned train, parked on Santos beach in the harbor town of Mossel Bay in the Southern Cape of South Africa has been transformed into a good-looking little hotel. It is called “The Santos Express Train Lodge” or simply “Train”, the lodge sits on a pair of abandoned rails approximately 30 meters from the sea. There’re 7 coaches, of which four are same with sleeper compartments, sharing two toilets and a shower. The fifth coach is transformed into a 16 bed dormitory with a self-catering kitchen. The last two coaches are the “Royal Ladies”, are two vintage coaches dating from the early 1920`s, each containing two very roomy suites. In addition, there is a restaurant that serves a good range of traditional South African dishes, like “bobotie” a dish of spicy ground meat with savory custard topping. Santos Express Train Lodge is not a luxurious stay, because every sleeper coach is separated into single, double and budget accommodation units and lodgers share toilets with others boarders, but the toilets and shower are clean. The rooms are miniature except for the Caboose, which has its own bathroom and a private deck. There’re also no lockers on the compartments, so if you have any valuables items, you could deposit them at the front desk for safe storage.

Colorful cave underneath the city of Yekaterinburg in Russia

Probably you may have heard about colorful cave underneath the city of Yekaterinburg in Russia lies you have ever laid your eyes upon. The walls of abandoned salt mine are covered with psychedelic patterns, caused by the natural layers of carnallite, a mineral used in the production of plant fertilizers, and is most often yellow to white or reddish, but can sometimes be blue or even entirely colorless. A little portion of the carnallite mines remain in use, but many of the passageways are now closed and off-limits to the public without a special government permit. 

These gorgeous pictures were taken by photographer Mikhail Mishainik, who spent more than 20 hours exploring the dimly lit labyrinth and has stayed overnight on at least three occasions. The mines are massive and stretches on several kilometers in width and length, a single tunnel can be more than four miles long. It is extremely hard to describe how it feels being so far down, you lose all track of time and the air was very dry, you always feel thirsty,” said Mikhail Mishainik to The Daily Mail. 

The air is filled with small particles of salt and if we didn't have our torches switched on it would be pitch black. It is easy to get lost as many of the passageways look the same; we navigate our way around very carefully. Many people know about the mines but it is very difficult to access them if you don't have an official permit. We take our safety very seriously but of course there are always dangers. There is a chance of a gas leak from chemicals such as methane, hydrogen sulphide carbon dioxide as well the jeopardy of a landslide. The danger element is part of the fun and it’s an exceptional feeling being somewhere very few people have seen.

Paso Internacional Los Libertadores

Paso Internacional Los Libertadores is also called Cristo Redentor, is a beautiful mountain pass in the Andes between Argentina and Chile. This is the foremost transport route connecting the Chilean capital city of Santiago to Mendoza city in Argentina. The route is carries quite heavy traffic with 29 hard switchbacks on a tremendously steep incline; it is also one of the most challenging roads to navigate.

The road starts on the Chilean side with a steep rise, nearly 50 kilometer from the city of Los Andes which lies 70 kilometers north of Santiago. The switchbacks start soon after. The first twenty switchbacks stretch over 4 kilometers with a change in elevation from 2,275 m to 2,550 m. Then road climbs gently for 2 kilometers to an altitude of 2,650 m. The next nine switchbacks take you up to an altitude of 2,800 m over a distance of 2.5 kilometers. From this point, it’s another 5 kilometers to the Chilean immigration post and then two more kilometers to the start of the old road leading up to the summit. 

There’s a few kilometers beyond the Chilean immigration post, at an elevation of 3,175 m, lies a tunnel leading across the border into Argentina. Which was opened in 1980, the tunnel of the Christ is 3,080 m long, and serves as a significant land crossing between Chile and Argentina. Wind combined with the high altitude will make for some pretty slow going, but don’t worry, there’s a refugio at the top where you can take rest over a cup of hot chocolate. The summit is at 3,840m, and it is here that you’ll find the Redeemer statue and enjoy breathtaking views of Aconcagua and out over the valley below.

The path normally closed during winter seasons because of heavy snows blocking both ends and the threat of rock fall and land sliding. The pass on the Argentine side is well maintained and gentler grade and much better sustained. It also carries extra traffic as lot of tourists drive up and back to enjoy the views. From the summit, you will descend approximately 1,000m over 9km before reaching the Argentine immigration post at Las Cuevas. The travelling on this road is best to take on in the summer months, as the Paso Internacional Los Libertadores can close due to snow and severe weather during the winter. On 19 September 2013, approximately 15,000 Chileans got stranded on the Argentine side, when the pass had to be closed for almost 10 hours because of freezing temperatures between 40-50 centimeters of snow.