Canada’s Smoking Hills

The smoking hills are well believed to have been burning for centuries, and will do so for many years to come. Most people perceive the Arctic as a clean, pristine environment, but the Smoking Hills, located 350 km east of the Mackenzie Delta, are a natural source of air pollution.  In 1850, British Captain Robert McClure was sent on an expedition aboard the Investigator to the Arctic to pursuit for the lost expedition of Sir John Franklin who had departed England 5 years earlier. It was the second exploration party who went searching for the 129-crew Arctic exploration team, and one of several dozens that were to follow for the next four decades.

Therefore, the Investigator sailed north through the Pacific and entered the Arctic Ocean by way of Bering Strait, sailing eastward past Point Barrow, Alaska to in due course link up with another British expedition from the north-west. When McClure’s exploration party reached the mouth of the river Horton on Beaufort Sea near Cape Bathurst in Canada's Northwest Territories, he observed smoke in the distance. He is suspecting the smokes could be coming from campfires, maybe from Franklin, McClure at once sent a search party to investigate. The party found not flames from Franklin's campfires, but thick columns of smoke emerging from vents in the ground. The sailors get back with a sample of the smoldering rock, and set it down on McClure's desk it burned a hole in the wood.

He thought that rocks to be volcanic, but the fact was something else. The mountains contains actually a large deposits of sulphur-rich lignite (brown coal) which ignite instinctively when the hills erode and the mineral veins are exposed to the air. The fumes they give off comprise sulphur dioxide, sulphuric acid and steam, all of which has acidified the surrounding shallow pools making a pocket of distinguishing acidic biota, in contrast to the typically Arctic biota in adjacent alkaline ponds. Though the soil of the region contains much limestone, the buffer effect has totally disappeared. The adjacent community, “Paulatuk or traditionally spelt Place of Coal”, which is about 105 km east, is named in recognition of the coal found in the area. Source: Charismaticplanet.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Mysterious Caves of Mustang, Nepal

Mustang Caves or Sky Caves of Nepal are a collection of some 10,000 man-made caves dug into the sides of valleys in the Mustang District of Nepal. The Kingdom of Mustang is one of the most isolated and remote region of Nepalese Himalaya, is just bordering to the Tibetan Plateau. The caves lie on the steep valley walls near the Kali Gandaki River in Upper Mustang. The region was once an independent Buddhist kingdom, however Mustang was taken over by Nepal at the end of the 18th century. However, retained its status as a separate principality until the 1950's when the area was more closely consolidated into Nepal. The Kingdom of Mustang has very sensitive border location; Mustang was off-limits to foreigners until 1992. The relative isolation of the region from the outside world has helped out Mustang preserve its ancient culture which is more closely tied to Tibet than to Nepal. From several decades research groups have constant investigate the purpose of these caves, but no one has yet understood who built the caves and why were they built. Thousands of holes are carved into the fragile, sandy-colored cliff in a gorge so large it dwarfs the Grand Canyon.

These man-made caves are one of the World's greatest archaeological mysteries. Therefore, the landscape is also unlike anything that is to be found anywhere else in Nepal deep gorges carved by the Kali Gandaki River, and oddly sculptured rock formations. The cliffs’ faces are pitted with a likely 10,000 ancient cave dwellings, though some of which are perched more than 150 feet above the valley floor. No one knows who dug them, or how people even scaled the near vertical rock face to access them. Moreover, many of the caves appear almost unmanageable to reach even to experienced climbers. Hence, most of the caves are now unoccupied, but some signs showing thedomestic habitation hearths, grain-storage bins, and sleeping spaces. Furthermore, some caves were apparently used as burial chambers, and lot of dozen bodies that were found in these caves were all over 2,000 years old. They bodies are lay on wooden beds and decorated with copper jewelry and glass beads. So far, explorers have found ancient Buddhist decorative art and paintings, manuscripts and pottery, several 600-year-old human skeletons and recovered reams of precious manuscripts, some with small paintings known as illuminations, which contain a mix of writings from Buddhism and Bon.

These caves are hundred meter high from the ground, in one of the many natural pillar like sandstone structures. A winding footpath climbs all the way from the bottom of the valley. No documentation pertaining to this mysterious gompa or monastery has been found, but the wall paintings appear to be having been made in the 14th century or even earlier. Moreover, in the other caves, skeletons dating from the 3rd to the 8th centuries, before Buddhism came to Mustang, had cut marks on the bones that may have been inflicted during the practice of sky burial, where the body’s flesh is sliced into small pieces and left to be eaten by vultures. Thus, sky burial is still practiced in numerous remote regions in the Himalaya. Archeologists are certain of that the caves in Mustang were used in three general periods. These caves were first used almost 3,000 years ago as burial chambers, and after that around 1,000 years ago, they became primarily living quarters, maybe to escape battles and intruders into the valley. Lastly, by the 1400s, most people had moved into traditional villages and the caves became places of meditation. Some of these caves were turned into monasteries such as the Luri Gompa, the Chungsi Cave monastery and the Nyiphuk Cave Monastery, all of which were built around and inside the caves. This is the place that has so many stories, so much more than even really imagine in lifetime. Climbing into the sky caves was no easy feat; the rock was unstable and posed a real danger, in fact so dangerous.  It's dangerous it's loose rock its scary, because everything is loose & crumbling because there are consequences and big consequences.

The Dolerite Columns of Coastal Tasmania

The coastline of the southern Tasmania is composed of spectacular rock columns that stick out up to 300 meters from the sea level. The geologists call these rocks are “dolerites”, due to its distinctive elongated shape and hexagonal columns. The Mother Nature majestic dolerite columns are probably formed in the Jurassic period, somewhere 185 million years ago during a massive volcanic event that covered up to a third of Tasmania. The doleritic clifts surpass 100 m in topography above the sea along much of the southern and eastern coast of Tasmania, and some singular columns occur as giant “totem poles” standing in the sea.

Dolerites are created when molten rocks pushed up from the deep underbelly of the earth cools rapidly and crystallize to form trifling visible crystals in the rock. However, when the rate of cooling is just right, the rocks trends to shrink in volume, because of creation of cracks. Thus, these cracks let the rocks in the interior to cool, resulting in additional cracks. Though at the end, you get a big block of rock with long vertical and symmetrical cracks creating 5 to 6 sided columns, can be just a few centimeters to over quite a lot of meters in diameter. The columns are actually a part of a continuous formation over 4,000 km long extending from Australia through Tasmania and into Antarctica.

The beautiful columnar rocks are not uncommon, as hundreds of recognized localities throughout the world where you can find them. Moreover, some of these locations are very famous such as The Giant’s Causeway in Ireland, The Devil’s Tower in Wyoming, Los Organos in Spain, and Fingal’s Cave in Scotland. The spectacular formations that, like these in Tasmania make him glorious tourist destinations.

The Crystal Mosque, Malaysia

The Crystal Mosque is located at Islamic Heritage Park on the island of Wan Man in Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu, Malaysia. The mosque is also called Masjid Kristal is very popular with its uniqueness. Crystal Mosque is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Malaysia was built between the years 2006 to 2008 and was officially opened on 8 February 2008 by 13th in Pertuan Agong, Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin of Terengganu.

The Crystal Mosque grand structure is lightly coat the steel, glass and crystal that are used as the main ingredient in the development of three and form a look that is truly remarkable and astonishing. The masjid has a capacity to accommodate over 1,500 worshippers at one time. The visitors get excited and enjoy the beauty of mosque, actually wonderful place, where different countries tourist come to see the beauty of the mosque is a very solid foundation of all. The Crystal Mosque is regarded one of most beautiful mosques in the world. This unique structure adopts a contemporary style injected with Moorish and Gothic elements.

A large crystal chandelier forms the main prayer hall’s centerpiece. At night, the mosque comes alive with a mesmerizing display of lights, which changes the color of its domes and minarets to pink, green, yellow and blue. Masjid Kristal is the country’s first ‘intelligent’ mosque with a built-in IT infrastructure and WiFi connection, providing visitors with internet access with which to read the electronic Quran seemingly a point of pride for the architects.

Its sleek and modern look design reflects off the water and often illuminated from the inside, which makes its glass domes shine. The Islam Heritage Park also features replicas of many of the world’s most famous mosques from around the world. Oddly enough, in this theme park embracing Islamic culture across the globe, the Crystal Mosque contains elements of Chinese architecture and design, much to the irritation of many Malaysians.

The Forever Bent Trees of Slope Point, New Zealand

Slope Point is the southern point of New Zealand’s South Island, famous due to consistently lashed with fierce and cold southwesterly winds that blow up from Antarctica. In this region the wind is so strong and persistent, that caused the trees twisted, warped and constantly bent along the direction the wind blows. The Slope Point is mainly used for sheep farming, and aside from a few sheep, no humans or other animals live on this part of the island.

However, there’re some derelict shacks built under the protection of the windswept trees, but even those are abandoned. The marvelously steep cliffs drop down to the sea below. Here, the scenes are truly astonishing over the rocky coastline and surrounding cliffs. Although, there is a slight signpost that shows the distance to the Equator and the South Pole, and a small solar-powered lighthouse stands on the farmland. Yet like virtually everywhere else in New Zealand you will find hardy creatures need some shelter from the elements and so, many decades ago, local farmers planted saplings which they hoped would meet the expense of their animals some respite from the often savagely inclement weather.

Please keep in mind that there are no proper roads to Slope Point, but it can be reached by a 20-minute walk following dilapidated yellow markers. It is maybe hard to believe this challenging micro-climate is only a few hours’ drive from the fiords and rain forests of Milford Sound.  As such Slope Point contributes to the excellent and idiosyncratic beauty of New Zealand - the broad diversity of landscapes in the vicinity each other. There is no public access during the lambing season starting September to November.