10 Most Amazing Places in the World LiptonCambell: http://curiosity.discovery.com/topic/environmental-protection/10-amazing-geological-features.htm astonishing stuff you probably never heard of! What places do you think are amazing? (Edited by LiptonCambell)  StuckInTheSixties: The two most amazing places I've been are the Grand Canyon, and Agua Azul, in Chiapas, southern Mexico. Zion Canyon comes in third place. Grand Canyon is well known, so I won't elaborate on that. But I shall rant about Agua Azul. It's in the jungle, up in the mountains. Real JUNGLE jungle, with parrots, toucans, monkeys, orchids, philidendrons, the whole bit. And there in the jungle, there's this river, tumbling down through a canyon that's narrow in some places, and widens out in others. It's an endless series of waterfalls, some which are big, like what you'd think of as being a waterfall, others are like fountains, where small pools empty into other small pools, or riffle over inclines, every variation on waterfalls and cascades you can imagine ... in the JUNGLE. The water in this river is bright sky blue. It's because of a high mineral content (I'm not sure, but I think it's calcium). Not only does the mineral cause the beautiful water color, but it coats everything the water flows over, leaving a bright tan-orange color, and the coating is like the perfect, naturally made non-slip surface. Think of how stair steps in municipal buildings have a strip of this stuff that grips the sole of your shoe, and prevents you from slipping. It's like that, and it's a coating over everything in the water. That means that you can easily, effortlessly, walk around all over the place, never slipping. You can walk right out to the edges of waterfalls, absolutely confident you're not going to slip. It's unbelievable! In most places with cascades and waterfalls, you stand there and look at them. At this place, you climb all over them, jump from one into the other, swim around, walk right out to the edge and stand there, looking over the edge, with water rushing past your legs. The place is like an artist's rendering of paradise, or the Garden of Eden. Here's some pics, which don't remotely come close to doing the place justice: http://www.mon-photo.com/North_America/mexico/_15/index.htm http://downtheroad.org/Photo/8TabChiapas/6AguaAzul.htm The place has change a great deal since I was there. It's much more geared to tourists now. When I was there, the only accommodations were palapas (a thatched roof with four legs holding it up) that you could hang your hammock in, and a sort of funky excuse for a restaurant (no chairs, no tables) where you could get food. Rustic, to say the least. And after rains, you could walk out into an adjacent cattle pasture and pick psilocybin mushrooms. Absolutely perfect for the the place! (laughs) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agua_Azul  PureSilver67: Wow - difficult to bring it down to just a few ... will have to think about this Lipton .. good topic LiptonCambell: Just something I stumbled onto, and for the ones in the website I never heard of even half of them.... StuckInTheSixties: I examined that website. It's pretty cool. The Crystal Caverns is particularly intriguing. The Fairy Chimneys looks down right pornographic. LiptonCambell: Lol i didn't even realize that I somehow started on page 3(and thus, so does the link) StuckInTheSixties: I was gonna mention that ... edit the link so that it starts at the beginning, dude ...  introspec: Glacier National Park, all of uninhabited Alaska, Truk lagoon---home of Japanese fleet....Pallau, Pellilu (peacetime), so many more....... PureSilver67: Geez JUST had time and good enough internet connection to view all 10! Hmph! I manage 2/10 for actually seeing them - Ayers rock, Northern Territory, Australia and Devils tower, Wyoming, USA. As for the others, I may have heard of another 2. And how can that really be a true list when few people will actually be able to experience them? Australia - The Olgas, NT; Great Barrier Reef, Qld; Fraser Island, Qld; Carnarvon Gorge, Qld; Wilpena Pound, SA; Great Australian Bight, SA - WA; 3 Sisters, NSW; Cradle Mountain, Tasmania; most of the SW of WA; .... Other - Grand Canyon; The Badlands; Yellowstone NP; Niagra Falls; Montery Bay, Ca - all USA North Island of NZ (but I haven't been to the South Island) UK, Germany, Italy ... hmmm many man made things but natural ?? the Austrian mountains; Polish lake-land; the table-top mountains in Germany that usually have some castle on them Oh what can I say ... I love nature and could list special things about just about everywhere I have been!  PureSilver67: Can't put images in here .... bugga! BUT .. the crystals in the crystal cave (#6), although not as massive and one doesn't need to put up with possible heat stroke to see, can be seen in Coober Pedy, SA .. where many people live underground due to the heat during summer! The Olgas and Devil's marbles are also monoliths (#10) ... the former has some larger than Ayer's Rock the latter has ones balancing on each other ... AMAZing!! yesterday I visited the Pinnacles in WA ... smaller than any of the "towers" listed in the top 10 but similar formations it seems to the knives (#5).... something outa this world. and Lake Eyre, SA is a salt lake (#7) which I haven't visited, but camped near a beautiful salt lake, Lake Hart, SA ... north of Port Augusta .. so while maybe not the "best" of each feature ... still AH-MAZING!! StuckInTheSixties: Hey, it's got the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame ... that's gotta count for somethin' ...  JIRM: Iguaçu falls between Argentina and Brazil. Water, sounds, colors, amazing place to get lost for a couple of days. Argentina side better than the Brazilian one. There is a bird park at Foz that also worth a visit. The city and the area is pretty safe, even to travel alone.  Lanra: exploring a jungle is as equivalent to skydiving ... I'd choose skydiving because of no bug bites, just wind rash. hahaha Niagra Falls LiptonCambell: I really haven't travelled as much as I'd like Silver...theres certainly plenty of beauty in the world I'd like to visit, and I saw some nice places in Mexico and British Columbia, but nothing in comparison to the beauty in that website.... kat82: Milford Sound (New Zealand), The Iguazu Waterfalls (Brazil-Argentina), The Inca City of Machu Picchu (Peru), The Great Coral Reef (Australia), The Halong Bay (Vietnam), The Bora-Bora Island (French Polynesia), Fjords and the Preikestolen cliff (Norway), Karstic peaks at Guilin along the Li river (China), Moai statues of the Easter island (Chile), The Mediterranean beaches. (Post deleted by staff ) |
