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Elafonisi (Greek: "deer island") is an island located close to the southwestern corner of the mediterranean island of Crete, of which it is administratively a part, in the regional unit of Chania. When the weather is fine it is possible to walk to the island through the shallow water. The island is a protected nature reserve.

It is a popular and beautiful beach to visit during the tourist season.

On the mainland the 17th century monastery of Chrysoskalitissa is approximately 5 km from the island.

Despite it's beauty Elafonisi has seen some unfortunate events in the past.

At the highest point on the island there is a plaque that commemorates a tragic event. On Easter sunday of 24 April 1824 several hundred Greeks, mostly women and children, were killed on Elafonisi by Ottoman soldiers. To avoid advancing Ottoman troops, forty armed men had taken refuge on the island with women, children and old folk where they were waiting for a ship to take them to the Ionian Islands. The Ottoman soldiers had decided to camp on the beach opposite the island. One of their horses walked along the shallow water to the island and the people hiding on the island were discovered. According to several sources there were between 640 and 850 people in total, most of whom were killed and the remaining survivors were sold in to slavery in Egypt

A large wooden cross commemorates a shipwreck from 22 February 1907. It was an Austrian Lloyd passenger steamer, called the Imperatrix. Due to strong northwest winds 38 people died in a lifeboat that tried to reach the shore. They were all buried on the island. The Imperatrix still lies on the seabed in front of the island's cliffs and was the reason that a lighthouse was built on an island hilltop.
The lighthouse was destroyed during the Second World War by the occupying German troops.

*This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article for Elafonisi.

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Gate To Hell

November 25th 2011 02:21

Derweze (Turkmen language: The Gate, also known as Darvaza) is a Turkmenistan village of about 350 inhabitants, located in the middle of the Karakum desert, about 260 km north from Ashgabat.
Darvaza inhabitants are mostly Turkmen of the Teke tribe, preserving a half-nomadic lifestyle.

The Derweze area is rich in natural gas. While drilling in 1971, geologists tapped into a cavern filled with natural gas. The ground beneath the drilling rig collapsed, leaving a large hole with a diameter of about 70 metres (230 ft). To avoid poisonous gas discharge, it was decided to burn it off. Geologists had hoped the fire would use all the fuel in a matter of days, but the gas still burns 40 years later. Locals have dubbed the cavern "The Door to Hell".

Next to capturing the gas, flaring is safer and friendlier to the environment than releasing the methane into the atmosphere, as methane is a relatively potent greenhouse gas and considered to have a high global warming potential of 72 (averaged over 20 years) or 25 (averaged over 100 years).
Turkmenistan plans to increase its production of natural gas. In April 2010, the President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow visited the site and ordered that the hole should be closed, or other measures be taken to limit its influence on the development of other natural gas fields in the area.

*This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article for Derweze.

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Lost Cities Of The World That You Can Still Visit

September 16th 2011 02:40

The Earth is full or a rich history of civilization.
Some ancient cities such as Babylon have disappeared for all time.
However, as reported on the Huffington Post there are still many lost cities which you can still visit today. Click the link above to visit the full original article.

Petra (Nabataean), Jordan

Petra is a historical and archaeological city in the Jordanian governorate of Ma'an that is famous for its rock cut architecture and water conduits system. Established sometime around the 6th century BC as the capital city of the Nabataeans, it is a symbol of Jordan as well as its most visited tourist attraction.

Pompeii (Romans), Italy

Pompeii was destroyed and completely buried during a long catastrophic eruption of the volcano Mount Vesuvius spanning two days in the year AD 79. The eruption buried Pompeii under 4 to 6 meters of ash and pumice, and it was lost for nearly 1700 years before its accidental rediscovery in 1749. Since then, its excavation has provided an extraordinarily detailed insight into the life of a city at the height of the Roman Empire. Today, this UNESCO World Heritage Site is one of the most popular tourist attractions of Italy, with approximately 2,500,000 visitors every year.

Chichen Itza (Mayan), Mexico

Chichen Itza is a large pre-Columbian archaeological site built by the Maya civilization located in the northern center of the Yucatán Peninsula, in the Municipality of Tinúm, Yucatán state, present-day Mexico.

Machu Picchu (Incan), Peru

Machu Picchu is a pre-Columbian 15th-century Inca site located 2,430 metres (7,970 ft) above sea level. It is situated on a mountain ridge above the Urubamba Valley in Peru. Most archaeologists believe that Machu Picchu was built as an estate for the Inca emperor Pachacuti (1438–1472). Often referred to as the "Lost City of the Incas", it is perhaps the most familiar icon of the Inca World.

Angkor Wat (Khmer), Cambodia

Angkor Wat is a temple complex at Angkor, Cambodia, built for the king Suryavarman II in the early 12th century as his state temple and capital city.

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Isola di Loreto

August 22nd 2011 02:32

Lake Iseo or Lago d'Iseo or Sebino is the fourth largest lake in Lombardy, Italy, fed by the Oglio river.
It is in the north of the country in the Val Camonica area, near the cities of Brescia and Bergamo. The lake is almost equally divided between the Provinces of Bergamo and Brescia. This is a heavily industrialised part of the world, but the area remains one of outstanding natural beauty. The road north to Switzerland used to run along the side of the lake, and stories about entire families being swallowed up by the murky waters abound. A much safer road, carved into the side of the mountains, now exists.
In the middle of the lake is Monte Isola (or Montisola), one the largest islands of any lake in Europe.

Within the lake are many privately owned islands including Isola di Loreto pictured below:

*This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article for Lake Iseo.

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Pulau Ubin, Singapore

July 18th 2011 02:33

Pulau Ubin is a small island (10.19 km²) situated in the north east of Singapore, to the west of Pulau Tekong. Granite quarrying supported a few thousand settlers on Pulau Ubin in the 1960s, but only about a hundred villagers live there today. It is one of the last rural areas to be found in Singapore, with an abundance of natural flora and fauna.

Pulau Ubin's wooden house villages and wooden jetties, relaxed inhabitants, rich and preserved wildlife, abandoned quarries and plantations, and untouched nature make it the last witness of the old "kampong" Singapore that existed before modern industrial times and large-scale urban development.

With growing attention and interest in nature, the flow of visitors to Pulau Ubin has increased over the years.
One of the current popular tourist attractions on the island is Chek Jawa. A previous coral reef 5,000 years ago, Chek Jawa can be said to be virtually unspoilt, with a variety of marine wildlife comparable to other islands, such as sea hares, sea squirts, octopuses, starfishes, sand dollars, fishes, sponges, cuttlefishes and nudibranches.

Bumboats waiting at Pulau Ubin jetty for passengers.
Visitors may travel to Pulau Ubin from the main island of Singapore via a 10-minute bumboat ride from the Changi Village jetty. In 2008 the one way ticket price was increased from S$2.00 to S$2.50 per passenger. Every bumboat can carry 12 passengers and the captain will wait till his boat has reached the maximum capacity. People who do not want to wait can pay S$30.00 for the whole bumboat and leave without waiting.
The rental price for bicycles range anywhere from S$2.00 to S$20.00.

Pulau Ubin is home to one of Singapore's best mountain bike trails, Ketam Mountain Bike Park which was built in 2007.

*This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the WIkipedia article for Pulau Ubin.

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Nordland

July 13th 2011 02:21

Ballstad in Lofoten

Nordland is located along the northwestern coast of the Scandinavian peninsula in North Norway. Due to the large distance to the densely populated parts of Europe, this is one of the least polluted areas in Europe. Nordland extends about 500 km from Nord-Trøndelag to Troms.

The majority of the population is located at the Strandflaten lowland. Berg in Sømna.

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Hatta

July 4th 2011 02:25

Hajar Mountains

Hatta is a Sheikhdom in the Hajjar mountains- an exclave of the Emirate of Dubai, UAE to the south-east of its main territory.
Its capital town is also named Hatta (which includes a reconstructed heritage village by the same name

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Samariá Gorge in Crete

June 20th 2011 02:25

Entrance to Samaria Gorge

The Samariá Gorge on the island of Crete is a major tourist attraction.
The gorge is in southwest Crete in the prefecture of Chania. It was created by a small river running between the White Mountains and Mt. Volakias. There are a number of other gorges in the White Mountains. The gorge is 16 km long, starting at an altitude of 1,250 m at the northern entrance, and ending at the shores of the Libyan Sea in Agia Roumeli. The walk through Samaria National Park is 13 km long, but you have to walk another three km to Agia Roumeli from the park exit. The most famous part of the gorge is the stretch known as the Iron Gates, where the sides of the gorge close in to a width of only four meters and soar up to a height of 1,100m (3,610feet

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Daily Life in China

June 15th 2011 02:54

People's Republic of China has a large and diverse population with a relatively small youth division, which is partially a result of the People's Republic of China's one-child policy. The population policies implemented in China since 1979 have helped to prevent between 350 and 400 Million more births.

Today, China's population is over 1.3 billion, the largest of any country in the world. However, its population growth rate is only 0.47%, ranking 156th in the world

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Murals of Belfast

April 6th 2011 01:45

Despite a period of relative peace in, most areas and districts of Belfast still reflect the divided nature of Northern Ireland as a whole. Many areas are still highly segregated along ethnic, political and religious lines, especially in working class neighbourhoods. These zones – 'Catholic' or 'Republican' on one side and 'Protestant', or 'Loyalist' on the other – are invariably marked by flags, graffiti and murals. Segregation has been present throughout the history of Belfast, but has been maintained and increased by each outbreak of violence in the city. This escalation in segregation, described as a "ratchet effect", has shown little sign of decreasing during times of peace. When violence flares, it tends to be in interface areas. The highest levels of segregation in the city are in West Belfast with many areas greater than 90% Catholic. Opposite but comparatively high levels are seen in the predominantly Protestant East Belfast. Areas where segregated working-class areas meet are known as interface areas.

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World's Happiest Countries

March 7th 2011 02:54

As reported on Forbes.com, The World's 10 Happiest Countries for 2010 have been released. The Legatum Institute's 2010 Prosperity Index ranks 110 countries, covering 90% of the world's population. To build its index Legatum gathers upward of a dozen international surveys done by the likes of the Gallup polling group, the Heritage Foundation and the World Economic Forum. Each country is ranked on 89 variables sorted into eight subsections: economy, entrepreneurship, governance, education, health, safety, personal freedom and social capital.

Below are the top five, click the link above to view the full list of 10

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Amazing Rocks of the World

January 5th 2011 01:47

As seen in the above article on Mental Floss, our world has many weird and wonderful rock formations. Here are but a few!

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Best Places to Retire

November 1st 2010 02:41

Most Popular Destinations for Retirees in the USA

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Kyrgyzstan

May 5th 2010 02:18

Kyrgyzstan (pronounced KUR-gi-stahn) is a country in Central Asia. Landlocked and mountainous, it is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the southwest and China to the east. The mountainous region of the Tian Shan covers over 80% of the country (Kyrgyzstan is occasionally referred to as "the Switzerland of Central Asia", as a result), with the remainder made up of valleys and basins.