Near the Arctic Circle in Sweden you’ll find the famous Ice Hotel. The hotel is, for the most part, made of ice but you really don’t have to sleep on a slab of the frozen stuff if you don’t want to. You can either sleep in a “cold” room with reindeer skins on the bed or you can sleep in a “warm” room with start contemporary designs.
If you love collecting yachts or simply looking at them, just check out the “Oculus”. It’s far more different than anything we’ve ever seen floating before. Inspired by an oceanic fish, the Oculus is a 250-foot luxury yacht designed by E. Kevin Schöpfer for Schöpfer Yachts LLC.
The exterior styling resembles the jaw and eye socket bone structure of a large oceanic fish. Featuring a reverse bow configuration, the Oculus’ armature offers a perfect blend of symmetry and structure. The most fascinating aspect of the Oculus is the fact that the backside of the yacht can open up resembling the hungry jaws of a whale.
The luxury yacht can accommodate 12 guests in great comfort and style and can rip the waters with speeds upwards of 25 knots.
The interior features of Oculus focus on a 12 foot high ceiling in the main salon, a cylindrical double height dining room, central stair and elevator tube, and seemingly anatomical ceiling and floor lighting extensions giving definition to the seating areas. The second level is the dedicated Owner’s suite.
The Oculus certainly is one unique yacht !
Himeji Castle started as a fort in 1331 but over the centuries, the warlords who ruled over the land enlarged it and left their mark on the structure. The Himeji Castle complex that we see today was finally completed in 1609 and unlike other Japanese castles has never suffered serious damage due to earthquakes, fires or wars.
The best time to visit Himeji Castle is in the first half of April, during the cherry blossom season.
Built atop a 125-metre high hill, Mehrangarh Fort lies in the centre of Jodhpur, one of India’s greatest cities. Construction began in 1459 by order of Rao Jodha, the founder of Jodhpur, but most of the structure was completed during 1638-1678, in the time of Jaswant Singh.
Krak des Chevaliers was a virtually impenetrable fortress and made the Knights Hospitaller a force to be reckoned with in the Holy Land, until the year 1271 when Mameluke Sultan Baibars finally captured it.
Krak des Chevaliers suffered serious damage from repeated Israeli aircraft attacks since 1948.
Built in the city of Matsumoto, Nagoya Province, Matsumoto Castle lies very close to Tokyo, making it a popular attraction for both Japanese and foreign tourists. It is a great example of Japanese flatland castles, not being built atop hills or cliffs.
Surrounded by a moat with swans and ducks, the black exterior of Matsumoto Castle earned it the nickname Crow Castle. However the best time to visit this masterpiece of medieval Japanese architecture is in winter, when the dark walls are covered by pure white snow.
Although Matsumoto Castle was never attacked because the civil wars ended, the Ishikawa clan rebuilt it in anticipation of gun warfare. The walls were reinforced to resist bullets and gun-slots were installed.
Global warming is leaving its mark on the frozen lands of Alaska and tourists from all around the world are gathering there to watch it at work. Glaciers are crumbling into the water, the tundra is melting and the wildlife is trying to adjust to all the changes. Alaska is a preview of what’s going to happen soon if we don’t start taking things more seriously.
Polar bears are now an endangered species because they simply can’t cope with the climate changes, they’re simply not built to withstand such an increase in temperature. Food is harder to come-by and the melting ice caps cause them to drown.
Glacier National Park in Montana, USA is in danger of losing all its glaciers by 2030 scientist predict. Some of the park’s glaciers have melted to less than half their original size while other, smaller ones have melted completely.
Just so you can better understand how serious the problem is, you should know that in 1850 there were 150 glaciers in Glacier National Park, only 35 exist today
Many coral reefs have already been destroyed because of global warming and things aren’t looking too good for the surviving ones. Carbon dioxide is absorbed by ocean water just like it is absorbed in fizzy drinks, making it more acidic and rendering corals unable to calcify their skeletons.
Marine specialists say corals and the species that inhabit them could be extinct by 2050 if a practical solution to global warming isn’t found really soon.
Kilimajaro:
Often called the most beautiful mountain in the world, Kilimajaro may lose its beautiful white cap. The data gathered in recent years shows that the glacier on top of Africa’s highest mountain will disappear in the next 10 years. The people living at the base of Kilimanjaro will suffer greatly since they depend on the melting ice flowing down the mountain.
Aerial photos prove that ever since the global warming problem has become a real issue, a massive amount of ice, from the Kilimanjaro glacier, has been lost.
One of the world’s most popular tourist destinations, the Maldives is a tropical paradise that will soon disappear if the carbon dioxide emissions continue at the present rate. Scientists say that in roughly 100 years the 1,200 islands archipelago will be swallowed up by the Indian Ocean unless the world’s governments can find a way to fight global warming.
The Maldives are very low lands, the highest of the islands lies just 7.8 feet above the level of the ocean, making them very vulnerable to the rising sea levels. The locals will soon start to artificially raise some areas, but this is just a short term measure, in the long run they will probably be forced to abandon their homes and relocate.
Uluru, also referred to as Ayer Rock, is a large sandstone rock formation in the southern part of the northern Territory, centrall Australia. it lies 335km 208 mi south west of the nearest large town, Alice springs : 450km 280 mi by road.
