Number 10 Ijen Volcano
The Ijen volcano complex in Indonesia features the world’s largest, highly-acidic, crater lake. It’s
turquoise-colored and has a high concentration of sulfuric acid. The lake is a source for a
local river and wreaks havoc on downstream ecosystems due to its metallic and acidic content.
After a two-hour guided hike that takes place during the night, visitors will reach the rim
of the Ijen crater. It’s there that they’ll be treated to stunning displays of blue fire,
with flames that can reach up to 16 feet high. The blue fire is actually ignited sulfuric gas,
which seeps from the cracked rock at staggering temperatures of up to 1,112 degrees Fahrenheit.
It’s a remarkable sight but it’s also worth noting that such heat can consume human flesh almost
immediately. Locals engage in the hazardous activity of sulfur mining. The material,
which turns bright yellow as it cools, is carried from the crater’s rim and down the mountain
to a sulfur refinery. Miners are often insufficiently protected and suffer burns as
well as numerous respiratory afflictions. Number 9 Ten Courts of Hell
The Haw Par Villa in Singapore houses numerous statues and giant dioramas depicting scenes and
elements from Chinese mythology. The best-known and scariest of all its displays is the Ten
Courts of Hell. Similar to the circles of hell in Dante’s Inferno, the ten courts presents versions
of Hell for specific sins as they’re described in Chinese and Buddhist mythology. The dioramas
are unsettling, detailed scenes depicting torture and punishment. Those who’ve caused physical harm
are thrown into a volcanic pit while robbers are frozen into blocks of ice. In the third court,
the ungrateful have their hearts cut out and drug traffickers are grilled on copper pillars.
Those guilty of fraud are struck with a stone mallet while those who’ve plotted death are thrown
onto a hill of knives. The punishments go on to include people having their tongues pulled out,
being boiled alive, sawed in half or otherwise
dismembered. Number 8 Trolltunga
Trolltunga, which translates as “troll tongue”, is a cliff found in Norway’s Ullensvang Municipality.
It extends horizontally from the mountain, 2,300 feet above the side of a lake. To
put that height into perspective, it’s roughly twice as tall as the Eiffel Tower.
Trolltunga has become a national icon and a major tourist attraction in the area. A round trip to
the cliff requires a difficult 10-hour hike through rough terrain. There’s no shelter nor
any places to buy supplies from. The demanding climb may feature snow, fog, jagged rocks and
there’s no safety railing so as not to damage the cliff’s natural beauty. There’s an average of 40
rescues performed annually on the route. In 2015, a 24-year-old Australian woman fell to her death,
1,000 feet, during the hike. Once on Trolltunga, thrill-seekers will sometimes risk their lives
for the perfect photo by doing handstands, hanging from the cliff or sitting too close to the edge.
Number 7 Killing Caves The Killing Caves of Phnom
Sampeau are a former execution site for the Khmer Rouge. This is the common name for members of the
Communist Party of Kampuchea and for the regime itself. Under the totalitarian rule of Pol Pot,
the regime massacred hundreds of thousands of perceived political enemies. In just four years,
from 1975 to 1979, the Khmer Rouge was responsible for genocide, widespread famine and disease.
At Sampeau Hill, victims were executed on the rim of skylight openings, atop the cave, and
then thrown inside. Today, the caves echo their past horror and desolation. There are remnants
of war artillery and an incomplete Buddha statue. At the base of the trail leading up to the caves,
there’s an old glass memorial containing the bones of those killed by the Khmer Rouge.
Number 6 Nagoro
Nagoro is a village found on the island of Shikoku, in the Tokushima Prefecture of Japan.
It’s become a tourist attraction due to the fact that it’s populated by more life-sized dolls than
people. After leaving the village when she was a child, artist Tsukimi Ayano returned in the early
2000s to take care of her father. The population had already massively declined by then and the
village looked deserted. Ayano first made a doll in her father’s likeness and placed it in a field.
She then created hundreds of others which were placed in realistic poses, throughout the village.
Some were exclusively products of her imagination but many resembled present or past residents.
Other villagers were inspired by Ayano’s project. The school, which closed down in 2012,
presently houses a large number of dolls. The village’s dolls vastly outnumber its human
population which, according to a 2019 census, stands at only 27. Many will undoubtedly find
the Nagoro Doll Village fascinating but for anyone suffering from pediophobia, which is the fear of
dolls, the village is a living nightmare. Number 5 Akodessewa Fetish Market
Found in Togo’s capital city, the Akodessewa Fetish Market features numerous items to be
used in voodoo rituals. A fetish, in the context of these spiritual practices, can be God but also
material, animal, plant or human. It’s imbued with power by the rituals and Akodessewa is the largest
market for talismans and charms. Voodoo, or Vodun, is believed to have originated in West Africa and
then taken by captives to the Caribbean and South America. It was there that it mixed with Roman
Catholicism to form a hybrid religion. The central belief is that every being, whether alive or dead,
is potent and divine. While locals and those familiar with voodoo regard the market
as a place of necessity, visitors will almost certainly experience a culture shock. There are
bones from primates, hippos, boa constrictors or powders made from various animals. Hyena, leopard,
and crocodile heads are available for purchase. There are also numerous skins, horns and teeth.
The stench alone has been described by some as overwhelming. Aside from the abundance of dead
animal items, there are also voodoo priests that visitors can consult regarding personal matters
or various health conditions. Number 4 Plastinarium
Between 1977 and 1982, Dr. Gunther von Hagens devised a unique and controversial embalming
technique called plastination. It essentially involved extracting most of the water from a
cadaver’s tissues and replacing it with synthetic polymers that preserved it in perpetuity as an
anatomical model. Von Hagen’s models don’t smell or decay and even retain some properties of their
original tissues. Some, however, have described them as being rather unsettling to look at,
since plastination involves taking away a model’s skin to reveal the underlying tissues.
Human and animal specimens were grouped under the “Body Worlds” travelling exposition which became
massively popular. In the city of Guben, Germany, the Plastinarium was opened to offer
visitors a step-by-step guide of the plastination process as well as to display the final result.
It contains a wide array of human and animal specimens. Since he first started implementing
his technique, von Hagens has become a polarizing figure. Controversies range from
consent and import laws to ethical and religious concerns regarding the display of cadavers.
Number 3 Sedlec Ossuary The Sedlec Ossuary is a small chapel
found beneath the Cemetery Church of All Saints in the Czech Republic. It’s one of the country’s most
visited attractions, with close to a quarter of a million tourists reported each year. The bones of
up to 70,000 people were artistically arranged to form the chapel’s decorations. A massive
chandelier hangs in the center and it contains at least one of every bone in the human body.
Strings of skulls drape the vault, chalices are made from femurs and there are also skull mounds
leading up to the altar. During the 14th century, the combination of war and the Black Plague
led to thousands being buried in the cemetery. At the turn of the century, a Gothic church
was built and the lower chapel was used as a storage space for the remains unearthed during
construction. In the 19th century, an aristocratic family commissioned carpenter František Rint
to arrange the bone piles in the chapel. Rint’s artistic creativity took hold and that’s how
the macabre ossuary gained its current form. The artist’s signature, also made from bones,
can be seen near the chapel’s entrance. Today's topic was requested by TaurMega.
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in the comments section below Number 2 Ordovician Theme Park
China’s Wansheng Ordovician Theme Park features what’s arguably the greatest concentration of
sky-high attractions in the world. There’s a glass footbridge bridge, the world’s longest,
that extends roughly 260 feet from a cliff’s edge and which is suspended 400 feet above
the rocky landscape. To compare, that’s almost as high as the Pyramid of Giza.
There’s also a swing on the edge of a 1,000-foot cliff
that is operated by park staff and which launches visitors to vertigo-inducing views
of the dizzying drop below. They can also walk across the ledges of a gap bridge that rises
hundreds of feet above the ground. Number 1 Poenari Castle
Poenari Castle, in Romania, is known as the former home of Vlad the Impaler, also known as
Vlad Dracula. He was the ruler of a region in the country, called Wallachia, during the Middle Ages.
He would come to be associated with vampire lore as the source of inspiration for Bram Stoker’s
“Dracula”. The main reason for that was Vlad’s infamous cruelty. It was said that he loved the
sight of blood and he’d impale his enemies, creating horrific displays in the fields of
Wallachia. Based on historical sources, Vlad was responsible for gruesome torture and mass murders.
To reach Poenari Castle, which mostly lies in ruins, one must climb close to
1,500 stairs. Visitors who’ve spent the night in the castle have reported strange and
unsettling phenomena. Even in the hottest months, the temperature inside is much lower.
A smell of rotten flowers, even though there are none in the area, fills the air at night
and visitors have experienced bizarre nightmares and the feeling of being watched. In at least one
instance, a man reported having bite marks on his body, without actually being physically assaulted.
Thanks for watching! Would you rather spend a week in Dracula’s Castle or cross the Ordovician
Park’s gap bridge without a harness? Let us know in the comments section below!