Like to share? Newer Post Older Post Home item. Recent Comments. Follow Us. Hot in week. The Abandoned Necropolis of Naqsh-e Rustam. Naqsh-e Rustam is a steep cliff to the north of Persepolis, the religious center of the Achaemenid Empire. For thousands of years, the Last Month. Theemithi: The Firewalking Festival. Theemithi Thimithi or "firewalking" is done as part of a religious vow in which the devotee promises to walk on fire in exc Nimrud Lens: The oldest telescope in the world?
The Nimrud lens is a 3,year-old piece of rock crystal, which was unearthed by Sir John Layard in at the Assyrian palace of Nim Mysterious Pentagram in Kazakhstan Desert. A giant five-pointed star surrounded by a circle has been spotted etched into the ground in a remote corner of Kazakhstan. There are Perhaps, the most tangible of these are the old buildings which are abandoned and fall into despair as they cease to be useful or wanted.
While many have been torn down or redeveloped, there are still no shortage of abandoned buildings all over Taiwan. Some are part of museums and easily accessible, while others are inaccessible to all but the most innovative of urban explorers.
It is a Japanese colonial era copper smelting refinery that is located in the north of Taiwan, close to the popular tourist towns of Jiufen and Jinguashi. The Shuinandong Smelter was worked by prisoners of war during the Japanese occupation and saw mining for gold and copper throughout its time in operation. They eventually went bankrupt and the site was abandoned.
But its ruins remain, dominating the hillside and is one of the most impressive abandoned sites in the whole country.
Credit: Flickr user — David Wong. Mystery surrounds the origin of the site, which is thought to comprise of several rare and highly-prized Futuro and Venturo houses. Designed by the Finnish architect Matti Suuronen, these houses resemble flying saucers and were retro futuristic pre-fab house models.
It is thought that there are now only around ten true Venturo homes left in existence, although mystery dogs this particular site and there is much debate about whether they are genuine examples or copies, as was the case at the sadly now demolished Sanzhi UFO Village.
But whatever the truth, Wanli UFO VIllage remains a fascinating site which visitors can wander around and a few pod houses even have squatters living in them. Credit: Pinterest. During WWII, the building served as a wireless station and some evidence of this history remains.
But after the KMT took control of Taiwan, it was repurposed as a detention and interrogation center for military prisoners. The role it played in the White Terror saw it being given the ironic nickname of the "Fengshan Guest House" by locals.
Today, it is abandoned but visitors can still explore the building and the grounds around it. The site was abandoned after the death of Chen but was an active tourist attraction until as recently as Today, it stands deserted and while the local government is interested in restoring it, they have so far not been able to reach an with the current owners, thought to number at least six.
This is a common problem with inheritance in Taiwan and is why Jukuiju Mansion is a beautiful ruin rather than an impressive tourist attraction.
We wanted to hike further up the mountain to a scenic area that overlooks the Keelung Harbour. Perhaps to compensate for the loss of anticipated exploration, we decided to take the dirt path instead of going through the temple grounds to get there.
Too busy chit-chatting to notice until we were too close, a pack of stray dogs clearly unhappy with our night-time visit started howling and barking in our direction. We both froze.
But I got here so far, and it must have been that defiance of not letting another plan slip up that I made the bold and could easily be stupid move to continue.
As though I knew all dogs because I have had the privilege of keeping two very tame ones as beloved pets. Feigning confidence is easy when people believe you.
But as we slowly walked towards the growling animals, I realised that Andy had fallen behind and I was in the more vulnerable position of leading. Rabies crossed my mind. And then all I could think of was that these strays must be the culprits of the dog-shit trail we walked on earlier.
Perhaps it was the lingering scent of that stinking footpath, or my ability in faking confidence has reached new heights that even dogs get fooled, but the dogs quietened down as I got closer.
We walked past them with surprising ease and as soon as he was clear of the danger zone, Andy once again fell into step with me. Are you a man or not? Casting aside notions of self-preservation and who should protect who, we made it to the top and sat there watching the harbour lights. Every now and again our conversation would be interrupted by the sounds of heavy cargo coming into the port.
It was like crashing thunder and there was something rather contrasting about the serene imagery that was to be so harshly interrupted by the thunderous noise. With our butts sore from sitting too long, we decided to head back downhill for a very late dinner. At 11pm on a Tuesday night, the Keelung Night Market was almost unrecognisable from the usual hustle and bustle it has personified so well.
Most of the stalls have closed. Street vendors were washing dishes and packing away their trolleys. Only a handful of places stayed open, but I quite enjoyed the fact that there were no lines to cue up to. No one else was rubbing shoulders with me as I made my way down the street. We scoffed down pork cutlets and squid ball soup, then ventured around taking in the rare ambiance of a night market at closing time. No exploration of abandoned places was called to action.
No fascinating photos to document my first break in. Our Golden Nuggets Trail gave us no pleasant surprises. And in place of lions, tigers and bears, we faced a pack of stray dogs of which I was happy to not befriend. We never made it to Oz, but it was the outlying adventure I needed nonetheless.
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