This is part 9 of a 10 part series that focuses on 100 unusual and fascinating tourist attractions from around the globe.
Some we have been lucky enough to visit, yet some we yearn to set foot. From the weird and wacky, freaky to wondrous… Take a stroll through the series.
Dog Bark Park Inn, Idaho
nside, the Dog Bark Park Inn is your typical B&B. There’s a bed, breakfast table and small refrigerator among other amenities. From the outside, it looks like a gigantic beagle.
The Dog Bark Park Inn is housed inside a dog-shaped structure. Guests enter by ascending a flight of stairs that takes them to the B&B’s second-story entrance. The B&B sleeps four, two on a queen bed and two on side-by-side twin futons perched inside the beagle’s head.
More info: http://dogbarkparkinn.com
Tessellated Pavement, Tasmania
The unusual rectangles forming grid-like tiles — or tessellations — on the rocks at Eaglehawk Neck on the Tasman Peninsula are not man-made.
Rare natural processes formed the rectangular “pans” (concave depressions) and corresponding “loafs” (raised rock) at Eaglehawk. During low tide, the surface of the pans dries out and erodes the surface with water and sand more quickly than at the joints, which results in a concave pan. Because the “loafs” are closer to the seashore and are immersed in water longer, the joints erode faster than the rest of the pavement, allowing loaf-like structures to protrude.
Grand Falls, Arizona
The Grand Canyon is Arizona’s most apparent gem, but America’s 48th state, which celebrates its centennial next year, has a lifetime’s worth of natural wonders, including Grand Falls about 40 miles northeast of Flagstaff. The falls has a vertical relief of about 190 feet, making its drop greater than that of Niagara Falls.
Jellyfish Lake, Palau
A lake filled with millions of jellyfish? This might usually be considered a beautiful yet terrifying sight. At Jellyfish Lake in Palau in the western Pacific, visitors can witness the beauty upclose without experiencing the terror. The jellyfish here are essentially harmless to humans.
The lake, which locals call as Ongeim’l Tketau, is on Mercherchar Island on the southern end of Palau.
Tam Ting caves, Laos
Laos’ Tam Ting caves, which to locals means “caves of a thousand Buddhas,” embody centuries of religion and craftsmanship. These caves, made up of a lower and an upper cave, contain 4,000 wooden Buddhas carved between the 18th and 20th centuries. The caves are about 15 miles from Luang Prabang along the Mekong River.
Historic Center of Craco, Italy
The Historic Center of Craco was first developed between the 10th and 9th centuries B.C., and the tall watchtower that hovers above this rocky village was built in 1000 A.D. The town has been abandoned since 1991, when a landslide forced out its remaining residents. Because this hilltop town was built on an unstable slope, it will be hard to protect this ancient piece of Italian history.
Moaning Cavern, Vallecito, Calif.
This is one of California’s largest caves and drops visitors 272 feet below the earth’s surface. No matter the temperature outside, the cave’s interior remains 61 degrees. Plus, the cave walls drip with moisture. In fact, the dripping creates the moaning sound that gives the cave its name.
World’s largest swimming pool, Chile
Thinking about swimming a few laps before breakfast?
Check out this man-made “lagoon” dubbed the world’s largest outdoor swimming pool at the San Alfonso del Mar vacation property resort at Algarrobo, Chile.
The coast-hugging pool is all man-made with a bit of patented technology that uses water from the nearby Pacific Ocean to fill it.
According to the Guinness World Records, which deemed it the world’s largest pool in 2007, the lagoon measures 3,324 feet long. The pool was completed in December 2006.
Spiral Jetty, Utah
“Spiral Jetty” earthwork: Thirty miles west of Brigham City, on the Great Salt Lake’s northern arm, is the “Spiral Jetty” sculpture, created from basalt and earth by artist Robert Smithson in 1970. It forms a 1,500-foot-long coil stretching into the lake. Constructed during a long drought, “Spiral Jetty” became submerged a few years later when lake levels rose again. In 1999, it resurfaced.
Glass Beach, Calif.
Glass beach is in Fort Bragg, the scruffier northern neighbor of Mendocino, at the west end of Elm Street, of Old Haul Road. At first glance it looks like a standard-issue beach.
But look at that twinkly stuff underfoot: silvery, green, blue, orange and occasionally red bits of ground glass, twinkling in the sun and tumbling in the tide along with tons of standard sand, bits of metal, a little kelp.
