A whole world full of weirdness
From underground fairs to bike-eating trees, here are the strange gems you should see
IF you get giddy at the thought of a bus trip to the next town perhaps you should think about broadening your horizons.
And a new book could prove just the ticket to a world of wonder.
Atlas Obscura, by Joshua Foer, Dylan Thuras and Ella Morton, is a stunning guide to scores of incredible sights and little-known treasures from around the globe.
From the self- mummifying monks of Japan, to the temple for the souls of insects that have died for science, there are countless jaw- dropping and eye- popping gems to discover.
Here are 10 of the most unusual and wondrous offerings. 1 ROOT BRIDGES OF CHERRAPUNJI, MEGHALAYA, INDIA
These centuries-old bridges look like something a Star Wars Ewok might build. The Khasi tribe train the roots of rubber trees across rivers, then add handrails. It can take 20 years before they can be used, but once built they continue to grow for up to 500 years. Thankfully, the new Forth Bridge doesn’t use the same technique.
2 HANGING COFFINS, SAGADA, PHILIPPINES
The people of Igorot Sagada clearly don’t place convenience high on their list of “Things To Bear In Mind When Someone Dies”. For 2000 years they’ve laid their loved ones to rest in coffins on brackets up a cliff. Now rows of caskets, some hundreds of years old hang from the rock, making it possibly the world’s strangest cemetery.
3 TURDA SALT MINE, CLUJ, ROMANIA
What else would you do with a disused, water-filled salt mine but transform it into a subterranean fairground and spa? The 260 x 130-foot space at the base of a vast shaft includes a lake with boats, a ferris wheel and a mini-golf course.
4 JELLYFISH LAKE, EIL MALK, PALAU
For most folk, a swim with a million jellyfish would be as appealing as . . . well, going for a swim with a million jellyfish. But the creatures in a saltwater lake on the Pacific island archipelago of Palau are less painful than an average jellyfish, with a sting too soft to bother humans.
5 THE BIKE TREE, VASHON, USA
A tree that ate a child’s bike sounds like something from a horror film. The story goes that a boy was given it by locals after his house burned down, killing his father. He left it against a tree in the woods. And it’s still there – 12 feet off the ground.
6 WAITOMO GLOWWORM CAVES, WAIKATO, NEW ZEALAND
If there’s one thing bound to fill your heart with romance it’s a bioluminescent
fungus gnat. When the glowing beasties light up a water-filled cave system with magical, glittering blue “stars” it really is something special. Visitors can tour the cave in a boat, slipping silently beneath thousands of beautiful flickering lights.
7 Fly Geyser, NEVADA, USA
These multi-coloured “nobbles” look like the work of a crazed artist, but they’re the result of a mining company’s mistake. In 1964 it capped a well, but the cap didn’t hold and water spewed out. Over the years calcium carbonate settled on the surface and grew into the incredible geyser.
8 WATSON LAKE SIGN POST FOREST, YUKON, CANADA
There’s something strangely beautiful about an forest of signs. It was started by an injured American soldier in 1942, who was tasked with building signs in the area. Pining for home, he sneakily put up a sign that read “Danville, Illinois: 2835 miles”. The idea caught on with others and now there are a whopping 72,000 signs.
9 CATHEDRAL OF JUNK, AUSTIN, USA
What started a bunch of hubcaps and a fence in 1988 is now a vast multi-storey structure with endless nooks and crannies. The man behind it is Vince Hannemann, who has added everything from bike frames and type writers to phones and rubber ducks to his cathedral. Visitors bring junk to donate to the ever-growing project. One man’s trash really is another man’s treasure.
Atlas Obscura, £25, Workman, available from September 20.