The King’s Walkway can be touted as one of the deadliest and the most dangerous walkways in the world, situated at El Chorro, near Alora in Malaga, Spain. It is simply not for those who have alto-phobia. The construction of the walkway was incepted in the year 1901 and it took four years for the completion of the project.

It is naturally pinned along the steep walls of a narrow gorge, built to serve as a link between Chorro Falls and the Gaitanejo Falls mainly for the transportation of the materials, for inspection and the maintenance of the channel.

The main reason for its construction was the hydroelectric power plants situated there which required a walkway for the workers to cross between the falls. It was inaugurated by King Alfonso XIII in 1921, who crossed the walkway then, thus the walkway got its name “The King’s Walkway”.

The Walkway is 1 meter (3 feet and 3 inches) in width, and is over 300 meters (984 feet) above the river. It is in a state of disrepair without handrails for the support and with the concrete flooring having become brittle. The government had closed the walkway for the public, as many people had lost their lives while crossing it, more especially in 1999 and 2000 when 4 people lost their lives. The walkers latch onto the steel beam, which supported the concrete flooring earlier.

However, the government has taken up the task of restoring the historical walkway in the recent years, as the adventurers still find their way onto the walkway, to explore it.

Via TheWondrous.

Sir Walter Raleigh first discovered the Pitch Lake while cruising through La Brea in southwest Trinidad. The Pitch Lake is one of the several natural asphalt lakes in the world. Since its discovery in 1595, several investigations and research have been conducted to determine the chemical composition and use of this substance found in the lake.

The lake has awed explorers, scientists and common man alike. The Pitch Lake is 40 ha and 75 meters deep. The lake houses asphalt mines, as asphalt thus produced in large quantities is used in road construction supplies.

Various theories and postulations have been suggested to explain the formation of the Pitch Lake with its rich asphalt resource. According to one such theory, the lake is produced as a result of two faults, related to the subduction of the Caribbean plate of the Barbados arc.

Due to immense pressure a deep deposit comes to the upper crust; lighter elements evaporate leaving being the natural asphalt. This may be degraded by bacteria to form petroleum. There are various legends associated with the lake. Local Chaima Indians believe that it is the wrath of their Gods.

Nevertheless, the Pitch Lake is famous for its natural resource of Asphalt and draws crowds from all spheres of this world .Each year people pour in to behold and marvel the pitch lake with its natural bounties.

Via Wikipedia.

San Zhai looks like an abandoned housing complex from Taipei, Taiwan. The rounded domes of the houses are an architectural delight and fantastically futuristic. The houses were built in the early 1980’s and targeted at rich Taipei residents of that time. The homes were built far from the city and served as homes for vacation or rehabilitation.

Strangely, the housing complex construction was abandoned midway. Some say that the construction was abandoned as the developer had run out of money and resources. But there is another weird reason for the abandonment, locals say that, the place is haunted and evil spirits caused a series of fatal accidents at the construction site. Thus the developer decided to halt all plans of construction.

The houses are cantilevered, looking like modular pod houses. The architecture of the houses resembles an Archigram; more or less it looks like an UFO. These space age houses look pretty awesome but they also give you a creepy feeling. Some may look like tattered space ship. The San Zhai homes are very modern for the present times.

To imagine that these structures were made in the early eighties is fascinating. These abandoned homes, looking amazing and futuristic with a weird story make it a major tourist attraction outside Taipei in Taiwan.

Via Notcot.

Beneath the streets of Cincinnati, Ohio, a set of visibly unused tunnels and stations for a rapid transit system could be seen. It is the abandoned subway of Ohio, called the Cincinnati Subway, infamous for its incomplete construction. The subway has been termed as “one of the city’s biggest embarrassments” and “one of the Cincinnati biggest failures”.

The construction began from 1920 and continued till 1925 with finance of $6 million which relatively got exhausted before the completion of the project. The project but, highlighted the technological advancement of that period, but had to be abandoned in mid-way even before reaching the 16 mile target, after the great depression and World War II, leaving behind with only 2.1 miles of tunnels (between Walnut street and near Western Hills) and three stations (Liberty St., Race St. and Brighton’s Corner) completely built underneath the Central Parkway.

Many of the items had really collapsed long back, and there was way made for I-75 and the Norwood Lateral in the 1950’s and 1970’s respectively. Earlier, the engineers planned out the extension from the Walnut St. south to downtown with one station at Fountain Square but it never got materialized. And moreover, several moving lines are untraceable as only three of the dozen planned stations above the ground were built.

The portions of I-75 and the Norwood Lateral somehow follow the path of the line, but a long stretch near the Dana Avenue of I-71 was considerably built where you can check out for the subway’s loop that was planned on the eastern half side of the subway.

The tunnel can still be used by public, as the government has looked into the relative maintenance of the subway in the past recent years. The “Metro Moves” sales tax in 2002 could have been a great funding for the maintenance of the tunnel, but it was never favored by the common public.

Via Cincinnati Transit.

Born on June 6th 1868 in England, Robert Falcon Scott, a British Royal Naval Officer and an Antarctic explorer was famous for his two expeditions to the South Pole. He was the third child of his parents in Devon. His family was traditionally in the armed services, and he carried the legacy further.

He had his education at Stubbington House School, Hampshire, and began his naval career in 1881 as naval cadet, after the naval training ship HMS Britannia at Dartmouth.

He had an impressive naval career later, with progressive flow from a cadet to a Sub-Lieutenant in 1888 at Greenwich from Royal Naval College, and promoted to the post of Lieutenant in 1889. He went through the 2-year torpedo training course in 1891 which marked as a significant step in his career.

Originally called as the British National Antarctic Expedition, the Discovery Expedition  raised Scott to fame. It was a joint collaboration of the RGS and the Royal Society, initiated by Markham (now Sir Clements and RGS President). But Scott led the team and was promoted to the naval rank of Commander before the expedition took off for Antarctic on 31 July 1901.

The first 2 years were challenging and the major objective was the long march down south along with the quest for the Pole. Scott’s team had a bad  experience marching to a latitude of 82°17′S, to the Pole covering 460 nautical miles (850 km, 530 miles).

The second year saw a significant improvement in the accomplishments, leading to the discovery of the Polar Plateau. Scott became a popular hero after this, in 1904. He was honored with the title of ‘Legion of Honor’, and promoted to the Royal Navy rank of Captain. In 1906, he resumed his naval career. He got married to Kathleen Bruce in 1907, and they had only child Peter Markham Scott.

Terra Nova Expedition’s main objective was to reach the South Pole first. The RGS or the Royal Society was not involved this time. Scott pioneered the routes and laid down some complex strategies which included the use of dogs, horses, motor sledges and even man-hauling.

Poor analysis of the resources, time mismanagement, frostbite, snow-blindness, hunger and exhaustion, somehow led to the demise of the team members gradually. Scott died on 29 March 1912, and the bodies of all were discovered in the tent later.

Via Fofonazos.

The Hobbit Motel is a brilliant motel made with a creative bent. Located at Woodlyn Park in Waiton, the motel has a warm and homely feel. The world’s first hobbit Motel started as the only motel with a U –Drive Jet course. Later Billy Blacks Kiwi Cultural show attracted and amazed people from all around the globe. The motel also has a bar and restaurant to entertain people. In other words, The Hobbit motel adds a unique dimension to the culture of New Zealand.

Each room in the motel comes fully furnished with shower toilet facilities and a Kitchen. The ambience of the Hobbit motel is fascinating .The décor and furniture is built out of polystyrene blocks. This material keeps you warm in winters and supports enough cooling in winters.

The rooms come furnished with bunks and double beds .Each unit of the hobbit motel can house up to six people. This unique experience costs you $140 for a nights stay for a couple. The motel also charges $10 for extra people. The Hobbit motel ensures a comfortable and fascinating stay at the motel. The warmth and homely feeling that one gets on arriving at the motel is in high contrast to the hospitality of the Hobbits.

Via WoodlynPark.

The World War II bunkers provide an in-sight depth into the amazing history that revolved around the most titanic conflict in the history, that shook the world then and with whose consequences the modern world is still living. The Russian World War II bunker is no more different. Deep in the mountains of Russia, there lies this unbelievably huge underground bunker.

One look at the bunker, it surely takes you into that era of turmoil which had witnessed only bloodshed. Getting into it is more like traveling on a time-machine. The hidden artillery behind these green covered walls display the strategic intelligence used by the army men then empowered by secret wall openings around the bunker. Though most of the area is in a dilapidated condition, the overall original structure is standing still firm with solid construction it was made with, retaining the originality of the place, even after years has passed by.

Via TJ Frank.

Phonehenge is one of the fabulously done Stonehenge replicas, in the rock-and-roll themed amusement park called the Freestyle Music Park (formerly called as the Hard Rock Park) near Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. It is playfully entitled Phonehenge and surrounds a large performance space in the British Invasion section of the park. The park built on 55 acres was inaugurated in the year 2008 in April as Hard Rock Park, was closed temporarily in September 2008 and was reopened for public visit in May 2009.

A performance area that is well-equipped with lots of red old-fashioned British telephone boxes/booths which are arranged to resemble Stonehenge resembles only a semi-circle structure that includes three inner trilithons. While observing closely, there’s something about each ‘stone’ done up there, with contained spaces which could have been utilized in a more effective way.

The performances which are exclusively featured here are Fire-eater, sword-swallower, and juggler Lukas Dudek. Despite some of its visibly failings and being the less accurate replica, this structure has its own appeal to attract the visitors at the beach, as the Stonehenge replicas and their derivatives around the world, have always been the things of amuse and attraction for the historical and archeological lovers.

Via ReplicaHenge.

Balaklava, in Ukraine, can even today be remembered for having been one of the secret places in Russia that was extremely famous for its Nuclear Submarine Base. The place witnessed a huge underground submarine base and amazing docks, in USSR, and this was functional till 1996 when the last Russian submarine left Ukraine. But the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 compelled the Russian Army to leave the place.

The entire town was involved at the Base at that time. The people of Balaklava, worked so dedicatedly at the Base, that it was hard for any outsider to intrude into the place or visit the town without going through a tremendous chain of investigations and identification processes. As a matter of fact, even the family members or the relatives of the workers were scrutinized completely.

As mentioned earlier that the base was active till 1991, the operations were carried after until 1993 when the decommissioning process started, and the low yield torpedoes and the Russian warheads were removed from the place.

Post 1996, the whole Submarine Base, the Cannel System, and the small Museum that displays the old warheads, weapons, deep inside the hillside, are all open to visitors. The place have become more of a tourist spot, for the history lovers, situated 10km south east of Sevastopol on the Black Sea Coast.

Photos credited by Russos.

A mountain is a kind of landforms that are located at the peak point or highest point and stretches above the surrounding land, it is said that a mountain is found to be steeper than a hill. There are many mountains that are located in different region or country, but now we are going to have a description look over the top famous as well as highest mountains of the world.

10. Annapurna Mountain – Nepal

It is the tenth highest summits on the earth, which is found in Nepal with an elevation of 26,545 feet and 8,091 meters.

9. Nanga Parbat – Pakistan

Nanga Parbat is the ninth highest mountain of the earth that is located in Pakistan at the heights of 26,758 feet and 8,125. It is one the dangerous and deadliest eight-thousanders for the climbers and to climb it, is a predictable risk.

8. Manaslu Mountain – Nepal

Manaslu is the eighth highest mountain of the world, and it is located in Mansiri Hima with within Nepalese Himalayas with an elevation of 8,163m (26,758).

7. Dhaulagiri Mountain – Nepal

Dhaulagiri lies on number seven in the list of the top ten highest mountains of the world, and it is located in north central Nepal and now has become the pivot point of the tourists and climbers. Its height is 26,794 feet, or 8,167 meters. It is also called White Mountains for being one of the eight thousanders.

6. Cho Oyu Mountain – Nepal/Tibet

Cho Oyu is the sixth highest mountain of the world, and it is located in the Himalayas on the border that lies between china and Nepal, this mountain is also known as “Turquoise Goddess” in Tibetan. The height is this mountain is 26,906  in feet or 8,201 in meters.

5. Makalu Mountain – Nepal/Tibet

Makalu Mountain is the fifth highest mountain on the earth, with an elevation of 27,765feet, 8,463meters, it has different official names in different language. It is situated on the border that connects Nepal and China.

4. Lhotse Mountain – Nepal

Lhotse has two different names, Lhotse an official one, in Nepal and second is Lhozê in Chinese language and it is the fourth highest mountain of the world, amazingly it is linked to everest with the south Col. It is located on the border that links up between Tibet (China) and Khumbu (Nepal). Its height is 8,511m (27,940 feet).

3. Kangchenjunga Mountain – Nepal/India

Kangchenjunga is the third highest mountain of the world, which height is 8,586 metres (28,169 ft). If we try to find out the meanings of this complex name Kangchenjunga, then it is wonder that meaning is quite semblance to a story name, and the translated meaning is “The Five Treasures of Snows”, this name is awarded to this mountain because it is blessed with five treasures of God that are gold, silver, gems, grains and holy books.

2. K2 (Mount Godwin Austen) – Pakistan

K2 is positioned on number 2 in the line up of the world’s highest mountains and it is second after Mount Everest, its measured height is 8,611m (28,251 feet), it is also situated on the border like Mount Everest and connects countries with each other for example, in links up Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County of Xinjiang, China and Gilgit, in Gilgit-Baltistan of Pakistan. As it is situated on the peak that’s why it is a risk to climb this mountain and many of people died trying so.  The famous Climbers like to climb onto it, but in winter nobody dares think of climbing.

1. Mount Everest – Nepal/Tibet

Everest or Mount Everest is the first highest mountain of the world, it is also knows as Sagarmatha , it has different names in different languages such as Chomolungma or Qomolangma  in Nepali language or , In Tibetan this mountain is called Zhumulangma in the Chinese language. This mountain is located in the Asia within the range of Himalaya and one border connects its location to four countries, means it is positioned on a border that makes linkage with Sagarmatha Zone, Nepal, and Tibet, China. The height of this mountain is 8,848 (29,029 ft)

The North Yungas Road (also Grove’s Road, Coroico Road, Camino de las Yungas, El Camino de la Muerte, Road of Death, and Death Road) is a 61 to 69 km road (depending on source) leading from La Paz to Coroico, 56 km (35 miles) northeast of La Paz in the Yungas region of Bolivia. It is legendary for its extreme danger and in 1995 the Inter-American Development Bank christened it as the “world’s most dangerous road”. One estimate is that 200-300 travelers were killed yearly along the road. The road includes crosses marking many of the spots where vehicles have fallen.

A South Yungas Road (also Chulumani Road) exists that connects La Paz to Chulumani, 64 km (40 miles) east of La Paz, and is considered to be nearly as dangerous as the north road. The road was built in the 1930s during the Chaco War by Paraguayan prisoners. It is one of the few routes that connects the Amazon rainforest region of northern Bolivia, or Yungas, to its capital city. Upon leaving La Paz, the road first ascends to around 4,650 meters (15,256 ft) at La Cumbre Pass, before descending to 1,200 meters (3,937 ft) at the town of Coroico, transiting quickly from cool Altiplano terrain to rainforest as it winds through very steep hillsides and atop cliffs.

Because of the extreme dropoffs of at least 600 meters (1,969 ft), single-lane width — most of the road no wider than 3.2 meters (10.5 ft) — and lack of guard rails, the road is extremely dangerous. Further still, rain and fog can make visibility precarious, and the road surface muddy, and can loosen rocks from the hillsides above. One of the local road rules specifies that the downhill driver never has the right of way and must move to the outer edge of the road. This forces fast vehicles to stop so that passing can be negotiated safely. Also, vehicles drive on the left, as opposed to the right like the rest of Bolivia. This gives the driver in a left-hand-drive vehicle a better view over their outside wheel, making passing safer.