Wikivoyage:Discover/2014

December 2014

• Kaiping is famous for a number of small villages and small houses (pictured) that were built in mixed eastern and western style by overseas Chinese at the beginning of the 20th century.
• Yellowstone National Park was the first national park in the world.
• A typical souvenir to buy in Myanmar is the longyi, a type of sarong.

• Tromostovje, The Triple Bridge (pictured), in Ljubljana consists of three separate picturesque bridges located next to one another.
• In Osaka, you can visit an instant ramen museum.
• The Great Glen Way walking path takes you past Loch Ness, where you can scan the waters for the Loch Ness Monster.

• Chicago's Far Northwest Side is a great place to sample sausages (pictured) and other Polish products.
• One attraction at the Dream Mall in Kaohsiung is the Hello Kitty ferris wheel on its roof.
• The ruins of the ancient city of Smyrna now make up the İzmir Agora Open Air Museum.

• Almost 7000m high, Aconcagua (pictured) is the highest mountain outside Asia.
• Kaolack has one of the biggest covered markets in West Africa.
• Reykjavík has a museum dedicated to phallology.

• Gyeongju is possibly the foremost location in Korea where ancient buildings, burial grounds and artifacts can be found (Bulguksa Temple pictured).
• Brasov provides a mix of wonderful mountain scenery and medieval history.
• At the Monetary Museum in Brasilia, you can see the biggest gold nugget ever found in Brazil.

• Longyearbyen (pictured) is generally regarded as the northernmost town in the world.
• At Sharjah Desert Park, visitors can learn about the flora and fauna of the Arabian Desert
• The virgin Komi forests in the Komi Republic are the largest virgin forests in Europe and a UNESCO World Heritage site.

• The Long Bar in Raffles Hotel, Singapore is home to the original Singapore Sling (pictured).
• Daytona Beach is certainly dominated by motorsports: Even the boulevard passing by its racetrack was renamed "International Speedway Boulevard".
• Unlike other common tropical diseases, there's no preventive vaccination against dengue fever - you can only avoid mosquito bites.

• Chivito al pan (pictured) is the hamburger's Uruguayan relative.
• Strictly speaking, you are required to carry a breathalyser when driving in France.
• Larissa is one of the oldest settlements in Greece, with artifacts uncovered dating back to at least the Neolithic period (6,000 BC).

• The 12th century Dhakeshwari Temple (pictured) in Old Dhaka is the National Temple of Bangladesh.
• The land around Vaasa is rising from the sea due to post-glacial rebound.
• With Victorian-era architecture, extensive shopping, museums, galleries, theatres, and large parks and gardens, Melbourne is regarded as Australia's cultural capital.

• Lola ya Bonobo in Kinshasa is the world's only sanctuary for orphaned bonobos (pictured).
• Most unusually for a Japanese city, Sapporo is logically organized thanks to its strict grid system.
• Settled in 1607, Richmond is one of the oldest cities in the United States.

• Judd mat gaardebounen (pictured), or smoked neck of pork served with boiled broad beans, is the unofficial national dish of Luxembourg.

November 2014

• A popular sight in Vieques is the Bioluminescent Bay with its micro-organisms that light up in a blue-green glow whenever there is movement in the water.
• In Ho Chi Minh City motorbike taxis are known as xe ôm, which literally translates to hug-vehicle.

• Ironbridge is indeed home to the world's first iron bridge (pictured).
• Culver City is steeped in the history of filmmaking.
• Geneva is one of the world's major centers of international diplomacy.

• Air Koryo, the flag carrier of North Korea (plane pictured), has the dubious distinction of being the only 1-star airline (worst) on Skytrax' list.
• One highlight for travellers in Roseau is the Saturday morning market where you can buy fresh fruits, seafood, spices and snacks.
• Though mostly a diving destination, recently more and more non-divers have discovered the beauty of Ko Tao.

• The island of Capri (pictured) was already a celebrated coastal resort during the Roman Empire.
• Swaziland's absolute monarchy is one of the oldest in Africa.
• Alto do Moura in Caruaru is recognized by UNESCO as the largest center for figurative arts in the Americas.

• Gullfoss (pictured) is the highest volume waterfall in Europe.
• Over the course of centuries, the Netherlands has gained a reputation for tolerance and progressivism.
• The Chinese dialect of Minnan is known by several different names.

• The beautiful Beaux-Arts Michigan Central Station (pictured) in Detroit stands as a perfect example of urban decay in America.
• Urfa is supposedly the birthplace of the Old Testament’s Abraham and Job.
• Museo Arqueologico Antonini in Nazca presents textiles made by ancient Nazca people, some of them intended for mummification of corpses.

• Akron hosts the yearly All-American Soap Box Derby (track pictured)
• Xian is the oldest surviving capital of ancient China.
• The word Bahamas is of Spanish origin and means Shallow Water.

• The Agostinho Neto Mausoleum (pictured) dedicated to the first President of Angola towers over the capital Luanda.
• In Cartago, you can buy woodcraft made from roots of coffee plants.
• Sriharikota is famous as the home of India's only satellite launch center.

• The Pink Cliffs (pictured) in Heathcote emerged as a side effect of gold mining.
• Trabzon was the longest surviving rump Byzantine state.
• Kyrgyzstan has the most liberal tourist visa policy in Central Asia.

• If you want to taste local specialties in a local atmosphere at low cost, street food is a great way to go (Argentinian choripán pictured).
• In Omaha you can visit the birth sites of black leader Malcolm X and former President Gerald Ford.
• The name of the Swedish province Småland translates to the small lands.

• A small Pacific island (pictured), Nauru is the least visited country in the world.

October 2014

• Trinidad and Tobago offer natural unspoiled beauty not found in most other Caribbean countries.
• Area-wise, Ibadan is the largest city in Africa.

• Precariously perched on the edge of a 1,200 meter cliff, Taktsang monastery (pictured) in Paro creates an impressive sight, and is the unofficial symbol of Bhutan.
• Imperial units of measurement are nowadays only used in a few countries, though most notably in the United States
• The town of Spa is so famous for its hot springs that it has given name to the Spa institution.

• Known as the Edinburgh of the South, Dunedin (pictured) has a proud Scots heritage.
• Congo is the name of two countries in Central Africa.
• Founded over 2000 years ago as Noviodunum, the Roman museum and ruins are among the prime sights of Nyon.

• Wrangel Island is known for its rare Arctic tundra bio-system. (pictured)
• Not just famous for polar bears, Churchill is also known as the Beluga Capital of the World.
• A street in Lancaster, California was modified for a Honda commercial, so that all cars driving over it at 55 miles per hour would hear the William Tell Overture due to grooves cut in the road.

• The cable car to the mountain Aiguille du Midi (pictured) next to Chamonix boasts a 3-km-long section without pillars - the longest in the world.
• Isa Rodeo in Mount Isa is the largest rodeo event in the Southern Hemisphere.
• Fried yak meat on skewers is a popular street snack in Lijiang.

• La Fortuna was renamed in 1968 because the city was unharmed by a major eruption of the nearby volcano Arenal (pictured).
• A thing not to buy in Bangui are African grey parrots that are illegally traded.
• The UK boasts almost 200 years of rail traffic, making it the oldest railway system in the world.

• A clock tower (pictured) in Mandalay was built to commemorate Queen Victoria's diamond jubilee.
• In Bonaire you can eat at the smallest KFC in the world.
• According to a legend, Klagenfurt was founded on the site where an evil dragon was killed.

• Stratosphere Tower (pictured) in Las Vegas is the tallest observation tower in the U.S.
• The center of Mannheim is laid out like a chess board, with no real street names.
• The atolls of the Maldives have two names - a long and a short one.

• Mopti is a gateway for trips along the River Niger (pictured).
• Cienfuegos is the only city in Cuba that was founded by the French.
• Rampant gang violence has earned San Pedro Sula the dubious distinction of the ”murder capital of the world”.

• Daugavpils fortress (pictured) is the largest in Europe.
• Ko Yao is made up of the Small Long Island (Ko Yao Noi) and the Big Long Island (Ko Yao Yai).
• The Rio Solimões and Rio Negro flow side by side for miles near Manaus before they form the Amazon River. Legend has it that they never mix.

• In South Korea chopsticks (pictured) are commonly made out of metal.
• Rio de Janeiro was founded in 1565 by the Portuguese as a fortification against French privateers.

September 2014

• Worcester is actually the ancestral home of the famous Lea and Perrins Worcestershire sauce.

• Stanley, Idaho is located near the Sawtooth Mountains (pictured), often referred to as the American Alps.
• Located 13 hours ahead of UTC, in Nuku’alofa you can stay at the Dateline Hotel.
• In Windhoek some streets bear names of (in)famous dictators.

• The French heritage of the Indian city of Pondicherry is still visible even in the local police uniforms (pictured).
• Swahili is the most widely spoken African language in the world with 50 million speakers.
• Although a modern city with skyscrapers, Beer Sheva looks with one side right into the Negev desert.

• The national dish of Bahamas is conch (pictured), a type of mollusk, served deep fried.
• Ceuta and Melilla are Spanish exclaves in North Africa.
• The Turpan Depression is the lowest point in China and second lowest on Earth.

• No rails lead to Tromsø, though they have a pub styled as a railway station (pictured).
• Manila is often described as the only capital city in Asia that’s not exotically Asian.
• North Carolina, in many ways, represents the very best of both the New South and old Dixie.

• Seoul’s party district Gangnam (pictured) has given the name to the worldwide hit “Gangnam style”.
• Korce is known as Albania’s cultural capital.
• If lost in Johannesburg, you can roughly orientate yourself using the Hillbrow and Brixton towers.

• Though modest and small, the Paço (pictured) in Rio de Janeiro was the office of the King of Portugal and Brazil's two Emperors.
• Thai is notoriously difficult to read due to 44 consonants with complicated tone and vowel signage around them and lack of spaces between words.
• Oak Ridge was created as secret city during World War II as part of the Manhattan Project.

• In Italy you can find nearly 800 kinds of cheese (pictured).
• Uro Islands boast the only floating post office in the world.
• Most words of the pidgin Tok Pisin, spoken in Papua New Guinea, are of European origin.

• The Shahi Bazaar (pictured) in Thatta can be a good place to find Sindhi handicrafts and souvenirs.
• Slănic Moldova is famed for its mineral springs, rich in iron and sulphur.
• The last remaining forest remnant on the Canterbury plains is in Christchurch city.

• Gueltas (pictured), similar to oases but with less greenery, can be experienced in Adrar des Ifoghas.
• Vegetarians and vegans can eat quite well in most countries.
• The overhanging rock faces of Daniel Boone National Forest offer the ultimate climbing challenge for rock climbers from around the world.

• Calle de los suspiros (the street of the sighs, pictured) in Colonia allegedly got its name from its past as a red-light district during colonial times.
• Loango National Park is described as Africa’s Last Eden.
• A part of the harbour in Rostock is usually called "Strand" (beach) by locals, even if there is no sand within sight.

August 2014

• Built in 1814, The Indian Museum of Kolkata (pictured) is among the oldest in the country.
• The Flight 77 memorial is the only part of the Pentagon where photography is allowed.
• Catacombs built hundreds of years ago for military purposes, connect several strategic points of Iaşi, including some monasteries.

• Winchester hat fair (pictured) is Britain's longest running festival of street theatre.
• The tonal pronunciation of Cantonese is by far the most difficult aspect of the language.
• São Tomé and Príncipe were both uninhabited prior to colonization by the Portuguese.

• Built by the native Zapotecs from 400 B.C. onwards, today Monte Alban (pictured) is an impressive archeological site.
• Flensburg is a popular shopping destination for Scandinavians.
• The overland route from Istanbul to New Delhi is also known as the Hippie Trail.

• Tian Tan buddha (pictured) on Lantau is the world’s largest seated Buddha statue in bronze.
• Ottawa started as a humble lumber town called Bytown.
• Georgian uses one of the world's 12 unique alphabets, Mkhedruli—"that of the warrior."

• Krzywy Dom - the crooked house (pictured) - is likely Sopot’s weirdest sight.
• Jurien Bay was little more than a ramble of corrugated iron shacks and boat sheds till the 1980s when a tourist industry developed.
• In the recent decade South Korea has become a popular destination due to its pop culture.

• Constantine (pictured) is framed by a deep ravine and has a dramatic appearance.
• The Swiss town of Saas-Fee offers skiing and snowboarding 10 months of the year.
• Fremantle prison used to be Australia’s main high-security prison, nowadays it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

• A landmark in Gothenburg is the “lipstick” skyscraper (pictured).
• From the Portuguese-built 16th century lighthouse at Port Dickson there is a panoramic view of the Sumatran coastline.
• The Philosophenweg (Philosopher’s path) provides a wonderful view across the oldest part of Heidelberg.

• The Fish River Canyon (pictured) in Namibia's South is one of the world's largest canyons.
• The history of luxury train travelling in India dates back to the days of erstwhile maharajas.
• Pork chop bun is the hamburger’s Macanese relative.

• The first house (pictured) built in Norilsk is nowadays a part of the local history museum.
• At an elevation of 4000m (13,123 ft) Litang is one of the highest located towns in the world.
• It’s estimated that as few as 10% of Corsica’s population speak Corsican as a native language and 50% have conversational knowledge.

• Aït-Benhaddou (pictured) has appeared in more than 10 movies, including Lawrence of Arabia and Gladiator.
• Missouri is nicknamed the “Show-Me State”.
• In Bujumbura traditional Burundian drum performances are worth seeing.

July 2014

• The beach (pictured) in Viña del Mar is the most important beach in Chile.
• In Valladolid you can visit a museum dedicated to the 17th century writer Cervantes.
• The Wright Brothers National Memorial in Kitty Hawk is dedicated to the first successful powered, heavier-than-air flight.

• Brattleboro has an extraordinary collection of beautiful buildings in various styles that survive from the 18th and 19th centuries (Brooks House pictured).
• The old national palace in Managua is now a museum with 2,500 year old stone sculptures among the exhibits.
• Rockhampton is almost universally called Rocky and just about every business has some variation of Rocky in their name or their promotion.

• Although a small town, Nakhon Phanom is famous for its centuries-old temples and beautiful landscape (pictured).
• Brum is the local nickname for Birmingham, England
• You can have a Godzilla Burger at the Freakyshow Bar in Shizuoka.

• Safranbolu is famous for its Ottoman houses in Çarşı (old town) (pictured).
• Catawba Island is like a big playground for kids and adults, with a long shoreline.
• Ghana means Warrior King and the name of the country is derived from the ancient Ghana Empire.

• The Route des Grand Crus (pictured) runs through many of the great appellations of Burgundy wines.
• Tourism accounts for roughly 80% of Andorra’s GDP.
• Palitana is the fantastic hilltop Jain temple city, an essential holy pilgrimage destination for this nonviolent community.

• Abu Dhabi (pictured) is regarded as one of the most modern cities in the world.
• Kos is part of a chain of mountains from which it became separated after earthquakes and subsidence that occurred in ancient times.
• Struisbaai boasts the longest continuous stretch of white sand coastline in the Southern part of Africa.

• You can catch the amazing Thunder Creek waterfall (pictured) along with several others as you drive into or away from Haast.
• Banská Bystrica has a beautiful position between the mountains, therefore it's both a popular summer and winter resort.
• Eleuthera with its rolling hills is the most challenging island of the Bahamas for bikers.

• Known as "The Mile-High City", Denver (pictured) sits at an altitude of 5,280 feet/1,600 meters above sea level.
• Corbridge was at one time the northernmost town of the Roman Empire.
• In the old harbour of Marseille you can watch fishermen selling their stock by auction.

• Taukkyan war cemetery (pictured) is a memorial to Allied soldiers who lost their lives in Burma during WW2.
• Annual Old Settler's Rodeo and Reunion in Childress has been arranged each July since 1888.
• With a population of just over 8,000, Montpelier is the smallest state capital in the United States.

• Casa-Pueblo (pictured) in Punta del Este is built in a kind of Mediterranean surrealistic architecture, making the whole place to look like a giant sculpture.
• The Harz is home to Germany's first official naturist hiking trail.
• Kayabukiya Tavern in Utsunomiya is a Japanese restaurant where guests are served by employed monkeys.

• Dhaka is also known as the Rickshaw Capital of the World with over 400,000 cycle rickshaws running on the Dhaka streets every day (pictured).

June 2014

• Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok is home to a "redemption booth" for the karmically challenged traveller.

• Over 300 elephants (pictured) live in Yankari National Park, the most visited destination in Nigeria.
• The Uro Islands in Lake Titicaca are floating islands, made of reed.
• A region of Bavaria can boast the highest brewery density in the world.

• Golestan (pictured) consists of 17 palaces and is the oldest of the historic monuments in Tehran
• At the Presidential Palace Museum in Kigali you can get a glimpse of life as an African dictator in the 1970’s and 80’s.
• The name of the town of Varkaus translates to “theft”.

• Tikal (Jaguar temple pictured) was the largest of the Maya cities during the “Classic Era”, over 1000 years ago.
• Once a thriving riverfront pioneer town, Old Sacramento now primarily exists as a living historic district.
• In the Mount Bandai region are the Five-Colored Ponds.

• Novi Sad’s Petrovaradin (pictured) is a fortress that no enemy has ever taken.
• Described as the “Hawaii of the Atlantic”, the surf on Gran Canaria can be incredible.
• The Vatican is probably the only country without any accommodation.

• The presidential palace (pictured) in Bissau was bombed out during the civil war, but is still standing, though now only inhabited by bats.
• Death rates from altitude sickness above 7,000m (23,000ft) are estimated at 4% of all people who venture that high.
• If you’re satisfied by just seeing the North Pole from a plane, it can be visited for less than €1000.

• Taupo is located next to Lake Taupo (pictured), which fills the caldera of one of the largest super-volcanoes in the world, in a still active geological region.
• At the New City Hall in Hanover, there are several miniatures depicting the city at different points in history.
• Steeped in culture and history, the Chatham Islands are on the very edge of civilisation.

• The “Mitad el Mundo” monument (pictured) outside Quito isn’t exactly at the Equator, where it’s supposed to be, but 240m away.
• The Bio-Degbo near Monrovia is a rock formation shaped like a human face.
• Nicknamed the Imperial City, Guelph was named after a house that once ruled the Great Britain.

• Tianjin eye (pictured) is the world’s second-largest ferris wheel.
• Åre has the largest zipline park in Europe.
• Many Bulgarians - unlike most nationalities - shake their head for yes and nod for no.

• The “Subway” (pictured) and Mystery Canyon are such popular destinations in the Zion National Park that walk-in permits are allotted by a lottery.
• Incheon hosts the only official Chinatown in South Korea.
• Grenoble is crossed by two rivers, the Drac and the Isère (“the lion and the serpent”).

• The Hindu temple (pictured) in Nadi is the largest in Oceania.
• The archipelago of Madeira is nicknamed the Islands of Eternal Spring.

May 2014

• The whole city of Arrow Rock, Missouri, is a National Historic Landmark.

• The elephant trunk hill (pictured) of Guilin has a large natural arch cut into it that looks like an elephant dipping into the river.
• The Demilitarized Zone in Vietnam is full of Vietnam War relics.
• Vyborg is one of the few places in Russia that can be visited visa free by visitors from all countries.

• Puerta del Sol (pictured) in Madrid is where Kilometro Cero is located, the point where the measuring of the Spanish highway system begins.
• Yes - Ecuador is named after the Equator (which bisects the country).
• At the glass bottomed Grand Canyon Skywalk you can “walk above” Grand Canyon.

• The mosque in Djenne (pictured) is the largest mudbrick building in the world.
• Malay can be written in two scripts - the Roman alphabet and the Arabic-derived script.
• Fort William Historical Park in Thunder Bay is a recreation of the days of the North West Company and the Canadian fur trade.

• One original piece of architecture in Pristina is the Library of the University (pictured) that looks like it’s built out of LEGO bricks.
• Malta boasts some of the world’s most ancient standing buildings.
• Cuiabá is a great place to stock up on boots, saddles and other Western gear.

• For some unusual souvenirs in Lomé - go to the Fetish Market (pictured).
• One third of Sheffield’s territory is rural national park land.
• The official name of Bangkok is listed as the world’s longest location name by the Guinness Book of Records.

• The open air museum of Kizhi shows wooden architecture (pictured) of the native people of the Karelia region.
• In some countries you will need a yellow fever vaccination certificate to enter - whether you’re coming from an endemic country or not.
• Pisco, a hard alcohol made from fermented grapes, is the unofficial drink of the Easter Island.

• BMW fans visiting Munich should probably not miss BMW Welt (pictured) - an exhibition and museum complex dedicated to the car brand.
• El Salvador is the smallest country in Central America.
• More than 40% of Venezuela is covered by protected areas.

• San Antonio (pictured) is located at the axis of three different geological terrains.
• A specialty of Tokaj is the Tokaj wine cream soup.
• The Ballard neighborhood of Seattle is known for its Scandinavian heritage.

• The Singaporean specialty chilli crab (pictured) is eaten by hand and the meal might leave you a bit messy.
• In Rwanda plastic bags are banned - when entering the country your luggage is searched to make sure you aren’t bringing any!
• Cairns is the main gateway to the Great Barrier Reef.

• Unlike most temples in Korea - Yonggungsa (pictured) in Haeundae is located next to the ocean.
• Puerto Plata has a replica of the famous Christ statue of Rio de Janeiro.
• Casino Campestre in Camagüey is the largest urban park in Cuba.
• Cherrapunji which was once credited as being the wettest place on Earth now lacks water.

• The cathedral (pictured) of Echmiadzin was founded in 301 and has been rebuilt and expanded for over 17 centuries.
• Nearly half of the US population lives within a 500-mile radius of North Carolina.

April 2014

• Prora is home to the world’s largest hotel, which never has been used as one. (pictured)
• One of the Vatican City’s official languages is Latin.
• Since 1834 the American flag has continuously flown over Lafayettes tomb in Paris.

• Formerly the Ala-Too square in Bishkek hosted a Lenin statue - nowadays an independence monument (pictured) stands there.
• Since 1834 the American flag has continuously flown over Lafayettes tomb in Paris.

• Mount Kilimanjaro (pictured) is the highest freestanding mountain in the world.
• In Kitakyushu you can walk between the islands of Kyushu and Honshu through an undersea tunnel.
• Beerenberg on Jan Mayen is the world’s northernmost active volcano.

• Milford Sound (pictured) was hailed as the Eight Wonder of the World by Rudyard Kipling.
• Unsurprisingly Space is the most expensive travel destination.
• Bolivia is the most indigenous country in the Americas, with 60% of its population being of pure Native American ancestry.
• Alta is called the Aurora Borealis city.
• It’s not allowed to bring pork and any item related to religious other than Islam to Saudi Arabia, even for personal usage.

• Salar de Uyuni (pictured) is the world’s largest salt flat
• Boracay’s beaches can also be explored by paraw - a native sailboat.
• There are three currency unions in Africa.

• Many of Visby’s sights are church ruins (pictured) - as many churches were destroyed in the fire of 1525.
• Dawson City boasts a paddle boat graveyard.
• In Poland you can have a cheap meal at a milk bar and at the same time experience what eating at a canteen was like in the Communist Era.

• In Death Valley (pictured) you can experience some of the hottest temperatures on Earth.
• As alcoholic beverages are highly taxed on Iceland the duty free store for arriving passengers at Keflavik is very popular.
• Pinball fans can try out old and new machines in the Pinball Hall of Fame in Las Vegas.

• In the central parts of Adelaide you can ride the trams (pictured) for free.
• Kruger National Park was established in 1898 but didn’t open for the general public until 1927.
• The pronunciation and vocabulary of Jamaican Creole are significantly different from English, despite it being based on English.

• Lahore fort’s Elephant Gate (pictured) is named so because elephants can enter the fort through it.
• If the sun shines in Liepaja, you can check the time from the Amber clock - a sundial made of amber.
• In Charlotte’s Uptown you can get around by “Gold Rush trolleys” - minibuses designed to look like historic streetcars.

• Positioned west of the International Date Line, Wake Island (pictured) is “ahead” of most of the rest of the world.
• “Drowned sandwiches” are a specialty of Guadalajara.

March 2014

• The baptismal fonts at the Saint Barthelemy church in Liege are a masterwork of the local medieval goldsmiths.

• Darwin is the only Australian capital city that has come under substantial attack during a war. (war memorial pictured)
• Blantyre in Malawi takes its name from the town in Scotland where David Livingstone was born.
• The historic core of Split with the Diocletian palace were among the first urban complexes to be inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

• Unique horse carriages and British colonial houses (pictured) make Pyin U Lwin stand out.
• Bilbao is perhaps the premier venue in the world to experience the ancient culture and language of the Basque people.
• The Galapagos Islands are world renowned for their unique and fearless wildlife.

• A kind of “anti-sight” in Kaliningrad is the House of Soviets (pictured) - known to locals as “The Monster”.
• The Silk Road is not a single road but a collection of related historical trade routes.
• In Fort McMurray you can learn about oil sand mining at the Oil Sands Discovery centre.

• A ride on the acensores (funiculars, pictured) of Valparaiso offers gorgeous views of the cityscape, port and the Pacific Ocean.
• Napa Valley is the main wine growing region of the USA.
• Clermont-Ferrand is famous for the chain of extinct volcanoes that encircle the city.

• The spheres (pictured) on the Kuwait Towers are covered with a funky polka dot pattern made up from colored circular plates.
• Due to its distance from the sea, Chad is described as the dead heart of Africa.
• Chukotka, Russia’s easternmost province, actually lies partially in the Western Hemisphere.

• Bogd Khan’s winter palace (pictured) in Ulaanbaatar was built and dedicated to the last khan of Mongolia.
• Spanish is the third most spoken language in the world.
• If you want to send a postcard from Antarctica, Villa Las Estrellas is a good place to do so.

• The long wave masts (pictured) that can be seen from everywhere in Lahti are located on Radiomäki - which translates to Radio Hill.
• El Segundo is named after the second Standard Oil refinery on the American West Coast.
• Liberia was established by former black American slaves.

• Want to sleep in a UNESCO World Heritage Site? Bauhaus (pictured) in Dessau actually incorporates a hotel.
• In Wheeling you can visit the West Virginia Independence hall - the place where 32 counties decided to secede from Virginia and join the north (union) in the American civil war.
• The vast rainforests of Kalimantan are some of the most biodiverse areas in the world.

• One of the main sights in Grytviken is the grave of the Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton. (pictured)
• In Moscow's zoo you can see over 1000 different animal species.
• Omaha has a "First Friday" gallery crawl through the neighborhoods of Benson and Old Market every first Friday of each month.

• Kaunas city hall (pictured) is nicknamed "the White Swan" by locals.
• Belize is the only country in Central America without a coastline on the Pacific Ocean.
• A famous sight on Bougainville is Admiral Yamamoto’s bomber wreck.

February 2014

• A beverage you should probably not try in Zambia is kachasu - a spirit distilled (pictured) from literally anything including battery acid and fertilizer.
• Kiruna, Sweden's only city north of the Arctic Circle, is currently relocating to prevent undermining of the city's mine.
• Uruguay is sometimes called the Switzerland of South America.

• The Love river (pictured) flows through Kaohsiung.
• Divers are still looking for the lead coffin the privateer Francis Drake is buried in somewhere in the Portobelo Bay.
• Glaciers in the mountains of Gilgit-Baltistan are the largest outside the polar regions.

• White Sands National Monument contains the world’s largest gypsum sand dune field (pictured).
• At the Wadden Sea Centre near Ribe you can build your own dike.
• There are many big things to see in Australia.

• A cruise on the canals (pictured) is a good way to view the highlights of Ghent.
• Buffalo’s Ellicott Square Building was home to the world’s first purpose-built permanent motion-picture theater.
• At Kachikally Crocodile Pool in Gambia you can pat crocodiles.

• Lake Toba (pictured) on Sumatra is the largest volcanic lake in the world - it’s larger than Singapore.
• In Norrland in northern Sweden, fermented herring, named surströmming, is an extremely stinky, but popular, delicacy.
• One of Saint Lucia's attractions is a drive in volcano.

• Twice each year, for a few days, a mysterious land bridge (pictured) appears between the island of Jindo and the islet of Mo-Do.
• Legend claims every year a mermaid living in the laguna of Huacachina takes one man.
• Benjamin Franklin house in London’s Covent Garden is the only remaining home of Benjamin Franklin in the world.

• The town of Sveti Stefan (pictured) stands on the cliff of a rocky island with roofs red like rubies.
• The Equator crosses the football stadium of Macapá.
• Melekeok is the smallest national capital in the world by population.

• Rizal Park's most famous landmark is the Rizal Monument (pictured), a stone obelisk with bronze statuary erected near the site of Philippine national hero José Rizal's execution in 1896.
• At an altitude of 1023m Andorra La Vella is the only European capital to be located over 1 km above the sea level, and consequentially Europe's highest capital.
• Seychelles is one of the few countries not requiring a visa of anyone, regardless of nationality.

• Mount Hood (pictured) usually forms the backdrop for the Portland skyline in postcards and photographs of the city.
• The native language of Curaçao is Papiamentu, which is a richly unique mixture of Spanish, Portuguese, English, Dutch, African and other languages.
• The leaning Oldenhove tower in Leeuwarden is a failed 16th century attempt to match the Martini tower in nearby Groningen.

• Established in 1937, the Wildcat Cafe (pictured) in Yellowknife is not just an eatery but also a tourist attraction.

January 2014

• There's a village in ‎Purnia district of Bihar in India named Pakistan.
• Denmark is dubbed in various surveys and polls throughout the years as the "Happiest country in the world".

• Plaza de España (pictured) in Seville was the site of the Spanish pavilion from the 1929 Ibero-Americano World's Fair. In more recent years it was used in the filming of the new Star Wars episodes.
• Oran's beautiful sea shore, constructed under French rule, was inspired by Nice's seafront.
• Due to its colonial past, Suriname has an ethnically diverse population with a majority of Hindus.

• Indianapolis is also known as the "Racing Capital of the World" due to the proximity of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, home of the Indy 500 (pictured) and Allstate 400 at the Brickyard.
• The Sundarbans are the largest littoral mangrove belt in the world.
• In Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky you can visit a salmon museum.

• Traditional Zambian food revolves around one staple, maize, served in one form, nsima (n'SHEE-ma) - a type of thick porridge, rolled into balls and dipped into a variety of stews known as relishes (pictured).
• Hainan is being heavily promoted as "China's Hawaii".
• Dreamhack in Jönköping takes place twice a year and is the world's largest LAN party.

• The dome of the Al Fatheh mosque (pictured) in Manama is currently the world's largest fibreglass dome and is over 60,000 kg in weight.
• Many famous figures from the American Revolution, including Paul Revere, Samuel Adams, John Hancock, and Crispus Attucks are buried at Granary Burying Ground in Downtown Boston.
• Pantanal is considered one of the world's largest and most diverse freshwater wetland ecosystems.

• The Trans-Siberian Railway is the name of not one but three rail routes between Moscow and Asia traversing Siberia (train to Vladivostok pictured).
• Halberstadt is the venue for the As Slow as Possible organ music piece, which began in 2001 and is scheduled to end in 2640.
• French Guiana is the only portion of mainland South America still governed by an overseas nation.

• In Shanhaiguan, at the Old Dragon's Head (pictured), the Great Wall of China juts out into the sea.
• A small island named "Zalzala Jazeera" emerged near Gwadar coast after earthquake in 2013.
• Nicosia is a divided capital.

• The Carmelit funicular (pictured) in Haifa is the only subway in Israel.
• Residents of other neighborhoods in Chicago know Wicker Park by one word: "hipsters."
• The official language of Cape Verde is Portuguese, but the local language is Kriolu kabuverdianu, a Portuguese-based creole language.

• Koure is a town in Southwestern Niger known for its location near West Africa's last herd of giraffes (pictured).
• Novosibirsk is the final destination of the Sibirjak express train from Berlin, the longest train journey originating in the European Union.

• At The Australian in The Rocks, Sydney you can eat the Australian Coat of Arms.
• With a height of 90 ft (27m), Our Lady of the Rockies (pictured) atop the Continental Divide in Butte is the second tallest statue in the United States.
• Indonesia's tropical forests are the second largest in the world and the country makes up the largest archipelago.