Confessions of a Social Climber

“You’re about to discover the depth of strangeness and beauty the world holds.”

-Warren Ellis, from the comicbook Planetary

That’s actually a pretty accurate summation of what the not-so-popular parts of the world is: strange and beautiful. The curious mix evokes varying reactions from people … is something fascinating because it’s strange, or is it fascinating because its beautiful?

Here are five examples of strange natural beauty that goes undiscovered most of the time.

Curtain of Fire, Hawaii – Located in volcanic Hawaii, Extreme pressure gushing out of a volcano, a fissure vent, and tons and tons of deadly lava, maybe something even hotter than Damien Rice’s “Volcano” — that’s what the Curtain of Fire is. Imagine a geyser, but instead of one hole to burst out of, think, a whole line — it makes for some spectacular display of the awesome power hidden beneath areas with volcanic activity — and seeing it gobble up a tree just adds to the excitement even more.

Death Valley Moving Rocks – Much like crop circles, these mysterious rocks up in Death Valley, California are being debated upon. Are they man-made occurrences? Does someone move them via air at night? Do the rocks come alive when no one’s looking? Are strange energies pulling the rocks underground? Are there sand people sand-submarines that use these rocks as periscopes? However they happen, these rocks show off a trail, with no external footprints of who, or what pushed them. The thing is, the local authorities have prohibited people from actually going near the rocks, to prevent them from being stolen or moved.

Blue Holes in the Bahamas – We’ve all heard about black holes, but what the heck are blue holes??? Blue holes are, according to Wikipedia, “oughly circular, steep-walled depressions, and so named for the dramatic contrast between the dark blue, deep waters of their depths and the lighter blue of the shallows around them. Their water circulation is poor, and they are commonly anoxic below a certain depth; this environment is unfavorable for most sea life, but nonetheless can support large numbers of bacteria.” What are they exactly? Almost-perfectly circle holes in the water that is noticeably bluer than the rest of the water surrounding it. These deep water caves are said to hold details of almost a hundred million years of history. The fun thing is, 90% of these caves are virgin territory … now wouldn’t that be something to explore one?

Banaue Rice Terraces – Located in the Philippines, these layered rice plantings have been built by the native Ifugaos and are estimated to be 2000 years old. Using minimal equipment, they’ve managed to create a primitive irrigation system that waters the crops from the top to the bottom by utilizing the rainforest areas located on top.

The Matterhorn, the Swiss Alps – This mountain may not be the highest, but there’s something special about it. It is immediately recognizable by its outline. It seems like a mountain that has edges. Four sides make it seem like a pyramid. But wait, there’s more! There’s an interesting story behind it too, from the website I found this info from, it says, that “About 40 million years ago, the Alps were created. When two sections of the Earth’s crust crashed into each other, it threw up rocks into a chain of buckled, folded mountains.” Hence, the origin of this unique natural splendor.