15 Bizarre Natural Wonders

by Jessica Festa on

Here at Gadling, we love finding the quirkiest, most bizarre and out-of-the-ordinary aspects of travel from around the planet. While we’ve told you about some of the world’s strangest natural wonders before, there are just too many unworldly aspects in nature to uncover in one list.

Have you ever witnessed hot pink lagoons littered with feeding flamingos in the desert? Or enormous frost-covered trees that look like menacing monsters? How about waterfalls so red they look like blood? There are no limits to what you can find when you begin to roam the Earth.

To help make your next trip a little more unique, check out 15 bizarre natural wonders in the gallery below.

[image via Brocken Inaglory]

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Thailand Moves From Squat To Western-Style Toilets

by Jessica Festa on

For tourists who live in fear of having to use the toilet while touring Thailand, the country has announced official plans to switch over to Western-style facilities.

While the goal of the transition is to help the country’s aging population, the new toilets will no doubt help tourism, as many Westerners find it hard to navigate the in-ground head. The toilets, which are basically holes in the ground, are said to be very hygienic; however, a bit of agility is necessary to successfully do your business.

Hopefully, the switch will also include putting toilet paper in the restrooms, as well.

And, if you happen to find yourself in a venue that hasn’t yet made the switch, you can click here for tips on how to use a squat toilet.

[Image via seamusiv]

Unique London Transport Option: Panda Cabs

by Jessica Festa on

As a cross-promotion with Chengdu, China, London is bringing “panda cabs” into the city. The campaign includes 50 cabs painted with “Go Chengdu,” the official English tourism website of the Chinese city.

Home of giant pandas, Chengdu showcases their iconic animal on the cabs. While 30 of the taxis are made to look like actual pandas, 20 others are covered in images of the animal. The taxis are part of a summer program themed “Panda Cabs Running For The Olympics.”

Explains Go Chengdu in a press release, “Taking the good opportunity of the London Olympic Games, the Chengdu program is aimed to promote global efforts to conserve the giant pandas, one of the most endangered animals on Earth with only about 1600 living in the world, and harmony between man and nature, which echoes the Olympic spirit of unity, friendship and peace.”

And, if you’ll notice above, even the royal family is helping the cause.

The special cabs, which will circle big name sites like Buckingham Palace, Piccadilly, Marble Arch and Trafalgar Square, will run until August 31, 2012.

This May Be The Last Year To See Lenin’s Tomb

by Melanie Renzulli on

Lenin’s Tomb, the place in Moscow where the father of the Communist Revolution lies embalmed, waxen and puffy behind glass, is endangered. As Russians move further away from Communism, a majority – 56 percent – thinks that Lenin should be buried. Members of the administration of Vladimir Putin, who was just elected to a third term as President of Russia, have also voiced concerns about the aging tourist attraction.

“A body should be interred in the earth,” said culture minister Vladimir Medinsky speaking on a radio show in Moscow this week. Medinsky suggested that Lenin could be buried in a state funeral observing, “all fitting state rituals, distinctions and a military salute in a suitable place” by 2013. On the other hand, the Red Square mausoleum where Lenin lies perpetually in state will remain. “It must remain. It would be possible to turn it into a museum of Soviet history that would be very well visited and could have expensive tickets,” said Medinsky. Russia’s remaining communists are against this move, of course.

Whether Lenin will be buried soon remains to be seen. But there is one component of this burial controversy that must have Lenin turning in his grave even before he is six feet under. Apparently, more than 2,000 Russians have already placed bets on the fate of Lenin’s corpse.

[Photo Flickr/wordcat57]

Photo Of The Day: Watching The World Go By In Tokyo

by Meg Nesterov on


There are few cities that have the energy of Tokyo. It’s one place where you can feel the past and future collide, with traditional teahouses and 1950s-throwback salarymen mixing with girls in cutting-edge fashion and boys with the latest technology. The intensity is dialed up to the maximum at Shibuya Crossing, where Flickr user m24instudio shot today’s Photo Of The Day. There you can have a seat at a cafe or grab some kind of odd beverage from a vending machine and sit on a bench (Japanese manners dictate that you should never drink and walk), and watch the world go by.

Share your favorite city moments in the Gadling Flickr pool to be chosen for another Photo Of The Day.