Atlas Obscura

I recently ordered a book from my local library:  Atlas Obscura, by Joshua Foer, Dylan Thuras, and Ella Morton.  I like atlases, I like obscure things, why wouldn’t I read the book.  Still, I didn’t really know what I was in for because I knew nothing about the book other than its title.

The first sentence of the book cover convinced me that I was on the right track.  It states “Inspiring equal parts wonder and wanderlust, Atlas Obscura celebrates over 600 of the most curious and unusual destinations around the globe.”  Thus began a 450 page walk about the world, basically for free (except for my share of the infrastructure [library, road], assets [car, computer], and expenses [fuel, electricity] associated with driving to the library were I picked up the book I had ordered over the internet).

There are many wonderful pictures and vignettes throughout the book, though surprisingly few maps for an atlas.  I’m going to highlight some of my favorites.  Trust me there are many more, enough to justify finding a copy of the book for yourself.

The Natural History Museum in London has a preserved giant squid.  It is 28 feet long, approximately as long as a full-size school bus.  Te Papa Museum in Wellington, New Zealand has a colossal squid.  Though much shorter (not quite 14 feet long) than giant squid, colossal squid are heavier.  The one in N.Z. tips the scales at 1000 pounds.

Overtoun Bridge in Dumbarton, Scotland has an unusual nickname:  Dog Suicide Bridge.  The locals say that approximately 50 dogs have jumped off the bridge to their death since the 1960s.

Micro-nations abound.  None of them have ever been recognized, but several of them continue to assert nationhood, including:  the Republic of Kugelmugel in Vienna, which consists entirely of a single spherical house.  Ladonia in Sweden, the Principality of Sealand in England, the Principality of Hutt River in Australia, the Conch Republic, and the Republic of Minerva, all have their own stories.

I was pleased to see an entry about the monastery at Mount Athos in Greece.  It has long been a favorite of mine because it has never stopped flying the Byzantine flag since the days of its founding.  I have read that the monastery never surrendered, meaning that the Eastern Roman Empire still has legs of a sort.  Over 1500 monks live in the monastery, which only allows male visitors.

The Root Bridges of Cherrapunji in India have intrigued me since I saw them in a National Geographic magazine years ago.  The locals groom tree roots to span a river, taking as much as 20 years to build.  Once established, a bridge can last up to 500 years.  That’s the kind of infrastructure we should build in this country.

Do you like hard-boiled eggs?  Vendors in Dongyang, China, have been selling a particular kind of hard-boiled egg for hundreds of years.  The unusual part:  the eggs are boiled in the urine of young boys, which is collected in buckets at schools in the area.  I’m pretty sure this approach to eggs will not supplant any of our Easter traditions.

Have you run a marathon or a half-marathon?  Do you feel pretty good about the accomplishment?  Well, you haven’t met a marathon monk.  They are Buddhist, based in Japan, and a significant part of their training is physical.  In each of the first three years of their training regimen, the monks must walk 25 miles a day for 100 consecutive days.  Years four and five require for two separate 100 consecutive day periods of 25-mile walks.  Morever, each 25-mile walk is punctuated with 300 designated stops for chanting and prayer.  In year six, the monks must complete 100 consecutive daily walks of 37.5 miles.  In year seven, the walks increase to 52 miles.  It may not surprise you to learn that only 50 (or so) monks have completed this training since 1885.

Though also Buddhist, the next group of monks is more my speed.  At any rate, I could be useful to them.  They have built their temple and associated buildings entirely out of empty beer bottles.  They are not allowed to drink alcohol, but they continue to build using bottles that are donated.

For decades the last tree of Tènèrè, estimated to be the only tree for 250 miles in any direction, lived alone in Niger.  It was something right out of Dr. Seuss until a drunk driver ran into it and snapped its trunk.

The quietest room in the world is in Minneapolis.  It absorbs 99.99% of all sound.  The room is so quiet that people can hear their own hearts beating.

The third-highest waterfall in the world is Gocta Falls in Peru, which descends over 2,500 feet.  It’s beautiful, of course, but what interests me most is that the waterfall was unknown to humans, except for the indigenous people who live under it, until 2005.

Who knows what else is out there awaiting “discovery?”  I hope it’s another waterfall or massive squid and I hope it’s not more urine-infused food.