Author: Ms. R.

Listen and subscribe on Stitcher, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and all major podcast apps. In this episode of The Atlas Obscura Podcast, writers Geoff Manaugh and Nicky Twilley take us inside the Malta Lazaretto, a crumbling, centuries-old quarantine facility, to explore the history and future of quarantine. Our podcast is an audio guide to the world’s wondrous, awe-inspiring, strange places. In under 15 minutes, we’ll take you to an incredible site, and along the way you’ll meet some fascinating people……

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When the Belvedere Hotel opened its doors on December 14, 1903, it became Baltimore’s first luxury hotel. Off the posh lobby of the Beaux Arts–style building was the Owl Bar, then known simply as the Bar Room. Because it served alcohol, admission was restricted to men. The bar quickly became one of the city’s most popular and notorious watering holes, frequented by clientele ranging from businessmen and politicians to bookies and gangsters.  Although the spittoons are gone, today the……

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For several decades, 70-year-old Asadullah Khan’s life has revolved around preparing a Kashmiri delicacy: the meal known as wazwan. Khan, a resident of Srinagar in Kashmir, learned his skills from his father as an adolescent. He had no choice. Khan belongs to a family as famed for their cooking as for their notorious moniker: the Shaitan waz’e, or “the devil chefs.” The family picked up this nickname nearly a century ago, during the term of Ghulam Mohammad Bakshi, the……

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A peculiar sight flies through Guatemala’s densely packed cities streets and rolling, mountainous countryside: a fleet of thousands of American school buses. But they are not the ordinary yellow vehicles that ferry children to school every day. Not any more. Here, and across Central America, these buses are the region’s main form of public transport. In Guatemala, the vehicles are a source of endless creativity and variety. A few buses hit their routes unadorned—still bright yellow, still carrying the……

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Once a thriving furniture factory, the building at 8 Weierwiesstrasse is now home to ventriloquist dolls, a magic library, and eerie electrified wax figures. It’s all the work of Swiss magician/ventriloquist Retonio Breitenmoser, who purchased the site in the late 1980s. An enthusiastic collector of rarities, Breitenmoser initially used the building as a private storage space and converted the upper floors into his home. After several of his local projects (Magic Casino, Nostalgia amusement park) as well as international projects (Magic……

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 For vanilla lovers, Amani Vanilla may just be heaven. Founded in 2008 by former journalist Mohamad Norawi, this farm-café offers desserts and drinks made with vanilla beans grown and harvested on-site. Vanilla farms are rare in Malaysia, but Norawi is on a mission to change that. The farm, which supplies vanilla beans to restaurants throughout Kuala Lumpur, has quickly become a popular local and tourist attraction. Visitors can ride ATVs to tour the farm, learn about the harvesting season, and……

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The landscape of red rock stands as the remainder of an ancient volcano. These remains span the land, and various craters have now been replaced with water instead of lava, and grass instead of ash. At least 30 eruption vents have been identified at the volcano, with the last known eruption having taken place around 8,000 years ago. This event makes Red Rock one of the more recent Australian volcano sites. Visitors can drive or walk to multiple viewing……

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Near the small fishing village of North Berwick in East Lothian, stands a 613-foot cone-shaped hill with some interesting features that reside at the apex. The most striking is a fiberglass model of a whale’s jawbone. Originally in 1709, there were actual mounted skeletal remains, but due to adverse weather conditions, the remains were replaced with models. The monument is meant to honor the seafaring traditions of the local community. This ancient volcanic plug provides spectacular views of Bass Rock,……

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This monument is designed to represent the Soviet cosmonaut and the first man in space, Yuri Gagarin. The structure stands as a beautiful example of Modernist architecture between concrete blocks of the Winogrady district. The monument was created by the Polish sculptor Jerzy Sobociński and stands around 32-feet (10-meters) in height. The obelisk is composed of concrete with Gagarin’s sculpture on top. The entire area features a space theme as this gem is located at the edge of Gagarin……

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The Awhum waterfall cave is located in a beautiful scenic community, one that emits a kind of old mystic beauty that leaves one feeling like they have been transported back in time. The cave, which formed as a result of a massive outcrop of granite rock, is a sight to behold. Water cascades down from the top to form a stream at its base with white sand along its shores. The cave itself stands at 30 meters (98 feet)……

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