The legendary sound of the singing dunes of the Sahara

As the sound of horns and tribal drums calling for war, sometimes the endless dunes of the Sahara emit a strange penetrating symphony that fills the air with low frequency vibrations.

The once mysterious phenomenon, documented centuries ago from Marco Polo to Charles Darwin, is produced by the upper layers of drier sand moving over the deepest ones. When a certain level of dryness is reached, the desert itself cries out, like an avalanche rumbling that echoes across miles of emptiness:

The video belongs to the fascinating series Africa from BBC, directed and narrated by the legendary David Attenborough. So far, this is probably the best footage of this eerie sound effect.

The intriguing sonic booms have been reported in other parts of the world, from Mongolia to the Atacama Desert in Chile. In addition, a recent scientific research could recreate their characteristic noise artificially in a laboratory, and confirmed that the pitch of the sound depends on the thickness of the sand grains. This way, each desert has its own musical record.

Image Rainer Voegeli

 

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An abandoned communist UFO in Bulgaria

Who would think of building a giant circular pavilion with capacity for thousands of people at the top of a mountain range, over 1,400 meters high? The dreams of grandeur of the Soviets have left thousands of rare monuments scattered throughout the territories that one day formed the hermetic Eastern Bloc. Today we approach one of the most remarkable of them all: Buzludzha.

Something so unique has not stopped firing the imagination of the few visitors who come here. When the snow covers the peaks of the Balkan mountain range, this mass of concrete looks like a rebel base in the planet Hoth from the Empire Strikes Back. Also it could be the fortress of the bad guy of any 007 film.

The fact is that this relatively contemporary building (opened in 1981), seems to have its days numbered. The country could restore and use it as a tourist attraction. However, for now only illegal scarp dealers are interested in recovering the metallic framework, leaving the structure at the mercy of the elements:

In 1971 it was decided to build this memorial to celebrate the foundation of the Bulgarian Social Democratic Party, after a secret meeting in these mountains in the late 19th century. Image KamrenB Photography

Now repairing the red coliseum costs millions that nobody in Bulgaria is able or willing to afford.
Image KamrenB Photography

The complex has a tower 70 meters high and this corridor with large windows overlooking the magnificent landscape. As you can see, now it's also overlooking the sky. Image KamrenB Photography

Top artists worked on the extensive mosaics covering the walls.
Image KamrenB Photography

(Don't) forget your past. Do not be an ignorant: Who forgets the past is condemned to repeat it.
Image KamrenB Photography

Cyrillic alphabet soup. After all, Buzludzha is like the religious shrines, which are also raised in the most unlikely places.
Image KamrenB Photography

From the air you can see the gaping holes in the roof of the temple of a despised ideology.
Image by Chris Kuklok

If the main dome collapses, this could be the end of an architectural ensemble that could have been added to the UNESCO heritage list. Image KamrenB Photography

This is one of the few images available from when Buzludzha was the pride of the Communist Party.

Inside, socialist realism mixed with a futuristic look Space Odyssey style, or in this case rather like Tarkovsky's Solaris.
Image БКП

At its launch pad. Image Michael Kötter

The silhouette of Buzludzha before dawn, now surrounded by fields of windmills.
Image Filip Stoyanov

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The Cathedral of Images: Carrières de Lumières

Like entering in a dream, this spectacle makes visitors immerse themselves into a unique experience of art, sound and light. The old quarries of the magical Val d'Enfer (Valley of Hell) in the south of France, have been hosting audiovisual shows for over 30 years.

The huge walls of white limestone and the darkness of the wide chambers carved in the rock, are the perfect venue for a display that makes the viewer feel like walking inside the images around him. A massive installation of projectors and speakers creates a phenomenal scenography for exhibitions and performances with impressive results:

In Carrières de Lumières (quarries of light or enlightenment) you can enjoy classical paintings from an unusual perspective.
Image by Philip Haslett

This is the promotional image of the current exhibition, Journeys around the Mediterranean, featuring Monet, Renoir and Chagall among others. Image by Culturespaces

Projection of Rêve, a fantastic trip that takes you to imaginary worlds, from futuristic metropolis and tenebrous abysses to the cosmic immensity. It was created by Gianfranco Iannuzzi, Massimiliano Siccardi and Ginevra Napoleoni.

Image from the 2012 production presenting the colorful painting of Gauguin and Van Gogh.
Image by Carrières de Lumières

Virtual paintings from the 2006 projection dedicated to Paul Cézanne.
Image by Frans de Wit

The Romans started the extraction of blocks of stone by the 2nd century BC. The nearby city of Arles was built using some materials coming from here. Image by Carrières de Lumières

Not all the area is used for the projection of this festival of light and shadows. You can also visit some rooms with the elegant naked walls of the quarry, that have the look of an old Egyptian temple. Image by Hans Plantinga

According to the legend, Dante, captivated by the setting of Val D'Enfer, was inspired to describe his Hell in the Divine Comedy. Image by Frans de Wit

The first one to discover the potential of this space, after the closing of the quarry in the thirties, was the fascinating artist Jean Cocteau. He filmed here his last movie in 1959, Testament of Orpheus.

In 1977 the quarry was permanently opened to the public with the name of Cathédrale d'Images.
Image by Dominique Cappronnier

Carrières de Lumières is located in the picturesque village of Baux-de-Provence, between Arles and Avignon.
Image by Carrières de Lumières

We don't have better words to describe the experience than this review from a user in TripAdvisor: Stunning presentation of art, sound, and history. Carrières de Lumières transports tourists to another world, forcing us to stop rushing to the next attraction or meal and immerse our entire bodies in art. Image by Culturespaces

As we walked through these enormous caves, it was impossible not to have all of our senses sparking at full power.
Image by G. Iannuzzi - G. Napoleoni - M. Siccardi

We could not escape being enveloped in the luscious water lilies of Monet, or the lascivious boldness of Manet's Olympia, each work or art accompanied by an equally triumphant work of music. Image by Philip Haslett

This is the official video about the current exhibition to help you improving your French.

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Scala dei Turchi beach in Sicily

Also known as The Turkish Steps, this is one of the most unique beaches in the world. Now that summer is over in the Northern Hemisphere of this cosmic ball where we are all living, we fancy to look at some sun-kissed scenes before to fall into the darkness of the new season.

This is just one more of the many beauties that Italy treasures. We are near Agrigento, in the triangular island of Sicily:

A white staircase sculpted by erosion over the blues and greens of the Mediterranean.
Image by Edoardo Costa

Perfect setting for an ad of vacuum cleaners.
Image by Matteo Mignani

The cliff is shaped as a natural terrace looking towards Africa.
Image by Angelo Milioto

Tempting, isn't?
Image by Carnby

Imagen Sandy Kirchlechner

The stands from above.
Image by Francesco Rubino

And now from below.
Image by Mirko

From the sand beach... ok, this is getting silly. Now just enjoy the pics, please.
Image by Lahiri Cappello

Image by Edoardo Costa

Image by Libertinus

The trail of the backbone.
Image by Matteo Mazzoni

Ciao bella!
Image by Francesco Rubino

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Lena Pillars, Siberian beauties

Along the right bank of the Lena, the great Siberian river, a wondrous geological landmark awaits the few travellers that make all the way up here. Miles and miles of stone pillars, between 500 to 1,000 feet tall, create a graceful and unique spectacle that in 2012 achieved the highest distinction for a monument, becoming a new UNESCO World Heritage site.

There are many images from Lena Pillars Nature Park in Russia, but not so many from the air and as beautiful as this comprehensive and fabulous collection. All the images are courtesy of Eugene Kaspersky, the same guy providing my current antivirus:

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Yasuni, a Fistful of Dollars

Yasuni National Park is considered the most biologically rich land, but it is not just home to thousands of species of plants and animals, but also a few billion barrels of oil. Until now it seemed that its territories would have a chance to survive the fossil fuel era untouched, without machines drilling one of the most valuable areas of the Amazon. The government of Ecuador had launched an international campaign demanding half the money they would get from the sale of the subsurface oil reserves in exchange for leaving it intact.

However, it was recently announced that, after having raised only about $13 million planned instead of $3,600, on behalf of the fight against poverty and misery, the project has been canceled and the oil companies have the door wide open to exploit the fields of Ishpingo, Tambococha and Tiputini (ITT).

Little by little we are getting used to understand that in the real world, unlike in the movies, the bad guys always win. Let's see what is the real treasure in this UNESCO biosphere reserve:

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Montpellier, looking for the perfect place

The more I travel, the more I see that there are few places in the world as privileged as the north coast of the Mediterranean arc. Of course, mine is a totally skewed and distorted view, and believing that your origins are in an area rich in history, monuments, with delightful food, a pleasant weather, and populated by beautiful and welcoming people, this happens to anyone... isn't?

Once established these approximate coordinates, the hard part is finding the right place that has it all, the point where you have to be when the next planetary alignment occurs. Then, without being a big fan of petanque or pastis, Montpellier is a strong candidate to become my headquarters, the base camp for the bon vivant from where to prepare the assault and exploration of the wide world. Here's why:

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