Tales of Extraordinary Destinations
From a sauna that looks like a work of art to the most famous temple on the most hashtagged island, here are the offbeat destinations worth knowing if you want to travel differently from everyone else.
Extraordinary Destinations — Tales of the World’s Most Unusual Places
* Where is the world’s oldest professional baseball stadium? Where is the biggest Christmas tree on earth? What is the northernmost town on the planet? We picked out the questions a curious traveler might ask and gathered the answers.
Words Hur Taewoo
* A list of destinations featured in ‘How About Here?’, a section of “Pitch by Letter,” which is published twice a month.
A Sauna Like a Work of Art
☝🏻The Soria Moria sauna floats on Lake Bandak in Dalen, Norway.
☝🏻Nordic people are famously devoted to saunas, and this one is counted among the most artistic in appearance.
☝🏻Dalen has been a well-known resort since the late 19th century. In 1894, the Dalen Hotel opened to serve upper-class travelers, and it still stands today.
☝🏻The sauna’s design draws on the natural scenery of the lake and surrounding ridges, as well as local history.
☝🏻The wooden cladding on the exterior adapts traditional building methods, while the shimmering gold panels evoke the splendor of the Dalen Hotel.
☝🏻Anyone can use the sauna. You just need to book 12 hours in advance. Up to 15 people can use it for up to two hours.
☝🏻The fee for two hours for 11 to 15 people is 900 Norwegian kroner (about KRW 110,000).
☝🏻You must bring your own sauna items (including towels and swimsuits), and there is no restroom inside.
☝🏻Be sure to shower before entering the sauna!
The World’s Largest Christmas Tree
☝🏻This is the Christmas light tree of Gubbio, in the Umbria region of central Italy.
☝🏻Gubbio has been a major city in Umbria since ancient Roman times and boasts a long, storied history.
☝🏻Since 1981, the city has set up a giant tree on the slopes of Mount Ingino, where it sits, every Christmas.
☝🏻In 1991, it was entered in the Guinness World Records as the largest Christmas tree in the world.
☝🏻The tree begins at the city walls, 450 meters above sea level, and extends to the Basilica of Sant’Ubaldo, at 750 meters.
☝🏻Three hundred green lights form the shape of the tree, and 400 lights make up the star decoration. The wiring alone runs about 8.5 kilometers.
☝🏻Visitors can reportedly make a donation by leaving a wish message for each light.
The World’s Oldest Professional Baseball Stadium
☝🏻Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball in the United States, opened in 1912.
☝🏻It is considered one of the most beautiful ballparks in America and is a landmark of Boston. It seats 37,755 for night games.
☝🏻Its popularity is boosted by intriguing features such as its asymmetrical design, the contrast of red and green, and the Green Monster, the 11-meter-high left field wall.
☝🏻It has hosted 11 World Series, of which the Boston Red Sox won six.
☝🏻For a family of four, it is the most expensive ballpark to attend a game at. The average outlay is reportedly $385.37 (about KRW 500,000).
☝🏻The stadium tours, held year-round, are a bit cheaper. Tickets are $25 per adult and can be booked on the website.
☝🏻In fact, the Red Sox announced plans for a new ballpark in 1999, but the plan fell through in the face of fierce opposition. Instead, the team has kept improving the stadium through ongoing renovations.
☝🏻Fenway-Kenmore, the neighborhood where Fenway Park stands, is also one of the nicest areas to explore. Cultural venues such as the Museum of Fine Arts and Symphony Hall, along with hotels, restaurants, and a college district, are clustered there.
The Most Famous Temple on the Most Hashtagged Island
☝🏻 Of all the islands in the world, the one with the most Instagram hashtags is Bali, Indonesia.
☝🏻 Ulun Danu Beratan Temple is the most famous temple in Bali. It appears on the 50,000 rupiah banknote.
☝🏻 It sits on Lake Beratan, a volcanic lake in the Bedugul area of central Bali. Located about 1,500 meters above sea level, the lake is the second largest in Bali.
☝🏻 The site has long been regarded as sacred. A stone tablet dating to around 500 BCE has even been discovered here.
☝🏻 The temple was built in the 17th century to honor Danu, the goddess of water, lakes, and rivers. In Balinese, danu also means lake.
☝🏻 It comprises four main shrines dedicated to Shiva, Vishnu, Brahma, and Danu, along with several smaller shrines. Hindu and Buddhist architectural styles are blended. The 11-tier shrine dedicated to Vishnu is especially iconic.
☝🏻 The temple seems to float on the lake, and when wrapped in mist, it takes on a mystical atmosphere.
☝🏻 Admission for tourists is 75,000 rupiah.
The Northernmost Town on Earth
☝🏻 Longyearbyen is the hub of the Svalbard archipelago in the Norwegian Arctic.
☝🏻 It lies at 78 degrees north, 1,316 kilometers from the North Pole.
☝🏻 The town grew up around mining in the early 20th century, and today it is sustained by tourism.
☝🏻 About 2,400 residents from 53 countries live here, and more than 100,000 travelers visit every year to experience the wild nature of the Arctic. The colorful buildings add to its charm.
☝🏻 There is only one grocery store, but you will find hotels, shops, restaurants, bars, galleries, a brewery, a chocolate shop, and more.
☝🏻 To venture outside the town, you must be accompanied by a guide carrying a firearm. The reason is polar bears.
☝🏻 It is one of the regions hit hardest by climate change. The average annual temperature has risen by 4 degrees Celsius since 1971, and there is no telling when buildings constructed on permafrost might collapse.
☝🏻 The Norwegian government is working to preserve living conditions in Svalbard, while travelers come to see a landscape that may disappear.
☝🏻 It takes about three hours by plane from Oslo, the capital of Norway.
The Place from the Film “Oppenheimer,” Los Alamos
☝🏻 The base camp of the Manhattan Project: the Los Alamos research complex in New Mexico.
☝🏻 It was a secret site built during World War II to develop the atomic bomb. As in the film “Oppenheimer,” scientists and engineers lived here with their families, led by J. Robert Oppenheimer.
☝🏻 Even after the bomb was built, the site remains in use today as Los Alamos National Laboratory. Population in 1945: about 8,000. Today: about 13,000.
☝🏻 To visit the original buildings where the scientists and engineers worked, you have to join a guided tour run by the U.S. Department of Energy. Tours are held three times a year.
☝🏻 Places used during the Manhattan Project still stand, including Lamy Train Station, Fuller Lodge, and Bathtub Row. The film “Oppenheimer” reportedly used several of the original buildings as they were, because building a set to recreate Los Alamos would have cost too much. The main gate checkpoint in the photo above, however, is a re-creation of the original.
☝🏻 Three sites where the Manhattan Project took place, Los Alamos, Hanford in Washington State, and Oak Ridge in Tennessee, are managed by the U.S. National Park Service as a historical park.
