The Crazy House

Hang Nga guesthouse, popularly known as The Crazy House, is an unconventional hotel building constructed from a project by Hang Viet Nga in Da Lat, Vietnam. The building conveys a distinctive fairy-tale-like mood, and comprises complex, organic, non-rectilinear shapes, much in the spirit of Gaudi and Hundertwasser.

The Underground Waterfall

Ruby Falls is a 145-foot high underground waterfall located within Lookout Mountain, near Rock City and Chattanooga, Tennessee in the United States. The cave which houses Ruby Falls was formed with the formation of Lookout Mountain. About 200 to 240 million years ago (in the Carboniferous period, at the end of the Paleozoic era) the eastern Tennessee area was covered with a shallow sea, the sediments of which eventually formed limestone rock. About 200 million years ago, this area was uplifted and subsequent erosion has created the current topography. The limestone in which the cave is formed is still relatively horizontal, just as it was deposited when it was below sea level. The Lookout Mountain Caverns, which includes Ruby Falls Cave, is a limestone cave. These caves occur when slightly acidic groundwater enters subterranean streams and eats away at the relatively soluble limestone, causing narrow cracks to widen into passages and caves in a process called chemical weathering. The stream which makes up the Falls entered the cave sometime after its formation.

Ruby Falls Cave features many of the more well-known types of cave formations (or speleothems) including stalactites and stalagmites, columns, drapery, and flowstone. The Falls are located at the end of the main passage of Ruby Falls Cave, in a large vertical shaft. The stream, 1120 feet underground, is fed both by rainwater and natural springs. It collects in a pool in the cave floor and then continues through the mountain until finally joining the Tennessee River at the base of Lookout Mountain. While Ruby Falls Cave combines with Lookout Mountain Cave to form the Lookout Mountain Caverns, the two caves were not actually connected by any passage. Ruby Falls Cave is the upper of the two and contains a variety of geological formations and curiosities which Lookout Mountain Cave does not have.

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The 2010 FIFA World Cup Venues

Soccer City Stadium, Johannesburg A football-specific stadium, Soccer City is currently the largest stadium in Africa with a capacity of 94,700. Most of the largest football events in South Africa are played at Soccer City and the venue is better suited to these events than the Ellis Park Stadium, where the final for the Rugby World Cup in 1995 was held. Soweto and the National Exhibition Centre in Nasrec are nearby.

Moses Mabhida Stadium, Durban is a stadium in Durban, South Africa, named after Moses Mabhida, a former General Secretary of the South African Communist Party. It is intended to be a world-class multi-use stadium. It will be one of the host stadiums for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The stadium has a planned capacity of 70,000 during the World Cup and 54,000 afterwards. The stadium is adjacent to the Kings Park Stadium, in the Kings Park Sporting Precinct, and the Durban street circuit used for the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport.

Royal Bafokeng Stadium, Rustenburg is a rugby union, association football and athletics stadium in Phokeng near Rustenburg, South Africa. It was built and is managed by the Royal Bafokeng Nation. It is used as the home stadium for Premier Soccer League club Platinum Stars. The capacity of the stadium was increased from 38,000 to 44,530 to be able to host five first round matches and one second round match at the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The Royal Bafokeng Stadium plays host to the round one Group C match between England and the United States on 12 June, 2010.

Peter Mokaba Stadium, Polokwane is a football stadium in Polokwane (formerly Pietersburg), South Africa, that will be used for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. When completed in 2010 it will have a capacity of 46,000. It was named after Peter Mokaba, a former leader of the ANC Youth League. It is located 5 kilometers from the city centre and is located just east of the existing Pietersburg Stadium. The stadium is one of five new stadiums that will be built for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Initial plans to upgrade the current Peter Mokaba Stadium were abandoned in favour of the R1,245,000,000 (ZAR) new Peter Mokaba stadium.

Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein is a stadium in Bloemfontein, South Africa, used for rugby union, as well as football (soccer). It was originally built in 1995 for that year's Rugby World Cup.

Mbombela Stadium, Nelspruits a newly built all seater 43,500-seat stadium and is one of the ten venues for the FIFA World Cup 2010. It is located on open land six kilometers west of Nelspruit, South Africa, with the stadium as the centrepiece of a proposed wider sports precinct with athletics and cricket as well as other sporting codes. The R1,050-million sports facility was ready for use well ahead of the June 2010 World Cup kickoff and has been made possible through taxpayer funding.

Loftus Versfeld Stadium, Pretoria is a sports stadium situated in Pretoria, South Africa. The stadium has a capacity of 51,762 and is an all seater venue. Recently hosted the 2009 Currie Cup final.

Ellis Park Stadium, Johannesburg is a rugby union and association football stadium in the city of Johannesburg, Gauteng Province, South Africa. It hosted the final of the 1995 Rugby World Cup, which was won by the country's national team, the Springboks. The large stadium was the country's most modern when it was upgraded in 1982 to accommodate almost 60,000 people. Today, the stadium hosts both football and rugby.

Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth is a 48,000-seater stadium in Port Elizabeth. The five-tier, R2 billion (approximately US$270million) Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium was built overlooking the North End Lake, at the heart of the city. It is one of three coastal stadiums built in anticipation of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. It regularly hosts large scale football and rugby matches. The stadium has also been used as a concert venue.

Green Point Stadium, Cape Town is a newly built stadium for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. During the planning stage it was known as the Green Point Stadium, which was the name of the previous stadium on the site. The stadium is located in Green Point, between Signal Hill and the Atlantic Ocean, close to the Cape Town city center and to the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront, a popular tourist and shopping venue. The stadium has a capacity of 69,070. The stadium is connected to the waterfront by a new road connection, Granger Bay Boulevard, and is surrounded by a 60 hectare urban park.

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Potala Palace

The Potala Palace is located in Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region, China. It was named after Mount Potala, the abode of Chenresig or Avalokitesvara. The Potala Palace was the chief residence of the Dalai Lama until the 14th Dalai Lama fled to Dharamsala, India, after an invasion and failed uprising in 1959. Today the Potala Palace has been converted into a museum by the Chinese government.

The building measures 400 metres east-west and 350 metres north-south, with sloping stone walls averaging 3 m. thick, and 5 m. (more than 16 ft) thick at the base, and with copper poured into the foundations to help proof it against earthquakes. Thirteen stories of buildings – containing over 1,000 rooms, 10,000 shrines and about 200,000 statues – soar 117 metres (384 ft) on top of Marpo Ri, the "Red Hill", rising more than 300 m (about 1,000 ft) in total above the valley floor. Before the first skyscrapers were built, the Potala Palace was the world's tallest building.

Tradition has it that the three main hills of Lhasa represent the "Three Protectors of Tibet." Chokpori, just to the south of the Potala, is the soul-mountain (bla-ri) of Vajrapani, Pongwari that of Manjushri, and Marpori, the hill on which the Potala stands, represents Chenresig or Avalokiteshvara.

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