The Mysterious Caves of Mustang, Nepal

The Kingdom of Mustang, bordering the Tibetan plateau, is one of the most remote and isolated region of Nepalese Himalaya. Once an independent Buddhist kingdom, Mustang was annexed by Nepal at the end of the 18th century, but retained its status as a separate

principality until the 1950's when the area was more closely consolidated into Nepal. Because of its sensitive border location, Mustang was off-limits to foreigners until 1992. The relative isolation of the region from the outside world has helped Mustang preserve its ancient culture which is more closely tied to Tibet than to Nepal.

The landscape is also unlike anything that is to be found anywhere else in Nepal deep gorges carved by the Kali Gandaki River, and strangely sculptured rock formations. The cliffs’ face are pitted

with an estimated 10,000 ancient cave dwellings, some of which are perched more than 150 feet above the valley floor. No one knows who dug them, or how people even scaled the near vertical rock face to access them. Some of the caves appear almost impossible to reach even to experienced climbers.

Most of the caves are now empty, but others show signs of domestic habitation hearths, grain-storage bins, and sleeping spaces. Some caves were apparently used as burial chambers. The several dozen bodies that were found in these caves were all more

than 2,000 years old. They lay on wooden beds and decorated with copper jewelry and glass beads.

In other caves, skeletons dating from the 3rd to the 8th centuries, before Buddhism came to Mustang, had cut marks on the bones that may have been inflicted during the practice of sky burial, where the body’s flesh is sliced into small pieces and left to be eaten by vultures. Sky burial is still practiced in many remote regions in the Himalaya.

Archeologists believe that the caves in Mustang were used in three general periods. They were first used some 3,000 years ago as burial chambers. Then around 1,000 years ago, they became primarily living quarters, perhaps to escape battles and intruders

into the valley. Finally, by the 1400s, most people had moved into traditional villages and the caves became places of meditation. Some of these caves were turned into monasteries such as the Luri Gompa, the Chungsi Cave monastery and the Nyiphuk Cave Monastery, all of which were built around and inside the caves.

Luri Gompa is one of the most famous in Mustang. The monastery is set on a ledge, at least a hundred meter high from the ground, in one of the many natural pillar like sandstone structures. A winding footpath climbs all the way from the bottom of the valley to a single entrance door that leads into two interconnecting chambers.

The outer chamber contains a shrine, while the inner chamber the main treasure of Luri Gompa is beautifully decorated with a series of paintings depicting Indian Mahasiddhas saints who were said to have achieved siddhi, or extraordinary powers by meditation. No documentation pertaining to this mysterious gompa or monastery has been found, but the wall paintings appear to be have been made in the 14th century or even earlier.

Source: Natgeo.com

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The Plague Island of Poveglia ( Scary Place to be discover )

The island of Poveglia is one of the many small islands located in the Venetian Lagoon between Venice and Lido. It is believed to be haunted by the ghosts of thousands of people that allegedly died here when the island served as a quarantine colony for plague victims at the time of Napoleon, and later as an asylum for the mentally ill. The psychiatrist who ran the hospital was a psychopath who butchered and tortured his patients, and later took his own life by throwing himself from the island's bell tower. After the hospital closed, the island lay abandoned for nearly fifty years. Fishermen avoided it for fear of netting human bones. Now a new project hopes to transform this long forgotten and feared island into a dream university campus.

Poveglia Island first entered into history books in 421. The first inhabitants were refugees fleeing from the barbaric Hun invaders lead by the fearful ‘Attila the Hun’ who ravaged the mainland. These people escaped to the island and made it their home. For the next several centuries, Poveglia had a peaceful history. The people extracted salt, fished and grew food. The island's population began to grow, and so did its importance until 1379, when Venice came under attack from the Genoan fleet. The people of Poveglia were hastily removed to a safer place.

From 1645 on, the Venetian government built five octagonal forts to protect and control the entrances to the lagoon. The Poveglia octagon is one of four that still survive on the island.

In 1776 the Public Health Office opened a check point on the island to inspect all goods and people coming to and going from Venice by ship. In 1793, when several cases of plague was discovered on two of the ships, the infected were forcibly disembarked and temporarily confined to the island. When plague in Europe took pandemic proportion, the second time since the Black Death of the 14th century, Poveglia Island became the dumping ground for the diseased and the infected. An estimated 160,000 people lived and died here. The rumor is that nearly half of the soil contains human remains.

In 1922, the existing buildings on the island were converted into an asylum for the mentally ill, which constinued to function until 1968, when the hospital was closed. For almost half a century, Poveglia remained isolated, long enough for vegetation to invade every inch of the island and the buildings.

For the last few years, the island has been subject to various reclamation projects. None have been implemented yet. In 2014, an Italian businessman, Luigi Brugnaro, bought lease of the island for

99 years with the intention of developing it into some kind of public use. Now the Young Architects association has launched a competition inviting architects to submit ideas for a university campus on the island. We are not sure whether the project is actually backed by Luigi Brugnaro, or is just a mean to showcase talent.

Note!

 Many online articles on Poveglia say that the island became quarantine quarters for plague victims during the Black Death that swept across Europe in the 14th century. This is incorrect. Poveglia had a healthy, living population at that time. The island’s morbid history didn’t begin until the late 18th century.

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Marble Caves of Chile Chico

Mother Nature outdoes herself with this stunningly beautiful set of caves carved into marble

Carved into the Patagonian Andes, the Cuevas de Mármol are located on a peninsula of solid marble bordering Lake General Carrera, a remote glacial lake that spans the Chile-Argentina border.

Formed by 6,000-plus years of waves washing up against calcium carbonate, the smooth, swirling blues of the cavern walls are a reflection of the lake's azure waters, which change in intensity and hue, depending on water levels and time of year.

Located far from any road, the caves are accessible only by boat. Thirty minute tours are operated by a local company, weather and water conditions permitting.

REMINDERS!

There are ferries from Chile Chico that will take you to and through the Marble cave and its tunnels. The caves are based on a lake, and the only way to reach them is by ferry. 

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Michaelskapelle Ossuary

This German bone house contains the remains of some 20,000 souls

Sitting unsuspectingly behind the Church of St Katharin in Oppenheim, Germany is a relatively small building that looks a tad sinister thanks to its severe angles, but inside is something much more gothic: BONES!

The Church of St Katharin, which began construction in 1225, is home to some impressive and rare 14th century stained glass windows that have managed to survive centuries and wars, but it is what lays behind the historic church that is of special note. In the Michaelskapelle (Chapel of St Michael) lies one of the largest ossuaries in Germany, housing the skeletal remains of over 20,000 Oppenheim residents who died between 1400-1750 CE. The honored dead ended up in the ossuary thanks to a laundry list of reasons, but a number of them are thought to have been killed as a result of famine and war. 

The longer bones are stacked like cord wood, creating an unbroken bulwark of bones, punctuated by skulls that are set into the wall at

irregular intervals. While the stacks of bones don't quite reach to the ceiling, it is thought that they did at one time go all the way up, but have slowly compressed themselves over the centuries, making the collection seem somewhat smaller, but not by much.

The ossuary is generally closed, but the bones can usually still be seen through the bars of the door gate. However, special tours of the space can be arranged. In fact many of the skulls bear the marks of small hands where children have touched the skulls to see if they're real.

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Gunung Padang Megalithic Site

These broken shards of ancient ruin may hide an ancient pyramid

Deep in the jungles of Indonesia there is a hill covered in a mess of stone-age columns, but what lies beneath is possibly one of the oldest structures known to humankind.

In 2011, geologist Dr. Danny Hilman Natawidjaja noticed something peculiar about Gunung Padang. The hill isn’t an actual hill, it’s a buried pyramid that may have been built between 9,000 and 20,000 years ago. There’s even evidence of human-made chambers that show carbon-dating as far back as 26,000 years. If proven true, this claim could rewrite history as we know it and expose a forgotten civilization.

The predominant understanding among historians is that all human civilization began after the last major Ice Age that covered the Earth back in 11,500 BCE. If this pyramid-like structure dates further than 11,500 BCE, then it could prove that Plato’s account of

a sunken civilization in Timaeus and Critias was not merely Ancient Greek legend. What secrets lie deep inside Gunung Padang? Only further excavation will tell. Let’s hope the Indonesian government allows Dr. Natawidjaja to continue his research in spite of the outrage and protest to stop any further research from Indonesia’s archaeological establishment.

Gunung Padang might join the ranks of Gobekli Tepe, another megalith in Turkey, as one of most important archaeological discoveries in recent history.

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Tuhala Witch's Well

This disappearing geyser has been attributed to witchcraft, but really it's all about rainfall.

Located in the tiny village of Tuhala, the Witch's Well is a naturally

occurring geyser that has been known to flood the entire area after heavy rains. Clearly the work of witches. 

The Witch's Well is actually an example of what is known as a "karst spring." The opening from which the spring issues is located over an underground river, which is normally located far enough underground that it isn't a problem. But after extremely heavy rains,

the river tends to swell up and issue forth from the well, completely flooding the surrounding area. The geyser effect can last for days, making for a major disaster for those effected by the flooding.

In olden times, this pandemonium was not seen as simply an unfortunate natural occurence, but was instead blamed on those perennial villains, witches. According to the local lore, witches would gather down in the well and lash each other with branches. This pagan reverie was thought to cause the catastrophic flooding that came periodically came from the well. Unfortunately it was just nature and science.

The well does not flood each time it rains, but just occasionally. It is often years between each flooding, so when it occurs, people

now come from all around to check it out. A wooden cap has been placed over the natural hole, so even though it can be damaging, the Witch's Well certainly looks like it has caged a witch inside of its depths.

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A Smoke Corpses of Aseki, Papua New Guinea

We tend to associate mummies with ancient Egypt, but a lot of culture around the world practiced mummification. The Anga tribe of the Aseki region of Papua New Guinea is one of them. Anga’s mummies, however, aren't wrapped in bandages and placed in tombs. They are left in the open, high above a cliff, often overlooking the village where they once lived.

One of the most important process of mummification is the removal of moisture from the dead bodies, because water promotes decomposition, and a decomposed body cannot be preserved by mummification. Ancient Egyptians achieved this by covering the dead bodies with salt and mixture of spices that had great drying properties. The Anga tribe employed a more direct approach they heated the dead bodies over a fire.

The elaborate process began by slicing open the knees, elbows, feet, and other joints. Hollow bamboo poles were then inserted in the slits, as well as the stomach of the body to evacuate its contents. The bodies were then smoked for over a month until all bodily

fluids had dripped out of the numerous cuts made in the body, as well as through the bamboo tubes. This fluid was collected and massaged by the villagers over their own bodies, as a mean to transfer the power of the deceased to the living. Some articles claim that the left over fluid was used as cooking oil, which is not only gross and revolting but is also a lie.

Most of what’s known about the mummies is based on the exaggerated tales of one British explorer named Charles Higginson, who was the first person to document a report on the smoked corpses in 1907. It was Charles Higginson who described the Anga as bloodthirsty savages who greedily lapped up the entrails of their own kin during the smoking

process. “But if that was the case,” reasonsIan Lloyd Neubauer, who travelled to this part of Papua New Guinea and spoke to the people there, “then why didn't the Anga make a meal of Higginson, a lone and defenceless foreigner living in their midst?”.

After the body was smoked and dried, it was covered with ocher, a claylike form of iron oxide, to protect the mummifying remains from scavengers and the elements. Even in the sweltering

conditions of Papua New Guinea, which normally accelerate the decomposition of corpses, the process worked remarkably well.

Mummification came to an end in 1949 when missionaries took firm root in Aseki. The remaining mummies are now carefully preserved by villagers who periodically perform restoration work whenever a limb of a mummy droops or looks like it would fall off. Supports to body parts would be added, and heated sap from local trees would

be used as glue. They would also touch up the ocher clay.

Anga mummies can be found in several villages of Papua New Guinea's Aseki District. Incidentally, the Anga tribes weren’t the only people who smoked their dead. 

This type of mummification was also practiced by the Philippians in the town of Kabayan. They are known as Kabayan Mummies or Fire Mummies.

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