11 Most Bizarre Border Crossings Around The World

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Image: Frontex
For many, crossing a border conjures images of border personnel with stern expressions and gun belts, paperwork, questions, long lines and maybe sweaty palms. But borders can also be green, beautiful, informative and friendly – unusual, to say the least. It is also truly amazing where one can find border crossings, so follow us on a tour of astounding checkpoints around the mountains, deserts, seas and cities of the world.

Tunnel border crossings

The Rainbow Coloured Skies of India

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Image: Naveen Gujje
India is for many a country of contrasts, extremes and in recent years, upswing. In fact, India Shining was the political slogan with which India started the first decade of the new millennium. Without doubt, it has always been a country of colours so, inspired by last week’s article on rainbows, we’ve arranged stunning pictures of Indian moodscapes according to the rainbow spectrum. Put on some A.R. Rahman, Cat Stevens/Yusuf Islam or even Lucky Ali and follow us on an Indian tour de rang…

San Francisco From Above

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Image: Jitze Couperus
Alcatraz, the Bay Bridge, Coit Tower, downtown, Fisherman’s Wharf… the sights of San Francisco are numerous. All the more fun is spotting them from above because they tend to look oh-so-different from a bird’s eye perspective. But see for youself and join us on our musical tour of “I Spy….” San Francisco.
San Francisco is the fourth most populous city in California, and the whole of the San Francisco Bay Area is home to more than seven million people. During the gold rush of the 19th century, the city was literally a “Golden Gate” for many adventurous fortune seekers. Though its old name Yerba Buena (from the Spanish hierba buena, the “good herb”) was changed in 1847 after the Mexican-American war, the term still has a valid (yet different) meaning for many today.

10 Beautiful Yet Deadly Mega Metropolises

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Image via UCAR
Any city with a few million inhabitants is bound to have problems: population, pollution, transportation, water quality, sanitation, crime, natural disasters – you name it. A mega metropolis with a population of 10 or even 20 million will have massive ones especially if it is disadvantaged due to geographic location. Seriously, would you want to be the mayor of one of the world’s biggest cities? Let’s take a look at ten of these mega metros around the world and see what’s bothering them most.
Many institutes and non-profit organisations such as the Blacksmith Institute, Mercer Human Resource Consulting and the World Health Organization keep track of pollution and “dirtiest cities” around the world. We have taken their lists and results into account and cities like Bogota, Karachi, Manila, Mumbai and Sao Paulo and even London, Paris, Athens, New York, Los Angeles and others were strong contenders. However, our focus was on global cities and one major problem that overshadowed others. So, without further ado, our list of Ten Deadliest Mega Metros in alphabetical order.

Paris Evolving Under the Gaze of Notre Dame's Gargoyles

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Photo: Florian Siebeck
They sit perched atop dizzying heights, often unnoticed by human eyes but ever watchful of our movements. They have outlived us by centuries and under their gaze the story of a city's sins and changing face can be told. The gargoyles of the famous Notre Dame Cathedral – half man, half beast – preside over Paris, and have done so since the medieval era. To them, whole generations pass in the blink of a stony eye.
Notre Dame gargoyle, date unknown