Hashima is one of the most remarkable of a series of hundreds of deserted Japanese islands. Once a thriving coal-mining city its population density grew to be the highest on the planet, with workers crammed vertically in ever-growing buildings and walked daily through ever-narrowing streets. Following a drop in coal production the entirely island amazingly shut down though most of its structures still stand. Currently the island is being renovated to create safe tourist paths through the rubble and tilting buildings but for now daring (and illegal) exploration is possible only by hiring a willing private boat driver to take a look.

Abandoned Town of Centralia, Pennsylvania

No list of abandoned cities and deserted towns can be complete without some discussion of one of the strangest and most infamous example: Centralia. This once-thriving town had a mine fire decades ago … but it never went out. Warning signs that something was still wrong included: smoking highways, heated underwater gas tanks and person-swallowing sinkholes. Over time most of the town’s residents have moved on though a few insist on staying despite the slowly-spreading and still-burning fire that creeps below.

Abandoned Flooded City of Quabbin, Massachusetts

The Quabbin Reservoir is the now the largest body of water in Massachusetts. However, the area it now occupies once had four small towns and a network of roads and rail tracks running through it – all of which were flooded or displaced by the filling of the area with water. While some public structures, memorials and graves were moved out of the way many still sit today at the bottom of this body of water. Some nearby structures sit above the waterline but were abandoned without the adjacent buildings that sustained their use.

If you’re thinking about holiday’s destination you should definitely consider French Polynesia. It’s a place you have to visit at least once in a lifetime. So here you go, amazing photos from an amazing place.

Burj Al Arab is the tallest hotel in the world (321 meters or 1,053 ft) and characterizes itself as the world’s only “7-star” property. It was built in 1999 and resembles the sail of a boat. The hotel cost $650 million to build. The cost of staying in a suite begins at $1,000 per night; the Royal Suite is the most expensive, at $28,000 per night.

Imagine yourself falling asleep after paying $28,000.


Burj Al Arab also has a helipad. And the most amazing thing that it can be used as a tennis-court! Check this out:

The largest and most famous construction project currently taking place in Dubai is of course the Burj Dubai. Opening in 2009, the Burj Dubai is a super duper tall skyscraper set to be the tallest in the world (818 meters or 2,684 ft). Currently it is the tallest man-made structure on Earth but Burj Dubai will not officially gain the title of tallest building in the world until its completion in 2009.

The total budget for the Burj Dubai project is about US$4.1 billion and the price of office space had reached $4,000 per sq ft.

Just look at this lovely view from Burj Dubai.

The World is a man-made archipelago of 300 islands constructed in the shape of a world map. It can be also seen from space. The overall development cost of The World was estimated as 14 billion USD. The prices of individual islands range between 15 and 50 million USD.

The islands were created from sand dredged from the sea.

P.S. One island is still for sale at a price of 250 million USD (at the time of writing this).

Wafi City is a mixed-use complex which includes a mall, hotel, restaurants, residences, and a nightclub. The “city” is styled after Ancient Egypt. There you can find columns reminiscent of Karnak, small pyramids, and images of pharaohs.

Of course many of you know Palm Jumeirah as an international icon, but actually it was created help solve Dubai’s beach shortage. The Ruler of Dubai, HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum drew a sketch of a palm tree and realized its fronds could provide more beach frontage than a traditional circular island. So the idea of Palm Jumeirah was born.

There is going to be 3 Palm Islands (the project will result in the world’s largest artificial islands). They will have a large number of residential, leisure and entertainment centers.

Below we can see some nice pictures of the first island (Palm Jumeirah).

The island itself is 5 kilometers by 5 kilometers and will create 4,000 residences.

It would be awesome to live in that place – beautiful view from a window, sand and a sea.

Atlantis, The Palm is a 1,539 room, ocean-themed destination resort located at the centre of the crescent of the man-made Palm Jumeirah in Dubai. The hotel is enormous and there are rumors that rooms above the arch will go for $10000 a night when it opens. The overall price of the project is US$1.5 billion.

Opening in September 2008, the resort will have 17 hectares of water park amusement, further marine and entertainment attractions and a collection of some of the most renowned world-class chefs. It will also have largest open-air marine habitats in the world, with 65,000 marine animals in lagoons and displays including The Lost Chambers, a maze of underwater corridors and passageways providing a journey through ancient Atlantis.

And a couple of years ago this was just sea…