Buddhist monasteries are usually located in remote places far from the hub-bub of cities and towns. It takes more than a mild determination to reach them, but some of these are decidedly inaccessible. The idea is to keep all but only the most dedicated followers from reaching these holy places, while they also make the monks feel like they were closer to God in a place of peace and solitude. Today, however, most of these monasteries are tourist attractions and in favor of the tourists, several accessible methods like ropeways and stairs have been added. They still look formidable and require hundreds of meters of vertical trekking.

Monasteries of Meteora, Greece

The Metéora (Greek for “suspended in the air” or “in the heavens above”) is a group of six monasteries and one of the largest and most important complexes of Eastern Orthodox monasteries in Greece. The six monasteries, built on natural sandstone rock pillars, are one of the most powerful examples of the architectural transformation of a site into a place of retreat, meditation and prayer.

 

 

The monasteries are built on rock pinnacles of deltaic origin, known as Meteora, which rise starkly over 400 m above the Peneas valley and the small town of Kalambaka on the Thessalian plain. During the fearsome time of political instability in 14th century the monasteries were systematically built on top of the inaccessible peaks so that by the end of the 15th century there were 24 of them. They continued to flourish until the 17th century. Today, only four monasteries – Aghios Stephanos, Aghia Trias, Varlaam and Meteoron – still house religious communities.

Access to the monasteries was originally and deliberately difficult, requiring either long ladders lashed together or large nets used to haul up both goods and people. This required quite a leap of faith – the ropes were replaced, so the story goes, only “when the Lord let them break”. In the 1920s there was an improvement in the arrangements. Steps were cut into the rock, making the complex accessible via a bridge from the nearby plateau.

 

 

 

Taung Kalat Monastery, Burma

The monastery of Taung Kalat is located on a top of a volcanic plug that rises 737 meters from the surrounding in central Burma (Myanmar) about 50 km southeast of Bagan, and near the extinct volcano Mount Popa. The monastery can be accessed by exactly 777 steps and those who reach the top are rewarded by a spectacular view.

To the north-west opens a view to distant temples of Bagan, and to the east is towering the forested Taung Ma-gyi summit. There is a big caldera, 610 metres wide and 914 metres in depth so that from different directions the mountain takes different forms with more than one peak. Many Macaque monkeys live here that have become a tourist attraction on Taung Kalat.

 

 

 

Taktsang Palphug Monastery, Bhutan

Taktshang monastery, also known as The Tiger’s Nest, is located on a precipitous cliff about 900 metres above the Paro valley, in Bhutan. The rock slopes are very steep – almost vertical – and the monastery buildings are built into the rock face. Though it looks formidable, the monastery complex has access from several directions, such as the northwest path through the forest, from the south along the path used by devotees, and from the north. A mule track leading to it passes through pine forest that is colourfully festooned with moss and prayer flags. On many days, clouds shroud the monastery and give an eerie feeling of remoteness.

 

 

 

Sümela Monastery

The Sumela Monastery is built into the rock cliffs of the Altmdere Valley in Turkey. At an altitude of about 1,200 metres it is a major tourist attraction of Altındere National Park.

The monastery was founded in 386 AD during the reign of the Emperor Theodosius I (375 – 395). Legend has it that two priests undertook its creation after discovering a miraculous icon of the Virgin Mary in a cave on the mountain. During its long history, the monastery fell into ruin several times and was restored by various emperors. It reached its present form in the 13th century after gaining prominence during the reign of Alexios III.

The monastery was abandoned after World War I and the start of the population exchanges between Greece and Turkey that forced some 2 million ethnic Greeks and Turks to leave their long-established communities in Turkey or Greece and return to their ethnic homelands. It lay empty for decades before being partially restored and returned to life as a museum.

 

 

 

 

Hanging Monastery, China

The Hanging Monastery or Hanging Temple is located in a canyon at the foot of the Mountain Heng in the province of Shanxi, China. The temple is built into the cliff side about 75 meter above the ground, and stands propped up by hidden rocks corridor and wooden beams inserted into the mountain. Over 40 halls, cabinets and pavilions within an area of 152.5 square meters are connected each other by corridors, bridges and boardwalks. They are evenly distributed and well balanced in height. Inside the temple are more than 80 bronze cast statues, iron cast statues, and clay sculptured statues and stone carvings banded down from different dynasties.

The temple was build to avoid the terrible flood, and use the mountain as protection from rain, snow and sunshine. Today, it is one of the main tourist attractions and historical sites in the Datong area.

 

 

Iron Mountain Inc. is an enterprise information management services company founded in 1951 and headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. Its records management, information destruction, and data backup and recovery services are supplied to more than 156,000 customers throughout North America, Europe, Latin America, and Asia.

The Iron Mountain storage facility is a high-security storage facility in a former limestone mine at Boyers, Pennsylvania, near the city of Butler in the United States.

It began storing records in 1954 and was purchased by Iron Mountain in 1998. It is here that Bill Gates stores his Corbis photographic collection in a refrigerated cave 220 feet (67 m) underground. Nearby, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management leases another underground cavern to store, and process government employee retirement papers.

Located inside a cavernous former limestone mine in rural Boyers, the underground, climate-controlled, 1.9 million square-foot facility houses some of the world’s most valuable information, including data centers, government archives — and notably, the Bill Gates-owned Corbis Image Collection. Hollywood’s major motion-picture studios also send original film reels to the facility — away from the threat of California’s earthquakes and wildfires — for safekeeping.

Iron Mountain also boasts an underground lake fed by a natural spring that is used for cooling the data centers, as well as drinking water for its 2,200 employees. The facility also supplies its own fire trucks, should flames ever break out. There’s also a high-tech studio for digitizing and editing media. While we’re not allowed to spill the beans on what all is stored there (Iron Mountain keeps its customers’ information confidential), we can reveal that the facility’s locked, numbered vaults contain original films from a bevy of blockbuster and classic movies, as well as sound recordings from some of the biggest names in the music industry.

The conspiracy theorists have a field day with these high-security underground facilities. They claim UFO space ships and space alien communities are housed in these facilities. If you are prone to outrageous conspiracies these underground secret facilities must make your mouth water.

What a bizarre place to work.

The changing skyline. The Hudson Yards development will add 5 huge new skyscrapers to the skyline. The main tower will be 30 Hudson Yard. It will have one of the most spectacular outdoor observation decks in the world. The building is scheduled for completion in 2019.

Heights don’t scare some people. Is that guy wearing yoga pants?

In the United States, and the western world for the most part, if a person is very intelligent, ambitious, is a workaholic and has a burning desire to make tons of money, opulence can be achieved.  A person can make many millions of dollars, or for that matter billions of dollars.  What to do with all that wealth.  The sky is the limit, i.e. private jets. But back on earth one can build or buy outrageously ostentatious mansions.

The mansion below is listed at 41 million dollars. It is 13,200 square feet and has everything a Saudi prince would desire.

  

A lap pool that runs around half of the house.

Glass walled garage

This is nuts!

The ramp leading up to a courtyard and the garage.

Beverly Hills, Oh my!

 

The Transamerica Pyramid is the tallest skyscraper in the San Francisco skyline. Its height is surpassed by Salesforce Tower, currently under construction. The building no longer houses the headquarters of the Transamerica Corporation, which moved its U.S. headquarters to Baltimore, Maryland, but it is still associated with the company and is depicted in the company’s logo. Designed by architect William Pereira and built by Hathaway Dinwiddie Construction Company, at 853 ft (260 m), on completion in 1972 it was the eighth tallest building in the world.

Building facts:

There are 48 floors, 15 passenger elevators, 3 freight elevators, and 3,678 windows.

Because of the shape of the building, the majority of the windows can pivot 360 degrees so they can be washed from the inside.

The decorative aluminum spire at the top is 212-feet tall – roughly 20 stories.

The spire is actually hollow and lined with a 100-foot steel stairway at a 60 degree angle, followed by two steel ladders.

 

The conference room (with 360 degree views of the city) is located on the 48th floor and can be booked for $400-600 dollars…an hour.

The building is covered in crushed white quartz, giving it its pure white color.

It takes 18,000 work hours to get “brightened” every 10 years, last occurring in 2007.

The building is a tall, four-sided pyramid with two “wings” to accommodate an elevator shaft on the east and a stairwell and a smoke tower on the west.