alepidote's User Profile - Atlas Obscura
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Kyoto, Japan

Kiyomizu-Dera Temple

A shrine contains nearly 200 statues of the Buddhist deity Jizo, dressed in bibs by parents who have lost a child.
Kyoto, Japan

Nishiki Market

This 700-year-old street food market features baby octopus and soy donuts.
Kyoto, Japan

Otagi Nenbutsu-ji

Twelve hundred stone carvings guard this off-the-beaten-path Buddhist temple.
Kyoto, Japan

Sagano Bamboo Forest

The sound of swaying stalks in this stunning grove has been named a governmentally recognized sound.
Nara, Japan

Tōdai-ji Daibutsuden (The Great Buddha Hall)

This massive wooden building contains a giant Buddha, healing pillars, and tame deer wandering the grounds.
Nara, Japan

Buddha's Nostril

Devoted Buddhists can earn enlightenment in the next life by crawling through this symbolic nostril.
San Francisco, California

San Francisco Columbarium

The restored and active Victorian-era final resting place of San Francisco.
Takehara, Japan

Okunoshima

Japanese island famous for poison gas and fluffy bunnies.
Porto, Portugal

Livraria Lello

One of the most beautiful bookstores in the world hides a neo-Gothic interior behind an art nouveau facade.
Portland, Oregon

International Rose Test Garden

10,000 flowered plants bloom in the City of Roses.
Kawazu, Japan

Kawazu Nanadaru Loop Bridge

An ingenious solution to a tricky engineering problem, this spiraling bridge takes drivers for a dizzying spin.
Sint Willibrordus, Curaçao

Williwood Sign

This tiny tropical village was sick of anonymity so the locals made this sign, which actually changed the name of the town.
Willemstad, Curaçao

The Abandoned Pietermaai Mansions

The mouldering manses of wealthy colonials still pock the streets of a Curaçao neighborhood.
Montreal, Québec

Standing wave at Habitat '67, Montreal

Futuristic apartment blocks are the backdrop for Montreal surfers hangin' ten on the Habitat '67 standing wave.
Amsterdam, Netherlands

Penis Fountain

Amsterdam's Red Light District leaves little to the imagination.
Logansport, Indiana

France Park

This former Indiana quarry has been transformed into a park and SCUBA site where divers can explore the drowned mining equipment.
Lisbon, Portugal

Rhinoceros of Belem Tower

A king's pet, a pope's gift, an artist's inspiration, and a tragic shipwreck.
Lisbon, Portugal

Santa Justa Lift

This Industrial Age architectural and engineering gem helps visitors and residents alike traverse Lisbon, “The City of Seven Hills.”
Sintra, Portugal

Pena National Palace

This unreal Portuguese palace looks as though it's made from a pile of different castles.
Amarillo, Texas

Cadillac Ranch

A sculpture made of 10 Cadillacs as a monument to the "Golden Age" of the American automobile.
Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

Old Faithful Geyser

One of nature's most well-scheduled phenomenons resides in Wyoming's Yellowstone National Park.
San Francisco, California

Golden Gate Park Bison

San Francisco's urban bison herd has persisted in the face of extinction, development, and disease.
San Francisco, California

Drawn Stone

Art in the form of a winding, man made crack in stone.
San Francisco, California

Defenestration

Furniture tries to escape an abandoned building in San Francisco.