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Thirteen articles / blog posts that wowed me. These are articles/posts I've read that have stayed with me, long after I read them. They prove that humanity can be both amazing and awful, hopeful and hopeless, but never, ever dull. I hope you find some of these as interesting as I did.
1. A Trove Of 1920S Report Cards and the Stories They Tell.
This is an article about a man who found a collection of report cards from a 1920's girl's trade school. It is truly an amazing story, peppered with photographs, and it was the first ever article I read on Slate. (Which I now follow.) I think I found the link to this originally on Random_Lounge on journalfen.net.
2. The Paris Time Capsule Apartment.
My friend Spook first linked me to this. In an amazing discovery, the heirs of a Parisian socialite who were her beneficiaries when she passed away, found a locked apartment in the heart of Paris that hadn't been touched in decades, making it a museum of society from when it was last lived in - in World War Two. The owner locked it up, went to the south of France, and never returned.
3. The True Story of M. Butterfly; The Spy Who Fell in Love With a Shadow.
This is one of those epic reports that sucks you in like a good thriller novel and keeps you hooked up until the very last line. A mixture of tragedy and history, this is the true story that inspired the play M. Butterfly.
4. Paris Catacombs.
My love of abandoned places and urbex (urban exploration) began with learning about the catacombs beneath Paris - not the state sanctioned museum that is a reliquary, but the catacombs that date back to Roman times. This is one of the best and most engaging articles about those catacombs.
5. Varosha, the Forgotten Part of Famagusta
Varosha was, once upon a time, once of the most popular resorts in the Mediteranean. Then Turkey invaded Cyprus and this part of the island has been closed to everyone except the military since 1974.
6. Of Tombs, Traps and the Intrepid.
A look at the murky world of Chinese grave robbers - stealing historical artefacts to sell on the black market.
7. Battleship Island: Japan's Rotting Metropolis.
Hashima Island was a place I first encountered on Vimeo, when I was looking for something entirely unrelated to urbex or abandonment, and then I was fascinated. The island is a former coal mining facility owned by Mitsubishi Motors, it was once the most densely populated place on earth, packing over 13,000 people into each square kilometre of its residential high-risers. It operated from 1887 until 1974. This is an amazing article with fantastic photos about the place.
8. The Haunted Pod Village of San-Zhi and San-Zhi UFO Houses Are Destroyed.
These houses have always gotten the "OMG COOL" reaction from me. I think they're awesome, and it's such a shame they were demolished in 2009. These two articles are wonderful, one before and one after the demolition, capturing the mythology and the history of the place.
9. The Kogen Hotel.
Reputedly haunted, the Kogen Hotel is one of the largest Haikyo in Japan. Haikyo are abandoned places and this blog has so many awesome pages, with photographs, travel stories and histories, you can easily lose a day reading. If you're interested in Japan's history and culture or abandoned places and urbex, you'll find this a fascinating collection of writing. Includes such locations as love hotels, Nara Dreamland, Russia Land, Gulliver's Travels Land, and other wonders.
10. 36 Hours in North Korea Without a Guide.
So two young men from Austria hop on a train and take a route not usually used by Western travellers to enter North Korea. This blog is their trip report. And it is *fascinating*. Full of photos, detailed stories and impressions, it's hard not to be impressed (and amazed they didn't get into trouble!).
11. Afghan Cameleers in Australia.
This is the story of the first cameleers in Australia - Afghanis and their animals and the long distances they travelled across the Australian Desert.
12. One Year in Asia.
The blog of one guy and his bicycle as he rides across Asia. Fascinating tales and beautiful photographs.
13. Roman Jewellry Found in Ancient Japan.
I love this little post simply because it shows that a/ the Romans really did go everywhere, man, and b/ that there was contact between east and west long before Marco Polo did his thing.
1. A Trove Of 1920S Report Cards and the Stories They Tell.
This is an article about a man who found a collection of report cards from a 1920's girl's trade school. It is truly an amazing story, peppered with photographs, and it was the first ever article I read on Slate. (Which I now follow.) I think I found the link to this originally on Random_Lounge on journalfen.net.
2. The Paris Time Capsule Apartment.
My friend Spook first linked me to this. In an amazing discovery, the heirs of a Parisian socialite who were her beneficiaries when she passed away, found a locked apartment in the heart of Paris that hadn't been touched in decades, making it a museum of society from when it was last lived in - in World War Two. The owner locked it up, went to the south of France, and never returned.
3. The True Story of M. Butterfly; The Spy Who Fell in Love With a Shadow.
This is one of those epic reports that sucks you in like a good thriller novel and keeps you hooked up until the very last line. A mixture of tragedy and history, this is the true story that inspired the play M. Butterfly.
4. Paris Catacombs.
My love of abandoned places and urbex (urban exploration) began with learning about the catacombs beneath Paris - not the state sanctioned museum that is a reliquary, but the catacombs that date back to Roman times. This is one of the best and most engaging articles about those catacombs.
5. Varosha, the Forgotten Part of Famagusta
Varosha was, once upon a time, once of the most popular resorts in the Mediteranean. Then Turkey invaded Cyprus and this part of the island has been closed to everyone except the military since 1974.
6. Of Tombs, Traps and the Intrepid.
A look at the murky world of Chinese grave robbers - stealing historical artefacts to sell on the black market.
7. Battleship Island: Japan's Rotting Metropolis.
Hashima Island was a place I first encountered on Vimeo, when I was looking for something entirely unrelated to urbex or abandonment, and then I was fascinated. The island is a former coal mining facility owned by Mitsubishi Motors, it was once the most densely populated place on earth, packing over 13,000 people into each square kilometre of its residential high-risers. It operated from 1887 until 1974. This is an amazing article with fantastic photos about the place.
8. The Haunted Pod Village of San-Zhi and San-Zhi UFO Houses Are Destroyed.
These houses have always gotten the "OMG COOL" reaction from me. I think they're awesome, and it's such a shame they were demolished in 2009. These two articles are wonderful, one before and one after the demolition, capturing the mythology and the history of the place.
9. The Kogen Hotel.
Reputedly haunted, the Kogen Hotel is one of the largest Haikyo in Japan. Haikyo are abandoned places and this blog has so many awesome pages, with photographs, travel stories and histories, you can easily lose a day reading. If you're interested in Japan's history and culture or abandoned places and urbex, you'll find this a fascinating collection of writing. Includes such locations as love hotels, Nara Dreamland, Russia Land, Gulliver's Travels Land, and other wonders.
10. 36 Hours in North Korea Without a Guide.
So two young men from Austria hop on a train and take a route not usually used by Western travellers to enter North Korea. This blog is their trip report. And it is *fascinating*. Full of photos, detailed stories and impressions, it's hard not to be impressed (and amazed they didn't get into trouble!).
11. Afghan Cameleers in Australia.
This is the story of the first cameleers in Australia - Afghanis and their animals and the long distances they travelled across the Australian Desert.
12. One Year in Asia.
The blog of one guy and his bicycle as he rides across Asia. Fascinating tales and beautiful photographs.
13. Roman Jewellry Found in Ancient Japan.
I love this little post simply because it shows that a/ the Romans really did go everywhere, man, and b/ that there was contact between east and west long before Marco Polo did his thing.
