ASTONISHING PLANET-----EPISODE#01

Episode#01

People always have urge to Land on moon, visit planets of Mars and Venus and exploring a new Universe. This quest of nature led them to the moon and the space. Mean while, the people of third world living a plain life not even aware of the astonishing and adventurous places other than what they have offered to watch in movies. Their life circulates about, for males, petrol prices to Pakistan team performance in WCT20 and for females, Kitchen to the Star plus Drama “Saas bhi Kabhi Bahu thi”. News bulletins add chilies to the wounds of depression. All what we need is Inspirations to get our self energized to fight against dramatic routine life. Now, the question is, from where we can get “Inspiration”? Does an instant Energy Drink really boost our energy instantly or dosage of anti depressant help us to get out of it? Inspirational quotations or stories might work up to some extent. After a thorough research, I come up with a solution. And the solution is Nature. We are living in a wonderful and astonishing planet. Once you start discovering, you will feel like a never ending journey of spiritual inspiration in an energized sea. Due to lack of resources, many of us may not find opportunity to visit physically but I have tried to compile a little data here. You might not find a sea to swim but at least know where to dive in. I will share my experience and provide you the “diving point references”; you can either explore further or share more of it with us. Note: from “diving point reference” I mean the astonishing place of the planet Earth which takes us to the sea of Inspiration.

1. GREAT BLUE HOLE- BELIZE:

The Great Blue Hole is ranked as number one on the list of "The 10 Most Amazing Places on Earth" by Discovery Channel in year 2012. It is a deep cave of limestone formed when the sea level was low. Formation of this vertical cave is resulted from natural process of rock weathering and quaternary glaciations, started to form about 150,000 years ago. The Great Blue Hole is a paradise for scuba divers. The circular hole of 300m diameter and 125m deep is located 70km off the coast of Belize on a lighthouse reef. Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System is declared as World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1996. The hole is submerged with crystal clear water and due to its depth it appears dark blue as compare to surrounding water which is less deep and shows turquoise color. The turquoise color water is surrounded by dense rain forest of mosses and ferns. Myriad species of marine life including tropical fish and spectacular coral formations can be seen there. These species includes Caribbean reef shark, nurse shark, bull shark, black tip shark, hammerheads and parrotfish. Blue Hole is discovered by French marine explorer Jacques Cousteau in 1971. Scientist relates a theory of Mayan’s (Mesoamerican) declination with it. Analysis shows that the water at the depth of hole contains aluminum and titanium which are result of drought and heavy rain fall in the region which has wiped out the civilization of Mayan. This theory is still under discussion.

Image

2. HOT SPRING POOL OF BLOOD-JAPAN:

Japanese Island Kyushu is famous for its nine hells. Most astonishing one is Red Pool of Blood located in the town of Beppu. Japanese word for hell is “Jigoku” (18 layers of hell), so the place is known as “Beppu Jigoku. The red color of the pool is because of the presence of iron oxide, sulfur and alum in high concentration. Pool is look like boiling plasma at average temperature of ±90⁰. Heat gets more severe in summer and sizzling red steam affects the nearby areas. Color of the pool varies at different locations and time because of varying concentration of iron acids and salts. Pool is known to be in history since 8^th century. Bus and train facilities are provided for tourist for taking a Trip to Hell. Pudding and other foods cooked in pool’s steam are served to the visitors of Beppu Jigoku. Soil enriches with iron salts is used as an ointment for skin diseases and foot treatment of athlete. Resort is declared as International Spa and Cultural City in 1950.

Image

3. GIPPSLAND LAKE- AUSTRALIA:

Gippsland Lake is famous for its bioluminescence water. It is actually a network of lakes fed by rivers. The lake system consists of three magnificent lakes- Lake King, Lake Victoria and Lake Wellington served by Avon, Mitchells, Tambo, Thomson and Nicholson Rivers. There is long story behind the luminescence of the lake. It was a huge bush fire started in Victoria in December, 2006. Due to dry season of autumn fire continues for several days and burnt a vast area. The heavy rain fall of winter 2007 washed the ashes in to the rivers. This increase the nitrogen contents of the river. Further the warmness of summer season allowed rapid growth of micro organism in water. This alga differs from normal green algae Synechococcus and scientist named it as Notiluca Scintillans. The algae Notiluca Scintillans looks dull red in day light, while it shines at night. Lake hosts rare species of marine life including humpback whales, bottle nose dolphins and Burrunan dolphin. Also it is home for bird migrated from Siberia and Alaska and recognized as Important Bird Area (IBA) by Bird Life International.

Image

4. DERVAZA CRATER- TUKMENISTAN:

Dervaza Crater or the Door to Hell is a hole of 69m wide and 30m deep burning since 1971. Different theories are there about formation of this crater. The locals called it result of a natural collapse of ground enrich with natural gas. The popular story is the digging of barren dessert by geologists in search of natural oil, but they came up with huge emission of natural gas. Since the set up was not ready for extraction and purification of gas, and toxic gases would harm the surrounding, so scientist decided to burn it. Scientifically this process is known as flaring. Soviet Engineers underestimated that it would burn in few days or week but the high pressure emission of gas continues the fire since last four decades. On an expedition in November 2013, George Kuorounis was set out to the first person to land on this burning hell. He was supported by a team of riggers and funded by National Geographic. Kuorounis shared his experience in a program series “Dye Trying” on National Geographic Channel. The recorded temperature of the hell was about 1000⁰C, still there was no smoke inside. Kuorounis found presence of bio organism in the soil sample. Scientists are working on the mystery of life presence in such a scorching environment.

Image

5. SHIMSHAL LAKE- PAKISTAN:

Shimshal lake is located at Hunza , Pakistan. It is the only heart shaped lake in the world. After the hard work of cutting mountains and road work completion by engineers in 90’s, this valley got connection with other town. Shimshal Lake is supposed to be discovered in 2003. Many folk stories are related with this mesmerizing lake between the ices Tops Mountains and glaciers. It is 3100m above the sea level with a population mere in hundreds. Shimshal attract tourist due to it adventurous glaciers riding.