7 places where nature defeated civilization
1. Houtouwan Village, China
After being abandoned by the fishermen who lived in them, the houses of this Chinese island were transformed into green spaces by nature.
2. Kolmanskop, Namibia
Diamond mining made this African city frantically develop in the early 20th century, but after the ore was depleted in the 1950s, job opportunities eventually shifted. This caused the uninhabited place to be swallowed up by the desert sands.
3. Ta Prohm, Cambodia
Between the 9th and 12th centuries, most of Southeast Asia was dominated by the Khmer Empire, which erected pharaonic sacred buildings, such as the Angkor Wat temple. But in addition to it, there is another building in the Khmer architectural complex that catches the eye: Ta Prohm, which is filled with trees growing inside and outside its ruins. The temple was one of the backdrops of the movie "Lara Croft: Tomb Raider" starring Angelina Jolie and released in 2001.
4. Ross Island, India
Like Cambodia's Ta Prohm temple, the buildings on this Indian island are also being regenerated by vegetation. But in this case, the occupation of nature began only in the 1940s, when the island was abandoned by its residents after being devastated by an earthquake and invaded by the Japanese.
5. Pripyat, in Ukraine
This was one of the cities near the Chernobyl plant that, after the nuclear accident, needed to be completely evacuated. After its nearly 50, 000 inhabitants left it, it was populated by wolves, wild horses, wild boars and beavers.
6. Vila Epecuén, Argentina
The salty waters of Lake Epecuén attracted tens of thousands of tourists from the Argentine capital in high season. But in 1985, the trendy destination made headlines tragically: after a rainy winter, the water level in the lake rose by 10 meters, forcing the locals and shopkeepers to flee their homes in a hurry. Nowadays, after the water has dropped, you can see the bleak scenery left by the devastation.
7. SS Ayrfield, Australia
For many years, Homebush Bay in Sydney, Australia was used as a sort of industrial waste disposal - which also included unused ships. One of the vessels, called the SS Ayrfield, was brought there to be dismantled, but for some unknown reason they gave up submerging it. What has happened is that, after more than four decades of floating, it has become a floating forest and reveals the amazing ability of nature to regenerate the most unusual spaces.
* Posted on 7/26/2016
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