A wise man once taught me, always have a contingency plan.

Abraham Lincoln

History prefers legends to men; it prefers Nobility to Brutality,

Soaring speeches to quite deeds.  

History remembers the battle and forgets the blood.

However history remember need for does it all; it shall long remember a fraction of truth.

By 

Abraham Lincoln

ANCIENT UNDERWATER CITIES

ANCIENT UNDERWATER CITIES

Ancient Japanese Underwater Pyramids The island of Yonaguni, near Okinawa, Japan has long been a favorite diving spot for swimmers try to get a glance of the numerous hammerhead sharks that swim there. However, in 1995 underwater explorer Kihachirou Aratake found a very large, strange structure under the water. Lying about 60 feet deep, the structure appeared to be man-made. Large steps could be seen, blocks of rock cut at right angles and smoothed. The discovery would send shock waves through the archaeological world.   Japan's Underwater Pyramids or Ruins as they have become to be known are a mystery. In all, around eight sites have been discovered. There are certain features that are very hard to dismiss as natural occurrences. Such as a large, semi-circular structure that almost looks like a park bench. Then there is a large head which appears to have hair and a head dress carved into it. There are also numerous round holes carved into the rock, including some that look as though they were made to support large wooden poles. Again, these are just hard to dismiss, including this head with eyes carved out of it. As stated, the structures are lying on the seabed, around 60 to 100 feet below the surface. The last time that these areas were not covered by the ocean was between approximately 8 to 12 thousand years ago, during the last ice age when much of the sea was caught up in the ice caps. At the time Yonaguni formed a landbridge with Taiwan, leading many to speculate that the area is part of the lost continent of Mu, or Lemuria.

Cleopatra's Palace in Alexandria (Egypt) Off the shores of Alexandria, the city of Alexander the Great, lies what is believed to be the ruins of the royal quarters of Cleopatra. A team of marine archaeologists led by Frenchman Franck Goddio made excavation on this ancient city from where Cleopatra, the last queen of the Ptolemies, ruled Egypt. Historians believe this site was submerged by earthquakes and tidal waves more than 1,600 years ago. The excavations concentrated on the submerged island of Antirhodus. Cleopatra is said to have had a palace there. Other discoveries include a well-preserved shipwreck and red granite columns with Greek inscriptions. There were also founded two statues which were lifted out of the harbor. One was a priest of the goddess Isis; the other a sphinx whose face is said to represent Cleopatra's father, King Ptolemy XII. The artifacts were returned to their silent, because the Egyptian Government says it wants to leave most of them in place to create an underwater museum

2 HUGE UNDERWATER CITIES FOUND IN INDIA Lost city 'could rewrite history' The remains of what has been described as a huge lost city may force historians and archaeologists to radically reconsider their view of ancient human history. Marine scientists say archaeological remains discovered 36 meters (120 feet) underwater in the Gulf of Cambay off the western coast of India could be over 9,000 years old. The vast city - which is five miles long and two miles wide - is believed to predate the oldest known remains in the subcontinent by more than 5,000 years.  The site was discovered by chance last year by oceanographers from India's National Institute of Ocean Technology conducting a survey of pollution. Using sidescan sonar - which sends a beam of sound waves down to the bottom of the ocean they identified huge geometrical structures at a depth of 120ft. Debris recovered from the site - including construction material, pottery, sections of walls, beads, sculpture and human bones and teeth has been carbon dated and found to be nearly 9,500 years old.  Lost civilization  The city is believed to be even older than the ancient Harappan civilization, which dates back around 4,000 years. Marine archaeologists have used a technique known as sub-bottom profiling to show that the buildings remains stand on enormous foundations. Author and film-maker Graham Hancock - who has written extensively on the uncovering of ancient civilizations - told BBC News Online that the evidence was compelling: "The [oceanographers] found that they were dealing with two large blocks of apparently man made structures. "Cities on this scale are not known in the archaeological record until roughly 4,500 years ago when the first big cities begin to appear in Mesopotamia. "Nothing else on the scale of the underwater cities of Cambay is known. The first cities of the historical period are as far away from these cities as we are today from the pyramids of Egypt," he said.  Chronological problem  This, Mr Hancock told BBC News Online, could have massive repercussions for our view of the ancient world. "There's a huge chronological problem in this discovery. It means that the whole model of the origins of civilization with which archaeologists have been working will have to be remade from scratch," he said. However, archaeologist Justin Morris from the British Museum said more work would need to be undertaken before the site could be categorically said to belong to a 9,000 year old civilization. "Culturally speaking, in that part of the world there were no civilizations prior to about 2,500 BC. What's happening before then mainly consisted of small, village settlements," he told BBC News Online. Dr Morris added that artifacts from the site would need to be very carefully analyzed, and pointed out that the C14 carbon dating process is not without its error margins. It is believed that the area was submerged as ice caps melted at the end of the last ice age 9-10,000 years ago. The remains of what has been described as a huge lost city may force historians and archaeologists to radically reconsider their view of ancient human history. Marine scientists say archaeological remains discovered 36 metres (120 feet) underwater in the Gulf of Cambay off the western coast of India could be over 9,000 years old. The vast city - which is five miles long and two miles wide - is believed to predate the oldest known remains in the subcontinent by more than 5,000 years. The site was discovered by chance last year by oceanographers from India's National Institute of Ocean Technology conducting a survey of pollution. Using sidescan sonar - which sends a beam of sound waves down to the bottom of the ocean they identified huge geometrical structures at a depth of 120ft. Debris recovered from the site - including construction material, pottery, sections of walls, beads, sculpture and human bones and teeth has been carbon dated and found to be nearly 9,500 years old.  Lost civilisation The city is believed to be even older than the ancient Harappan civilisation, which dates back around 4,000 years. Marine archaeologists have used a technique known as sub-bottom profiling to show that the buildings remains stand on enormous foundations. The whole model of the origins of civilisation will have to be remade from scratch Graham Hancock Author and film-maker Graham Hancock - who has written extensively on the uncovering of ancient civilisations - told BBC News Online that the evidence was compelling: "The [oceanographers] found that they were dealing with two large blocks of apparently man made structures. "Cities on this scale are not known in the archaeological record until roughly 4,500 years ago when the first big cities begin to appear in Mesopotamia. "Nothing else on the scale of the underwater cities of Cambay is known. The first cities of the historical period are as far away from these cities as we are today from the pyramids of Egypt," he said. Chronological problem This, Mr Hancock told BBC News Online, could have massive repercussions for our view of the ancient world. Harappan remains have been found in India and Pakistan "There's a huge chronological problem in this discovery. It means that the whole model of the origins of civilisation with which archaeologists have been working will have to be remade from scratch," he said. However, archaeologist Justin Morris from the British Museum said more work would need to be undertaken before the site could be categorically said to belong to a 9,000 year old civilisation. "Culturally speaking, in that part of the world there were no civilisations prior to about 2,500 BC. What's happening before then mainly consisted of small, village settlements," he told BBC News Online. Dr Morris added that artefacts from the site would need to be very carefully analysed, and pointed out that the C14 carbon dating process is not without its error margins. It is believed that the area was submerged as ice caps melted at the end of the last ice age 9-10,000 years ago Although the first signs of a significant find came eight months ago, exploring the area has been extremely difficult because the remains lie in highly treacherous waters, with strong currents and rip tides. The Indian Minister for Human Resources and ocean development said a group had been formed to oversee further studies in the area. "We have to find out what happened then ... where and how this civilisation vanished," he said.

Dreamiest Destinations

Every Friday I post a new amazing destination for you to drool over on Facebook. For those of you who don'tfollow NETC on Facebook (shame on you) or for those who just may have missed them - enjoy the Dream Destinations of July.

Mt. Kelimutu, Indonesia

photo via
Mt. Kelimutu is a volcano on the island of Flores featuring three color-changing lakes. The lakes are all different colors and range from from blues, browns, reds and even black. The cause of the color change is thanks to subaqueous fumaroles (cracks in the earth's crust) and the chemical reactions that happen as a result.
Travel to the Asia


Jiuzhaigou Valley, China

photo via

Lovely lakes, majestic waterfalls and snow-capped peaks make up this part of the Min Shan mountain range. The site is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is among China's most famous scenic spots. 
Travel to China


Waiotapu Thermal Reserve at Rotorua, New Zealand

photo via

A self-proclaimed Thermal Wonderland features the famous champagne pool, sculpted out of thousands of years of volcanic activity. Between the pool, steaming ground and New Zealand's larger bubbling mud pool, this locale is a must see! 
Travel to New Zealand


Val di Funes, Italy

photo via

This quaint, lush valley at the foot of the Dolomites is a trekking paradise. Wander through the charming towns and enjoy the picturesque architecture while taking in the gorgeous snow capped mountains. 
Travel to Italy


Green Lake in Styria, Austria

photo via

This bizarre natural phenomena is a must see! Visit in the winter and hike through a beautiful country park OR visit in the summer and dive into the same park - courtesy of melted mountain tops. 

The Lakes of Mount Kelimutu, Indonesia

Kelimutu

Kelimutu ([kəliˈmutu]) is a volcano, close to the small town of Moni about 50 km to the east of Ende, Indonesia in central Flores Island of Indonesia.

Geological details

The volcano contains three striking summit crater lakes of varying colors. Tiwu Ata Mbupu (Lake of Old People) is usually blue and is the westernmost of the three lakes. The other two lakes, Tiwu Nuwa Muri Koo Fai (Lake of Young Men and Maidens) and Tiwu Ata Polo (Bewitched or Enchanted Lake) are separated by a shared crater wall and are typically green or red respectively. The lake colors vary on a periodic basis. Subaqueous fumaroles are the probable cause of active upwelling that occurs at the two eastern lakes.^[1]

The lakes have been a source of minor phreatic eruptions in historical time. The summit of the compound 1639-m-high Kelimutu volcano is elongated two km in a WNW-ESE direction; the older cones of Kelido and Kelibara are located respectively three km to the north and two km to the south. The scenic lakes are a popular tourist destination.^[2]

Kelimutu is also of interest to geologists because the three lakes are different colors yet are at the crest of the same volcano.^[3] According to the local officer at Kelimutu National Park, the colour changes as a result of chemical reactions resulting from the minerals contained in the lake perhaps triggered by volcano gas activity.^[4] Kawah Putih lake in West Java, south of Bandung, is another crater lake in Indonesia with some similarities to the lakes at Kelimutu.

Tourism

In the early days of developing the local national park in the Kelimutu area, there were some disputes with local communities over the use of the resources. More recently, forest rangers have worked to develop better relations with nearby village communities and overall management has improved.^[5]

Kelimutu is one of the mountains listed as a ribu in Indonesia which are mountains in Indonesia which are more than 1,000 meters high.

The area is said to have begun to attract attention after being noticed by the a regional Dutch military commander, B. van Suchtelen in 1915 and became more well-known after Y. Bouman wrote about the site in 1929.^[6]

The closest airports are Maumere, and Ende. There are regular flights to Maumere from Bali. The drive from Maumere to Moni, the town at the base of Kelimutu where accommodation is available, takes about 3 hours.

Gallery

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  Tiwu Nuwa Muri Koo Fai (Lake of Young Men and Maidens) and Tiwu Ata Polo (Bewitched, or Enchanted Lake)
 
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  Tiwu Ata Mbupu (Lake of Old People)
 
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  The Keli Mutu lakes "Lake of Young Men and Maidens" and "Bewitched"
 
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