Fantastic Places and Where to Find Them

Travel and Photography by Daniel Burton ©

[fantasticplaces]

12: Santa Catarina Palopó, Lake Atitlán, Guatemala

New year’s day 2018 on the shores of Lake Atitlán in the Sierra Madre mountain range of southwestern Guatemala brings in the colours of the dawn. Atitlán means "at the water" in Nahuatl, but it’s the three volcanos (Atitlán, San Pedro and Toliman) which steal the show. Von Humboldt named it "the most beautiful lake in the world” and Aldous Huxley said it surpassed Lake Como as touching the limit of permissibly picturesque. It’s hard to disagree, especially from the pier at Santa Catarina Palopó.

[fantasticplaces]

11: Golden Temple of Dambulla, Dambulla, Sri Lanka

The second and largest of Dambulla’s great cave temples is known as the Maharaja lena or Cave of the Great Kings. In amongst the 16 standing and 40 seated Buddhas are statues of Hindu deities, all of which were dedicated by hallowed Sri Lankan kings. The tempera paintings on the ceiling depict scenes from Buddha's life, whilst a spring drips holy water from within the rock into a bronze receptacle by the dagoba - which in this case doubles up as a tripod. Taken in August 2017.

[fantasticplaces]

10: Koh Lipe, Thailand

This photograph is from January 2014 and features a distinctive longtail boat moored in shallow waters off the picturesque island of Koh Lipe. The island is located in the Adang-Rawi Archipelago of the Andaman Sea, in the Satun Province of southwest Thailand and is home to the Urak Lawoi' people, who are Aboriginal Malays known to the ethnic Thais as 'chao ley’ or sea gypsies. As at 2014, the island was unspoilt, but over-development threatens both the chao ley and Koh Lipe’s fragile ecology.

[fantasticplaces]

9: Château de Marqueyssac, Vézac, Dordogne, France

The gardens of Marqueyssac lie atop an escarpment overlooking the village of Vézac in the Dordogne Department of France. The gardens and château were built at the end of the 17th century. This photograph shows some of the 150,000 boxwood trees originally planted in the 1860s but which have been carefully restored by the current owner. The gardens are meticulously manicured and contain hidden puzzles and patterns, which are created when pruning the trees. Taken in the golden hour on 9 April 2017.

[fantasticplaces]

8: Mount Nyirangongo, Virunga National Park, Democratic Republic of Congo

In the small hours the mist hovering over Mount Nyiragongo's crater clears to reveal the world’s largest lava lake. The volcano, which lies in the Virunga National Park in the North Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of Congo, has erupted 34 times since 1882, often with disastrous effects on the nearby city of Goma. The bubbling lake is 300m in diameter and its heat can be felt at the upper rim, where visitors are rewarded after a six hour slog to the summit; it’s like looking into Hades.

[fantasticplaces]

7: Ahu Tongariki, Easter Island, Chile

The 15 moai of Tongariki are silhouetted in the light of a summer sunrise on the southeastern corner of Easter Island, Chile. The 220m long ahu was positioned by the Rapa Nui so that the sun rose directly above their ancestor statues on the summer solstice. Internecine warfare resulted in the toppling of the moai and a tsunami in 1960 swept the giant stones inland. The restoration was completed in 1996 and visitors can now stand in awe of the guardians of the Pacific as they welcome in the dawn.

[fantasticplaces]

6: The Giant's Causeway, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, UK

The Giant’s Causeway on the Antrim coast in Northern Ireland, UK, is a special place. The UNESCO site comprises 40,000 or so interlocking basalt columns which were created by an ancient volcanic eruption. The Irish name Clochán na bhFomhórach derives from Gaelic mythology, where the legendary giant Fionn mac Cumhaill fought his Scottish rival Benandonner and built a causeway between Ireland and the Scottish isle of Staffa so the two could meet. This photograph was taken at dawn on 21 July 2016.

[fantasticplaces]

5: Burj Khalifa, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

This long exposure was taken in November 2015 from the upper observation deck on the 155th floor of the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. At 555m the deck is not even close to the top of the building, which at 829.8m, is the tallest structure in the world. Dubai today is unrecognisable from its humble origins as a pearling village conveniently situated near Iran. The oil and post-oil era have transformed the emirate into a global metropolis, a business centre and an epitome of the modern Arabian peninsula.

[fantasticplaces]

4: Machu Picchu, Urubamba Province, Cusco Region, Peru

January heralds the start of the rainy season in Peru’s Urubamba Valley. The abandoned Inca citadel at Machu Picchu perches precipitously amidst the mountain peaks and overlooks the jungle below. The world’s fascination with the site has burned brightly since Hiram Bingham’s publicised ‘rediscovery’ in 1911, and it is instantly recognisable. After the rain cleared the crowds and the sun peeped through the clouds, then at last magisterial Machu Picchu presented itself in all its glory.

[fantasticplaces]

3: Jökulsárlón Beach, Eastern Region, Iceland

The black sand beach at Jökulsárlón, situated on the edge of the Vatnajökull National Park, is considered one of the natural wonders of Iceland. The nearby glacial lagoon contains myriad icebergs created by the retreat of the Breiðamerkurjökull glacier tongue. The icebergs float out of the lagoon into the Atlantic ocean and are washed up on the volcanic sand beach nearby. The result is a spectacular and ever changing vista, with the ice glittering like diamonds on the black shore.

[fantasticplaces]

2: Kinkaku-ji (Temple of the Golden Pavilion), Kyoto, Japan

The Zen Buddhist temple at Rokuon-ji in Kyoto, Japan, is known as Kinkaku-ji or the Temple of the Golden Pavilion. The top two stories of the pavilion are covered with pure gold leaf and it shimmers in the mirror pond below. Zen typology abounds, with every minute detail of the building and garden designed for aesthetic effect. Whilst the complex dates back to 1397, the current pavilion was rebuilt in 1955 after an arson attack. It is, however, a supremely peaceful and beautiful place.

[fantasticplaces]

1: Big Daddy, Sossusvlei, Namib-Naukluft National Park, Namibia

This photograph was taken in January 2016 and features my brother, Tom, at an apparent crossroads in his successful attempt to reach the summit of the infamous 'Big Daddy' dune in the Sossusvlei region of the Namib-Naukluft National Park in Namibia. Big Daddy is the highest dune in the region, at around 325m, and the early morning slog to its summit is on many hardy visitors' itinerary. The crossroads is, of course, illusory; he must go down to go up.