10. Kangbashi
This city in China is often referred to as a ghost town. Generally speaking, we think of ghost towns as old, abandoned places in the western desert that just didn’t make the cut as society began to mature. However, Kangbashi is an exception to this stereotype. The construction of this district began in 2004, and its purpose was to expand Ordos, a city with over two million inhabitants. Ordos is recognized for its significant government undertakings, including the Kangbashi District. When the addition was built, it didn’t house many residents. But, it was beautiful to look at. Its architecture is stunning, and it encompasses an opera house, an optimal museum, monumental government establishments, and a beautiful library. The designers even constructed the library to look like a tilted row of books, adding a modern vibe to the city.
However, there’s one thing missing from Kangbashi: people. This district was built fairly quickly, and there weren’t enough people living there initially to make it look populated. So, as people would drive by or visit Kangbashi, it often appeared to be abandoned, like something out of a post-apocalyptic movie. The town’s original plan was supposed to hold about five hundred thousand residents, but it was cut down by two hundred thousand when the economy forced construction to slow down. Despite the slow growth of Kangbashi, its population has increased over time. As of 2018, there were about two hundred thousand people living there.
9. Bali Airplane
Another oddly abandoned place is actually more of an item. However, that doesn’t make it any less strange. It is located in Bali near the southern coast. It’s easy to get to since it’s right off the highway and is basically out in the open. The mystery surrounding this airplane isn’t how it looks or where it is; it’s how the Boeing 737 got there. There are some stories about the plane, but nothing is certain. Some residents believe that it was supposed to be used as a restaurant for tourists and was abandoned after the owner faced financial hardships. Assuming the local gossip is true, the plane still fulfilled one of its purposes: tourism. The peculiarity of the Boeing 737 attracts people by itself.
8. Hachijo Royal Resort
This awe-inspiring hotel is located in Hachijo-jima, Japan. It was constructed in the 1960s when tourism rates were rising in the area. The resort was built in the French Baroque style and featured a lot of beautiful architectural details. There were lavish fountains and copies of Greek statues. The Hachijo Royal Resort was one of Japan’s most sizable hotels at the time and attracted mostly middle-class people. Eija (ay-ja) Yasuda, the company’s president, even had a statue of himself and his horse built on the premises. However, this extravagant getaway began crumbling just thirty years after its creation as the tourism rates began to drop. People were more interested in going to places like Hawaii and Thailand instead of Hachijo-jima Island. The owners attempted to regain clientele by renaming their resort, but it eventually failed. Hachijo Royal Resort officially closed in the mid-2000s. Nowadays, trees and other greenery have overgrown many of the hotel’s magnificent features, making it look like ruins in the jungle.
7. Floating Forest
You’d have to see it to believe it, but there is an abandoned ship in Sydney, Australia that is now home to its own forest. The boat, eventually known as the SS Ayrfield, was initially called the SS Corrimal and was constructed in 1911 in the United Kingdom. It weighed about one thousand one hundred forty tons and was registered as a steam collier in Sydney. Later on, the ship served as a supply transporter for US troops during the Second World War. In 1972, the SS Ayrfield was transported back to Sydney for dismantlement. However, the place that took ships apart stopped their operations, and many large boats were left behind. This ship is different from the others because it is the only one housing a tuft of trees on its upper deck. The abandoned vessel is also a tourist attraction and wonderful opportunity for photographers to capture surreal images.
6. New World Mall
When you walk into a mall, you expect to see stores, restaurants, escalators, and people. The last thing you plan on seeing is fish. But one mall in Bangkok had just that in the early 2010s. The structure was closed back in 1997, but it was only partially demolished. This was because several of the mall’s floors weren’t legally built. So, once the New World Mall was semi- taken down, it was left unprotected with no roof, and rain began flooding the building, leaving a pool of water on the bottom floor. Since the water attracted an immense amount of mosquitos, local vendors tried to come up with a way to rid the area of these blood-sucking pests. They brought fish to the mall in hopes of controlling the mosquito population. Since it became one of the world’s most interesting fisheries, it attracted tourists. However, Thailand’s government decided that the fish should be moved. About three thousand fish were removed from the New World Mall, including tilapia, catfish, and koi. They were given to the country’s Department of Fisheries and were eventually released into various ponds and lakes.
5. Nara Dreamland
This place in Japan looks like something out of Zombieland. However, this theme park wasn’t inspired by a post-apocalyptic film; it was inspired by the happiest place on Earth, Disneyland. A man named Kunizo Matsuo, CEO of the Matsuo Entertainment Company, visited the United States and took a trip to Disneyland in Anaheim in the 1950s. He was so impressed with the park that he wanted to build one in his home country. He met with Walt Disney and talked about his idea to bring the theme park to Nara, Japan’s capital at the time. As they were nearing the end of construction for the new attraction, Disney and Matsuo disagreed about licensing fees regarding the former’s famous cartoon characters. Eventually, Matsuo decided it was best to come up with original mascots. Nara Dreamland opened in 1961, and it had an uncanny resemblance to the Disneyland everyone knows and loves.
Some of its attractions were Main Street, U.S.A., Sleeping Beauty Castle, and a Train depot. The park became extremely popular because it meant that residents didn’t have to fly to the United States to experience the world of Disney. However, Disneyland opened a park in Tokyo in 1983. After Nara Dreamland’s numbers dwindled with the addition of Tokyo Disneyland, DisneySea, and Universal Studios Japan, the park closed its doors for good in 2006. It was abandoned for a decade before being demolished.
4. Les Tours De Merle
If you want to feel as though you’ve traveled back in time while taking in some beautiful scenery, then you should add the French Tours de Merle, or Towers of Merle, castle ruins to your buckets list. Back in the twelfth through fifteenth centuries, this crumbling structure served as a fortress. In fact, merle was home to a village, two chapels, and seven castles. However, England took one of the castles and towers in 1371 during the Hundred Years’ War. Decades of conflict eventually drove people out of the area, and the Towers of Merle were abandoned. In July 1927, this place was classified as a historical monument. Nowadays, the Towers of Merle attract tourists from all over the world. Since it’s located in the middle of a forest, traveling to this site offers an almost fairytale experience for visitors.
3. Kolmanskop
In another region of the world, there is another fascinating abandoned site. The Kolmanskop ghost town in Namibia was settled in 1908 after a German railway worker discovered a diamond in the area. Miners realized that this place had more to offer in the way of gemstones and decided to construct a small town. It encompassed a school, ballroom, power station, hospital, theater, and casino. It also had an ice factory, Africa’s first tram, and the southern hemisphere’s first x-ray station. However, after the Second World War came to an end and there weren’t as many diamonds, the settlement began to decline. Plus, after the world’s richest diamond deposits were discovered about one hundred sixty-seven miles south of the town, its downfall was expedited. Residents of Kolmanskop left their homes and traveled south to mine the jewels more easily. The town was abandoned by 1956 and is now a tourist destination, and the houses are partially buried in sand.
2. Varosha
This southern quarter of Famagusta, Cyprus was a top tourist destination in the early 1970s. Many high-rise structures and hotels were built to better serve the area’s many visitors. Numerous people vacationed there, including celebrities like Brigitte Bardot and Elizabeth Taylor. In fact, Varosha was one of the most sought-after destinations on Earth. However, things took a turn for the worse in 1974 when the Turkish invaded Cyprus. At the time, there were thirty-nine thousand residents living in the city, and they were all forced to flee to avoid meeting a terrible fate. They planned to move back into their homes once the conflict ended. But, the Turkish military fenced the entire area off and prohibited entry to anyone who wasn’t United Nations personnel or a member of the Turkish armed forces. In 1984, the UN Security Council Resolution 550 was enforced to make Turkey hand Varosha over to the United Nations administration. However, the country refused to cooperate and continues to control the area to this day. Since people don’t live there anymore, nature has taken its course and has overgrown many of the structures.
1. Plague Island
This unbelievable place is one that you might never want to visit. The eeriness and paranormal activity surrounding it are enough to keep the faint of heart far, far away. This island, sometimes referred to as Plague Island, is called Poveglia and is located in the Venetian Lagoon in Italy. But, how did this place get its less-than-welcoming nickname? The answer isn’t any better than you’ve probably guessed at this point. In 1776, the Public Health Office took control of the area. It served as a checkpoint for every item and person that was going to or leaving Venice. Seventeen years later, two ships arrived at the island, and their passengers were suffering from the plague.
To keep the illness from spreading, they transformed Poveglia into a restricted complex for those who were affected. The original idea was temporary, and they’d planned on using it as a checkpoint again. However, Napoleon Bonaparte made the island a permanent confinement center for sick people in 1805. It continued serving this purpose until 1922 when the buildings on the island were adapted for use as an asylum. People with mental illnesses were placed there for long-term care, but it closed in 1968. After that, Plague Island was used for agricultural purposes before it was permanently abandoned. Nowadays, it is an attraction for those willing to step foot in the haunted buildings. Paranormal series like Scariest Places on Earth and Ghost Adventures have even documented the island’s ghastly history and features.
