10 Of The Weirdest Cities You Can Visit Around The World

Visitors who walk through the Brazilian town Candido-Godoi may think they have a vision problem because they would see a lot of people who look alike. This is because the rate of twin births in the city is unusually high. Some believe the cruel Nazi doctor Joseph Mengel is responsible for this odd occurrence because of his interest in creating the perfect Aryan child by experimenting on twins. However, this theory is false. It turns out that when German immigrants first came to the city, some of them carried the twin gene. With generations of inbreeding occurring among the new German settlers, the trait spread widely throughout the population.

Take To The Tunnels

When it is hot outside, most people take shelter in shady, dark places so they can stay cool. It is no wonder, then, that residents of Coober Pedy, Australia are experts at keeping cool in their subterranean homes. The small town of about 3500 residents has a great way to escape the hot desert temperatures. When opals were discovered in the early 1900s, many of the miners tried to live above ground. But the searing desert temperatures practically baked their brains. The miners then decided to take a cue from members of the Indigenous population in the area, who had long used dugout homes as safe places to stay in the scorching desert. Today, about 1700 people live in dugout homes.

Matthew 25 Ministries’ Miracle Village

For most people, the idea of having a sex offender living next door or on the next block is terrifying. However, there is a village in Florida that gives sex offenders a place to call home. These offenders are not rapists, pedophiles, or people convicted of violent crimes. They are people who had consensual sex with a minor or were found to be in possession of child pornography. Miracle Village is the brainchild of a group called Matthew 25 Ministries, which draws its inspiration from the Parable of the Judgement in which Jesus called on his apostles to care for the poor and the imprisoned. By giving these nonviolent offenders a place to live and work, Miracle Village helps them successfully reintegrate into society.

Sustainable Living Mecca

People who have a dream of living sustainably may want to consider visiting or moving to the town of Taos, New Mexico. Taos is home to Michael Reynolds, a former architect with a mission to create sustainable homes from recycled materials, which he calls Earthships. There are seventy-five of Reynold’s Earthships in Taos. Each Earthship is different and constructed using materials that are found and available at the time of the project. These materials include old tires, cans, bottles, and scrap metal that are shaped into a fully functional and beautiful living space. The Earthships are designed to allow owners to produce their own food, use solar power, manage their own sewage, and live off the grid.

Overrun By Rabbits

Whidbey Island, which is just off the coast of Seattle, Washington, is home to a city named Langley. But Langley is not just an ordinary city; it has a serious problem with rabbits. They were accidentally introduced to the city in 2001 when some rabbits escaped from their enclosure at a fair. Since then, they have been doing what rabbits do best – breeding, eating and breeding some more. This has created problems for residents of the island because the bunnies are often found munching on vegetables in their gardens. The rabbits are lucky because there are currently few natural predators in the region and most people who live in the area are not interested in slaughtering them. However, this could soon change. City officials have considered bringing animals that prey on rabbits to the island.

Sailing Cities

An aircraft carrier is essentially a small city floating in the ocean. Large ones, such as the Nimitz class of aircraft carriers, carry up to 6000 people all at once. Of these, 3200 take care of essential functions whereas another 2500 people are directly involved with the aircraft in some way. Although the ship looks enormous, every compartment of it is jam-packed, making it a nightmare for anyone who is claustrophobic. It contains everything a small city needs, including food, sleeping quarters, recreation quarters, and even a post office. The bunk beds are crammed together so closely that crew members can practically touch each other, which means there is little privacy on board this vessel. Many people who work below deck never see the sun until after their rotation is over and it is time to go home.

Oil Rig Or City?

What started as a giant oil rig in the Caspian Sea has become known as an enormous floating city. Upon hearing stories from locals saying they would often see oil bubbling in the ocean nearby, authorities from the former Soviet Union went out to examine the location. There, they discovered an enormous oil reserve and began to drill for oil. Although it is close to land, the rig needed its own city to staff it. This led the Soviet Union to build the floating city of Neft Dashlari. Some people may expect this city to be a barren place with little natural life. However, people in Neft Dashlari imported soil from the mainland so residents could grow their own food and flowers and enjoy a park with a playground and soccer field.

Living The High Life

Although some people may think residing at high altitudes would be a great way to live, the people of La Rinconada in Peru may not agree. Far from being a swanky place to live, this high-altitude city is extremely rustic because it has no running water or sewage system. It is tough to live here; men typically spend all day mining for precious gems in the mountain while their wives and children spend most of the day breaking rocks in search of gold. La Rinconada is so far away from the larger cities in Peru that it is hard for Peruvian officials to enforce federal laws in the city.

Monkeying Around In Delhi

In Delhi, India, wild monkeys have taken over regions of the metropolis. Part of the reason why this problem exists is that the city of Delhi has been expanding into what has always been a monkey habitat. As the city grew, some of its Hindu population, who believe monkeys are sacred, began to feed them on Tuesdays and Saturdays. Because of this practice, some monkeys have started to attack humans in the regions, especially those carrying food. These monkeys have even taken up the gangster life by stealing bread and candy. Over the past ten years, Delhi has trapped more than 13,000 monkeys, but there is still no end to the monkey business insight.

Smurfarific Spanish Village

Sometimes small towns have difficulty getting the funding they need to maintain their infrastructure and keep their residents happy. However, the small village of Juzcar, Spain was able to solve this problem with a bit of creativity. The village heard that Sony, producers of The Smurfs 3D, had been looking for a town that would be willing to get painted blue for the movie. Knowing that the Smurfs had a loyal fanbase and desperate for a change, the tiny town jumped in with Smurfy enthusiasm, and it worked. Tiny Juzcar’s tourism industry exploded, skyrocketing from about three hundred visitors per year to more than eighty thousand. For this reason, rather than repainting their homes and businesses to their original colors after filming ended, the people of Juzcar decided to keep the Smurf blue hue.