5: New Delhi

Our first mention takes us to India’s capital city, New Delhi, which is home to a population of nearly 14 million within its metropolitan area. From those who responded in the IBM survey, 62 percent say traffic has negatively impacted their school or job performance, and 96 percent say traffic has negatively affected their overall health! Looking from above, it’s hard to spot any real lane usage by any of the multitude of buses, cars, and rickshaws!

4: Moscow

64 percent of the surveyed commuters in Russia’s capital city said that the city’s traffic nightmares have worsened in the last three years, and the city ranked worst on the average duration of its traffic jams. It’s got to be nerve-racking to know that once you hit traffic, the average expected delay is nearly two-and-a-half hours! At least people are somewhat following lanes here behind the street view car.

3: Johannesburg

South Africa’s largest city of Johannesburg ranks the highest amongst those cities commuters believe have worsened over the past three years. Eighty percent of those surveyed agreed that the traffic situation isn’t getting any better, and the city scored 97 points out of 100 on the scale of the emotional and economic toll of commuting. We have access to the 45° Imagery on Google Maps this time to get a closer look, and sure enough the delays are easy to find.

2: Mexico City

Mexico’s capital city scored a nearly “perfect” 99 out 100 on the survey. More than half of the commuters surveyed say that traffic has negatively affected their school or job performance. Just like before, it doesn’t take long to find some backups with Google’s street view car. Looks like we could be here a while.

1: Beijing

Ranking the highest (or worst) on our list is China’s capital city of Beijing, which is home to nearly 20 million people. Even outside of rush hour, many roads to and from Beijing remain clogged with traffic. The daily rush in traffic also causes air quality issues around the city; so much so that during the 2008 Olympic games, drivers were only allowed to drive on either even or odd days (based on their license plate number). Today, Beijing has a limit on how many license plates they issue a month to try to control the number of vehicles, and non-Beijing plated cars are banned from entering certain areas of the city during rush hour.

Beijing also holds the record for the world’s worst traffic jam… ever! In 2010, a clog between Beijing and Jining stretched for 100 kilometres (62 miles), and lasted nearly a month! Needless to say it took a large effort from hundreds of police to keep order. Hoping to catch a glimpse from Google, all we could find on the imagery today was this little congestion near the Great Wall.

Locations: China, India, Mexico, Russia, South Africa / Categories: 45˚ Imagery, Crowds, Other Vehicles, Street Views

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Rude messages

Not everything can make the cut obviously, but things like this painting of a naked woman on top of this building near Phoenix, AZ are certainly eye-catching. Thanks to GSS reader prmckinney for sending it in.

Henry sent us a friendly message in New Zealand that, well, gets directly to the point.

Or you could be like this guy near Austin, Texas who loves to express his satisfaction with American president Barack Obama! Make sure you notice the detail of the middle finger! Thanks to Chris S.

Lookalikes

At times just the strange artefacts of Google Maps itself are amusing! Take a look at this rather unfortunately shaped road near the Newcastle FC stadium sent to us by Chris. On the more natural side, Pamela sent us this lake in Alberta, Canada that looks, well, pretty much exactly like a rat.

Signposts for the sky

Rooftops can be an easy target for “on-the-fly” messaging. Marc sent us a link to a huge “Amazing Race” finish line painting on the final approach path to LAX. The wildly popular American reality show has used Los Angeles as the finish line before, but it does seem odd that they actually put a channel and time on it. Maybe it’s just a huge billboard instead?

Quetzal sent us the letter Z carved into the desert next to a highway in Coahuila, México, which is apparently the sign of a notorious Mexican Drug Cartel. On a lighter note, Dawn sent us a link to this extravagant field maze that takes the shape of a steam locomotive!

Mystery circles

Sometimes the most interesting things we see on the ground however are circles. You have the obvious crop circles around the world, but then there are perhaps stranger things out there. For example, any ideas what this little circle in the desert sent to us by Mastboy could be?

Or perhaps this circle off the coast of the United Kingdom? Maybe it could be a beacon of some kind? Thanks to scotty for the link!

In a more mysterious entry, a series of strange circular features have been sent to us from deep in the forests of Maharashtra in India. They’re remote, they’re large, and no one seems to really know where they came from!

The four circles appear to be man-made due to the perfect circular shape and similar size, but no obvious pattern or purpose can be seen. One of the most popular theories are the circles are some sort of ancient water reservoirs, but one could argue how much water needs to be collected in the middle of a monsoon-ridden country!

Some more imaginative people think that ancient aliens visited and made the circles, but they aren’t really a patch on traditional crop circles though.

Even the local villagers in Kumbhale aren’t sure where the circles came from, even though one of them is practically on their doorstep.

Another theory suggests that the circles are “strikingly” similar to meteorite impacts, but the rims of these circles do not appear to share the same crowning effect that occurs near other true craters – and there haven’t been any meteorite fragments found here (although this could perhaps be due to erosion from the monsoons we mentioned).

For some discussion on the circles, including ground level photos, check out this link. What do you think they are? Thanks to Sandesh for sending in this intriguing suggestion.

Locations: Alberta, Arizona, California, India, Mexico, Morocco, New Jersey, New Zealand, Texas, United Kingdom / Categories: Crop Circles, Large Type, Movie Locations, Stadiums and Sport, Weirdness

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Located in Mumbai, India’s most densely populated city, Antilia was constructed for Mukesh Ambani – the world’s fifth-richest person with an estimated wealth of $43bn.

While you might expect that such a large building (over 37,000 square metres of living space) might be intended to accommodate an extended family, Ambani will live there with just 5 other people – his wife, three children, and his mother. Their every whim will be catered to by a staff of around 600 people!

The residential floors were designed such that each is totally different from the others, as can clearly be seen from the exterior.

© Copyright Jhariani and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence

Many of the features of this residence are just staggering:

• Parking space for around 170 vehicles.
• The roof has a helipad with space for three helicopters, and its own air traffic control.
• Nine elevators lead to the private residences, multiple gyms, pools and spas and a 50-seat theatre.
• There is also a ballroom with a ceiling lined with crystal chandeliers, the latest audio and video technology, and a separate room where security personnel accompanying VIPs can relax.
• Three floors of hanging gardens will offer peaceful respite from Mumbai’s heat.
• However, if they really need to cool off, residents and guests can pop into a room filled with artificial snow!

While we don’t have Street View to give us a closer look, Google Earth does allow us to go back in time and see a number of images of Antilia’s construction over the past few years.

Construction of this ostentatious abode hasn’t been without controversy, perhaps understandably in a city where millions of people live in abject poverty.

The tower stands on land that was intended for construction of an orphanage. A modest legal payment took care of this inconvenience. The helipad on the roof also contravenes city and naval regulations, but this doesn’t seem to stopped it from being put in place.

You can read more about Antilia at Wikipedia, while this blog post has much more detail and a number of pictures of the interior.

Locations: India / Categories: Buildings, Structures, Weirdness

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The discovery was made in 1942 by a park ranger who stumbled across the 300-600 skeletal and mummified bodies strewn about the slopes and at the bottom of this precariously perched lake. Early speculation as to how the remains came to exist in this deserted part of the Himalayas included an epidemic, ritual sacrifice, or landslides. When viewed in Google Earth, it becomes apparent how truly rugged Roopkund is:

Initial archeological research into the Roopkund Lake site revealed that the dead were made up of a two groups of outwardly different but genetically similar individuals. One, mostly short and presumably made up of porters or servants, and another much taller group that was most likely royalty. Carbon dating undertaken in the 1960s also suggested that the deceased individuals at Roopkund lake perished quite suddenly sometime between 500 to 700 years ago.

The cause behind the mass grave at Roopkund remained a mystery until 2004 when additional research, spurred by a National Geographic Society documentary, unearthed new facts about the skeleton lake. It was found that the remains were not only much older than originally thought, dating from 850 A.D. to be more exact, but also that the all the deceased individuals had been victims of a massive and obviously deadly hail storm.

Further study of the fractured skulls revealed that the unlucky lot at Roopkund lake would have had little or no shelter from this epic storm. Most would have succumbed quickly to the volley of hailstones which archeologists believe were the size of cricket balls!

What is still unclear is why such a large group came to be in this desolate corner of the Himalayas. Roopkund Lake is not on or even remotely near any trade routes and is not historically known for being a site of religious pilgrimage. Today the lake is visited only by groups of hardy trekking tourists looking for a taste of breathtaking Himalayan beauty. One can only hope that they bring along a sturdy helmet in case of bad weather!

Thanks to Atlas Obscura and National Geographic.

Locations: India / Categories: Natural Landmarks, Weirdness

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The reduced attention to bling means that only the spire is coated in gold leaf and topped by a large crystal; the rest of the interlocking-stone dome will merely be painted in a gold colour.

Created as a place for up to 8,000 Buddhists to gather and meditate, the Pagoda claims a couple of records:

• the world’s largest stone dome built without any supporting pillars; and
• the world’s largest structure containing relics of the Buddha.

While the complex is still incomplete in the Google imagery, a number of structures are visible, including the first of two smaller pagodas, a meditation centre, and a museum.

And scrolling further north on the property reveals a paradoxical situation, as can happen so often in India. This huge monument to faith and peace is actually connected to a large amusement park!

Esselworld is a joint theme and water park, with all the usual rides, slides and family attractions, bringing in up to 10,000 people a day. Travel directions for the Pagoda generally suggest asking your driver to take you to the theme park, as your driver is more likely to know where that is!

More information can be found at Wikipedia and the Pagoda’s official site.

Thanks to Sandesh.

Locations: India / Categories: Buildings, Structures, Theme Parks

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Fair traders have established a number of organisations, notably the World Fair Trade Organisation (WFTO), and national licensing bodies such as the Fairtrade Foundation in the UK, and Transfair in the USA and Canada. Transfair’s Google Earth layer has made it easy to locate fair trade suppliers.²

Above we see icons for a pair of cocoa growing cooperatives – CONACADO in the Dominican Republic and Kuapa Kokoo in Ghana. The members of the latter are (partly) direct owners of Divine Chocolate produced in the UK.³

Craft producers are not currently certified by Transfair, but many commodities are. In India (and several other countries) we can see the icons for rice – the Federation of Small Farmers – and tea – the most excellent Makaibari Tea Estate in Darjeeling, where we do get a good look at the tea terraces.

There are a large number of coffee producers, such as this cluster in Peru, where we can also see the icon for fruit growers.

The WFTO sets global standards for the operation of fair trade businesses, including fair pay, protection of the environment, gender equity and more.

The national licensing bodies certify that goods have been produced within minimum fair trade standards. They also encourage communities to promote fair trade by becoming fair trade towns, villages or cities – meaning that a certain number of qualifying businesses include some fair trade products in their offerings.

The first such community to achieve this goal was Garstang in England, which proudly shows this on the road signs at the entrance to the town.

The majority of fair trade producers in developing countries work in distributed groups, and generally at small farms or workshops, meaning they are hidden in areas where the satellite imagery is very low resolution. However, I have been able to track down one location in Bangladesh – the workshop of Biborton Handmade Paper, in the village of Agailjhara.

Biborton – part of the Prokritee agency – is a group of approximately 70 women working to create paper, which they then transform into greeting cards, gift bags and more. At the right time of day the grassy central courtyard would be a colourful field of paper drying in the sun.

The building at the top of the image is their office and workshop where final products are assembled. The building on the left is where fibres are processed into paper. They also have a number of metal-sided kilns that allow paper to be dried and production to continue even during the monsoon season.

Visit the World Fair Trade Day website to find events in your area.

Locations: Bangladesh, Dominican Republic, England, Ghana, India, Peru / Categories: Other Vehicles, Street Views

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The Monuments can generally be grouped into three sections; the Sacred Centre, the Riverside Ruins and the Royal Centre.

The Sacred Centre

The focal point of the Sacred Centre is the Virupaksha Temple. Hampi’s history as a Hindu holy site dates to about the 7th century – long before the empire took hold – though it has been expanded by different rulers through the ages. The most identifiable structure – a nine-tiered tower – is actually a gatehouse leading to the inner courtyards which house the main temple and various shrines.

The ceremonial road running east from the temple is known as Hampi Bazaar. Originally lined with market stalls and the homes of wealthy citizens, parts of this street have now been taken over by poor local residents and those running businesses aimed at tourists.

The Vijayanagara Empire thrived from the 14th century, dominating this part of India. With up to a quarter of a million habitants, Hampi was possibly the largest city in the world at the time. This all came to an end when the king was killed in 1565 – following which the capital was plundered and ruined.

Beyond one of the rocky hills for which the region is known, we find the Courtesan’s Street – also a market – and the Achyuta Raya Temple which was one of the final construction projects before the destruction of the empire.

Another large shrine in this area is the Sri Krishna Temple which is noted for detailed carvings depicting religious stories.

There are numerous other small temples and shrines in the Sacred Centre, though most are hidden amongst the rocks, or in smaller buildings not visible on Google’s images.

The Riverside Ruins

The Riverside Ruins lie along the banks of the Tungabhadra River which formed a protective barrier to the north of the city. This area is dominated by the Vittala Temple, one of the most elaborate complexes.

A large stone chariot – the centrepiece of the courtyard – is carved from several granite blocks. Two stone elephants have replaced the monumental horses which were originally positioned in front of the chariot.

The Royal Centre

The Royal Centre encompasses a much larger area to the south of the present village and includes a huge number of historically and architecturally significant ruins. The royal palaces were mostly built of wood so were burned in the destruction of the city, leaving only foundations and basements visible.

Nearby are four tanks or bathing areas – a pair of octagonal structures, the Queen’s Bath (lower right in the thumbnail image; probably actually used by the King) and a large elaborately-stepped tank (upper left).

Visible near this tank and many other structures are the remains of a widespread system of aqueducts and canals which carried water throughout the complex.

Just to the north-west is a large enclosure which may have served a number of uses – possibly military or administrative. The royal mint and granaries (circles in the first image) are generally agreed upon by historians, along with the beautiful domed elephant stables.

Sections of fortified walls can still be seen around the complex. Experts believe that there were up to seven concentric walls protecting the capital, up to about 32km from the centre.

There are literally dozens more structures, temples and other archeological discoveries visible on the satellite images. These maps – from the excellent Hampi website – can be useful when trying to identify them.

Locations: India / Categories: Abandoned, Monuments, Structures, World Heritage Sites

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However, despite a striking resemblance, this is not the Taj Mahal. Rather, it’s Bibi-ka-Maqbara, a tomb built in the late 17th century by Prince Azam Shah (son of the sixth Mughal emperor), as a loving tribute to… his mum.

Literally translated as “Tomb of the Lady”, Bibi-ka-Maqbara was of course based on the iconic design of the original Taj, seen here in our story about it from 2006.

Sadly for Prince Azam Shah’s mum, while The Taj Mahal attracts from 2 to 4 million visitors every year, few outside India have ever heard of Bibi-ka-Maqbara. Which is a shame, as it does a pretty passable impression of the original.

There is another copy of the Taj in India, built by an filmmaker at the end of last year, but I haven’t been able to find it yet. It should be somewhere around here.

Further reading: The full story of Bibi-ka-Maqbara and the Wikipedia entry about Mughal architecture.

Thanks to Rukya R.

Locations: India /

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Although it is barely 40km away from the well populated South Andaman Island, North Sentinel is home to what is probably the last “uncontacted” tribe on Earth. The islanders are fiercely independent and have shunned all attempts to contact them, although in 1991 a few intrepid tribesmen did go as far as accepting gifts of coconuts from Indian government officials who approached the island in a dinghy. They survive as hunter-gatherers, armed with bows and arrows tipped with metal scavenged from whatever flotsam and jetsam washes up on shore.

Nobody knows how many people live on the island – the official 2001 census figure, recorded from aerial surveys, was 39, but some estimates are as high as 400. What we do know is that the tsunami of December 2004 had a devastating impact on much of the Andaman region, and North Sentinel was no exception. For a dramatic illustration of its effects, compare these two images:

The first picture, taken from Google Earth, was captured before the tsunami (the exact date isn’t recorded but it was circa 2000). The second image was taken in April 2005 by the European Space Agency’s Proba satellite, and shows that the island’s fringing reefs have been lifted considerably, exposing large areas of coral and destroying much of the shallow lagoon.

The Indian government, worried that the North Sentinelese¹ had been wiped out by the disaster, dispatched a helicopter to investigate. They found that at least some of the islanders were still alive and kicking – and when the chopper got too close, it came under attack from a hail of rocks and arrows. How the islanders will cope with the damage to their ecosystem remains to be seen, but they will at least be left to do it in peace: India’s official policy is now to make no further attempt to contact or “assimilate” the islanders, so although they remain notionally “Indian”, they are still essentially untouched by the outside world.

Read more about the island and its people at Wikipedia, and at EVS-Islands, which also has an excellent map.

Locations: India / Categories: Islands, Weirdness

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Built around a massive gold-plated meditation dome known as the Matrimandir, Auroville was created in hopes that it would be a model for peace, learning, and environmental stewardship.

The town was founded in 1968 by Mirra Alfassa, a spiritual leader known to her followers as “The Mother”, who created the guiding principles of the town as well as a governing organisation that today is nebulously referred to as “the Foundation”.²

Taking a closer look at the Matrimandir reveals its sheer size and architectural complexity – although it does look a lot like a much shinier version of Walt Disney World’s Epcot Centre.

Getting a peek inside the sacred meditation chamber within the Matrimandir is difficult for outsiders, but it’s reported to contain a polished white marble room with a light-reflecting crystal suspended at its centre. Despite sounding like the inside of a trendy nightclub, it has been described as “a place to find one’s consciousness”.

A bit further to the south, we can make out one of Auroville’s clever alternative energy solutions. Sitting atop the aptly named “Solar Kitchen” is a 15-metre-wide solar bowl that concentrates light from the sun to heat water for the restaurant. The array is so powerful that it can heat enough water to 150°C to cook over 2,000 meals per day!

If you feel like this little slice of utopian heaven might be might be a good change of pace from your hectic lifestyle, Auroville has varying lodging options for tourists, and even a visitor’s centre. Come to think of it, I could go for some solar-boiled tofu curry right about now…

For a complete guide to all of Auroville’s sights, culture, and history visit the official Auroville website, or for just the facts, the Auroville Wikipedia page.

Thanks to Nilauro, Rob Alexandre, and Sudipto Ghosh.

Locations: India / Categories: Monuments, Structures

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