The Strangest Places to Visit

Europe

Scotland

Inveraray Jail dates back to 1820 it has become a popular tourist attraction and is a World Heritage site. Visitors can get to see how 19th century life was in the penitentiary. There are characters dressed authentically and you can find out about early justice techniques such as branding with a hot iron, public whipping and torturous thumbscrews. You can listen in on sensational courtroom trials and if you really want an experience you can get locked up in a barren prison cell and try your hand at a variety of bizarre punishments.

France

Paris Sewer Museum is a very unusual underground tour where visitors get to explore the 19th century Paris sewers. As you walk through the underground tunnels, you get to know about the water cycle and the work done by sewer workers. Just be prepared for the foul odor down below.

The Netherlands

Electric Ladyland in Amsterdam claims to be the world's first museum of fluorescent art. Here Visitors are required to remove their shoes and put on special slipper before they go down the stairs. You can see the psychedelic sculpture work of Nick Padalino. There are luminescent rocks and man-made glowing objects. Upstairs is his art gallery with artworks that burst into color under UV light as tunes by The Beatles and Jimi Hendrix play in the background.

Italy

Capuchin Catacombs in Palermo are just waiting to be explored. In the late 16th century, Capuchin monastery monks discovered the body of a monk that had been laid to rest in the catacombs had become naturally mummified. After this the catacombs became the place for dead bodies which were dressed in their best attire and placed in various poses. Today this is the place where you can see some 8,000 well-preserved mummies lining the walls. Separating them from visitors are iron bars.

Asia

India

Karni Mata Temple is better known as the Temple of Rats and is literally a temple that is home to many rats. The temple in Rajashan was named after the Goddess Karni who believed that her family members would never die and be reincarnated as rats. Since residents of the town believe this legend the rats are allowed to make their home at the temple and there are over 20,000 rats. They are all considered sacred and are given not only refuge in the temple but also food. Visitors are glad to discover that these rats are friendly.

Japan

Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum In Ikeda, a city in the Osaka Prefecture pays tribute to the Cup Noodles founder and creator Momofuku Ando. Here visitors and see a reproduction of the shack where Ando first invented Chicken Ramen, see an exhibition about instant noodles all over the world, and visit a tasting room with a variety of products, including the chance to sample flavors you might never have tried before.

Malaysia

The upside-down house in one of only a few like it in the world. Others can be found in Austria, Germany, Poland, Russia, Japan, and China. The Rumah Terbalick upside-down house of Borneo was opened in 2012, specifically as a tourist attraction. There are tours available and visitors can experience walking on the ceiling with furniture and household appliances looming overhead. A car that is parked upside down can be seen In the garage.

Thailand

Wang Saen Suk Hell Garden in Saen Suk is a very unsusal sculpture garden with brightly colored signs saying "Welcome to Hell." Stepping into the garden visitors can see a sign saying “If you meet the devil in this life, don’t postpone merit-making which will help you to defeat him in the next life.” The garden depicts sculptures of punishments that might be in store for those who transgress in life. There are statues that represent disemboweling, impaling, and transfiguration. There are two large figures that stand high above the tortured souls which might be the "hungry souls" of Thai folklore.

North America

The US

Tennessee

The Mindfield in Brownsville is the life work of Tennessee artist Billy Trip. With salvaged metal he constructed what is known as the largest outdoor sculpture in the state. Spreading across over an acre is a tangle of steel trellises and girders. He began this in 1989 and it represents his emotions, personal growth, and his significant life events. One of the largest additions to the sculpture is a water tower added after the death of his father in 2002. The artist says he'll keep adding to this until he dies and then wants to be buried within it.

Nebraska

Carhenge in Alliance Nebraska is the creation of artist Jim Reinders and his family who put together this unusual attraction in a farm field north of Alliance, It is a memorial to his dad, This is a Stonehenge replica that consists of 39 classic cars all painted gray and arranged in the same proportions as the original. It was dedicate on the summer solstice in 1987 and since that time a number of other car artworks have been added in an adjacent "Car Art Reserve" including "The Ford Seasons" inspired by Vivaldi's Four Seasons and "The Carnastoga Wagon."

Texas

The one thing that the state of Texas didn't have was a Prada store. Berlin artists Michael Elmgreen nd Inger Dragset came up with a solution. With the blessing of Miuccia Prada, the Prada store now sits on an empty stretch of US 90 outside of the tiny town of Valentine about 150 miles from El Paso. This unusual store had no door and through its front windows you can see 20 left-foot shoes and six purses on display.

Pest control specialist Michael Bodham opened an unusual museum in Plano Texas called The Cockroach Hall of Fame. The museum features cockroach corpses in costume, posed on various tiny elaborate sets such as “Liberoachi,” at the piano. There are also "David Letteroach," "The Combates Motel," and "Marilyn Monroach." There are even dried roach-larvae barbecue flavored snacks.

The Freemont Troll in Seattle Washington can be found underneath the Aurora Bridge in the Fremont neighborhood of Seattle. This is a giant 18-foot one-eyed troll holding a Volkswagen bug. This two-ton sculpture was created by a team of local artists Steve Badanes, Ross Whitehead, Will Martin, and Donna Walter, as part of a competition promoting urban renewal. The giant troll won the right to stay under the bridge permanently. The community pays tribute to it every Halloween with a mobile “Troll-o-ween” party that starts under the bridge and wanders to other funky art sites and events throughout the neighborhood.

La Isla de las Munecas or Island of the Dead Dolls just south of Mexico City is set between the canals of Xochimilco, is a small island. It was once the hideout of Don Julian Santan, who was ostracized here from the mainland due to his alcohol problem. Legend has it that a little girl drowned in the nearby canal and Don felt haunted by her spirit so he began trading his vegetables for odd dolls, which he place all through the island to appease her spirit. A well-known psychic medium stated that he was actually seeing an evil spirit that had caused the girl to drown. Today in this place you can see hundreds of decrepit, decomposing baby dolls hanging from trees. There are some that day the dolls posses the soul of the girl. It is open for tours on the weekends.