Visitors to Samoa's volcanic island of Upolu most likely have looked down into the To Sua Ocean Trench, the spot shown in our September 2016 mystery photo. Found in the village of Lotofaga, on the south coast of the island, the hole was formed when volcanic seismic activity caused a large part of the ground to fall away.
Off the north coast of New Zealand’s North Island, visitors can take a walking tour of the active White Island Volcano with White Island Tours (15 The Strand East, Whakatane, New Zealand; phone +64 7 308 9588, www.whiteisland.co.nz).
The 6-hour tour, departing Rotorua daily (weather permitting), takes visitors across the volcano’s caldera, where they will see hot springs, bubbling mud pots and fumaroles. A tour costs NZD199 (near $145), adult, or NZD130, child (minimum age, 8); book in advance.
Visitors to Stockholm, Sweden, can take a city tour on the 40-passenger, amphibious Ocean Bus (Nybrogatan 62, 114 40, Stockholm, Sweden; phone +46 708 879 854, www.oceanbus.se/en).
The 75-minute tour leaves from a point near the Royal Opera House (Strömgatan 10, Stockholm) and, making no stops, takes passengers through the Östermalm district, then launches into the water to cruise past the islands of Djurgården and Skeppsholmen before returning.
Blaming congestion and concerns from walkers, as of August 2016, Prague, Czechia (aka Czech Republic), banned Segway scooters from sidewalks in the historical city center and also in some adjoining areas.
Wealthy and adventurous travelers may like an 8-day, 7-night luxury stay in Antarctica at the hotel White Desert (phone +44 7740 423571, www.white-desert.com).
Starting in Cape Town, South Africa, guests fly to the “Unknown International Airport” in Antarctica, landing on an ice runway, after which they are taken to their heated sleeping pod at “Whichaway Camp,” which also has a lounge pod with a library and a dining pod where guests will eat meals prepared by a gourmet chef.
In the Siberian town of Tobolsk, the Prison Castle museum (5 Red Square, Tobolsk 5626152, Tyumen Region, Russia; phone +7 8 3456 22 37 13, tiamz.ru/en/museums/21) is now also a hotel.
At the cost of RUB600 (near $9) per person per night for up to 16 people, each guest can sleep on a metal bunk in a 2-person “sweat-box” room, a cramped room used to punish prisoners. A toilet and shower are on site. Fyodor Dostoyevsky and Czar Nicholas II are among prisoners who spent time in the penitentiary.
A crumbling, 5-mile section of China’s Great Wall was repaired with sand and concrete, resulting in a flat, sidewalk-like surface that has been described as “ugly.” The repair to the 645-year-old section of the wall, in Suizhong County in northeastern China, was done in 2014 but only recently came to light because, while that portion of the wall can be visited, it is not open for trekking.
Visitors to Barcelona can take a 3-hour private sailing tour of the coast aboard a sailing yacht with Barcelona Sail (Dock 5, Moll de Xaloc, Barcelona 08005, Spain; phone +34 622 226 190, barcelonasail.com). Instructed by an English-speaking skipper, guests will steer the boat, themselves.
Tour costs range from €190 (near $212) for one to three people up to €470 for eight to nine people. Food can be provided, on request, for €10 per person.
