There are many places in the world with the gift of mesmerizing landscape. And there are beautiful villages which became unique due to the determination of people out there. Their willingness to change for better or adapt to conditions made them outstanding. This list is just the tip of Iceberg of human capability. We hope you explore and share more of such exceptional locations.
Wildpoldsried, Germany
Highest per capita renewable energy
The small town of Wildpoldsried in Southern Germany is breaking energy records. Its 2600 inhabitants are producing five times more electrical energy than they consume and it comes from renewable sources only. It has 2100 square meters of solar panels, 5 biogas plants, 11 wind turbines and a hydroelectric system. The village makes profits from surplus energy sold. It started 18 years ago and the village’s aim was to reach 100% renewable by 2020. However, in this small community of highly motivated people, everything went faster than expected and well beyond the initial expectations.
Komic, Himachal
The highest inhabited village
Komic is the highest inhabited village in the world at the elevation of 4,450 metres and connected with a motorable road. It also has the distinction of world’s highest post office. Tangyud (Tangguid) Monastery located slightly above the village at an elevation of 4587m is the world’s highest monastery.
The beautiful villages located in Spiti region remains inaccessible to tourists during winter months. Even though it is connected by road, it is very challenging for tourists to reach this remote village. The surrounding mountains are also famous for snow leopards.
Juzcar, Spain
The Smurf Village
This village will manifest you into smurfs. In 2011, buildings in the village (including the church) were painted smurf-blue by Sony España to celebrate the premiere of the Smurfs movie. 4,000 litres of paint were used. After its promotions ended, the village hall organised a special meeting to determine if the village would remain blue or revert to white and they continued as blue. An estimated 100,000 tourists visited the village in the six months following the blue paint job, which is much more than their average of 9,000 annual tourists.
Amirim, Israel
The Vegan Village
Amirim is a small village located at an altitude of 640 meters in northern Israel. The villagers started veganism in 1958 led by a small group of vegans and those in quest of a healthy lifestyle.. The initial inhabitants of Amirim set up tents, started organic farming, eventually attracted more people and grew into a vegetarian and vegan village of more than 800 people.
It began with love for animals, caring about their right to live and then the health reasons. People who had embraced themselves through a vegetarian diet, looked forward to this village to raise their children
Amirim is a small tourist destination scenic views of the hilly Galilee forest, live music, spas, and spiritual workshops.
Konthong, Meghalaya
The Whistling Village
The village, located in the Khat-ar Shnong area in East Khasi Hills, has 120 households with a population of 650. Since ancient times, mothers have composed a unique tune, locally called jingrwai ïawbei, for each child.
The unique tune is used to call the child till he or she grows up and the practice continues till this day.
Each and every villager knows each other’s tune. People in village usually use only the introduction (instead of entire tune) when they call each other. However, when they are out in the field, the entire tune of approx one minute is used.
The practice developed as a result of the steep mountains and rocky landscape of the region, which required the local population to find an unconventional way to communicate across long distances. One of the key threats to the practice is use of mobile phones.
Yangsi China
The Dwarf Village
China’s dwarf village has been baffling scientists for decades. It is located in Sichuan Province of Southwest China. Nearly half of the residents are dwarfs.
Till date, there is no proper justification for this bizarre statistic. According to village elders, their peaceful life was spoiled many years ago, when a dreadful disease struck the region. It largely affected young children between the ages of 5 and 7 and they just stopped growing. Some locals claim that the area’s bad feng shui is responsible for the stunted growth.
Seulo, Italy
Highest number of Centenarians
Seulo is a town in the Province of South Sardinia of Italy. It holds the record of 20 centenarians from 1996 to 2016, making it the place where people live the longest in the world. The town, with its roughly 800 inhabitants, stretches at the foot of Monte Perdedu. Seulo has a landscape characterised by different kinds of soils and flora. It has aromatic plateaus that alternate with thick woods of holm and English oaks.
Sweethaven Village, Malta
The Popeye Village
It is a purpose-built film set village that has been converted into a small attraction fun park. The collection of rustic and ramshackle wooden buildings will teleport you into the legendary stories of Popeye. It is located at Anchor Bay, 3 km (2 mi) from the village core of Mellieħa, Malta. There are shows, rides and museums, as well as play houses where children can climb and explore the village.
Copenhagen, Denmark
The town of bicycles
It is usual to see lawyers, doctors and business professionals in suits standing on their bikes at red lights next to bakers and clerks. Copenhagen has taken bicycle commuting to an entirely new benchmark. For decades, Cycling has been a part of the respectable life in Copenhagen. In recent years, cycling has enjoyed another rise in acceptance due to regular improvement in bike lanes. Copenhagen’s city government reported that 65% of its residents are now commuting to work or school by bike. There are more bikes (0.7 millions) than people in Copenhagen, and five times as many bikes as cars.
Umoja, Kenya
Women-only village
The village of Umoja—“unity” is located in the grasslands of Samburu in northern Kenya. It is guarded by a thorn fence, and there are no men allowed there. It’s all women. The village has grown to give shelter, livelihood and a life to any women trying to escape genital mutilation, sexual assault and rape, domestic violence, or child marriage. When the boy child reaches the age of 18, they have to leave the village. The women do not lead an isolated existence. They go out into neighbouring villages, markets and schools. The older women teach the younger ones to stay away from the evil social norms like female genital mutilation, forced abortions, etc.
