Native American people have occupied the Carrizo Plain for at least the last 10,000 years. The Carrizo Plain National Monument lies primarily within the historical territory of the Chumash people. This 50-mile stretch of protected land includes the Temblor and Caliente Mountain Ranges and Soda Lake, the largest natural alkali lake in the state. This lake is a unique sight, whether it’s full of water and frolicking birds, or dried out with dust devils spinning across it. All of this natural beauty and diverse wildlife sits in California’s Central Valley, better known for industrial agriculture than for wildflowers. This location may help explain why, as the Bureau of Land Management puts it, the “Carrizo Plain National Monument is one of the best kept secrets” in the state.

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The Plain of Jars in central Laos is one of most mysterious and misunderstood places. It is a large area extending around Phonsavan from the southwest to the northeast. One of the most bizarre archaeological collections, appearing in clusters and ranging from a single jar to several hundred. These containers were created by a people of a megalithic iron-age culture and probably served as burial urns. The jars have been fashioned from solid stone, most from a tertiary conglomerate known as molasse and a few from granite. They are huge, up to nine feet tall, the largest weighing 14 tons.

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credit: Carrie Kellenberger I globetrotterI

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credit: Prince Roy

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credit: Prince Roy

credit: John Pavelka

credit: John Pavelka

credit: John Pavelka

credit: John Pavelka

credit: John Pavelka