A Stunning Place Where the Sun Never Sets

june 15 morning you arrive in the small town of tromso in northern norway from the end of may to the end of july is like one endless day the first thing you notice in your hotel room is thick black curtains yeah makes sense you think you've come to write an article about life at the north pole your main objective find out why night doesn't fall here you leave the hotel for a walk around town as the hours pass the sun moves across the sky just like it does in your hometown nothing special so far you decide to give your feet a rest and take an outside table at a local cafe you start taking notes for your paper a couple more hours pass and the sun is falling toward the horizon shadows creep over the buildings three hours later it's even closer to the edge of the earth it seems night will come soon and your body's telling you it must be evening maybe 9 pm that's when you see it the sun stops going down without dipping below the skyline it shifts sideways and continues to shine you didn't even notice the day ended it's 12 45 a.m you go back to the hotel hold the black curtains closed and get in bed you wake up to rays of light shining around the curtains it seems you've overslept and it's already known you look at your phone 3 am you try to fall back asleep but you can locals might be used to this extreme lifestyle but for visitors it can be quite disorienting like having jet lag that just won't go away the next night or day you don't know anymore you hang an extra layer of curtains and stick foil on the windows you don't understand how people can live in such a place but the most surprising thing is how they're so energetic and fresh you go down to the lobby and that's when a staff member tells you the secret to happiness here during endless summer days you don't have to adhere to your usual daily routine it's always light and you need to accept this wake up at 2 am great go for a jog if you want to sleep after lunch go to bed and don't worry about it thanks to the endless sun you're charged with energy so all the people here are happy and active they take advantage of these eternal days because when winter comes so do the endless nights december 14th your article has become a fully fledged research project you've decided to stay and see this town's other polar extreme it's 11 am now but it might as well be 11 pm you feel like you've been transported to some rogue planet with no star you leave the hotel it's cold and dark all day you work on your research paper in the library you realize how much you miss the sun the darkness is really taking a toll on your mood you head back to the hotel and sleep for what feels like a week one day you go outside to get some fresh air and watch the northern lights an incredibly beautiful sight but it no longer impresses you because this happens every day a group of young people pass you can't help but envy their cheery mood you decide to get to know them better maybe they can tell you the secret to getting through endless winter nights one of them says i know just what you need you follow these people to what looks like a small log cabin you go inside and see just a wooden stove when benches your new friend hands you a towel and says with a smile welcome to a norwegian sauna you want to get out of this heat but your friends ask you to wait longer you're covered in sweat you can't take it anymore you burst out of this giant wooden cooker and dive into a nearby snow drift adrenaline and endorphins rush through your body for the first time in a long time you feel happy you go back to your hotel and sleep like a baby your new friend calls you the next morning come on let's go snowboarding everyone stays active with winter sports it's another way to fight the endless nighttime blues after that you part ways and head to a cafe the coffee warms your body and soul you eventually finish your paper and in february you see the first rays of sun now the day will get longer and the night shorter so why does this happen endless summer days is the result of the earth's axis tilting at a certain angle towards the sun the north pole and arctic circle surrounding it just can't escape the light you can even do an experiment at home grab a globe and tilt it at about 24 degrees now turn on a flashlight point it at your globe from the side rotate your little earth and you'll see the arctic circle stays in the flashlight's beam for endless winter nights just tilt your globe away from the flashlight you'll see the arctic circle stays out of its beam rukan in southern norway also rarely sees the sun in the winter it shines but its rays can't reach the town because it's sitting down in a valley between two huge mountains the town and its inhabitants stay in the shadow all day to solve this problem residents built three giant sun mirrors and put them high on the mountain now when the sun rises the mirrors reflect the light into a small patch on the town square hey better than nothing from the darkest place to the brightest welcome to white sands national monument those endless rolling hills of white are actually crystals of gypsum the material drywall and plaster are made from the sunlight reflects often brilliantly the desert is 4 000 feet above sea level so the sun shines especially bright here also there are practically never clouds don't forget your shades the grand banks of newfoundland and canada are where the cold labrador current and the warm gulf stream collide the result towns on the coast get covered in fog for most of the year according to the guinness book of records this is the foggiest place in the world the humidity is pretty high but not compared to the village where the rain never stops moss and ram india is considered the wettest place on earth all the moisture that accumulates in the bay of bengal falls into this village there are endless downpours locals get around under special umbrellas made of reeds the village has a lot of lush green vegetation thanks to the rains but the coolest thing here is the living bridges they're created by tree roots growing out horizontally on to the windiest city in the world the strongest gusts recorded here reach 154 miles per hour no it's not chicago wellington new zealand sits right on the cook strait a passage between the country's north and south islands winds from the tasman sea blow into the gap because the area is mountainous this creates a tunnel and the incoming winds get stronger kind of like when you put your thumb over a garden hose the water has less space to get through so it comes out with more force constant hurricane force winds do have their perks they create steep waves that attract sailors wind surfers and kite surfers from all over the world also the winds carry any air pollution away from the city but most importantly the 62 wind turbines installed on the hills feed the city with a constant supply of energy now imagine you're walking toward a mountain it's night a little chilly ahead at the bottom of the hill you see a wall of fire three stories high this isn't a forest fire or a volcanic area just magical flames that don't spread or burn out welcome to the land of fire azerbaijan the strange burning hill you're looking at is known as yanar dag fire mountain it's been burning non-stop for decades possibly even centuries when you're standing here mouth a jar at the wonder you might catch the smell of gas in the air previously the cause of the eternal flame was attributed to some sort of sorcery but we now know the hill is burning because of flammable natural gases leaking out of the ground you can even light nearby streams on fire but the fish won't be happy with you

Channel: BRIGHT SIDE

Views: 2,081,205

Rating: 4.9068828 out of 5

Keywords: bright side, brightside, bright side videos, weirdest places in the world, weirdest places ever, weirdest places to get stuck, weirdest places in google maps, strangest places in the world, strangest towns, where is the wettest place in the world, most mysterious places on earth, natural phenomena, darkest place on Earth, brightest place in the world, foggiest place, windiest city in the world, Northern Norway, eternal flame, polar day, midnight sun, polar night

Id: Wd6gEybE_us

Length: 8min 38sec (518 seconds)

Published: Mon Jul 20 2020