The eruption of Cordon Caulle began on June 4, 2011, located in the Region of Los Rios in Chile. For about 12 months, people and animals became accustomed to living with the daily fall of ash, which also caused problems in the air traffic in South America. The explosions and lightning during first days of the eruption could be seen from hundreds of miles around. This photograph was taken on the second night of eruption from the town of Lago Ranco. (Photo and caption by Francisco Negroni/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest)

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Descendants of American Southerners Wearing Confederate-era dresses and uniforms dance during a party to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the end of the American Civil War in Santa Barbara d'Oeste, Brazil, Sunday, April 26, 2015. For many of the residents of Santa Barbara d'Oeste and neighboring Americana, in Brazil's southeastern Sao Paulo state, having Confederate ancestry is a point of pride and is celebrated in high style at the annual “Festa dos Confederados”, or “Confederates Party” in Portuguese. (Photo by Andre Penner/AP Photo)

Revellers attend the Victorian Picnic during the Wave and Goth festival in Leipzig, Germany, May 22, 2015. The annual festival, known in Germany as Wave-Gotik Treffen (WGT), features over 100 bands and artists in venues all over the city playing Gothic rock and other styles of the dark wave music subculture. One of the biggest of its kind, the event attracts a regular audience of up to 20,000, the organisers said. (Photo by Hannibal Hanschke/Reuters)

During a jungle survival program February 20, 2013 taught by Royal Thai Special Forces in Sannapit, Thailand, U.S. Marines learned to catch cobras and drink their fresh blood, not to mention eat forest insects and pull the heads off of chicken. The training was part of Operation Cobra Gold 13, the 32nd edition of international military exercises hosted by the Thai. According to a U.S. Marines press release, Cobra Gold is the largest exercise of its kind in Asia and incorporates troops from five other nations in addition to the U.S. and Thailand. The Daily Mail reports that the Marines were invited to experience the local custom of drinking cobra blood after being taught to catch and kill cobras in the wild. As CNN notes, Cobra blood is believed to be a panacea and aphrodiasic in parts of Southeast Asia. In Jakarta, vendors can earn over $100 a night selling shots of cobra blood mixed with liquor. (Photo by Pornchai Kittiwongsakul/AFP Photo)

Only the most intrepid urban explorers cross the tattered ruins of the old Iron Curtain to endure the excessive bureaucracy, military paranoia and freezing winds of the East to hunt for the ghosts of an empire. Rebecca Litchfield is one who couldn’t resist the haunting allure of the ruins of the Soviet Union.

Chris “Birdman” Andersen poses for Getty Images photographer Mike Ehrmann during the Miami Heat's Media Day at AmericanAirlines Arena, on September 30, 2013. (Photo by Gary Coronado/The Palm Beach Post)

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An Alitalia plane approaches to land as starlings fly at Fiumicino international airport in Rome October 14, 2013. Italy will have to notify a planned government-led 500-million-euro bailout of near-bankrupt airline Alitalia to EU regulators who will then assess whether the measure complies with EU state aid rules, the European Commission said on Monday. (Photo by Max Rossi /Reuters)

“Mount Hua, or Hua Shan, or Xiyue located near the city of Huayin in Shaanxi province, about 120 kilometres (75 mi) east of Xi'an. It is one of China's Five Great Mountains, and has a long history of religious significance. Originally classified as having three peaks, in modern times the mountain is classified as five main peaks, of which the highest is the South Peak at 2,154.9 metres (7,070 ft)”. – Wikipedia

Photo: Trip to Xi'an 西安. (Photo by Grant Robinson)