# Contest: Where in the world was this picture taken? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [June 22, 2010, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/contest-where-in-the-world-was-this-picture-taken/544077 "2010-06-22T01:32:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Rodgers01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@Rodgers01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodgers01)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2010, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/contest-where-in-the-world-was-this-picture-taken/544077/1 "2010-06-22T01:32:53Z")
The blogger [Andrew Sullivan](http://andrewsullivan.com) has had a long running feature called “The View From Your Window”, in which readers submit a picture of whatever they can see from their window - be it scenic, mundane, or anything else. It’s a cool feature that draws entrants from all over the world, and was turned into a nice [book](http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/955762) last year. Anyway, he recently turned it into a weekly contest: every Saturday he’ll post a window shot, and readers have till Tuesday at noon (EST) to guess where in the world the picture was taken. It’s a fun game that calls for a bit of sleuthing and guesswork. To get your juices flowing, here are the pictures from the past two weeks, along with the answers: Week #1: [Picture](http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2010/06/the-view-from-your-window-game-ctd.html) [Farmington, New Mexico](http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2010/06/the-view-from-your-window-contest-winner-1.html) Week #2: [Picture](http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2010/06/the-vfw-contest-where-is-that-window.html) [Fort Lauderdale, Florida](http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2010/06/the-vfyw-contest-winner-2.html) Okay! Now that you’ve got the hang of it, here’s the one for this week…: [Picture](http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2010/06/the-vfyw-contest-where-is-that-window.html) What do you think? My guess: Okinawa, Japan. Why? Japan because the style of buildings and the landscape look rather Asian, it’s evidently an island, and it looks very clean/first world. Okinawa because it doesn’t look like Tokyo, and Okinawa is simply the next place that came to mind. Alright, so maybe I don’t have the most logical thought process behind my guess. Can you do any better? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2010, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/contest-where-in-the-world-was-this-picture-taken/544077/2 "2010-06-22T02:02:06Z")
A WAG:Rio de Janeiro, Brazil ---
**Author:** ![Enginerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bcef8e/32.png) [@Enginerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enginerd)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2010, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/contest-where-in-the-world-was-this-picture-taken/544077/3 "2010-06-22T02:45:31Z")
I got the first one right (the country and state, at least, but I’m pretty bad when it comes to identifying cities. My WAG: Guayaquil, Ecuador ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2010, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/contest-where-in-the-world-was-this-picture-taken/544077/4 "2010-06-22T10:47:13Z")
The mountains look very Southeast Asian to me. The buildings look rather Oriental. I’m going to guess somewhere in the Philippines, maybe? No idea of the city. ---
**Author:** ![Edward\_The\_Head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ce73a5/32.png) [@Edward\_The\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edward_The_Head)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2010, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/contest-where-in-the-world-was-this-picture-taken/544077/5 "2010-06-22T12:34:25Z")
I’m thinking Vietnam. As for what city I’m not sure. I’ve seen photos of mountains like that before and I thought they were in Vietnam. I don’t think it’s Japan because the bus looks to be turning left and crossing the road so it would be a right hand drive country. ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2010, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/contest-where-in-the-world-was-this-picture-taken/544077/6 "2010-06-22T19:34:08Z")
Before I read any of the answers, this was my guess: Looks like Japan, but I think Honshu would be too obvious, so I’ll say another island. How about Hokkaido? Okay, what cities are there? (checks Wiki) Oh yeah, Sapporo, where the Winter Olympics were once held. I’ll go with that. After reading the posts before mine: That “right-hand drive” assumption by **Edward The Head** is probably correct. Oh well, if he’s on the money, at least I was in the general area of the right continent. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2010, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/contest-where-in-the-world-was-this-picture-taken/544077/7 "2010-06-22T19:55:01Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > A WAG:Rio de Janeiro, Brazil That was my first thought, too, but there are no mountains that high connected to Sugarloaf. It appears to stand by itself. ---
**Author:** ![KennerTheGreat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a8b319/32.png) [@KennerTheGreat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KennerTheGreat)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2010, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/contest-where-in-the-world-was-this-picture-taken/544077/8 "2010-06-22T20:05:28Z")
I’ll take a WAGLima, Peru ---
**Author:** ![fiddlesticks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddlesticks/32/18129_2.png) [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2010, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/contest-where-in-the-world-was-this-picture-taken/544077/9 "2010-06-22T20:24:08Z")
Reminds me of where The Beach with Leonardo DiCaprio was filmed, which was the [Phi Phi Islands](http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Koh_Phi_Phi_Leh.jpg) in Thailand. There was also a Bond movie where the evildoers lair was in a similar looking spot, but I can’t recall which movie it was. My semi-confident guess is somewhere in southeast Asia. Unfortunately, the right hand drive would eliminate Thailand itself…but I’m not sure if I can reliable tell if we’re seeing the back or front of that bus. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2010, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/contest-where-in-the-world-was-this-picture-taken/544077/10 "2010-06-22T20:24:30Z")
The geology looks like…the South China karst region, so I’ll say Yunnan, Guizhou or Guangxi province. Maybe Yangshou. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2010, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/contest-where-in-the-world-was-this-picture-taken/544077/11 "2010-06-22T20:34:50Z")
Jayjaythere are no mountains that high connected to Sugarloaf. It appears to stand by itself.I checked online and found [this picture](http://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/00/15/14/14/rio-from-sugar-loaf-mountain.jpg) and [this one](http://www.travelet.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/harbor_of_rio_de_janeiro.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2010, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/contest-where-in-the-world-was-this-picture-taken/544077/12 "2010-06-22T20:44:09Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Jayjaythere are no mountains that high connected to Sugarloaf. It appears to stand by itself.I checked online and found [this picture](http://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/00/15/14/14/rio-from-sugar-loaf-mountain.jpg) and [this one](http://www.travelet.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/harbor_of_rio_de_janeiro.jpg). Then I take back my objection. It would depend on the angle. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2010, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/contest-where-in-the-world-was-this-picture-taken/544077/13 "2010-06-22T20:46:38Z")
I thought the second one was Florida, no idea why though. My guess, and I could be off by a hemisphere, is: Puerto Vallarta. ---
**Author:** ![Jas09](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d07c76/32.png) [@Jas09](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jas09)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2010, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/contest-where-in-the-world-was-this-picture-taken/544077/14 "2010-06-22T21:53:36Z")
In case nobody noticed, the answer has been posted: [http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the\_daily\_dish/2010/06/the-vfyw-contest-winner-3.html](http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2010/06/the-vfyw-contest-winner-3.html) The answer: Yangshuo in Guilin Province, China, on the Li River. Just a guess based on the karst mountains. ---
**Author:** ![fiddlesticks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddlesticks/32/18129_2.png) [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2010, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/contest-where-in-the-world-was-this-picture-taken/544077/15 "2010-06-22T21:57:45Z")
Wow, well guessed Lieu…unless you peeked at the answer. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Rodgers01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@Rodgers01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodgers01)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2010, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/contest-where-in-the-world-was-this-picture-taken/544077/16 "2010-06-23T02:42:31Z")
> [@fiddlesticks](#): > > Wow, well guessed Lieu…unless you peeked at the answer. 🙂 Wow, yeah - very well done, **Lieu**!! ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2010, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/contest-where-in-the-world-was-this-picture-taken/544077/17 "2010-06-23T12:20:31Z")
Heh, cool beans. I had a feeling that might be pretty close. The karsted geology sure looked like pictures I’d seen attributed to [China](http://www.hiddenchina.net/pic/southchinakarst/south_china_karst_aaa.jpg) before. Then Google-fu took over. Google south china karst and you get this from Wiki: _“The South China Karst, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, spread across China’s southern provinces of Guangxi, Guizhou, and Yunnan.”_ Looking at images of those provinces you see mention of [Yangshuo](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yangshuo_County) which looked to be about the right distance from an equal sized river. Lucky guesses really. I tried using google map then to find the building and that went nowhere a’tall. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2010, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/contest-where-in-the-world-was-this-picture-taken/544077/18 "2010-06-24T00:00:46Z")
Damn, got here too late. Those mountains definately look karst. Which actually is a Yugoslavian term, believe it or not. But I would have guessed Guilin simply because it is the biggest city in China in the middle of the karst formations. Yangshuo being perhaps the most popular “alternative” tourist destination although the karst in SW China stretches for thousands of square miles. Thailand also has karst and I’m sure other SE Asian countries.