Pilot, 92, reunited with WWII plane

This Douglas DC-3 began life as a C-47 in 1944. It was the 100th C-47 delivered to the China National Aviation Corporation, in August 1944, piloted by Peter Goutiere from Miami to Kolkata, India in 90 hours of flying over 14 days.

Peter Goutiere, who will be 100 on Sept. 20, 2014, is one of two living pilots who flew for Civil National Aviation Corporation during World War II.

Serial No. 20806 is probably the only surviving CNAC C-47 today.

Peter Goutiere and Moon Chin, 102, are the only two living pilots from the China National Aviation Corp. service in World War II. The two greeted each other warmly at a CNAC reunion in San Francisco on September 5.

Chin set a record for C-47 operations, when 71 people were evacuated ahead of the Japanese advance in China. Among the passengers was Colonel Jimmy Doolittle, who was making his way back to U.S. forces after crash-landing his B-25 bomber in China following the famous Dootlittle Raid on Tokyo in April 1942.

Goutiere inspected his old plane on September 4, 69 years after he last saw the aircraft during the closing days of World War II. The airplane carried Goutiere and members of his family to a reunion of the China National Aviation Corp. from Everett, Washington, to San Francisco.

The Douglas C-47/DC-3 was located in 2006 by John Sessions (right), founder of the Historic Flight Foundation of Everett, Washington, which owns the plane.

During World War II, Goutiere flew over the dangerous Hump, the Himalayas between India and China, delivering supplies and fuel to Chinese and U.S. forces. "I was home," an emotional Goutiere said at the reunion on Saturday. "I was homesick."

• U.S. pilot Peter Goutiere, who flew in China during WWII, flies in his old Douglas C-47 aircraft from Seattle area to San Francisco


• Flight part of reunion of the famed China National Aviation Corp.


• The plane is owned by the Historic Flight Foundation of Everett, Washington


• Moon Chin, 102, the CNAC's only other living wartime pilot, greeted Goutiere upon arrival in San Francisco

(CNN) -- Peter J. Goutiere was just shy of 30 years old when he piloted a Douglas C-47, the military designation of the venerable commercial DC-3, from Miami to Kolkata, India.

The C-47 was the 100th to be delivered to the China National Aviation Corporation, or CNAC.

It was 1944. The United States had been at war since December 7, 1941.

CNAC had been at war long before that.

The Japanese invaded China in 1937.

Like airlines all over the globe would do as World War II unfolded, CNAC, based in Hong Kong, shifted its operations to military service as the Japanese closed in on Shanghai and southern China.

Young pilot 'too old' for service

For a young Goutiere, of Katonah, New York, the delivery flight of this C-47, Douglas Serial Number 20806/Line Number 4193, would be his own entry into the war zone.

He'd been rejected by the U.S. Army Air Corps when he volunteered after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor; he was too old, having missed the 26-and-a-half age cutoff.

Rebuffed, he joined Pan American Air Ferries, a subsidiary of the storied airline set up to ferry all types of airplanes to the U.S. Armed Forces and allies.

Goutiere ferried planes from the United States to Africa after joining Pan Am, but Ship 100 would take him to India, the jumping off point to combat areas.

The ferry flight of Ship 100 -- a short-range, twin-engine aircraft, designed to seat 21 passengers -- took 90 flight hours over 14 days.

Goutiere flew via South America, Ascension in the mid-Atlantic, through Africa and on to India.

In December 1942, Goutiere began flying for CNAC from India over the Himalayas to China, a dangerous routing call "the Hump," ferrying supplies for Chinese and U.S. troops and the U.S. Army Air Corps, for the rest of the war.

A round trip took about seven hours.

"There were three enemies," Goutiere told CNN. "Mountains, Japanese and the weather. Weather is what did the most damage."

Goutiere flew Ship 100 on some of his 680 missions through September 1945, when Japan surrendered.

Flying through history

The last time Goutiere saw Ship 100 was in 1945 -- until 69 years later, when on September 4 he arrived in Everett, Washington, at the Historic Flight Foundation (HFF) in the shadow of Boeing's giant wide-body plant at Paine Field.

This Douglas DC-3 began life as a C-47 in 1944. It's likely the only surviving China National Aviation Corp C-47 in existence.

HFF acquired Ship 100 in 2006 and was preparing to fly the airplane to the annual CNAC reunion in San Francisco.

After doing a walk-around inspection of the plane, Goutiere, family members and a small entourage piled into the historic aircraft for the flight to San Francisco, which took just less than five hours.

The flight underscored advances in aviation technology. A flight leaving the Seattle area in a modern jetliner, for instance, would travel well past Chicago in five hours.

The flight started off at 2,500 feet outside of Everett and over the Cascade Mountains in Northwest Oregon before hitting turbulence.

Cruising at about 160 knots (roughly 185 mph) with no auto-pilot and using only visual flight rules, passengers felt their ears popping due to no pressurization in the cabin.

After diverting around wildfires in the Mount Shasta area of northern California, the aircraft climbed to 13,800 feet to avoid restricted air space reserved for aerial tankers.

American, Chinese WWII pilots embrace at historic reunion

Upon arrival at San Francisco International Airport, the plane was met by legendary CNAC C-47 pilot Moon Chin, who set a record during the war for evacuating 71 people fleeing the Japanese.

One of the 71 was a U.S. Army Air Corp colonel named Jimmy Doolittle, who was making his way back to Allied lines after American's first offensive mission against Japan following the attack on Pearl Harbor -- the famous air raid on Tokyo, in April 1942.

Chin and Goutiere embraced and exchanged smiles and warm words in advance of celebrating the CNAC with scores of relatives of CNAC employees and families and others on hand to honor the men and women who took part in this theater of World War II.

Goutiere and Chin are the sole remaining pilots who flew for the CNAC during World War II.

Goutiere, who still resides in Katonah, will be 100 this month.

Chin, now 102, lives in Hillsborough, California.

Extreme hazards

While flying during the war, C-47s were unarmed.

Peter Goutiere, 99, and fellow China National Aviation Corp pilot Moon Chin, 102, greet each other in San Francisco.

Goutiere carried only a .45 caliber pistol.

He never was shot at and only iced up once, with four tons, forcing him from 18,000 feet to 12,000 feet. The dependable C-47 carried him to safety.

The flying wasn't a cakewalk, however, and the Hump is littered with wreckage of airplanes that were brought down by weather or flying into the mountains. Ironically, good weather wasn't a good omen, either.

"A clear day was dangerous," Goutiere recalled. "Japanese Zeros would come out, so we began flying at night. We did 15-18 trips a month. As we began to understand the weather, CNAC lost one aircraft a month "

The planes had to thread their way through dangerous mountain passes.

They were usually overloaded with supplies or fuel.

Goutiere, along with his fellow pilots, delivered gasoline to American Boeing B-29 air bases, staging areas for bombing raids over Japan.

Sometimes, under the demands of war, pilots took to the skies alone, Goutiere among them.

The conga line of airplanes worked hand-in-hand with the American Volunteer Group (AVG), more commonly known as the Flying Tigers.

CNAC was a principal source of fuel for the Tigers.

Turbulent history for C-47

When the war ended, Ship 100 was converted to passenger configuration and entered CNAC's peacetime service.

But the civil war between the Chinese Nationalists under Chiang Kai-Shek and the Communists under Mao Tse-tung, which began before World War II and only moderated during the fight against the Japanese, resumed.

CNAC helped evacuate Chiang's family to Taiwan (then called Formosa) when it became clear Mao and the Communists would soon claim victory.

CNAC's fleet evacuated from China to Hong Kong during the closing days of the civil war.

Lawsuits were filed over ownership and the fleet was tied up in courts for two years.

A few airplanes remained airworthy during the limbo, including Ship 100.

Saboteurs placed small bombs on these to prevent them from being flown into Communist China. Some failed to go off -- but one on Ship 100 did, damaging the fairing behind the right engine.

Legal ownership was eventually resolved and Ship 100 was sold to Johnson & Johnson, the U.S. consumer goods company.

The airplane was modified, adding landing gear doors to streamline aerodynamics and an elongated nose to accommodate radar.

Historic Flight Foundation locates plane

By 2006, the aircraft had changed hands several more times and was owned by an aircraft broker in New York.

Goutiere ferried planes from the United States to Africa and India during World War II.

John Sessions, founder of the Historic Flight Foundation, was looking for a DC-3 to add to the HFF collection of airworthy aircraft. HFF focuses on the 1937-1957 era of significant military and civil advances in aviation.

Sessions wanted aircraft that weren't only from this era, but aircraft with a history.

Ship 100 filled the bill.

Sessions had the gear doors removed and replaced the "Pinocchio" nose with a standard DC-3 nose fabricated from scratch.

The airliner was painted in Pan Am colors (his late wife worked for Pan Am); Pan Am owned 45% of CNAC until after WWII.

HFF takes the DC-3 to air shows and offers rides.

But the CNAC reunion became a special occasion, and Ship 100's flight from Everett to San Francisco became its longest in years at just less than five hours.

For Goutiere, the reunion with Ship 100 was as important as the CNAC reunion in San Francisco.

"I was home," an emotional Goutiere told the reunion. "I was homesick."

Scott Hamilton is an aviation author and consultant based in the Seattle area.

Surviving Italy's chilli eating contest

The southern Italian town of Diamante hosts an annual Chilli Pepper Festival celebrating the spicy tastes of the surrounding Calabria region.

The highlight of Diamante's Chilli Pepper Festival is the Chilli Eaters' Marathon, in which contestants try to eat the most chopped peppers.

Maurizio Capocchiano, who won the 2013 Chilli Eaters' Marathon, hopes to break the record this year by eating 800 grams of peppers.

Chilli eating champ Maurizio Capocchiano says he's been enjoying chilli since he was an infant.

"It's nasty but it's also fun to watch other people stuffing their mouths, turning red and suffering like hell," says Chilli festival organizer Enzo Monaco.

Chillis are seen as a good luck charm in the Italian town of Diamante and, according to local belief, they scare demons away.

"Peppers here rule," says chilli festival organizer Enzo Monaco. "People add chilli to all their dishes, even to a cup of milk and fruit salad."

• Southern Italian town of Diamante hosts annual Chilli festival every September


• Festival's highlight is a chilli-guzzling contest featuring 10 steel-bellied contestants


• Reigning champ Maurizio Capocchiano says he's been eating chilli since he was an infant

(CNN) -- When it comes to competitive eating, Maurizio Capocchiano clearly has a fire in his belly -- as you'd expect from the reigning champ of the Chilli Eaters' Marathon.

"I was weaned on chilli, my mom used to sprinkle it on my baby bottle to stop me from sucking it," he says proudly.

Held in the picturesque cliffside town of Diamante in southern Italy, the marathon is the eye-watering highlight of an annual Chilli Pepper Festival that celebrates obsessions with super-heated seasoning in the surrounding Calabria region.

Last year Capocchiano gulped down 560 grams (19.7 ounces) of diavolilli, the so-called "little devils" that are typically the hottest peppers found in Italy.

His dream is to beat the record of 800 grams, a feat that will cap a lifelong passion for piquancy.

MORE: Doing time on Italy's prison paradise islands

Hot tea

"I started loving peppers when I tried Penne all'Arrabbiata with spicy tomato sauce -- delicious," he says. "Now I put tons on all pasta and sometimes even in my tea."

Capocchiano and nine other challengers will be closely monitored by a panel of judges and doctors as they attempt to shovel as many 50-gram dishes of finely cut chilli peppers as possible down their inflamed throats.

No water is allowed, only olive oil and bread are on hand to turn the heat down.

The red yellow and green hot peppers are fresh from the fields, picked by Diamante's women.

Hot desk: Red, green and yellow chillies on display.

Male and female fire eaters of all ages compete in the marathon, seated at a big table in front of the public.

The winner is treated to a week's free hotel stay for two in a local resort and to a personal driver who picks them up at the airport.

"Just like a rockstar," says Capocchiano.

Competition is tough. Participants train all year round, taking part in local eating contests. Only the best get to go to Diamante.

Victory, says Capocchiano, requires a cool head and a stomach of asbestos and steel.

"A tongue or throat on fire will not always stop you. The tricky part is making your tummy accept all that chilli: the peppers create gastric juice. You need a good dose of meditation to keep the chilli in your belly."

Another hazard, chilli seeds stuck between teeth, have been known to drive participants to quit the marathon and reach for a toothpick.

MORE: Alley fight -- Towns bicker over Italy's narrowest passage

Unpleasant side effects

Giovanni Polimeni, a former winner, last year flamed out after swallowing chilli dishes too quickly.

"I wanted to beat the record so in the first minute I devoured three plates of peppers. My intestine started grumbling and I had to slow down."

Due to these unpleasant side effects he's been forced to give up competing and now only eats chilli for pleasure.

Thousands of spectators and chilli addicts from all over the world are drawn to the marathon.

"We've had foreign participants, too. It's nasty but it's also fun to watch other people stuffing their mouths, turning red and suffering like hell", says Enzo Monaco, the festival's organizer.

Beyond the competition, the chilli festival features food fairs, cooking shows, spicy movies, satirical performances, chilli-inspired jewelry and fashion and street jazz mixed with local music called Taranta.

There's even a beauty contest aimed at selecting Miss Chilli -- who, predictably, is deemed the hottest woman in town.

It doesn't stop there.

The heat is on: Chilli eaters battle it out.

Chilli love and sex potions and herbal cures are also on sale, making use of the pepper's supposed aphrodisiac powers and antiseptic ability to tackle colds and bronchitis.

Calabria, the region surrounding Diamante, is Italy's kingdom of chilli and is famous for its tangy cuisine.

MORE: 10 things Italy does better than anywhere else

Chilli aphrodisiacs

"Peppers here rule," says Monaco. "People add chilli to all their dishes, even to a cup of milk and fruit salad."

During the September 10-14 festival, city walls and houses are literally covered in red, green and yellow chilli pepper braids. They're seen as a good luck charm and, according to local belief, they scare demons away.

A museum and an academy have been founded to study and promote chilli culture and tradition with branches across Italy.

"We're spicy people and love all things spicy -- meaning erotic, hot, strong, healthy, extraordinary. Chilli pepper is Calabria's brand. Life without chilli is plain boring," says Monaco.

The local signature dish is spaghetti with fried garlic, oil and peperoncino. Chefs in Diamante have created new versions of it by adding bread crumbs and anchovies. Penne with N'Duja salami also tops the menus.

Bars serve "Afro," an aphrodisiac cocktail made of chilli, orange peel and citron.

"Locals believe it really increases sexual desire", says Monaco.

Silvia Marchetti is a freelance journalist and writer based in Italy.

10 top towns for architecture buffs

Tucked among the verdant hills of Colombia's Coffee Triangle or eje cafetero region, Salento is a colorful town that attracts locals and travelers. These structures are built from native bamboo, a material that's well suited for this earthquake-prone region.

Dating back to Medieval times, the whitewashed village of Setenil de las Bodegas, Spain, uses the open space that already exists. Its buildings were constructed outward and often upward from there.

"The architectural style of the local houses has not been changed since the founding of the village (in the 17th century) and the only materials used are stone and wood," says Pavel Gospodinov, who runs photo walks and tours to Kovachevitsa, Bulgaria.

Located in the Japanese Alps, the once-isolated, rural mountain villages of Shirakawa-gō and Gokayama both sport a unique style of Japanese vernacular architecture known as Gasshō-zukuri -- distinct for their thatched, steeply slanting roofs resembling two hands in prayer.

The motel boom of New Jersey's Wildwoods began in the 1950s. To differentiate lodgings, owners added flashy neon signs, bold colors, curved balconies and kidney-shaped pools, along with names evoking exotic and faraway locales like the Tahiti, Satellite and Eden Roc.

Star Wars fans might recognize Matmata, Tunisia, as the home of Luke Skywalker. The town's distinct architecture makes it seem otherworldly.

"Since the area (Taketomi Village in Japan) is often hit by typhoons and strong winds there's a need for protection," says Okinawa Tourism Board's Kazuya Oshiro. "This includes the limestone walls that surround the houses, [the planting of] garchinia trees to act as windbreakers, and tile-roofs -- which replace the older, more vulnerable thatched-roofs."

Alberobello in Italy has more than 1,500 trullis -- limestone dwellings capped by conical roofs that resemble beehives.

South Africa's Bo-Kaap is best known for its colorful homes, painted everything from lime green to bright pink. They first came about in the 1980s and early 1990s -- a symbol of free expression at the height of the anti-apartheid movement.

Matera in Italy has become a favorite Hollywood stand-in for ancient Jerusalem. Situated along a ravine known as "La Gravina," Matera is best known for its "sassi," ancient cave dwellings in the city's old town that date back to the 3rd century BC.

• Cave dwellings in Matera are believed to be some of Italy's first settlements


• Japan's Taketomi Village uses limestone walls and garcinia trees as windbreakers


• Matmata in Tunisia was Luke Skywalker's home in 2002 Star Wars prequel

(CNN) -- While plenty of cities throughout the world are renowned for their architecture, there are just as many towns, villages and neighborhoods with incredibly unique structures.

Here are 10 such places to put on your must-see list.

Alberobello, Italy

Situated in southern Italy's Puglia region, Alberobello is best known for its trullo structures: hundreds of whitewashed, limestone dwellings capped by conical roofs that resemble beehives.

"Trullis date back to the 13th century," says Antonello Losito, owner of Puglia's Southern Vision Travel company, "and they're unique to the area."

According to Losito, Alberobello has more than 1,500 of them.

While many are still inhabited, others have been converted into restaurants, shops and cafes.

"Trullis came about as a way to avoid paying house taxes," he says.

In fact, the homes could be both easily dismantled so the families occupying them could destroy then rebuild them elsewhere at a moment's notice.

Alberobello wasn't actually declared an "inhabited settlement" until 1797. It became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996.

Highlights

Losito says the town's popularity can sometimes make the foot traffic overwhelming.

To avoid the crowds (and score great pics) he suggests exploring Alberobello at sunrise when its many cone-shaped structures "resemble a Hobbit's paradise."

Other tips include stopping by the Thursday produce market in the town's Rione Monti, or historic district; or enrolling in one of Southern Visions week-long culinary adventures, which take place at a trullo farmhouse two miles outside of town.

MORE: 10 things Italy does better than anywhere else

Natural constructions help protect against natural events.

Taketomi Village, Japan

Located on the tiny island of Taketomi in Japan's Okinawa prefecture, Taketomi Village is a modernized example of traditional Ryuku architecture -- a style prevalent in the storm-prone Okinawan islands, which were once ruled by the independent Ryukyu Kingdom.

The entire village consists of attractive, single-story stone structures, each with a red-tiled roof and many with low-lying stone fences.

"The residents built this type of home to both cooperate and co-exist with nature," says Okinawa Tourism Board's Kazuya Oshiro.

"Since the area is often hit by typhoons and strong winds there's a need for protection. This includes the limestone walls that surround the houses, [the planting of] garcinia trees to act as windbreakers and tile-roofs -- which replace the older, more vulnerable thatched roofs -- that are made with red lacquer that's more durable to heat, humidity and natural disasters."

Another feature that's unique to Okinawa and extremely common in Taketomi Village are the lion-like shisha statues placed on rooftops to ward off evil spirits.

Highlights

Everything about the village -- the roadways filled with sand, transport wagons pulled by water buffalo -- feels like a step back in time.

Visitors can take a 30-minute tour of the island on one of the buffalo-drawn carts, which also includes a musical sanshin (an Okinawan stringed instrument) performance by your guide.

Taketomi Island is small: a short walk or bicycle ride from the village brings you to Kaiji Beach, renowned for its tiny particles of sand that resemble stars.

The island (and village) is accessible by boat from nearby Ishigaki Island.

Bo-Kaap, South Africa

While the vibrant colors of Cape Town's Bo-Kaap neighborhood only date back a few decades, the homes themselves have been around centuries.

Located on the lower slope of the city's Signal Hill, Bo-Kaap is part of a larger area formerly known as the the Malay Quarter -- the historic center of Cape Malay culture, whose ancestry includes Southeast Asians and Javanese.

Today Bo-Kaap is best known for its colored homes -- painted everything from lime green to bright pink and reddish-orange -- that line its brick sidewalks.

They first came about in the 1980s or early 1990s: a symbol of free expression at the height of the anti-apartheid movement.

"After one person painted their house the whole community followed suit, trying to out do one another," says Shaheed Ebrahim, founder of the South Africa-based Escape to the Cape sightseeing tours.

"Generally, every year those who can afford it paint their houses in celebration of Eid al-Fitr (end of the holy Muslim month of Ramadan). This gives them an opportunity to spruce up their abode inside and outside making it looking like new."

Though some areas of the neighborhood such as Rose Street have gone through gentrification -- with foreigners transforming the former homes into boutique hotels and cafes -- for the most part Bo-Kaap remains a close-knit community of local descendants.

"The architecture of the homes hasn't changed from the time the Dutch East India Company built these houses for their slaves," says Ebrahim.

Highlights

Bo-Kaap is home to what's believed to be South Africa's oldest mosque, the Aural Mosque, built in 1798. Ebrahim suggests a visit to the neighborhood's Bo-Kaap Museum, which tells the history of the community and its Muslim heritage, as well as Atlas Trading Co. -- an Indian spice shop on Wale Street that's been in business since 1946.

Matera, Italy

Matera has become a favorite Hollywood stand-in for ancient Jerusalem and one walk around the multi-tiered city is enough to see why.

Situated along a ravine known as "La Gravina," Matera is best known for its "sassi" -- ancient cave dwellings in the city's old town that date back to the 3rd century.

In fact, the Sassi di Matera are believed to be some of Italy's first human settlements.

"What makes Matera's architecture especially unique is the size and complexity of this rupestral or 'composed of rock' old city," says Tonio Creanza, founder of Messors, a local organization offering workshops in art restoration and rupestral reconstruction.

"This phenomenon is due to the huge amount of natural tufa bedrock available on the edge of the ravine."

People began inhabiting the caves, he says, in their natural states, eventually carving into them to enlarge their space and extracting that rock to build onto the caves' exteriors.

"This results in the odd, almost shocking look of the sassi: a mix of negative (carving) and positive (building) architecture that contrast one another in their approach and technique."

Creanza said that at one point Matera had more cave dwellers than anywhere else in the world, until 1954 when the Italian government forced residents out due to the homes' poor conditions and the lack of running water and sewer systems.

While many of the caves are uninhabited, residents have since been allowed to return and today Matera is one of southern Italy's main tourism draws as well as an UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Highlights

Visitors can spend a night at Sextantio, a stunning boutique hotel occupying a series of former caves; take a guided walking tour of the sassi with Matera Tour Guide; or stop for a lunch of locally made cheese, meats and focaccia bread at Panelist.

Where whitewash means something desirable.

Setenil de las Bodegas, Spain

The true beauty of Setenil de las Bodegas, or Setenil as it's known, is the innovative use of both natural elements and space.

Built partially beneath the overhang of an eroded gorge along southern Spain's Rio Trejo, this small, whitewashed village dates back to Medieval times.

The homes themselves simply utilize the open space that already exists and are built outward and often upward from there -- a unique blend of human construction and Mother Nature.

It's a multi-layered place; homes were constructed both on the rocks and inside.

Highlights

Inmaculada Olivero, head of tourism in Spain's Cadiz region, recommends a visit to the town's Medieval fortress known as Nazari Castle, built by the Moors in the 13th century; or if you're in the area on January 20, you can take part in the festival of the town's patron saint, St. Sebastian.

Calle de las Cuevas de la Sombra and Calle de las Cuevas del Sol are two of Setenil's most picturesque streets.

Salento, Colombia

Tucked among the verdant hills of Colombia's Coffee Triangle or eje cafetero region, Salento is a colorful town that attracts locals and travelers.

The town's biggest attraction is its traditional bahareque architecture: a collection of one- and two-story buildings, mostly white but with doors and window frames adorned in brightly painted colors.

These structures are built from native bamboo, a material that's well suited for this earthquake-prone region.

"Visiting Salento is like traveling back in time," says Alexander Rodriguez Arcila, a guide for local tour organizer and operator Colombia 57.

"The town has preserved the architectural styles that originated during the period of colonization 200 years ago and combined them with beautiful colors.

"Along with this you've got the perfect location in the Colombian Andes with the Cocora Valley just a few miles away where you can see the national tree (wax palm) and eat the best trout in your life."

Highlights

Calle Real, aka Royal Road, offers a beautiful stroll through a colorful thoroughfare lined with restaurants and trinket shops that leads from Salento's main square, Plaza Bolivar, to a lookout point called Alto de la Cruz.

Café Jesús Martín offers an incredible cup of joe.

Shirakawa-gō and Gokayama, Japan

Located in the Japanese Alps, the once-isolated rural mountain villages of Shirakawa-gō and Gokayama both sport a unique style of Japanese vernacular architecture known as Gasshō-zukuri -- distinct for their thatched, steeply slanting roofs resembling two hands in prayer.

"These thatched-roof houses are precious examples of an old farmhouse style that exist only in Gokayama and Shirakawa-go in Japan today," says Yukie Yamazaki of Gokayama Tourism.

"The design is very rational, with a robust architectural structure that can endure this deep-snow region's harsh climate."

Yamazaki says that most of Gokayama's homes -- large, multi-story farmhouses built to house large families and/or be used as live/work spaces -- are between 100 to 200 years old, with some built as many as 400 years ago.

UNESCO gave them World Heritage status -- along with the gasshō-style homes of Shirakawa-gō -- in 1995.

"The roofs in particular help residents deal with the region's harsh weather," says Mitsunari Shirokio of Shirakawa Village tourism.

"If the roof is steep, the snow will fall off easily."

Shirokio says that beyond winter, these roofs offered plenty of work space for silk cultivation.

"At one time silk cultivation was the main industry in our village. Creating a large space also helped house a large number of families together for the industry's labor force.

"Thus, this architecture mirrors the culture of our village."

Highlights

Shirokio says one of the best times to visit Shirakawa-gō is during the village's winter Light Up, when the homes are softly illuminated with floodlights and covered in snow.

There are also several good guesthouses to stay in, including Shirakawa-gō's gasshō-style Magoemon and Gokayama's Nanto.

The only materials used are stone and wood.

Kovachevitsa, Bulgaria

Established in the 17th century on an isolated slope of the Rhodope mountains, Kovachevitsa is known for its unique two- and three-story homes built to house families in protruding levels up top and farm animals below.

According to Pavel Gospodinov, who runs photo walks and tours to the village, "the architectural style of the local houses has not been changed since the founding of the village and the only materials used are stone and wood."

Today there are about 50 permanent residents as well as a number of B&Bs situated along the mountain village's steep and narrow cobbled streets.

Highlights

The village church of St. Nikolas was built in 1847 (if it's locked, a local may be able to let you in), and is surrounded by hiking trails.

For an overnight stay, Lavanda Bed & Breakfast has cozy rooms and homemade breakfast that includes mekitsi, a traditional fried Bulgarian sweet bread.

Wildwood, New Jersey

The motel boom of New Jersey's Wildwoods began in the 1950s, when car travel took off and, for many Americans, bigger was better.

Easily accessible lodgings catering to the region's growing tourist trade were built at breakneck speed.

To differentiate lodgings, owners added flashy neon signs, bold colors, curved balconies and kidney-shaped pools, along with names evoking exotic and faraway locales like the Tahiti, Satellite and Eden Roc.

When the resorts' popularity began to wane during the 1970s gas crisis, their commercial architecture remained exquisitely intact.

Today, a large -- though dwindling -- number of these structures affectionately dubbed "Doo Wop" architecture still remain and are easy to spot, especially during summer.

Just look for the plastic palm trees.

Highlights

The Wildwood-by-the-Sea Doo Wop Experience is an interactive museum with vintage furnishings, local Doo Wop artifacts and a neon garden of restored signs from classic Wildwood motels.

For an authentic Doo Wop experience, spend a night at the refurbished Caribbean Motel, now listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Matmata, Tunisia

Star Wars fans might recognize Matmata, Tunisia, as the home of Luke Skywalker, a role that director George Lucas reprized for the unique Berber town in the 2002 movie prequel, "Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones."

In fact, it's the town's distinct architecture that makes it seem otherworldly.

Matmata is known for its unusual "troglodyte" or cave homes that are dug vertically into the ground.

Each troglodyte home begins with a large circular crater that's dug about two stories deep and serves as a courtyard. Artificial, windowless caves act as rooms off the sides of it.

This style of home helps protect against heat, although the secluded mountain town features traditional homes as well.

Highlights

The best way to avoid the crowds and heat is to spend a night in Matmata and explore early. The town's Hotel Sidi Driss, nicknamed "The Star Wars hotel," served as Luke Skywalker's actual home and still displays many of the original set pieces that were left behind.

Laura Kiniry is a freelance travel writer based in San Francisco.

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• Despite 30 playoff berths since 1968, Atlanta franchise struggles to make money


• Hawks valued at $425 million, but L.A. Clippers sold for four times estimate value

(CNN) -- Atlanta Hawks controlling owner Bruce Levenson is on his way out after a racially charged email surfaced in which he -- unintentionally, according to his mea culpa -- implied white fans were more important than black ones.

But many questions remain, and answers likely will trickle in over the coming days.

Here is what we know and don't know so far:

WHAT WE KNOW

How did the email come to light?

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Levenson and NBA Commissioner Adam Silver have said Levenson reported the 2012 email, though not until July of this year.

Apparently, Hawks general manager Danny Ferry repeated a racially insensitive remark -- he did not use the n-word -- while talking about a report on a free agent prospect, team CEO Steve Koonin said.

Ferry made the remark on a June conference call with the Hawks owners, a source with knowledge of the team's internal investigation said. The free agent in question was Luol Deng, the source said.

The report on the Miami Heat forward, the source said, came from a third party who does not work for the Hawks and can't be punished by the team.

Following the conference call, the Hawks brought in an outside law firm, which over two months, interviewed 19 people and reviewed 24,000 pieces of evidence. One of those pieces of evidence was Levenson's email, Koonin said.

Is the email racist or just insensitive?

Well, have a read for yourself and decide.

In a nutshell, he made a lot of hackneyed assumptions about black and white people. Among them, black fans don't have much money to spend on merchandise and concessions, whites are afraid of blacks, blacks like hip-hop and gospel and whites prefer cheerleaders of their own race.

He also said the "kiss cam" -- where shots of smooching fans are beamed onto the Jumbotron during timeouts -- "is too black."

While he derided claims on fan websites that Philips Arena and its downtown environs were dangerous as "racist garbage," he seemed to imply that it was more important to get the people who were clinging to said garbage into the arena than it was to keep the black fans who were already attending.

Several observers have written the email off as merely insensitive, and basketball icon Kareem Abdul-Jabaar said the e-mail wasn't at all racist, though some of his assumptions were "cringe-worthy."

"This is a business email that is pretty harmless in terms of insulting anyone — and pretty fascinating in terms of seeing how the business of running a team really works," the Los Angeles Lakers legend wrote.

Are Hawks fans as bad as Levenson said?

Take out his assertion that white people are better or cheer louder than black people, and there is a candid assessment of Hawks fandom.

For many games, the number of empty club and upper deck seats is noticeable, and there are stragglers galore moseying to their seats well after tip-off, sometimes up until halftime.

When a huge star such as LeBron James or a popular team such as the Los Angeles Lakers or New York Knicks is in the building, there are so many people rooting for the opposing team, it can feel like an away game.

During the playoffs over the past seven years, however, it's a markedly different atmosphere with the stands full, voices raised and every Hawks dunk and three-pointer celebrated with pumped fists and a sea of flapping towels.

That said, it's difficult to overlook the attendance statistic. The team drew an average of 14,339 fans to each of its 41 home games last year. That put them third to last in the league.

Is Levenson the team's only owner?

He is not. He is the controlling owner, according to his weekend apology, and the Hawks website lists him as a managing partner and alternate NBA governor, along with Michael Gearon.

The site also lists three other owners in addition to Levenson and Gearon, and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported earlier this year that the ownership group planned to add five small investors to its ranks.

Little information was provided about the new investors, but Levenson was quoted in the paper as saying they "must be passionate about building a championship team." The paper further reported that the new investors "have been described as being adept in the digital-content and social-media fields and will offer access to new team sponsorships. The group will be background players and likely will not disclose their identities publicly."

The team hasn't divulged exactly what percent Levenson owns, but a 2012 Journal-Constitution article said that Levenson and his business partner Ed Peskowitz took control of more than 50% of the partnership after the group -- formerly known as Atlanta Spirit LLC -- bought out Steve Belkin's 30% stake in the team in 2010.

WHAT WE DON'T KNOW

What exactly did Ferry say? Will he be punished?

This isn't clear. CNN has been told only that it was racially insensitive and that Ferry was relaying information that an outside party had provided him about Deng.

It's common for a team, when discussing free-agent players, to gather information about those players because they could be given multimillion-dollar contracts.

As for consequences, Koonin told CNN that Ferry has been punished "in excess" for the comment, but gave no details.

"I can assure you, we listened, we reacted, and we've put a punishment that is appropriate. Some could say it's too harsh. Some could say it's not harsh enough," Koonin said, adding that the team considers Ferry's punishment a "private matter."

Ferry has declined to comment on the punishment.

What are the Hawks worth?

Things are worth only what someone is willing to pay for them, the old wisdom goes.

Forbes says that the Hawks are worth $425 million, but some analysts are speculating the Hawks could command double that price.

It's worth noting that when the then-Atlanta Spirit bought the Hawks, the NHL's Thrashers and operating rights to Philips Arena a decade ago, the group paid about $62 million below Forbes' estimated value of the Hawks and Thrashers combined.

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On the flip side, Forbes estimates that the Los Angeles Clippers are worth $575 million.

Donald Sterling, of course, was forced to sell the Clippers after being caught making racist remarks on tape, and after a court battle, ex-Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer stepped in to take off its hands.

The final price reportedly approved by the league? Two billion dollars, almost quadruple the Forbes valuation

Are they a bad team? Do they make money?

These questions are often asked in tandem, as the assumption is good teams sell seats and seat sales generate revenue.

Historically, the Hawks are OK. They came to Atlanta in 1968, via St. Louis, and have tallied 30 playoff berths and four division titles in that time.

They've made the playoffs in each of their last seven seasons. In 2010, they finished third in the Eastern Conference regular season, but they haven't always excelled in the playoffs and they haven't so much as sniffed an NBA title.

In the rafters, where most teams hang banners commemorating titles and retired numbers, the Hawks have their handful of division titles and four names: All-Stars Dominique Wilkins and Lou Hudson, Bob Pettit, who played for the Hawks in Milwaukee and St. Louis (but not Atlanta) and former owner Ted Turner.

Even with two Atlanta Dream banners, there's so much space in the rafters there's room to commemorate Widespread Panic's sold-out shows.

And as for making money, the Hawks didn't get it done last year, and there are reports that the team has operated in the red for some time.

Despite making the playoffs for a seventh straight time this year, the team's revenue was $119 million, one of the lowest in the league, and they were one of four teams to post operating expenses in the negative digits, minus-$3.6 million to be exact, Forbes reported.

Are reports that Levenson was trying to offload his shares true?

There's been grand speculation on this, fueled by sales of the Clippers, Milwaukee Bucks and Sacramento Kings fetching a good deal more than their valuations predicted they might.

The Daily Beast posed the question in a headline and cited a sports reporter who previously covered the Hawks as saying, "I can't help but think (Levenson) saw an opportunity to get out without the backlash of bailing on the team."

Indeed, in 2011, Levenson was set to sell the team to California developer and pizza chain owner Alex Meruelo, but the deal fell apart, reportedly because of league concerns about Meruelo's finances.

In the aforementioned 2011 Atlanta Journal-Constitution article, Levenson said he was "extremely" fortunate that that deal collapsed and said he was focused on building up the franchise and owning the team for the long term. He pointed to Ferry as proof, saying Ferry never would've left the San Antonio Spurs' front office if he wasn't convinced the Hawks owners were stable and committed.

Still, some see Levenson's self-reporting of the controversial email and quick willingness to sell the team as a little too convenient.

As one unnamed team executive told Sports Illustrated, "I think what happened was he saw how much teams were going for and wanted to make some money. ... What he said was wrong, but to me it seems like an excuse to sell."

CNN's MaryLynn Ryan, Martin Savidge, Steve Almasy and Ashley Fantz contributed to this report.