Harajuku tops people watching list

MANHATTAN BEACH, Calif., July 10 (UPI) -- The Harajuku District in Tokyo topped a California-based travel Web site's list of the top five destinations for people watching.

VirtualTourist.com said the Harajuku District makes for a colorful Sunday afternoon as the streets fill with young people dressed in costumes both artistic and bizarre.

The No. 2 spot for people watching as chosen by the Web site was London's Heathrow Airport for the vast diversity of the travelers passing through the British transportation hub.

Venice Beach in Venice, Calif., came in third on the list for its array of street performers, artists, body builders, surfers and eccentric locals.

Rounding out the list were the Djemaa el Fna outdoor market in Marrakech, Morocco, for its snake charmers, fortune tellers, henna artists and food vendors, and the Plaza de Armas town center in historic Cuzco, Peru, which is filled with passing people 24 hours a day.

"Not only is people-watching one of the best ways to get to know another culture, it's also one of the cheapest," said Giampiero Ambrosi, general manager of VirtualTourist.