2022
Caption: @TravellerG's Star Video of Mahatma Gandhi Statue uploaded onto Google Maps on 2018-09-15 and showing star views of 134,317 as at 2023-09-29
Mahatma Gandhi Statue, Pondicherry, Tamil Nadu, India.
This statue is said to be the tallest Mahatma Gandhi statue in Asia & the most famous landmark of Pondicherry. The statue was brought from Gingee, a fort some 70 km from Pondicherry. The Gandhi Statue is in the Rock Beach (Dumas Street ) erected in 1923. This four-meter Gandhi statue is surrounded by intricately carved eight granite, beautiful pillars.
On one side is the Arabian Sea and the statue faces the Nehru Statue, on the other side; the Old Lighthouse is also close by. The whole area (Including the Road) is absolutely Clean and well guarded by police (Police in Semi-traditional Uniform). No vehicular Traffic is permitted on 'The Beach Road' from 6:00 PM till 7:30 AM.
Restaurante La Montaña, Mineral del Chico , Hidalgo, Mexico
Located in the middle of a rock and with a small stream running down one side, it allows you to enjoy an unbeatable view.
This restaurant is part of the facilities of the El Paraíso hotel, which is located at the entrance to the magical town of Mineral del Chico. The place is ideal to escape the stress of the city and enjoy a few days in the middle of nature and extreme activities full of adrenaline. But it also works as a place to escape and return the same day.
II Runner II Traveler II 
Melbourne Exhibition Centre Forecourt, Australia
This was a quick spur of the moment video taken on the Forecourt of the Melbourne Exhibition Centre at the end of the Oz Comic-Con event and it replaces my previous star video. The video doesn't show or tell you much about the Exhibition Centre, but as entertainment goes, this busker, dressed up as Darth Nader, certainly had visitors attending the event, including myself and the two lovely ladies with me, entertained in the forecourt area.
Because of the crowd there at the time, when shooting the video I had to wait quite a while for the right opportunity to shoot. However, as you can see during my shoot, there was one male who couldn't care less about me taking the video or the entertainer, and just walked straight past. To view the video, simply click on the heading above.
The video was taken in landscape (yes I know) on a Pixel 3XL
ps: If you are having problems accessing the video via the heading link above (e.g. on iOS devices) then try this link: https://maps.app.goo.gl/amTZi2FgEMhxGAWs5
Comfort Town, Kyiv, Ukraine
Comfort Town is a large residential complex in Kyiv, Ukraine. It is located in the Dniprovsky district, about 10 kilometers from the city center. The complex was built in stages from 2010 to 2017 and consists of over 100 buildings with over 10,000 apartments.
Comfort Town is known for its modern infrastructure and amenities. It has its own schools, kindergartens, clinics, shops, restaurants, and cafes. There is also a large park with playgrounds, sports fields, and walking trails. The complex is well-guarded and has CCTV cameras throughout.
Comfort Town is a popular place to live for both families and young professionals. It is conveniently located near major highways and public transportation.
P.s If you are having problems accessing the video via the heading link above (e.g. on iOS devices) then try this link: https://maps.app.goo.gl/9dA8B4MXXKdmxMiv5
Canal Street, Subway Station, New York, NY
This is a video of a Canal Street Q-train Subway station, Chinatown, New York City, taken on 2023-02-11 with iPhone 14Pro and uploaded a day after on 2023-02-12. The video shows an unknown person walking on a train track and collecting debris. His action was very strange and dangerous, as the train was almost arriving at the station. Passengers were not sure if the person was an MTA employee as he did not wear a labeled uniform or safety west. Fortunately, he climbed to the platform on time and everything finished well.
Veg Manchurian Served at Rupali Veg Hotel, Bibwewadi, Pune, India.
We normally pick up deliveries from this restaurant but that day we went and had our dinner. It was freshly prepared, hot and in a great quantity. I thought this is what normally all look for, so captured this to demonstrate it. I think it is very important from the customers point of view. I had reviewed it earlier and here is the review.
Bell 94 Sports Complex, Scottsdale, AZ, USA
Arizona has invested quite a lot into Soccer (football) in the past several years. The City of Scottsdale has several large public parks with dedicated fields for clubs to rent, as well as City-hosted leagues. I stopped by after noticing Bell 94 was not in any satellite images on Maps. The parking lot wasn't (still isn't) even marked on the Map, so I stopped by to get some photos. I had been meaning to test out shooting video from within the Maps app, so I did some tests. For whatever reason, the app kept stopping the videos at 3 or 4 seconds. I thought that was the desired length, so I kept them. The video quality is garbage due to the lack of stabilization and length, but I thought this was Maps' intention since it was shot from the app directly. Now, it's a *Star* for whatever reason. Hopefully, it implodes soon!
Primark, Taunton, United Kingdom
This was always my Star Video but because of the lack of search function features provided by Google I simple couldn't find it. It's a pain to check each month because of having to scroll past more than a thousand images to find it. I think I have found a solution to this which I will post into the discussion thread and link from here in the next couple of weeks.
This is also the featured image/photo for the Primark business listing. For once I think that the AI choice of this video was on the mark. It shows 9 seconds of customers coming and going on a sunny day on a busy main street. I really quite like the vibe of the short video.
I rarely take videos from across the street because of the amount of uncontrolled footfall and vehicle traffic. Having said that this is by far my most popular video with a steadily increasing view count.
Palm Beach, New South Wales, Australia
Station beach and North Palm beach forms together one of the most beautiful nature spots in Sydney area. Considering the walking towards the beaches and the lighthouse itself, it`s definitely a must go in Sydney.
I have changed my Star Video from the Previous Star Video of Ved Van Park Uploaded onto Google Maps on 2023-07-14 with the new one from Na Muang Waterfalls as described below.
Na Muang Waterfalls, 4169, Tambon Na Mueang, Ko Samui District, Surat Thani 84140, Thailand
This waterfall is one of the key attractions for tourist in Ko Samui district. Ko Samui is a beautiful island full of nature and natural creatures. This waterfall is very clean and safe. One can easily make out from this video how people are enjoying with this natural beauty. It is not much explored and hence one get full advantage of the serinity of the place. At the entry gate there are couple of gift shops, food stalls and some toys shops for kids. Sme local clothes can also be bought from this place.
The change in video's star views in last TWO cycles:
Date Star views Change in Star Views
01-November-2023 15,922 ----
01-December-2023 15,934 12
