15 Mysterious Places You Won’t Believe Exist
There’s nothing like a bit of adventure and mystery to make a vacation on our beautiful planet even better.
While there are many well-known tourist hotspots (looking at you Niagara Falls and Easter Island) to make you wonder, let’s dig into some lesser-known, absolutely stunning places to add to your ‘magical mystery tour’ bucket list.
1. Darvaz Gas Crater
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Situated in the middle of the Karakum Desert in Turkmenistan is a giant sinkhole that has been…on fire for 50 years. Legend has it that a shepherd stumbled across the hole, full of poisonous gas.
In an effort to save his livestock, he thought setting the whole thing on fire seemed like a good idea. It’s been burning ever since, but boy does it look spectacular!
2. Death Valley Racetrack, California
In the eastern Mojave desert lies Death Valley Racetrack, made mysterious by boulders that move up to 1,500 feet on their own. The Racetrack is a dry lake bed, and for years the explanation for the moving rocks was a mystery.
More recent research reckons it could be high winds, rain, and lots of mud creating a rock slip’n’slide.
3. Hydrothermal Field, Ethiopia
This Sulfur field looks like another planet. Acid-filled springs, colored mineral deposits, and craters are all found near a volcano in Dallol. There is not much if any natural life here.
4. Sedlec Ossuary
While you’ve probably heard of the Catacombs in Paris, or even taken a trip down them, bet you didn’t know about this equally macabre spectacle.
Beneath a church in the Czech Republic, there is a small chapel filled with thousands of bones, shaped into pyramids, pillars, and various other decorations.
5. New Zealand Glow Worm Cave
Take a boat ride through a network of limestone caves, ceilings adorned with strings of glow worms. The beautiful iridescent blue light they give off feels other-worldly, and is in fact a mechanism these creatures use to catch prey.
6. The Oldest Lake In The World
Lake Baikal in Russia is a lot of ‘est’s. The largest body of freshwater by volume, and said to be the oldest, at 25 million years (they’re gonna need one big birthday cake).
It is also the deepest with parts of it coming in at 5,000 feet, and one of the clearest, meaning you can see pretty far down into that chasm. It is also home to a couple of thousand species of plants and life forms.
7. The Island In The Lake On The Island In The Lake On The…Wait What?
On Luzon Island in the Philippines is a bit of a…brain twister. Lake Taal is on Luzon island. Lake Taal has an island called Volcano Island. Volcano Island has a lake called Crater Lake, in the middle of which is an island called Vulcan Point.
So basically think nesting dolls, but for lakes and islands.
8. Uros Islands, Peru
The Uros people in Peru used to inhabit the land around Lake Titicaca. When the Incas came to drive them away, they weren’t about to go far.
Instead of leaving, they built islands out of reeds, and then built floating homes on those islands. They could literally just float their homes away if they were under threat again. Around 60 reed islands remain, still inhabited!
9. Australia’s Pink Lakes
![Pink Lake [Lake Hillier] on Middle Island off the coast of Esperance Western Australia.](https://www.champagneandcoffeestains.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Lake-Hillier.jpg)
10. Grand Prismatic Spring, Yellowstone National Park
On the subject of strangely colored water, this spring in the Yellowstone National Park looks like a piece of art. The multi-colored prism is produced by carotenoids produced by bacteria, the color changes are caused by temperature as the lake gets warmer towards the edges.
11. The Boiling Lake, Dominica
Probably skip the swim in this one. Technically a very large hot spring, this lake reaches temps of over twice boiling point in the center. While it is a sight to behold, the hike to get to it is one of the most challenging on the island.
12. The Eye Of The Sahara Desert
If you were in it, you wouldn’t know it’s there, as it’s some 30 miles in diameter. However from space, this mysterious geological formation looks like an eye, just plonked in the middle of the Sahara desert.
Origins are unknown but people have speculated a meteorite, or erosion over time.
13. Truk Lagoon, Micronesia
Its official name is actually Chuuk Lagoon, and you’d be forgiven for never having heard of Micronesia, but this place is pretty cool.
It’s one of the biggest underwater military cemeteries, and divers can explore the wrecks of 60-odd WWII ships and something in the region of 400 planes. If that wasn’t enough to tickle your fancy, the whole thing is surrounded by a gorgeous coral reef.
14. Blood Falls, Antarctica
A particularly impressive sight to behold, if slightly terrifying. Blood Falls flows off a glacier in Antarctica, onto the frozen surface of West Lake Bonney. The water is a deep red color, as it contains iron oxide particles.
15. Uyuni Salt Flat, Bolivia
![Hexagons, Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia - Salar de Uyuni (or Salar de Tunupa) is the world's largest salt flat at 10,582 km² (4,085 square miles)[1]. It is located in the Potosí and Oruro departments in southwest Bolivia, near the crest of the Andes, 3,650 meters high. The major minerals found in the salar are halite and gypsum.](https://www.champagneandcoffeestains.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Uyuni-Salt-Flat-Bolivia.jpg)
