What would be the aspect of other worlds? Do the places in Mars look like the places on Earth? Filmmakers, designers and artists strive to imagine remote and impossible locations beyond our borders; however we can find strange, unlikely, enigmatic and mysterious places in our world which could be the scene of any science fiction movie. This article proposes a tour through ten of these curious places but there could be found many more:
“Blood Pond” hot spring in Japan
The blood springs, which are known as one of the “Bepu jigoku” (Hell of Japan), include nine spectacular natural thermal springs which are more appropriate to be seen than to bath into. The reddish color is due to the high iron level in the hot waters.
The Ice Caves of Eisriesenwelt (Austria)
These caves include the longest ice grottoes in the world. Presently, only a small zone of the caves is open to the public, which is small and similar to a labyrinth but it is striking enough to make the visitor feel the marvelous and mysterious whim of the nature.
Sahara’s eye
This structure is in Richat, in the African continent. It is visible from the space because of its almost 50 km length in diameter with many curious concentric rings that can highly get the attention. It is located in the Desert of Sahara, in Mauritania, at an altitude of 400 meters over the sea-level. It is believed to have been caused by a meteorite impact.
The Stone forest of China
The Stone forest of Shilin, which is known as “the first wonder of the world” is located at 86 km to the south of Kunming, the capital of Yunnan Province. It is more than 400 kilometers of a huge stone forest that is characterized by its karts topography. Its lakes demonstrate the amazing rock formations in a spectacular way. It was included as a World Heritage Site in 2007.
The Salt Desert
This immense desert of salt, which is located in Tunupa in Bolivia, is also known by the name of “Uyuni”. It is the largest salt desert in the world and it includes active volcanoes, tall cactus, geysers plains, etc., that make the place a sort of infinite illusion or a landscape of another world.
Valley of the Moon
The Valley of the Moon in Brazil is a huge eroded rock valley with natural pools. It is located inside a forest, near a river. The rock formations are considered among the oldest in the world and they are composed of quartz and other crystals. It is said to have healing powers and it is an energy source thanks to its crystals.
The Spotted Lake of Kliluk
This enormous and curious lake, the Klilukis, is located between the Canadian province of the British Columbia and the State of Washington in the USA. It is consisted by rich natural resources but the most surprising is the strange formation of circles with white borders in which are made puddles reflecting the sunlight with blue and green as mirrors or doors to other worlds.
The dry deserts of Antarctica
They are authentic dry valleys in the Antarctic with dark gravel scattered on the ground that are similar to the volcanic areas of the Canary Islands which are compared to Mars. The place is so cool and dry that anything that dies there is preserved as a mummy or a natural freezer. Additionally, it is possible to find corpses of seals that died there centuries ago.
The river of Tinto
Our own little planet Mars on the Earth is in Spain, in such a high manner that NASA has been doing there different experiments due to its resemblance to the red planet. The area is a mining site which confers on the environment a barren and almost a lunar appearance. The high copper content of the water and the land’s red color give the name to this river which is: RED
The island of Socotra
The place looks like an unreleased space like in the novel “Journey to the Center of the Earth.” by Jules Verne’s. It has a strange vegetation that makes this place a unique ecosystem and almost abnormal. It is part of an archipelago of four islands in the Indian Ocean which were separated from the African continent around 6 or 7 million years ago. Like the Galapagos Islands, this one contains more than 700 extremely rare species, both flora and fauna and one third approximately are endemic.
By Paula.P.M.B
