Ten (10) most mysterious places on earth
14th of March 2022
10. The Giant's Causeway (Northern Ireland)
Roughly three hours away from Northern Ireland's capital cities is a mysterious site cloaked in myth and superstition. The Giant's Causeway is home to nearly 40,000 near-perfect hexagonal tubes that are stacked next to each other. The cause of these columns is of high debate on the island and surrounding countries.
The legends surrounding these columns are mainly from the Fenian cycle of Gaelic mythology. Legend has it that fine Macomb hail better known as Finn McCool the Irish giant was challenged to a fight by Ben and Donner. It is told that these Collins stretching from the coast of Scotland along the ocean floor to the coast of Northern Ireland was a result of such a duel. Science has told us otherwise.
Though it is said that these near-perfect hexagonal tubes were formed from the volcanic eruption 60 million years ago, don't let science ruin your fun. Science still cannot explain the sheer density and the large number of these columns or why they're stacked next to each other like puzzle pieces.
If you ever find yourself in Ireland Northern Ireland or any other surrounding island, take the drive or ferry over and look for yourself. The hike down is beautiful, and you can walk all over the causeway. The giant’s causeway
9. Fly Geyser (Nevada USA)
The United States is home to some incredible sights. The Grand Canyon in Yosemite National Park and basically all of Hawaii. But there is one of America's beautiful sights that is not often mentioned. Located in Nevada, Fly Geyser originally called Ward’s hot springs is a picture-perfect geyser if we ever saw one.
Covered in a multitude of hues of red and green algae, this geyser shows the colours of the rainbow. Located in the desert, this unnatural piece of art was created nearly 100 years ago when the government tried to dig a well in the desert which resulted in geothermal boiling water spewing out and creating multiple chrome-like structures.
The geyser has been continually growing and in 2014, it was measured at five feet tall and twelve feet wide. The water was then still over 200 degrees because of such high temperatures. Thermophilic algae tend to grow in the cone like mountains and creates the rainbow effect.
8. Socotra Island (Yemen)
Lots of places are said to be out of this world and alien like but non rings so true. The Socotra in Yemen was previously part of Africa but has been separated for more than six million years. It is inhabited by thousands of unique plants and trees not found anywhere else in the world. Socotra is home to trees that are bulbous and bottle-like, others I have thick trunks that morph together with spindly little twig like branches off the stalks.
This island is the closest you can get to an alien planet without ever leaving Earth. With a hot dry climate, it's a wonder that anything can live on this island let alone thrive. The island is a National heritage Site as declared by the UNESCO. And despite having 40,000 inhabitants, the island only has two roads which were constructed in the last ten years. Socotra Island
7. Pancake rocks (New Zealand)
Pancake rocks is named as such because of its stacked-like formations of rock that look like piles of pancakes. Located in New Zealand, it is the most visited spot on the west coast. The rocks took this form after millions of years of small fragments of dead sea creatures and plants landing on the seabed only to be blown through vertical blow holes by heavy sea waters. This process slowly solidified them into layers of limestone, the immense pressure from the water wind and salt spray then eroded the limestone into the pancake layers we see today.
The heights of the pancake rocks are well worth it but be aware that you and your camera will get a workout on the way. Not only is the landscape beautiful but many travellers have seen dolphins playing close to the shore. Pancake rocks
6. Mont St. Michel (France)
Just off the coast of France is an island abbey of Mont St. Michel. Floating like a mirage, its distance silhouette has sent spirit soaring for more than a thousand years. The Bay of Mont St. Michel turns into a mudflat at low tide and an island at high tide. If being a mountain on an isolated island was not enough to do to her visitors the dangerous quicksand, disorienting fog, and mystic tide should have been.
This beautiful and historic Abbey could not keep people away. The small island with less than 50 population welcomes an extraordinary 2.5 million tourists a year. The stone steps to the Abbey have for centuries been climbed by monks and pilgrims. The creator of this beautiful Abbey had gotten the inspiration from a vision in which the Archangel Michael told them to build on this spot. The building process took centuries but was eventually called a medieval skyscraper. Mont St. Michel
5. Dean's Blue Hole (Bahamas)
Dean's blue hole located in the Bahamas is the world's deepest underwater sinkhole. It is 663 feet deep and 115 feet at its widest point. The extraordinary depth of Dean's Blue Hole makes for a wonderful deep blue colour in contrast to the shallower water surrounding the sinkhole.
Thousands of tourist’s visit being people every year and many have taken a dive into the dark waters. In April 2010, William Trubridge a professional diver broke the free diving world record in Dean's Blue Hole by diving to the depth of 300 cubic feet. He then beat his old record on December 14th by swimming 331 feet down on one breath. with no fins. The depth and darkness inhibited much coral and life from growing in the Blue Hole but at noon when the Sun shines down into the hole it creates a sight not to be missed. No wonder this is a free divers Haven. Dean's Blue Hole
4. Pamukkale thermal pools (Turkey)
Similarly to the Roman Baths Pamukkale thermal pools has been used as a spa for 8,000 years. Located in Turkey, the name Pamukkale is translated to cotton castles, and if you've ever seen a picture of the thermal pools, you will understand why.
The cause of the hot springs is in the Earth's crust caused by the movement of the tectonic plates four hundred thousand years ago. The hot springs and travertine terraces have been forming ever since the shifting over faults. There are 17 thermal springs from the hillside rich in calcium and the water leads to the closets of carbonate minerals to form the travertine terraces. This is the cause of the pure white colour of the hot spring.
Pamukkale is over 330 feet tall and can be seen 20 kilometres away by the town's folk. Visitors flock from all over the world to experience the natural spa treatment and explore the terraces. The temperature of the pools varies from 30 degrees Celsius to a hundred degrees Celsius. Pamukkale thermal pools
3. The meteora monasteries (Greece)
The meteora monasteries are clusters of monasteries located on the tips of summits of rock formations in Greece. 24 monasteries were originally built usually on a thousand feet to 1800 feet tall sandstone megaliths. Only six of the original 24 monasteries remained- Great Meteoron, Varlaam, Rousanou, St. Nicholas, Holy Trinity, and Saint Stephen.
The rock masses these monasteries were built on were formed 16 million years ago, sculpted by earthquakes, rain and the wind. The religious presence in this region can be traced from about a thousand BCE when the dwellings were created on the smaller peak of the rock formation. In the 15th and 16th centuries, many more monasteries were created, offering asylum to persecuted Greeks and independents seeking rebels in the Turkish occupation.
Amazingly, some of the six-month series still serve a religious function to those monks and nuns to seek solitude. In the 1920s, these monasteries became popular. Though the track up to them was very difficult and dangerous, ascending the rock columns involved climbing ladders or being hauled up by nets and ropes. Luckily, transportation to the monasteries has improved and since the 60s and the construction of paved roads, many more people are visited.
These historical building covered in priceless artworks of undergoing conservation efforts since 1972. To counter the destruction that occurred during World War two and the overall decades, millions of Dollars have been put into keeping these buildings upright. Regardless of the efforts, there are still ongoing threats to the historical structures which include vibrations caused by low-flying planes, tremors and earthquakes. The meteora monasteries
2. Crooked Forest (Western Poland)
Near a town called Rufino in western Poland is a strange and eerie porous- crooked forest. Named such because the 90-degree bends in many of the tree trunk is shrouded in mystery. Most of the trees in a crooked forest are faced northward. Though no one seems to know, why they’re cooked or why most of them face north, there have been many theories thrown around over the years, there was no scientific evidence to back up any of them. Scientists are still dumbfounded.
The forest is made up of 400 pine trees that were planted in the 1930s and were only around seven to ten years old when they took the drastic turn. Series of the cause ranged from floods to furniture to fire. Regardless this, the mystical forest is a must-see for anyone traveling in the vicinity and despite being visited by hundreds every year this forest still seems to look untouched by humans. Crooked Forest
1. Rio Tinto (Spain)
Unlike the other places on this list most of which are perfectly safe place to visit and experience, Rio Tinto will kill you. Rio Tinto is a bright red river. The cause of its colour is not so different as the cause of Lake Hillier's bright pink colour, except instead of high salinity, Rio Tinto has a pH balance of two. The acidity level of the river is hard to measure because it fluctuates frequently, but the average number of is two. This is caused by the iron that has dissolved into the water over the past decade and also by bacteria that thrive in the high acidity levels.
The river is at points as strong as stomach acid meaning that if you don't have a thick mucus layer hovering you, you probably shouldn't approach it. What catches people's eyes in Rio Tinto is not just its colours, but also with similarities with the big red planet out there called Mars. There are multiple similarities between Mars and Rio Tinto, and several scientists have wondered if Rio Tinto could be a way of testing the possibility of life on Mars. Rio Tinto (Spain)
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