Far Out, Man
Take as many pictures as you want—people still won't believe that these psychedelic travel destinations are real.
Zhangye Danxia Landform
The same tectonic plate that's pushing the Himalayas up into the sky has...tilted the layers of sandstone that have built up over millions of years in China's Zhangye National Geopark, leaving multicolored stripes cutting across the landscape that have to be seen to be believed.
Han Lei, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
Li River, China
The tree-covered limestone mountains that erupt into the air along either side of China's Li River seem impossibly steep. Venture into the river's Reed Flute Cave for an even more otherworldly experience.
Meteora, Greece
The enormous rock formations at Meteora in Greece are an impressive sight to behold, but the Eastern Orthodox Monasteries dotting the monoliths—some even resting on top, floating hundreds of feet in the air—are what make the place seem like a dream.
Marios Ioannides, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia
Bolivia's Salar de Uyuni is the biggest salt flat in the world. When the conditions are just right, the ground can reflect the sky for nearly as far as the eye can see. Don't see that every day.
Tianzi Mountains, China
Water can dissolve limestone, which can carve some extremely bizarre formations—and few places on Earth show that like Tianzi Mountain in China, where the eerily skinny limestone pillars can reach over 1,000 feet tall.
Hitachi Seaside Park, Japan
A rose by any other name would usually smell as sweet—but it's hard to smell as sweet as Japan's Hitachi Seaside park, where it looks like the flowers go on forever.
Caves in Algarve, Portugal
Someone carved a gigantic hole in the top of this idyllic, beachside cave in Portugal!
Valerija Polakovska, Shutterstock
Pamukkale, Turkey
Pamukkale means "Cotton Castle" in Turkish. That's actually an incredible name for this bizarre formation where carbonate material is deposited by a hot spring.
Naica Mine, Mexico
At first when you see a picture Naica Mine, you might think you're looking at an image from a microscope. Then you see the people and realize those crystals are 20 feet tall...
Assignment_Houston_One, CC BY-SA 2.5, Wikimedia Commons
Hang Son Doong, Vietnam
Hang Son Doong, Vietnam is the largest natural cave on Earth. The reflecting pool is impossible to really capture in photos.
Lençóis Maranhenses, Brazil
In the dry season, the rolling dunes of Lençóis Maranhenses National Park in Brazil are impressive enough—but during the rainy season, the valleys between the dunes fill with freshwater lagoons and the whole landscape looks like an abstract paining.
Wilson Santos Marques, Shutterstock
Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe and Zambia
It looks like the Earth just opened up and swallowed the entire Zambezi River at Victoria Falls—and that's exactly what happened, actually.
Tulip Fields, Netherlands
The vibrant stripes of color that cut across the Tulip Fields of the Netherlands look impossible.
Mount Roraima, Venezuela, Brazil, and Guyana
Mount Roraima is pretty impressive, jutting suddenly out of the earth, but it's even better when the clouds come in and the entire mountain looks like it's floating in an ocean of white.
Vatnajokull Glacier Cave, Iceland
The rippling, bubbling patterns across the ice in Vatnajokull Glacier Cave look like they're not from planet earth.
Antelope Canyon, USA
It's a classic for a reason.
Fly Ranch Geyser in Northern Nevada, USA
I don't even know how to describe Fly Ranch Geyser. You'll just need to see it for yourself—and lucky for you, the Burning Man Project, who owns the land around the site, offers limited tours.
Jeremy C. Munns, Wikimedia Commons
Vinicunca, aka "The Rainbow Mountain of Peru" or "Mountain of Seven Colors"
If you need me to explain why "The Rainbow Mountain of Peru" is worth seeing in person, I don't know what we're doing here.
Michaellbrawn, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Lake Natron in The Great Rift Valley, Tanzania
Lake Natron in Tanzania's Great Rift Valley is the closest on Earth you can get to the red salty planet of Crait.
"The Sea of Stars" on Vaadhoo Island
In many Pacific Islands, the Maldives especially, the shoreline itself lights up on special nights. The Sea of Stars looks like something from an alien planet—but it's just regular Earth plankton.
Tharuka Photographer, Shutterstock
The Kawah Ijen Volcano in Java, Indonesia
When the sulfur gas spewing out of Kawah Ijen Volcano on Java ignites, the mountain itself ignites into blue flame. Pretty cool, huh?
The Darvaza gas crater, aka "The Gates Of Hell," in Turkmenistan
It takes a lot for a place to earn a name like "The Gates of Hell," but the Darvaza gas crater in Turkmenistan, where the natural gas seeping out of the Earth has been burning since the 1980s, fits the bill.
The Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland
It's hard to imagine what natural process might have created the uniform hexagonal pillars of the Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland. So just trust me when I saw: There is a natural explanation for them, but it's very, very complicated. Just enjoy the view.
code poet, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
Spotted Lake in the Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
The different types of minerals in Spotted Lake in British Columbia's Okanagan Valley give each of the lake's spots their own unique color. Something about it is just unsettling though...
Galyna Andrushko, Shutterstock
The Grand Prismatic Spring In Yellowstone Park
The Grand Prismatic Spring would be good enough if it was just the largest hot spring in the United States, but the psychelic fade from red, to orange, to yellow, to green, to blue just seems like it shouldn't occur naturally.
Vmm1234!, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
The Red Beach in Panjin, China
A specific kind of plant called Suaeda salsa, known for its red coloration, grows in abundance in Panjin, China. At the right time of year, it turns the entire landscape vibrant red.
Wu Zhangfan, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
The Great Blue Hole, Belize
During the last Ice Age, Belize's Great Blue Hole would have been above land, so probably not quite so blue. Then the glaciers receded, the oceans rose, and the Great Hole got a lot bluer.
Globe Guide Media Inc, Shutterstock
Cavernas de Mármol, or "The Marble Caves" in Chile
Cavernas de Mármol is a painting. The paint was limestone (as usual) and the painter was the waters of Chile's General Carrera Lake. It took 6,000 years but...I'd say it was worth it.
The Tunnel of Love - Klevan, Ukraine
The Soviets planted trees all along the rail line near Klevan, Ukraine out of secrecy. But they eventually abandoned the track, and after nature slowly reclaimed it, tourists rediscovered it and dubbed the ethereal pathway "The Tunnel of Love".
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