If you are sick of standing in the long line at the Louvre for hours, only to catch glimpses of the Mona Lisa over a huddled mass, try ducking out of the cities for some unique, alternative attractions. Although frequently overlooked by most travellers, some of the world’s most surreal destinations are only a stone’s throw from major urban centres.
Here are 8 surreal destinations you can visit on a solo trip:
Swing at the end of the world, Baños, Ecuador
Tired of getting cheap thrills by launching yourself off the swing set at your local playground? Why not hurl yourself off the edge of the world instead? Ok, maybe not literally, but at Casa del Arbol, a treehouse perched above a steep drop-off overlooking Mt. Tungurahua’s cloud forests and mist-covered valleys, visitors can hop onto a rope swing extended from the top of the tree. Hanging at around 2600-m above sea level, the swing catapults you over the hill while the plunging mountain landscape whizzes by you in a whirlwind. With nothing but a rope holding you down to the seat, you’ll get more than your fill of adrenaline rush on this death-defying ride.
Red Beach, Panjin, China
Don’t let the name fool you, Red Beach isn’t exactly a beach. Rather it’s the largest wetland and reed marsh in the world, located around 30-km southwest of Panjin, China. Every autumn, the wetland turns bright red from a natural phenomenon caused by the seaweed covering the field, called Sueda. The seaweed stays green and grows throughout the spring and summer seasons before finally maturing into the colour of vivid crimson in autumn. Only a small section of this protected nature reserve is open to the public, but you can take photos of this otherworldly, fiery vista from the wooden walkways near the visitor centre.
Plain of Jars, Xiangkhouang, Laos
Along the lower foothills of Xiangkhouang Plateau in northern Laos, the plains are littered with thousands of giant, megalithic jars standing close to three-meter-tall. Archaeologists have dated these mysterious stone jars to as far back as 2000 years ago and uncovered them across more than 90 sites in the upland valleys. Although very little is known about these jars, researchers have speculated if they were used in ancient elaborate burial ceremonies, since some of them contained human skeletons. While you can get a closer look at the jars and even climb atop one of them, only a handful of the jar sites are safe enough for the public to visit. The rest are still littered with unexploded ordnance from the U.S. “Secret War” bombing raids in the 1960s.
Salar de Uyuni, Daniel Campos, Bolivia
The world’s largest salt flat also happens to be the most photogenic. Salar de Uyuni, spanning more than 10,000-Sq. Km. across the Altiplano Plateau, covers the land in a surreal, unblemished sea of white. The salt flat, sitting on an elevation close to 4,000 meters above sea level, is where you’ll 70 percent of the world’s lithium reserves, that’s enough to generate an entire industry devoted to extracting them. On a clear day, the salt flat resembles an immaculate white-sand desert, forming a stark contrast against the blue sky above. But when it rains, the water pools on the ground and becomes a perfect mirror reflecting the horizon, instantly erasing the boundary between the earth and the sky.
Great Blue Hole, Belize
Famed oceanographer Jacques Cousteau once declared this massive underwater cave off the coast of Belize as one of the top five diving sites in the world. The Great Blue Hole, as the name suggests, forms a near-perfect circle inside Lighthouse Reef that measures around 318-metres wide and 124-metres deep. The cave itself was developed over several stages of limestone karst formations, the oldest dating back to more than 150,000 years ago and remains high on the bucket list of many veteran divers. The Blue Hole is also home to hundreds of marine wildlife species and thousands of unique stalactites and stalagmites. Diving deeper into the dark depths of the hole’s caverns, you’ll encounter a kaleidoscopic collection of corals and reefs, as though you’ve entered another dimension altogether.
Mendenhall Ice Caves, Alaska
For over 3,000 years, the Mendenhall Glacier has covered more than 20-km of the valley in southeastern Alaska. But for the past five hundred years, the ice has begun to melt at a rapid pace due to the warmer climate in the region. This makes visiting this rapidly disappearing natural wonder all the more crucial. You can venture deep into the burrows of the glacier’s underbelly, where long stretches of ancient ice caves form frozen tunnels with wavy, luminous ceilings. Walking through the caverns, you’ll hear waters flowing through the crystal-blue ice walls above — a sign the caves are still changing and creating new burrows. Since 1958, the glacier has retracted by 4-km and continues to shrink today, so try and see this phenomenon up close while you still can.
Pamukkale, Denizli, Turkey
Known as the “Cotton Castle”, Pamukkale is a chalk-white travertine terrace shaped by calcium-rich thermal springs formed over several millennia. This UNESCO World Heritage site in southwestern Turkey is famous for its ladder-shaped cliff overflowing with crystal-clear volcanic hot springs. Throughout history, Pamukkale has been a popular tourist destination, and the ancient Romans built a spa city, Hierapolis, above the glittering travertines. You can hike along the basins of the terrace for a quick dip in the mineral-rich pools that are said to cure rheumatism and other physical ailments. If you stay until sunset, you’ll find chances to take dramatic photos of the twilight cast over the glistening slopes while lighting up the silvery pools.
Cat Island, Miyagi, Japan
The Japanese have always had a soft spot for cats. And nowhere else is the country’s cat craze more rampant than on the island of Tashirojima. Here, stray cats vastly outnumber human residents and roam the streets like pedestrians. The locals had lived with their furry neighbours since the late Edo period when they were introduced to help the island’s textile industry hunt down mice that preyed on silkworms. While the human population on the island has dwindled over the last few decades to around 100, the cats’ numbers has boomed to six times that amount. Today, the locals depend on the cats for tourism and find themselves simultaneously feeding them and shooing them away from their yards. You can reach the island by ferry from Ishinomaki City. Once here, be prepared for the feline mob to swarm around you for a treat. You’ll also find many cat-shaped buildings and several shrines dedicated to cat worship here as well.