10 Travel Moments That Seem Like They're from Another World
Certain spots on our planet don't simply seem like a place—they seem like a doorway to another dimension. Whether the sight is alien terrain, otherworldly natural wonder, or some cultural activity so unusual that you feel like opening a novel set in an imaginary world, these travel destinations will leave you doubting what is real.
1. The Maldives Glow-in-the-Dark Beaches
Picture taking a nighttime stroll along the beach, and with each step, the sand lights up blue in front of you. At Vaadhoo Island in the Maldives, bioluminescent plankton make the ocean shimmer like a galaxy. It's like arriving on the set of a sci-fi movie, but it's 100% genuine.
2. Fairy Chimneys and Hot Air Balloons of Cappadocia (Turkey)
Waking up at sunrise in Cappadocia feels like stepping into a dream. Hundreds of colorful hot air balloons rise over the surreal rock formations known as “fairy chimneys,” creating a scene that looks more like a painting than real life. It’s as if you’ve landed on another planet where people just casually float through the sky.
3. The Door to Hell, Turkmenistan
In the middle of the Karakum Desert lies a giant crater that has been burning steadily for more than 50 years. The Darvaza Gas Crater, or "Door to Hell," was formed when a Soviet drilling team unintentionally exposed a huge pocket of natural gas. They made it burn, hoping it would last only a few weeks. It was 1971. It still burns today.
4. The Salar de Uyuni Mirror Effect (Bolivia)
The world’s largest salt flat, Salar de Uyuni, already looks like a frozen white desert. But after it rains, it transforms into the world’s largest natural mirror, perfectly reflecting the sky. Walking across it feels like you’re floating in midair—like you’ve stepped into an infinite dreamscape.
5. The Rainbow Mountains of Zhangye Danxia (China)
If someone painted a mountain with bright red, yellow, blue, and green stripes, you’d probably say it looks fake. But in China’s Zhangye Danxia Landform, these rainbow-colored mountains are very real. Over millions of years, mineral deposits and weathering have created this breathtaking, psychedelic landscape that looks straight out of a fantasy world.
6. The Real-Life Avatar Mountains in Zhangjiajie (China)
Talking of fantasy landscapes, did you know that the floating mountains in Avatar were inspired by a real location? Zhangjiajie National Forest Park in China features towering sandstone pillars, some more than 3,500 feet tall, that pierce through the mist like islands in the sky. Walking on the glass-bottomed bridge that spans between these peaks is like flying.
7. The Underwater Waterfall Illusion (Mauritius)
Yes, you are reading it right—an underwater waterfall. Along the coast of Mauritius, a sand movement-related optical illusion, where underwater movements of sand make the sea seem to be falling into an open chasm, creates an eye-catching phenomenon from above, and it's one of the strangest natural attractions on earth.
8. The Blue City of Chefchaouen (Morocco)
Ever fantasized about walking down a city in which every building is the color blue? Morocco's Chefchaouen is just like that. Stepping through its twisting, labyrinthine streets is like being immersed in a life-size watercolor painting. Blue tones change color depending on the sunlight, producing the city's mystical sheen.
9. The Blood Falls of Antarctica
Far out in Antarctica, a blood-red waterfall pours from a glacier. It's not the set of a horror movie—this is what happens when iron-laden saltwater melts out from under the ice. As the water oxidizes when exposed to the open air, it becomes deep, creepy red. It's one of the most surprising, alien-like images on Earth.
10. The Bubble Domes of Iceland
Iceland is a dramatic destination in itself, but imagine being able to sleep in a bubble beneath the Northern Lights. Some Icelandic hotels have transparent dome bubbles in which you can sleep in bed and observe the auroras dance across the sky above you. It's as close to sleeping in space as you can get—without ever leaving the planet.
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