22 Ridiculous Places Right Here On Earth

Turns out there's a good chance you could probably simply walk into (a place that looks like) Mordor. Or, in fact, any place that you think only exists in fiction. Because for every fantastical place humankind thinks it can only imagine, Mother Nature is right there, flexing her muscles, and saying, "Hold my beer."

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Entry by AM Smiley

Think rainbow- colored sand only appears in jar art? It occurs naturally on the island of Mauritius. The Seven-Colored Earths is a tiny rainbow desert

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Entry by AM Smiley

Think Superman's Fortress of Solitude is pure fantasy? Check out the Cueva de las Cristales, in Mexico. It's located in the Naica Mine of Chihuahua, M

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Entry by AM Smiley

You might think you're looking at frozen waves. They're actually inverted glaciers in Antarctica. During the warm(ish) summer months in Antarctica, so

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Entry by AM Smiley

This castle looks like a set from a Disney movie. It's actually the Inspiration for them. That's Neuschwanstein Castle, the retreat of Ludwig l of Bav

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Entry by AM Smiley

This looks less like a lake and more like a game of Twister. It's Spotted Lake in Osoyoos, British Columbia. That ridiculous polka-dotted landscape is

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Entry by AM Smiley

This bubbly pink lake looks like diarrhea medicine. It's just a typical day for Lake Natron in Tanzania. Specifically, it's the alkali salt crust on t

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Entry by AM Smiley

Think whirlpools are a temporary, small- scale phenomenon? You're looking at a large, permanent one. This is the Corryvreckan Maelstrom, off the coast

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Entry by AM Smiley

Think this landscape looks spiky and inhospitable? It's essentially a 250- square-mile tiger trap. The Tsingy de Bemaraha National Park in Madagascar

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Entry by AM Smiley

These wonky stone pillars look like an art installation. They're a 200-foot-high rock formation. Scientists think the seven stone monoliths in Siberia

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Entry by AM Smiley

This dude is standing inside some kind of alien skeleton, right? Actually he's inside of 3N Cave, in Iran. Those spindly tentacles are salt crystals.

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Entry by AM Smiley

Think you're looking at giant caves made of marble? You sort of are. The Marble Caves of Chile began as nothing but a giant block of hardened calcium

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Entry by AM Smiley

This looks like some kind of manmade fish hatchery. Those rectangular shapes occurred naturally. You're looking at tessellated pavement, a set of ston

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Entry by AM Smiley

This looks like some sort of seashell. It's a rock formation in the Sahara desert. Officially known as the Richat Structure, the Eye of the Sahara is

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Entry by AM Smiley

Ever wish you could play real-life -Bert? Head on over to the Giant's Causeway, in Ireland. The causeway was formed by hundreds of basaltic lava colum

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Entry by AM Smiley

Ever seen a magical mermaid shower? You can, in Romania. Izvorul Bigar isn't a particularly tall waterfall (it's a mere 26 feet high), doesn't have ca

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Entry by AM Smiley

This sea foam definitely does not look natural. Except that it totally is. Phaeocystis-produced sea foam shows up every So often in the wake of big st

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Entry by AM Smiley

These three lakes keep changing colors. They're located in Kelimutu, Indonesia. Each lake can change its color completely at any time, independently o

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Entry by AM Smiley

This tree looks like it lost a paintball fight. It's a rainbow eucalyptus, and is naturally colored. Officially known as the Eucalyptus deglupta, the

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Entry by AM Smiley

This frozen tundra is protected by giant snow snakes! Actually, those are frozen trees in Finnish Lapland. Lapland is known for ferocious, driving sno

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Entry by AM Smiley

Water doesn't form perfectly flat levels, like stairs, right? Apparently it does in Pamukkale, Turkey. Pamukkale is a series of naturally-forming hot

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Entry by AM Smiley

This looks like a '70s album cover, right? It's an abandoned salt mine in Russia. A photographer discovered the bright patterns when he visited the de

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Entry by AM Smiley

This eerily glowing blue cave looks like a movie set. It's a volcanic ice cave in Iceland. It's the Crystal Cave of Svinafellsjokull, a 150-foot-long