{"id":99917,"date":"2016-10-25T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-10-25T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/travelstartblg.wpenginepowered.com\/truly-bizarre-attractions-around-world\/"},"modified":"2025-11-04T13:53:41","modified_gmt":"2025-11-04T13:53:41","slug":"truly-bizarre-attractions-around-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.travelstart.co.za\/blog\/truly-bizarre-attractions-around-world\/","title":{"rendered":"15 Truly Bizarre Attractions Around The World"},"content":{"rendered":"

The world is a bizarre place filled with the incredible and the creepy. Travelstart brings you 15 places you have to see to believe from abandoned ghost towns to eerie etchings in the desert.<\/p>\n

1. Isla de las Mu\u00f1ecas (Island of the Dolls), Mexico<\/h2>\n

\"island<\/p>\n

Courtesy of beerittany_la Instagram<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Between the canals of Xochimico, just south of Mexico City, you’ll find the jarring island of the dolls. A young girl drowned on the island and the hundreds of dolls are said to possess her spirit. Take a boat from Embarcadero Cuemanco to get to the remote island, but be sure to go in the day as the dolls are creepy enough in the bright sunlight.
\n\"island<\/p>\n

Courtesy of deusexrose Instagram<\/span><\/p>\n

2. The town where no dead may be buried, Longyearbyen, Norway<\/h2>\n

\"longyearbyen<\/p>\n

Courtesy of baresvalbard Instagram<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

The world’s northern-most town has not buried a single person for the last 70 years because the perma-frost prevents the corpses from decomposing. It is illegal to die in Longyearbyen and even the corpses of polar bears are taken further south. Very few people live in the town for longer than 6 years at a time, the sun does not rise here at all for 4 months at a time.<\/p>\n

3. The Temple of the Rats, Deshnoke, India<\/h2>\n

\"Karni<\/p>\n

Courtesy of karni_mata Instagram<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Karni Mata Temple draws worshippers and curious tourists from all over the world as it houses 2000 black rats which are revered and well looked after. These holy rats known as kabbas live peacefully in the temple and it is considered a great honour to eat food that the rats have nibbled on. If a rat is killed it must be replaced by a rat of solid silver.<\/p>\n

4. The Nazca Lines, Peru<\/h2>\n

\"Nazca<\/p>\n

Courtesy of sergioae1969 Instagram<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Nobody knows how the geoglyphs, or unusual designs etched into the rocks on a grand scale, came to be. Archaeologists suspect the Nazca culture between 500 B.C. and A.D. 500. Because the weather is so dry and stable, the etchings have been preserved for centuries. It is believed the Nazca people created them to be seen by their gods in the sky. You can view the intricate designs from the surrounding foothills.<\/p>\n

5. Lake Natron, Tanzania<\/h2>\n

\"lake<\/p>\n

Courtesy of gotourist.info Instagram<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

This other-worldy landscape is made up of a salt and soda lake in northern Tanzania. Though it is fascinating to look at, you definitely can’t swim in the lake as it is sometimes reaches temperatures of 60 degrees centigrade! You won’t have difficulty spotting the 2.5 million lesser flamingoes that make Lake Natron their breeding ground each year.<\/p>\n

6. Old Mother Shipton\u2019s Cave<\/h2>\n

\"Old<\/p>\n

Courtesy of memorialstitches Instagram<\/span><\/p>\n

This petrified cave is England’s oldest tourist attraction. It is said that the magical waters of the cave turn all that touch it into stone. It has been open as a tourist attraction since 1630! Found in the Royal Forest of Knaresborough, the cave housed England’s greatest prophetess Mother Shipton. Mother Shipton, born in 1488, is a mysterious figure who predicted the invention of metal ships, the Great Fire of London in 1666 and the defeat of the Spanish Armada as well as the fate of several rulers within and after her lifetime. You can visit the cave in North Yorkshire and see the petrified well for yourself.<\/p>\n

7. The Hand in the Desert, Atacama Desert, Chile<\/h2>\n

\"the<\/p>\n

Courtesy of carinabroker.chicagorealtor Instagram<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Created by Chilean sculptor Mario Irarr\u00e1zabal in 1992, this evocative hand rising out of the desert sands is said to represent emotions like injustice, loneliness, sorrow and torture. You can find it 75 km to the south of the city of Antofagasta, on the Panamerican Highway.<\/p>\n

8. Thames Town, China<\/h2>\n

\"bizarre<\/p>\n

Courtesy of vaxis Instagram<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

You might think from the photograph above that you have stumbled on a small town in the English country, however this is a full scale replica town 30 kilometres from central Shanghai, China. You will feel like you’ve walked into a parallel universe with its cobbled streets and historical buildings.<\/p>\n

9. Goblin Valley, Utah<\/h2>\n

\"Goblin<\/p>\n

Courtesy of mon_m01 Instagram<\/span><\/p>\n

Thousands of hoodoos and hoodoo rocks have naturally formed in the shape of goblins, giving the park its unlikely name and unusual appearance.<\/p>\n

10. Area 51, Nevada<\/h2>\n

\"Area<\/p>\n

Courtesy of jennifertopp Instagram<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Conspiracy theorists and those who believe in UFO’s and alleged cover-ups like Roswell will relish a visit to Area 51 in Nevada. Kooky and creepy, you won’t be able to go inside the secret airforce base but you can snap a picture outside.<\/p>\n

11. Grand Prismatic Spring, Yellowstone Park, USA<\/h2>\n

\"bizarre<\/p>\n

Courtesy of dailyoverview Instagram<\/span><\/p>\n

The largest hotspring in the USA, and the third largest in the world, is an unbelievable combination of colours due to the microbial mats around the edges of the mineral-rich water.<\/p>\n

12. Where the sky meets the earth, Salar De Uyuni, Bolivia<\/h2>\n

\"Salar<\/p>\n

Courtesy of pablocuadrafoto Instagram<\/span><\/p>\n

Bolivia has the world’s largest salt flat at 10,582 square kilometers. Visiting Salar de Uyuni is like stepping onto another planet where the earth seems to mirror the sky and vice versa.<\/p>\n

13. Dallol, Ethiopia<\/h2>\n

\"Dallol,<\/p>\n

Courtesy of sonhosdeviajante Instagram<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Dallol is an abandoned city in Ethiopia and holds the record for the highest temperature on record in an inhabited region. Visit its acidic hot springs and small gas geysers to have the eerie experience of what life on another planet might be like.<\/p>\n