Seriously weird places around the world

  Seriously weird places around the world

Lake Hillier, Western Australia

This  lake was discovered in 1802 on the largest of the islands in Western Australia’s Recherche Archipelago. The lake keeps its deep pink colour year-round, which some scientists say it’s down to high salinity combined with the presence of a salt-loving algae species known as Dunaliella salina and pink bacteria known as halobacteria.

Badab-e-Surt, Iran

These beautiful travertine terraces in northern Iran are an incredible natural phenomenon that developed over thousands of years. Travertine is a type of limestone formed from the calcium deposit in flowing water, and in this case it’s two hot springs with different mineral properties. The unusual reddish colour of the terraces is down to the high content of iron oxide in one of the springs.

The Catacombs, Paris, France

The deeply creepy catacombs are a network of old quarry tunnels beneath Paris and the final resting place of around six million Parisians. Most are anonymous, skulls and bones taken from the city’s overcrowded graveyards during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries

Red Beach, Panjin,China

This beach is covered in a type of seaweed called Sueda, which turns bright red in autumn. Thirty kilometres southwest of Panjin, these tidal wetlands are an important nature reserve for migrating birds. Only a small section of the beach is open to the public, but it can be explored via a wooden walkway that stretches out to sea.

Socotra Island, Yemen

Separated from mainland Africa more than six million years ago, this remote island looks like the set of a sci-fi film. Socotra’s incredible and unique biodiversity means that there are plants and trees here not found anywhere else in the world – particularly bizarre are the ancient and twisted dragon’s blood tree and the bulbous bottle tree.