The Most Extreme Places in the World

Our planet is vast, beautiful, and mystique. You can travel all across the world for years and still not witness even half of the mysteries and beauty that our planet has. It’s so grand and versatile that it’s hard to grasp how all of those various climates and natural differences can find a place on a single planet. 

Overall, you can’t say you have seen everything on Earth till you have been in at least some of those places. Here are the top five extreme places in the world. Don’t forget to add them to your bucket list! 

Dallol, Ethiopia

If you ever wondered what it would feel like to be on a foreign planet, you can go to Dallol, Ethiopia, for a taste. Scientists from every part of the world come here to test the environment, research how the living organisms are surviving, and even test theories of having life on other planets. Its temperature explains the popularity of this place. It is incredibly high here throughout the year, day or night. The high temperature is maintained due to the near warm Red sea as well as an active volcano. 

It’s an extreme place in terms of its weather, though it’s more than possible to travel here and even take an excursion. However, you have to come prepared and be careful with every step. 

Atacama Desert, Chile

You may think that some of the famous African or at least Australian deserts must receive the title of the driest place on Earth. Well, you’d be wrong. The driest place on Earth is in the Atacama Desert, Chile. Of course, officially the poles are the driest locations of the world, though, here we count only inhabitant regions. So, to experience true hits, you won’t have to go as far as to the Sahara desert. You can move to the very West coast of South America and find this desert in the center. 

The desert is located between two mountain chains in the East and South and the Pacific Ocean on the West. This specific location basically traps any moisture and before it can reach the deserted region. The cold northern ocean currents also add to the dry climate of the region. The entire desert is composed of sand, salt lakes, and stony terrain. It’s a truly unique place on Earth, free of any vegetation but full of breathtaking picturesque views. 

Oymyakon, Russia

Oymyakon is a small village in Russia with a population of no more than 500 people. What’s interesting about this place, though, is its location. Oymyakon is very deep in the North of Russia. The average temperature here is below 55°C (-67°F). It’s fair to say that people who choose to live here must really love snow to tolerate such weather. 

Unfortunately, the whole region around the village has a rather sad reputation. This is where the infamous Gulag prisons were located back in Soviet times. These prisons became the death sentences for thousands of people. Not everyone could survive the hard labor, starvation, and freezing inhuman temperature on top of it all. 

Mawsynram, India

You have never experienced real humidity unless you visited Mawsynram in the South-East of India. This region receives the highest recorded rainfall on the globe. The monsoon winds and the mountain landscape create a perfect condition for extreme rainfall each year. This region’s peculiarity makes it the wettest place on Earth. 

If you have ever traveled in a tropical region, you must know how difficult it can be. You have trouble breathing, your clothes are never dry (heaven forbid you to wear anything made not from natural fabrics!), and the heat is always unbearable. It’s like you are steaming at all times. Well, double all those sensations, and you get an image of being in Mawsynram. It rains here so often that just the sound of the rain for the locals is already annoying and tiring. You would see that many plant grass on their roofs just to keep it down a bit. 

Antarctica, of course, we can’t exclude Antarctica from our list. There has been a time when only the bravest of people would dare to take their chances in Antarctica. You can even open a homework market and order a history paper there. The people were trying to conquer new land, understand how to survive in the cold, and overcome the deep snows of the far South. Well, those times are gone now. Sure, all of Antarctica’s challenges have remained the same. The location, however, is now open for tourists. So everyone who wants an unusual, extreme vacation can plan a trip to Antarctica. Kayaking in Antarctic waters, for example, is one of the popular tourist activities in the region.