The 11 Most Dangerous Tourist Destinations in the World

A list of the most thrilling and dangerous locations in the world. If you’d like your holiday to come with a side of danger, these places are just for you. Otherwise, steer well clear!


Death Valley, USA




© Tpsdave

If the Earth is our home, then Death Valley is its scorching hot oven. This stunning desert holds the record for the highest temperature ever recorded on our planet — 134 °F (56.7 °C). No matter how tough you are, the blazing sun and searing heat of Death Valley will make you exhausted very quickly. Without water, you can live here for only 14 hours.

The Danakil Desert, Eritrea




© (c)V


Baking temperatures that often top 120 degrees F (50 degrees C), numerous active volcanoes, geysers that spit toxic gases — it’s hard to imagine a more brutal landscape than Africa’s Danakil Desert. Most people would probably consider this terrible place a literal ’’Hell on Earth’’, but it still attracts lots of brave adventurers from all around the world. Just keep in mind that visiting the the Danakil Desert on your own, without an experienced guide, is strictly forbidden.


Mount Washington, USA




© The Pilot's-Eye View


The summit of Mount Washington holds the world record for the fastest winds on the surface of the Earth. The highest recorded speed here is 203 miles per hour (327 km/h). The strong winds, however, are not the only concern in this area — the freezing temperatures that can drop as low as −40 degrees and continuous heavy snowfalls make Mount Washington a very dangerous place. Despite its modest height — 6,288 feet (1,917 meters ) — Mount Washington is one of the world’s deadliest peaks. The loads that the human body experiences at the top of it can be compared to the ones it would experience on the peak of Mount Everest.

Sinabung Volcano, Indonesia




© Gonzalo Saenz de Santa Maria Poullet




© M.Jacobs


This is an active volcano situated on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. Eruptions occur here very frequently, often leaving thousands of people without shelter or livelihood. The nearby towns and villages have been completely covered in lava and ash several times already: in 2010, 2013, 2014 and 2015. The latest explosion occurred February 27, 2016. That eruption ejected a deadly cloud of volcanic gas, stones, and ash to a height of 2,500 meters. And no one knows what will happen there tomorrow.

lha da Queimada Grande (Snake Island), Brazil




© Joao Marcos Rosa


Hidden somewhere off the coast of Brazil, this island is widely recognized as the most dangerous place on the planet. The reason for this is quite simple — this place is full of one of the most venomous snakes in the world, Bothrops. Researchers estimate that about five snakes per square meter live on the island. There are several stories of people succumbing to the deadly predators in no time at all. One of these stories recalls a lighthouse keeper who was attacked by the snakes and died. Snake Island’s lighthouse has been automated ever since that fatality, and the Brazilian government has prohibited any visitors from setting foot there.

Madidi National Park, Bolivia




© Jess Kraft


At first sight, this place looks very picturesque, but it’s actually very dangerous. Why? Because it’s home to the most poisonous and aggressive fauna in the world: contact with any of the plants growing in this park can cause severe itching, rash, and dizziness. Any cut, or even a small wound, can become infected with tropical parasites.


Valley of Death, Kamchatka, Russia




© (с) Igor Shpelenok


The Kamchatka Peninsula, in the Russian Far East, also has its own Death Valley. It’s located not far from the famous Valley of Geysers. High concentrations of toxic gases found in this area pose a serious threat to every living thing: plants and animals die quickly, while people soon start to feel unwell and get a fever, dizziness, and chill.

Bikini Atoll, The Marshall Islands




© (с) Pixabay


Lost somewhere in the ocean, this island looks like a paradise, doesn’t it? But Bikini Atoll was actually home to numerous nuclear testing programs that turned the picturesque island of Bikini into a radioactive wasteland. The inhabitants were forced to abandon their homes, and even today this remains hazardous for living organisms: the abnormally high level of radiation recorded here can cause cancer.


The Elephant Kingdom in Chonburi, Thailand




© Jon Nok / SWNS


In Elephant Kingdom, Thailand, at a Crocodile farm, the owner leases out a small semi-closed raft space for tourists to come visit, see and FEED crocodiles! The raft is a thin wooden one balanced on plastic barrels and has net enclosure halfway around it. The shack has a roof too. The people get inside the enclosure and are given fishing rods to feed the crocs. They use beef or meat pieces attached to the rods and dangle the rods before the crocodiles. The reptiles then jump out of the water to catch the meat and their food. There are tourists who also tease the crocs by dangling the meat in front of them and then pulling it up as the hungry animals reach for it.

Afar Depression, Ethiopia




© Matthew and Heather


Erta Ale volcano, in the Afar Region of Ethiopia, is one of the most dangerous volcanoes on the planet. Small earthquakes are constantly shaking the region, forming numerous deep chasms. This happens because Erta Ale contains two lava lakes in its summit crater. The amount of lava in them is constantly changing, causing the Earth’s surface to shake up and down.

Lake Natron, Tanzania




© Bildagentur Zoonar GmbH


It may look like an extraterrestrial landscape, but this surreal image is actually the photo of Lake Natron in Tanzania. The alkali salt crust on the surface of the lake is so dangerous that all living creatures die just coming into contact with it. For obvious reasons, swimming in this lake is strictly prohibited, and the strong odor of hydrogen sulphide coming from lake’s surface won’t let you admire the stunning scenery for long.


Preview photo credit Jon Nok / SWNS
Based on materials from National geographic, Kronoki, Messynessychic

Curious Psychological Games Our Mind Likes to Play With Us

We’re used to thinking we are masters of our own minds and bodies — after all, who else, if not us? However, our mind is an intricate and complex thing whose many secrets have yet to be discovered. And what’s more, it can manipulate us when we least expect it. For example, if we’re hesitant about starting a new and unfamiliar job, the good news is, this means we’re more likely to succeed.


10. Halo Effect




© pixabay


This is a well known effect that advertisers largely use — behind it is the idea that a person will easily make a decision about a product based on the persona who represents it. This is why we have a ton of supermodels and actresses being the “face” of makeup or clothing lines. We tend to think that famous people have a certain “I can do no wrong” halo around themselves and we subconsciously transfer this onto the product they are representing. In general, the public is way easier on famous people when it comes to crimes or mishaps, never punishing them as harshly as it would the regular folk.

9. Bystander Effect




© Alex Block/Unsplash


This is kind of a sad one — while being in a crowd of people, one person is less likely to help somebody in need because we subconsciously think that someone else will do it. Years ago, experiments on this effect were conducted and they revealed that once one person in the crowd was ready to help — others would follow. But the main thing was to find a “hero” to start the movement.

8. Spotlight Effect




© Matthew Henry/Unsplash


Have you ever caught yourself thinking over and over about what kind of impression you’ve made? Like, were you too clumsy or did you wear the right outfit to a party? This is called the Spotlight effect — literally thinking that the spotlight is on us at all times and any faux pas would be immediately noticed by others. This type of thinking tricks our mind into believing that our every step will be judged and examined by other people, when, in reality, this mental exaggeration is far from true.

7. Online Disinhibition Effect




© pixabay


Mass media has contributed largely to the effect that’s behind online trolls and cyberbullying. On the internet, where we might use an alias, we have a tendency to be more cruel, judgemental, and harsh than we would ever be in real life. It’s much easier than doing it face to face, and not everybody can resist the temptation of displaying their anger instead of being composed and polite.


6. Cheerleader Effect




© pixabay


Aren’t cheerleaders gorgeous? Well, actually, not every one of them is exceptionally beautiful, it’s the “cheerleader effect” that’s helping their PR tremendously. So much so, that it was named after them. The essence of the effect is this — one person seems more beautiful when surrounded by a group of attractive friends — it’s also known as the “group attractiveness effect.” This happens because your brain actually calculates the “average attractiveness level” in a group.

5. Dunning-Kruger Effect




© Daria Nepriakhina/Unsplash


This is a peculiar one. Have you ever seen a person who’s a beginner in their field already experiencing tremendous success or, on the other hand, a professional in their field that has struggled for years and never been successful? The Dunning-Kruger effect explains how beginners in any field are more likely to have a breakthrough because they are less familiar with the boundaries and regulations that the professionals know everything about.


4. Déjà Vu




© pixabay


Most of you know this French term which literally means “already seen.” Deja vu is a notion of feeling like you’ve already lived through a situation that’s happening to you in real time. Before psychology gave this a name, Deja vu made people think that they were having a psychic experience for the first time, like they were having a prophecy. Psychology still doesn’t have the answer to what triggers these feelings and Deja vu remains to be an unsolved phenomenon.

3. Google Effect




© pixabay


Google has been around for so long that it has largely contributed to the effect of forgetting something easily, especially if we think we can quickly find it online. That’s why this effect was named after Google.


2. Pareidolia




© Mirage Comics © FacesPics/twitter


Tapping into our Latin words here, pareidolia is an effect that makes us see familiar things in in unfamiliar or unlikely places — like this swing resembling Raphael from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles or this tangerine (below) resembling a Spiderman poster.




© Vik92/imgur


If you see the similarities between these pictures, that’s pareidolia.

1. Broken Escalator Phenomenon




© MontyLov/Unsplash


This one tricks our physical feelings — basically it’s when we expect something to happen, but it doesn’t. This one is most apparent in scenarios like when we expect one last step when walking down the stairs and it’s not there, or when we step onto a broken escalator, and it doesnt move. Our body feels a little nauseous or we feel like we are tripping over our own feet — which is exactly what “broken escalator phenomenon” is.


Ever experienced any of these phenomena yourself? Try recalling when you last fell for one your mind’s traps and share this occurrence with us in the comments.


Source: Brightside
Preview photo credit Vik92/imgur


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