10 BEAUTIFUL WHIMSICAL PLACES TO TRAVEL
Here is a collection of places that look beautiful in a funny kind of way. They are bound to make you smile on both counts!
Between its outlandish colors, its drippy shapes, and its epic thermal squirts, Fly Geyser, at the edge of Black Rock Desert in Nevada, is a barrel of laughs. The geyser shoots up as high as 5 feet, spouting mineral laden hot water.
Created as a result of a not-so-funny drilling accident, the Gaudi-esque landmass is continually growing, as spouting mineral deposits build up. Though it looks like it’s colored by a crayon-crazy child, the colors are generated by thermophilic algae.
Spotted Lake, near the little town of Osoyoos, British Columbia, looks like a polka-dotted cartoon. Funny, but beautiful, its patterns are created when water evaporates in summer, leaving small mineral pools which contrast in color.
Revered by the indigenous Okanagan (Syilx) people, you must view it from the road above to avoid trespassing on tribal land.
When the ocean squirts, it’s a pretty funny thing to witness. Thor’s Well, aka Spouting Horn, is a giant sinkhole off Cape Perpetua, Oregon, that shoots water high in the air like a powerful geyser after the surf rushes in at high tide.
Pamukkale, in southwestern Turkey, is an oddly beautiful surreal place to take a dip. This
UNESCO World Heritage Site features thermal springs cascading down white travertine terraces. It’s so phenomenal, the ancient city of Hierapolis was built around it. You can still see the city ruins, which are spectacular in their own right.
Hitachi Seaside Park looks like a funny dreamscape, with cartoonish mounds of flowers that change colors with changing seasons. The kochia plants are especially coloring book-ish in autumn when they turn bright red, as hot pink cosmos laugh at the breeze.
Like an infinite house of mirrors reflection, Salar de Uyuni, in Bolivia, will give you the funny feeling that you’re levitating. It’s the world’s largest salt flat. During rainy season, a shallow lake forms over the flat salt tiles to create this surreal mirror.
Socotra Island, off the coast of Yemen, is a treasure trove of funny animals and plants that adapted in completely unique, strange ways -- kind of like those in Galapagos did. Check out the wacky twisted dragon’s blood tree (above) as just one example. And scroll down to see the Dr. Seuss-like bottle tree.
Like a scene out of the whimsical game of Candyland, the Chocolate Hills of Bohol Island, in the Philippines, look like child-drawn mounds of chocolate. There are over 1700 hills, created by eroding coral deposits, that are only chocolate brown in autumn after their lush green foliage dries in preparation for winter.
Cats rule on Aoshima , aka Cat Island, off Japan’s east coast. There are actually more kittys there than humans! They came on ships and flourished. By the way, no dogs allowed.
Goblin Valley State Park, in southeastern Utah, is filled with funny rock formations. Like a Martian Looney Tunes landscape, spires of soft sandstone, eroded over eons by wind and rain, are carved into comical pinnacles and hoodoos.
Read more about Laughter all this week on BeautifulNow. And check out more beautiful things happening now in BN Wellness, Impact, Nature/Science, Food, Arts/Design, and Travel, Daily Fix posts.
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