World’s Weirdest Natural Places

As humans, we often let our imagination run wild and can come back with some pretty surreal stuff that can surprise even the most well-seasoned of acid trippers. However, we can’t really compete with nature. Every now and then, we discover a new place that comes by its “could be from a Salvador Dalí painting” vibe completely naturally.

Weirdest Natural Places: Mendenhall Ice Cave

This cave is really… *puts on sunglasses*…cool Source: 500PX

Few people actually get to see a glacier in person. Even fewer get to see a cave inside the glacier, which is typically formed by a stream of water or volcanic vents. That is what made the Mendenhall Ice Cave special. Well…that and the fact that it looked like the inside of the Fortress of Solitude.

Entrance isn’t exactly tourist-friendly
Source: The SCA

Why the past tense, you ask? While Mendenhall Glacier still exists (you can’t miss it; it’s 12 miles long and just outside the Alaskan capital of Juneau), the cave does not. The cave’s roof collapsed earlier this year. Thankfully for the Alaska Board of Tourism, since getting inside the cave was so dangerous, difficult and time consuming, the cave was never really much of a tourist attraction.

Bad place to drop a contact lens
Source: Most Amazing In The World

Ice, ice baby
Source: Huffington Post

That is a big a** glacier
Source: Wikipedia\

Weirdest Natural Places: Cave of the Crystals

I’m just gonna break off a tiny piece to take home with me
Source: Concierge Travel

The name of this Chihuahua, Mexico cave makes it pretty clear what you are going to find inside of it: crystals. Like really, really big selenite crystals. And when we say big, we mean over 10 feet in diameter and 50 tons in weight. The largest one ever found was 39 feet long and 13 feet wide.

Seriously, though, if you had an evil lair, wouldn’t you want a room just like this?
Source: Web Odysseum

The inside of this cave looks like a deadly chamber on set of an Indiana Jones movie. But just like the Mendenhall Cave, you can’t go see this one, either. Temperatures can reach a scorching 136 degrees Fahrenheit and humidity is always above 90%. Without proper protection, you would only withstand a few minutes before begging for mercy.

Hey, Steve, mine’s bigger than yours
Source: PC Walls

Luckily, this cave is connected to the more accessible Naica Mine, another large deposit of massive crystals. You can’t go there, either. It’s actually a working mine owned by Industrias Peñoles, so if you want to go inside, you’ll have to apply for a job.

I think it’s a crystal, what do you think? I think it’s a crystal, too.
Source: Web Odysseum

I hereby name you…uh, Crystal Wall

Son Doong Cave

We’re definitely about to enter Jurassic Park
Source: Booms Beat

While we’re talking about amazing places that look like movie sets, how about one from The Land That Time Forgot? It really wouldn’t be too far-fetched to come across a pterodactyl gently nesting inside this place. Located in Vietnam, near its border with Laos, Son Doong Cave is the biggest known cave in the world.

Ok, guys, exit in single file, leave some room for others
Source: HDW Papers

Just how big is it? Son Doong stretches for about 30,000 feet. The biggest chamber is over 650 feet tall. To put that in perspective, we could put the Gateway Arch from St. Louis inside the cave and there would still be room on top. Even though the cave was found in 1991, it wasn’t until 2010 that people actually managed to reach its end. This is because of a giant 200-foot high calcite wall later named the Great Wall of Vietnam.

I spy with my little eye something…green
Source: WIWO

Would you like to visit it? Good news! You could…possibly. Last year the first tourist group ever was taken inside and more tours are being planned. All you need is years of spelunking experience and about $3,000 (plus the money to get to Vietnam and back).

Remember the plan: we wait ‘til nightfall, then we attack.
Source: Blogspot

It’s bigger on the inside, like a Tardis