Unbelievable Travel Destinations

From an alien-like structure in Nevada to rainbow mountains in China: Unbelievable travel destinations you never knew existed

By John Hutchinson

Published: 10:06 GMT, 12 July 2014 | Updated: 12:12 GMT, 12 July 2014

Multi-coloured farmers' fields, a row of rocks that resemble giant fingers and a cave that looks like bubble-wrap - these are some of the most beautiful, and awesome, sights captured from around the world.

Some of these photographs will leave you amazed, some will leave you perplexed, and others will leave you questioning whether they are indeed from this planet.

Take for instance the Fly Geyser on a private ranch in Nevada. Looking like it belongs to a fairytale alien landscape, this is part man-made part-natural.

In 1964 it was accidentally created when exploratory drilling for sources of geothermal energy tapped in to the natural hot springs. But it was never capped properly and over the years, the minerals have built up the amazing structure that still spouts water today.

The picture was taken by US based British photographer Andy Waddington, 42, originally from Southport. He said: It's a very difficult place to photograph.The water is very hot and gives off a lot of steam so the wind has to blow from the north or you can't see anything.'

Then there is the Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia, at 10,500sqkm, the world's largest salt plain. Here, at 12,000ft, a couple of centimetres of water covers the plain but sits perfectly still because there is no wind. It allows the stunning skies to be mirrored perfectly in the water.

And the Mendenhall Glacier in Juneau, Alaska isn't one for the claustrophobic, as it gives the feeling of being trapped in bubble-wrap...

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Fly Geyser: The only access is a dirt road, but it is large enough to be seen from the highway. Water is constantly released, reaching 5 feet (1.5 m) in the air. The geyser, in Washoe County, Nevada, contains several terraces discharging water into 30 to 40 pools over an area of 74 acres

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Colourful: With its rolling hills, rocky peaks and multitude of colours, this otherwordly visage looks like no place on Earth. However, the spectacular lunar landscape can actually be found at the Zhangye Danxia Landform Geological Park in Gansu Province, China

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That shrinking feeling: Rock enthusiasts will feel the world is closing in on them when they visit the Mendenhall Glacier in Alaska, Juneau. The roof and walls of the spectacular site resemble bubble-wrap, yet retain a real beauty

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The Red beach scenic area in Panjin, northeast China's Liaoning province. The beach gets its name from its appearance, which is caused by a type of seaweed that flourishes in the saline-alkali soil

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Twin use: A train runs through the 'Tunnel Of Love' private railway line in Klevan, Ukraine; the tunnel is actually a 3km section of private railway that serves a nearby fibreboard factory. A train runs around thrice daily through the ethereal 'tunnel' - delivering wood to the factory. At other times the beautiful avenue of trees is witness
to a very different journey - into love. For it is a favoured spot for young romantics to stroll with that special someone

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Blooming marvellous: The flower and tulip fields of The Netherlands. The bright red, pink and yellow coloUrs are overwhelmingly beautiful and are a must see, or more fittingly, a must experience

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High in the sky: The Tianzi Mountains are located in Zhangjiajie in the Hunan Province of China, close to the Suoxi Valley. They are named after the farmer Xiang Dakun of the Tujia ethnic group, who led a successful local farmers' revolt and called himself 'tianzi'. Pictured right is the magnificent Mount Roraima, towering above the forest landscape of the Gran Sabana in Venezuela

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Breathtaking: The El Salar de Uyuni salt flat, Bolivia; these stunning photographs reflect a perfectly still landscape are like an image captured in a dream

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Amazing view: The magnificent Mount Roraima towers above the clouds hanging over the Gran Sabana in Venezuela

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Mustard fields at Niujie, in Yunnan, Luoping, known as the snail farms due to the unique snail shell like terracing

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Pretty in pink: Takinoue Park, in Hokkaido, Japan, is famous for Shibazakura or pink moss, attracting thousands of visitors every year between May and June when the flowers are in full bloom

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Dreamworld: The Bolivian salt flat shots were taken by photographer and lawyer Michael Kittell, who believes the world's largest salt plain is one of the most beautiful places on Earth

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Chew on that: From above, Pink Lake Hillier of Middle Island 150km east of Esperance, Western Australia looks like a solid bubble gum pink. The lake is about 600 metres long, and is surrounded by a rim of sand and dense woodland of paperbark and eucalyptus trees

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Stunning: The Sagano Bamboo Grove, located in the Sagano Arashiyama area of Kyoto, is a beautiful forest with a path through its heart

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A caver explores the Hang En and Hang Son Doong caves at the Phong Nha Ke Bang National Park, Vietnam. The limestone caves - the biggest in the world - almost swallow up the adventurers daring to step inside

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Colour explosion: Hitachi Seaside Park in Japan boasts its a wide variety of seasonal flower gardens such as narcissus and tulip in spring , nemophila and rose in early summer , zinnia in summer and kochia and cosmos in autumn

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Hard at work: Tea fields in Jiangbang Village of Xixiang County, Shaanxi Province, northwest China. Look at it long enough, and you might start to feel dizzy

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The breathtaking Mount Roraima, the highest of the Pakaraima chain of tepui plateau in South America, peaks above the clouds. Its 31sqkm summit area consists on all sides of cliffs rising 400 metres

The future of air travel?

The future of air travel? Three-storey Sky Whale fits 755 passengers, has virtual reality windows and self-healing wings

• Concept vehicle would have wingspan of 88m and seat 755 passengers
• Designer Oscar Viñals said it would split passengers into three classes
• Each would have their own deck in a modern-day version of the Titanic
• Everyone on board would have virtual reality windows for entertainment

By Daniel Bates
PUBLISHED: 09:52 GMT, 15 January 2014 | UPDATED: 11:07 GMT, 15 January 2014

It has three decks, tilting Harrier-style jets and breaks itself up into pieces during a crash landing - and could be the future of air travel.
Called Sky Whale, the concept aeroplane it set to be bigger than an Airbus A380, look like a spacecraft and have 'self-healing' wings that repair themselves.
The aircraft would split passengers into three classes, each with their own deck, in a modern-day version of the Titanic’s strict division of passengers.

Called Sky Whale, the concept plane, pictured, is set to be bigger than an Airbus A380, look like a spacecraft and have 'self-healing' wings. The engines would tilt 45 degrees meaning the plane could land on runways anywhere in the world. It was created by Spanish designer Oscar Vinals

Every passenger would additionally have virtual reality windows to keep themselves entertained on long flights.

The AWWA Sky Whale was created by Spanish designer Oscar Viñals and is so big it was  described by Dvice as looking 'more like something thought up for the Transformers movie franchise than a legitimate aircraft'.
The tilting engines would make it possible for the Sky Whale to take off on the spot - and, according to the plans, if it crashes the passenger section would separate from the wings to reduce the loss of life.
The craft matches advances in technology with a huge capacity of 755 passengers, making it economically viable for an airline.

The plane would seat 755 passengers, making it economically viable for an airline, such as Iberia, pictured in this concept illustration. Passengers would be divided into three classes: 'tourist class', the equivalent of economy, 'tourist class with sky views', or business class, and 'first class'

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The Sky Whale, pictured, would be built out of advanced new materials made up of ceramic or fibre composites. It would also have advanced 'active wings' powered by a hybrid turbo-electric propulsion system making them much more efficient than today

The Sky Whale would have a wingspan of 88m compared to 80m for an Airbus A380 and 64m for a Boeing 747.
The three classes would be ‘tourist class’, the equivalent of economy, ‘tourist class with sky views’, or business class, and finally ‘first class’, which would also have sky views and ‘all conceivable luxuries’.
It is not clear how passengers would be able to look at the view, though given the size of the craft it is likely to have larger windows than those fitted to the back of current plane seat ones.

Those in economy would not be without, though - their windows would be fitted with virtual reality screens so passengers could see whatever they want.

According to Vinals' concept plans, the giant aircraft would be powered by three Harrier-style jets and feature a double fuselage, meaning it could go longer without refuelling. There would also be micro solar cells on the wings that could draw power from the sun

The Sky Whale, pictured top, would have a wingspan of 88m compared to 80m for an Airbus A380, pictured bottom, and 64m for a Boeing 747, pictured in the centre

The Sky Whale would also be longer than current commercial aircraft at 77m. By comparison, the Airbus A380 is 67.9m long while the Boeing 747 is 76m long, pictured

Viñals, who is based in Barcelona, said the Sky Whale would be built out of advanced new materials made up of ceramic or fibre composites.
It would have advanced 'active wings' powered by a hybrid turbo-electric propulsion system making   them much more efficient than today.
The Sky Whale would have a double fuselage meaning it could go longer without refuelling and would have micro solar cells on the wings so that it could draw power from the sun.
According to Viñals, the engines could tilt to up to 45 degrees meaning they could land on tiny runways anywhere in the world.
They would be controlled by a fly-by wire system that is assisted with active sensors located through the plane’s surface.

In addition to being able to land on small runways, the tilting engines would also make it possible for the plane to take off on the spot. These engines would be controlled by a fly-by wire system assisted with active sensors located through the plane's surface

If the Sky Whale has to make a crash landing, the passenger section would separate from the wings to reduce the loss of life. The effect of all the technology is to reduce drag, fuel consumption and weight, making it one of the greenest aircrafts imaginable

Writing about the way the plane could break up, Viñals said: ‘The disposition of the wings and its architecture separates from the airplane’s fuselage like a security measure, that in a hypothetical fatal case of an emergency landing, these could auto-break up to reduce the damages on the passengers section.'
The effect of all the technology is to reduce drag, fuel consumption and weight, making it one of the greenest aircraft imaginable.
In his proposal Viñals said the Sky Whale 'is a concept about the future ‘green’ aircraft designs for the regular airline’s planes of the 21st century…
‘...Is a mixture between today’s airplanes and future concepts based in blended wing body or hybrid wing body architecture.’

Designer Vinals has not announced any plans to build the concept aircraft, pictured

In his proposal Vinals said the Sky Whale 'is a concept about the future 'green' aircraft designs for the regular airline's planes of the 21st century. [It] is a mixture between today's airplanes and future concepts based in blended wing body or hybrid wing body architecture'

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SKY WHALE'S SPECIFICATIONS

Capacity: 755 passengers

Wingspan: 88m

Length: 77m

Decks: 3

Classes: Tourist class with sky views, business class and first class

Other features: Self-healing wings, engines that tilt 45-degrees making it possible to take off on the spot, double fuselage and virtual reality windows.