Mysterious Places

There are some places on our planet that defy explanation. Mysterious places, strange places, places that live indelibly in the memory of all travellers. This is our selection to add to your bucket list.

ULURU, AUSTRALIA

Sometimes the very rocks of our planet seem to pulse with a strange energy. Uluru is such a place. It’s an otherworldly landscape transplanted massively to the Australian Outback. Here, a gargantuan eruption of towering sandstone rises abruptly, inexplicably, from the flat, gritty desert all around into the largest natural monolith in the world. Aboriginal Australians have always revered this special place and talk of listening to creation stories on the wind. And yes, Uluru really does glow at sunset.

EASTER ISLAND, CHILE

There are iconic images of the massive, steely-eyed and alien-like heads that gaze across volcanoes and ocean. But nothing prepares you for the reality. On Easter Island, a tiny, remote island in the Pacific, there are hundreds of gigantic moai statues. Some stand proudly, others shattered in pieces – and some are still partly hewn from the volcano’s flanks, where the statues were created. Their origins are half-forgotten by the local Rapa Nui people, but their power is very real, especially at sunrise and sunset when their faces glow ethereally.

MONTE ALBAN, MEXICO

Standing atop this massive ancient citadel in Mexico, amidst misty mountains, you can almost hear the voices of the Cloud People who built it. The Zapotec were warriors and artisans who chose this high plateau two and a half millennia ago to build temples, palaces and fortifications. Sweeping pyramids, expansive courtyards, ball courts and enigmatic bas-relief carvings await modern visitors. Echoes of forgotten battles and human sacrifices to their many gods make this site eerily atmospheric.

INGAPIRCA, ECUADOR

Massive, perfectly fitted, mortar-less blocks form the base of the Temple of the Sun – the masterpiece of this northern outpost of the Incan Empire at Ingapirca. Each solstice, the sun would illuminate the doorway of the sacred chamber atop the Temple. There are no Machu Picchu crowds here. In this southern Ecuador stronghold, amidst imposing Andean mountainsides, it is still possible to stroll the original Incan roads in glorious isolation. And to hear the whispers of the Incas in the whistle of the wind.

LALIBELA, ETHIOPIA

A thousand years ago, King Lalibela of Ethiopia built a second Jerusalem inside a remote mountain. Instead of building skywards, a rich complex of 11 interconnected churches was created earthwards, cut down into the mountain. The miracle is that the interior of the buildings was created by the physical removal of rock. Tradition tells of angels descending at night to assist with construction. Biete Medhane Alem, set in a vast subterranean courtyard, is the world’s largest rock-hewn excavation. Another, Biete Ghiorgis, is a free-standing monolith carved in the shape of a cross, always graced with pilgrims worshipping in the half-light.