10 Places on Earth You Shouldn't Go

People are divided into two types: travelers and home lovers. We respect the position of the latter. But the position of the first is much closer to us. After all, the delight that you experience, opening up new horizons, is not in any comparison with anything else.

It turns out that not all places on our planet are made for travel. Some of them are unlikely to please even the most avid adventurer. Here are 10 places we highly recommend not to visit.

10. Nauru Island

The small island is located in the heart of the Pacific Ocean. Its area is only 21.3 square kilometers. The state of Nauru is recognized as one of the smallest in the world and ranks third in the ranking of countries with the smallest area.

The island became actively inhabited about 100 years ago, when large deposits of phosphorites were found. Active development of the deposit began. The result of continuous work was the depletion of the subsoil. The government did not take this issue into consideration, because thanks to the active development and export Nauru became one of the richest countries in the world.

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At the same time, the government did not care enough about the future of the country. Work ceased when the field was depleted. The consequences of years of mining were the destruction of relief and vegetation. Now most of the island is an abandoned quarry.

The ecosystem was completely destroyed. The air is polluted. The ecological situation is on the brink of disaster. The International Court of Justice forced Australia, as the country managing the quarries, to pay compensation.

On Nauru you will not find the usual amenities. There is only one store on the island. There is a catastrophic shortage of drinking water. The desalination plant is not able to handle the load. During the dry season, drinking water is supplied by Australia. The rest of the time, locals are forced to collect rainwater.

9. Mount Washington

At 13 m/s, the wind shakes the trunks of trees. An increase in wind speed up to 18 m/s threatens to damage buildings. If the wind speed rises to 25 m/s, there will be catastrophic consequences. A hurricane can uproot even the most resilient trees and destroy buildings to the ground.

The normal wind speed on Mount Washington is 29 m/s. Winds are blowing here at this rate almost daily. The greatest danger is the strongest wind gusts. They reach speeds of 38 m/s on the mountain. The maximum cannot be recorded, because it is several times higher than the upper limit of the Beaufort scale for visual assessment of wind strength.

The mountain is the highest in the Northeast region of the United States. It is 1,917 meters high. But going there for a tour is not the best decision.

Washington, D.C., is known for its extremely changeable weather. It is here that the world record for the highest wind speed was recorded. It exceeded 103.3 m/s.

8. The Danakil Desert

The appearance of the desert is fascinating and frightening at the same time. It is impossible to enjoy its vast expanses. The cracks penetrating the ground make a special impression. Incredibly beautiful are the salt deposits protruding on the surface. It seems impossible to exist in these conditions, but the desert proves the opposite. Plants grow here in an amazing way. And it is absolutely unclear how miraculously they manage to survive.

The desert is unique in its uniqueness. It is the lowest place on the planet. The Danakil Depression is 125 meters below sea level. Research has shown that more than 1,000 years ago, when sea level was much higher, an ancient ocean was located here.

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The Hollow is not only the lowest, but also the hottest place on earth. In winter, the air here reaches +37 degrees Celsius. On summer days, the air temperature almost never drops below +40 degrees Celsius.

The maximum temperature level is +63 degrees Celsius. The reason for the abnormal heat was the unusual location of the desert. Its surface is heated from the air by sunlight. From under the ground it is heated by the volcanic crater Dalom.

7. Catacombs of Paris

Paris is widely known for volumetric mining of rocks. The first mentions of mining can be found in sources from Antiquity. Active mining continued in the Middle Ages. Intense mining was going on until modern times.

The production of material was necessary for construction work. There was an active construction of defensive and religious buildings. In later times the material was used to create the palaces of the French nobility.

Originally the underground quarries were located far outside Paris. Over time, the city grew and expanded. Its growth led to underground quarries becoming part of the French capital.

Romantic Parisians gave them the name Catacombs of Paris. At the entrance was a plaque with an intimidating inscription: "Stop! Here begins the kingdom of the dead.

The fact is that at the end of the 18th century France faced an acute shortage of land for burials. The city cemeteries were overcrowded. To solve the problem, the government created a decree to bury human remains in catacombs.

Between the late 18th century and the mid-19th century, the remains of more than 6 million people were buried in the gloomy tunnels. The underground catacombs have become a veritable cemetery. Its area is 11 square kilometers.

6. Pripyat

The city looks more like the setting for a post-apocalyptic movie than anything else. Some 30 years ago, Pripyat was the most ordinary town where people lived. According to the 1985 census, 47,500 people lived here.

On April 26, 1986, time stood still forever in Pripyat. The largest accident in the world occurred at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Pripyat was only 3 kilometers from the epicenter of the explosion. An urgent evacuation of the population began. The city was completely abandoned.

As of today, the background radiation level is practically harmless. The city is a gloomy and frightening place. The streets are gradually overgrown with vegetation. Buildings and structures are deteriorating and falling into disrepair. Pripyat still holds the imprint of history in the rush of people who left it.

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5. Waverly Hills Sanatorium 

The beginning of the 20th century was one of the saddest years in history for Jefferson County, Kentucky, USA. A sudden outbreak of tuberculosis brought the population to the brink of extinction.

To contain the spread of the disease, the decision was made to isolate sick people. In the southwestern part of the city of Louisville was the Waverly Hills Sanitarium. It became an ideal place for a hospice.

The sanatorium had the most advanced equipment at its disposal at that time. Good specialists were attracted. However, in the 20s-30s of the last century, the level of medicine left much to be desired. Many methods of that time were ineffective and now seem absurd.

Few people who became ill were able to cope with the disease. By the 1940s, better ways of dealing with the disease had been invented. The need for a hospital was no longer necessary. The sanatorium was closed. Afterwards, a nursing home was opened there. It was also proposed to turn it into a prison.

Now the sanatorium is completely abandoned. Increased paranormal activity has been observed here. This is not surprising, since the sanatorium has become a place of death for many hundreds of people.

4. Mailuu-Suu

The city is located in what is now Kyrgyzstan. In Soviet times it had a very important strategic significance. After the discovery of radiobarite deposits, the city turned into a huge ore mining and processing complex.

Uranium development was carried out here. In the 1960s, a huge lamp factory was opened.

Mining and extraction of ore in huge quantities had a strong negative impact on the town and its inhabitants. The largest radioactive waste repository in the world is now operating near Mailuu-Suu.

Out of 25,000 city residents, every 800 are people with disabilities. However, scientists believe that the real number is much higher. There are virtually no healthy people here. Everyone gets sick very often and wants to move away at the first opportunity.

In 2006, the city of Mailuu-Suu was included in the list of the 10 most polluted places in the world.

3. Hashima Island

If you don't travel much, you probably think of islands as bits of tropical paradise in the middle of the ocean. Your imagination pictures cloudless skies, azure waters, pristine sandy beaches, bungalows, coconuts, and bananas.

Hashima Island has nothing to do with this description. It is a creepy abandoned place and is located about 15 km from Nagasaki City. It covers an area of 63,000 square meters. From the outside, it may seem like it's not an island at all, but an outlandish ship.

The island was settled in 1810, when deposits of coal were found here. On the scrap of land that was a rock, mines were dug, military factories were built, and houses and stores were built. There was even a school to provide for the workers and their families.

The working conditions on the island were incredibly hard. Many people simply could not endure them and died. This lasted for quite a long time. Until, in 1974, mining fell into disrepair and the plants were shut down.

In just a few weeks, the most populous place on earth was turned into a ghost town and remains so to this day.

2. Church of St. George

This church, built in the village of Lukovo in the Czech Republic, is considered the creepiest religious building in the world. You'll understand why as soon as you see its interior. The temple is literally inhabited by creepy white ghosts. However, they appeared there relatively recently.

The church of St. George was built back in 1352. Although the place was consecrated, each year the ministers became more and more convinced that something was wrong with it. Too often there were fires, as if someone did not want the church to exist. In 1968, the last straw in the cup of patience was the roof, which collapsed during the memorial service. The church was abandoned. It had been abandoned for almost half a century and would surely have collapsed for good if not for the ghosts.

In 2012, a sculptor came up with the idea of reviving interest in the church to raise public awareness. The man organized an exhibition called Ghost Church. Thirty-two plaster sculptures were placed inside the structure, and it looks, to say the least, very creepy.

1. Dargavs

The last place on our list is not worth visiting if only because it has earned the nickname "City of the Dead.

Naturally, this name did not just appear out of nowhere. What from the outside looks like a residential settlement, in fact, is a village composed entirely of crypts.

In total, there are 97 of them here. Walking through the town of Dargavs is like walking through an ancient cemetery, where you can see human bones with your own eyes. You know - an activity for the amateur. However, in the city of the dead, according to people, the atmosphere of death in the air is felt stronger than in an ordinary cemetery.