Dallol

A hydrothermal field in the Afar Depression at about 130 metres below sea level, where acid springs, salt terraces and fumaroles have painted the ground yellow, green and orange in patterns that look like nothing else on this planet. It also holds a record: between 1960 and 1966 the settlement here averaged 35 C across the whole year, the hottest inhabited place on Earth by annual mean. Nobody lives here now, the population is zero, so it is a ghost town in the most literal sense. Italians mined potash and sylvite in the early twentieth century and several later attempts came to nothing. Paved road reached the area in 2015; beyond that it is salt caravans and four-wheel drive. Go with an organised group, in the cool season, with water and a plan. Afar Region, Ethiopia.