Travellers reveal the most surreal places they’ve visited – from glowing islands to rainbow mountains

THE more you travel, the harder it is to be wowed by somewhere new.

But even the most seasoned globe-trotters would be taken aback by these mind-boggling locations.

Getty Images

The Rainbow Mountains in China are an eye-popping formation of coloured rocks, one among many surreal locations around the world that don't quite seem real

Travellers on the website Quora have been answering the question, "What are the most surreal places to visit?" and the answers have produced a gold mine of dreamlike destinations.

Holidays are a great chance to explore the extraordinary or experience something odd – and these recommendations definitely tick both those boxes.

Suggestions have varied from the creepy to the sublime and from man-made structures to natural wonders.

One user recommended a secret masonic well used for initiation rites, while another suggested the Great Blue Hole, one of the world's best diving sites.

A tour of the Rainbow Mountains in China was also put forward as well as a trip to Vaadhoo beach in the Maldives, where the water glows blue with luminous plankton.

More accessible for British tourists though were the "fairy chimney" rock formations of Cappadocia in Turkey, which also came highly recommended for their alien-like shapes.

Getty Images

The dream-like Tiger's Nest Monastery clings to a cliff in the mountains of Bhutan

The full question on Quora.com asked for submissions of "places whose aesthetic goes beyond human knowledge, where colours are not what they should be or the rock formations form shapes that you can see nowhere else."

We're not sure if any of these places go "beyond human knowledge", but they're definitely seriously surreal.

We've picked our favourite destinations from the mind-bending list..

The Initiation Wells – Portugal

Getty Images

Initiation Wells at Quinta da Regaleira estate were once the location of a millionaire's secret initiation ceremonies

At Quinta da Regaleira estate in Portugal there are a pair of wells that have never been used as water sources.

Instead, the underground towers lined with stairs were built by a millionaire for mysterious ceremonies including Masonic initiation rites.

The larger well contains a 27-metre spiral staircase with several small landings, which correspond to Tarot mysticism.

PLANE AND SIMPLE Find out which countries are affected by the UK laptop, phone and tablet ban on flights

MILE HIGH SALARY No wonder Ryanair makes us pay to choose seats! Airline boss Michael O'Leary's pay rises to £8K a DAY

SUN, SEA AND THE SPHINX The latest travel advice on safety for holidaymakers thinking of heading to Egypt

STRAPPED FOR CASH? These free days out across the country are perfect for entertaining kids this summer 

don-air kebab Newcastle Airport has opened its own doner kebab takeaway - so passengers can eat them on FLIGHTS 

WHAT A BLOW The disgusting reason why you should always bring your own hairdryer on holiday

Built by Carvalho "Monteiro the Millionaire" Montiero, at the turn of the 20th century, tunnels connect the wells to one another and to various other caves and monuments located around the estate.

The mystical castle known as the "Palace of Monteiro the Millionaire" and its surrounding gardens hold symbols related to alchemy, Masonry and the Knight's Templar.

Salar de Uyuni – Bolivia

Getty Images

The warm air creates a mirage effect at the world's largest salt flat in Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia

Amid the Andes in southwest Bolivia lies Salar de Uyuni, is the world's largest salt flat.

The remains of a prehistoric lake that went dry, the salty plane is a desert-like landscape of bright-white salt.

The endless sea of white is only interrupted by the odd cacti-studded island.

Though wildlife is rare in the area's unique ecosystem, you might spot one of the many pink flamingos that call the place home.

Great Blue Hole – Belize

Alamy

The strange spectacle of the Great Blue Hole, a circular underwater sink hole in Belize

Known as one of the world's best diving sites, the Great Blue Hole is a near perfect circle-shaped sinkhole off the coast of Belize.

The dark blue spot on an otherwise turquoise sea lies near the centre of Lighthouse Reef, a small atoll 40 miles from the mainland and Belize City.

There are regular diving and snorkelling tours to the 300 metre wide and 108 metre deep hole.

Tiger's Nest – Bhutan

Getty Images

High in the Himalayas, the Tiger's nest can only be reached by a steep mountain path

Clinging to the cliffside of the upper Paro valley in Bhutan is the Taktsang Palphug Monastery, also known as the Tiger's Nest, is a Buddhist temple complex.

But at 3,120 metres above sea level, reaching the remote temple is no easy feat as the only way to get there is by hiking up a mountainous path.

All of the monastery buildings are interconnected by staircases with steps carved into the rock.

And almost every room in the gold-roofed complex has a view of the surrounding emerald green valleys.

In April 1998, a fire started in the monastery and it was burned down completely but was later rebuilt.

Sea of Stars – Maldives

Alamy

Blue plankton light up the warm waters of the Indian Ocean in the Maldives on Vaadhoo island

Famous for the "sea of stars", Vaadhoo is a tiny island with just over 500 inhabitants.

A special type of plankton that creates a blue illumination in the water makes it a bucket list destination.

Waves crashing against the beaches glow bright blue at night thanks to bioluminescence generated by phytoplankton in the water.

While it may look pretty, the blue glow is actually a defence mechanism to stop other marine organisms eating them.

Fairy Chimneys – Turkey

Getty Images

A UNESCO World Heritage Site, Turkey's fairy chimneys are an otherworldly wonder

A little closer to home, the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Cappadocia in Turkey is a geological oddity of honeycombed hills and towering boulders.

The moon-like landscape is known for its distinctive "fairy chimneys".

These tall, cone-shaped rock formations are mainly clustered in Monks Valley.

Tourists can also visit nearby Bronze Age homes carved into valley walls by ancient cave-dwellers.

You can even stay in a cave yourself.

Rainbow Mountains – China

Getty Images

China's Rainbow Mountains are a surreal stretch of strangely-coloured hills

Located in the Zhangye Danxia Landform Geological Park in Gansu, tourists in China flock to visit the technicolour rocks of magenta, maroon and yellow.

A UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Rainbow Mountains were made over millions of years, as layers of different types of rock formed on top of one another.

China isn't the only place with such strange rock colouration – there are similar examples in Mauritius and British Columbia.

VOTE NOW

WIN A FREE HOLIDAY Vote Now in The Sun Travel Awards to win one of four amazing holidays
Source: Travellers reveal the most surreal places they've visited – from glowing islands to rainbow mountains