Our Earth is full of amazing and beautiful places, but sometimes those places are just harder to reach than others. Today we will be taking a look at 10 different locations and all they have to offer while we journey through the Top 10 Most Remote Places On Earth. From small islands far from any continental land to places so cold, not many people make it the journey to an oasis located in the Egyptian desert; today’s list really does have it all.
1 - Palmerston Island
Palmerston Island is a coral atoll located in the Cook Islands in the Pacific Ocean. Palmerston is a very islet in a series of small islets located on a coral reef ring that encloses a lagoon. The only one of these islets that’s inhabited is one that’s named Home. The closest Island to Palmerston is Rarotonga, the Capital of the Cook Islands, and it would be about a two-day sailing trip to make it the 500km distance. But if you aren’t already on that island or planning to stop at both islands, the shortest trip would be about an eight-day sail from Tahiti. Since the islet is so small, there, of course, is no airport, so ships are the only way to get here, and supply ships only visit the inhabited island a few times a year. Their reef only allows smaller boats to pass through, which makes any kind of larger ship unsafe to pass through. The island does see a tropical climate, but it is very exposed to tropical cyclones, which, of course, would cause a whole bunch of problems.
2 - Cocos Islands
The Cocos Islands are an Australian External Territory located in the Indian Ocean and comprises a small archipelago around halfway between Australia and Sri Lanka. TheCoco Islands consist of two coral atolls that are made up of 27 different coral islands. Out of these 27 islands, only 2 of them are inhabited, with around 600in total. Because of the islands' isolation, the people who live here have really kept their language and religious practices as well as other traditions alive, which is such a great thing. Visitors, of course, have so much to learn about the inhabitant's traditions, but other than that, tourists can go kitesurfing, snorkeling, surfing, and bird watching. Oneof the islands were actually even voted to have the best beach in Australia. One of the islands does actually have an airport with one single runway, and flights can be taken to the island from the closest city, Perth, at 2700 miles away, but the flights only happen around twice a week.
3 - La Rinconada
This town is located near the Peruvian Andes, very close to a gold mine, and is actually the highest permanent settlement globally at 5,100 meters above sea level. Between 2001and 2009, the town population increased greatly because the price of gold rose 235%during that time. Because of the elevation, the town has an alpine tundra climate and an average temperature of around 1-degree celsius. Many of those who work for the goldmines here work under a pretty horrible condition of working 25 days of the month for no pay and then 5 days of the month they can work for themselves, and they are allowed to take as much ore as they can carry on their shoulders. There is no guarantee that the ore will have any gold in it, however, and this terrible system is why many of the town's residents live in poverty. The town is a six-hour bus ride from the nearest city on unpaved roads, and there isn’t really a regular bus schedule which makes it a fairly difficult place to get to.
4 - Siwa OasisSiwa
This is an urban oasis between the Qattara Depression and the Great sand sea in the western desert. This oasis is one of Egypt's most isolated settlements, but it is the home to around 33,000people. The residents have developed a unique and isolated desert culture and language called Siri, but they are also fluent in an Egyptian dialect of Arabic. The oasis isn’t necessarily a super popular tourist destination as the closest city is Cairo. The oasis is around a 5-hour bus ride away and is, of course, in the middle of the desert. Still, those who do take the trip certainly aren’t disappointed. If visiting, you can enjoy some locally grown dates and olives, which I can only imagine are incredible. You can swim in Cleopatra'sBath, a mineral spring, and you can even stay at the desert eco-lodge, which is built from mud and salt. Tourism is actually a vital source of income for the oasis, so visitors are welcomed. Because of how isolated Siwa is, the people who live here really have been preserved, which would make it such an interesting and wonderful place to visit. If I ever get the incredible opportunity of going to Egypt, I think Siwa would be on the top of the list of places to visit.
5 - Ittoqqortoormiit (It-tor-co-to-me)
This town is located in one of the most remote areas of Greenland and actually requires a helicopter ride from the nearest airport to actually get to the town. It was founded quite recently in 1925 by a Danish polar explorer and around 80 Inuit settlers. It is about as far as you can get from any other inhabited area in Greenland. Despite this recent settling, based on ruins and other archeological remains, it became clear that this area was once inhabited sometime in our history by Inuit populations of the past. There are around 450 residents, and the town is known for its wildlife, including polar bears, muskoxen, and seals. This place can be a popular tourist destination becauseof the stunning Northern Lights and other natural wonders. Cruise ships also love to stop here, but that can be a little bit tricky considering nine months out of the year, sea ice will block any ship from docking.
6 - Easter Island
Okay, most of us have heard of Easter Island before, but did you know it’s one of the most remote places? Remember Pitcairn island we talked about before? Well, that island is the closest inhabited place to Easter Island, so clearly, they’re both pretty difficult to access. The closest continental point to Easter Island is a point in central Chile that is 3,512 km away. Easter Island is, of course, a huge tourist destination as people come from all over to marvel at the iconic Moai (Moh-eye) statues that the island is famous for. There is much debate over when the island first became inhabited, with some experts claiming it to be around 800 CE while others swear it was around 1200 CE. Still, either way, the original inhabitants created an incredible thriving life on the island. The island is currently home to around 3,300 residents, and in 2007 the island was given the constitutional status of a special territory.
7 - Oymyakon (Oy-May-ow-kan)
Oymyakon is located in Russia, and if you’ve heard of it before, there’s a chance it might be because it is known as the coldest inhabited place on Earth. This town has around 500 residents who live at an average temperature of around -40 degrees celsius, although in the summertime, the temperature does get to around 0. The ground is covered in permafrost, which makes growing crops an impossibility, so the main source of food is meat and fish. Due to the temperature here, living, of course has to look a littledifferent. It’s too cold for plumbing pipes, so restrooms are usually outhouses, engine freeze easily, so cars are usually running continuously. During the shortest days, the residents live in darkness for 21 hours a day. Getting to this small town can take quite some time as well. If you’re coming from Moscow, you’ll have to take a flight to one of the closest towns, which are both still over 900 km away. The road from these cities that leads to the town is called the Road of Bones, which is extremely ominous sounding and probably a road that should not be traveled alone.
8 - Macquarie Island
Okay, this island is cool. Macquarie is located in the Southwest Pacific Ocean between New Zealand and Antarctica. The only human inhabitants of this island are the scientists who work at the research base on the island, so depending on the time of year, there are around 20-40people here. But here’s where things get really cool. During the breeding season, thisisland is home to the entire world population of white-chested penguins. That means that there could be around 2 million penguins on the island simultaneously, greatly outnumbering humans there. This island has had quite a tumultuous ecological history after theonset of European visits in 1810. The islands fur seals, elephant seals, and penguin populations began to decline since they were being killed for fur and blubber, and of course, there wasthe introduction of rodents from the boats, cats to keep the rodents from eating the humanfood stores, and rabbits which were brought to breed for food which threw the entire island ecology totally off balance. It wasn’t until recently that efforts began to restore a more natural ecological balance to the island. As of April 2014, the island was officially declared pest-free after 7 years of strong conservation efforts. This was actually the largest, successful island pest eradication program until that date, which is certainly something to celebrate. Humans caused a major problem, and while it took much too long to fix, I guess the bright side is that it happened at some point.
9 - Pitcairn Island
(Pitkern)Pitcairn Island is one of the groups of 4 islands that make up the pitcairn islands. This specific one is the only one of the 4 that actually is inhabited. With a population of 56, all of the residents descend from a group of sailors who committed mutiny on the HMS bounty in1789 and the few Tahitian captives they had with them. This island is located in the pacific ocean, close to the middle between New Zealand and Peru. This island is open for tourist visits and is said to feature some stunning scenery, but it’s not necessarily the easiest place to get to, although as their tourism industry grows, it does get easier. First, you have to get to Tahiti, so if you already live there or live close, you’re one step ahead of the rest of us. Then you have to take a local flight to Mangareva (Mangar-eva), which only happens once a week. You’ll take a boat to Rikitea (Rick-i-tea-ah), and from there, you used to have to take a boat called Claymore II, which used only to depart once every 3 months. Still, luckily it’s a bit easier now since 2019 the government has been operating to MS silver supporter which sets sail every week. Tourists willstay at what are called home stays as it is such a great way for visitors to get a feelof the local environment and provide income for the residents of the island.
10 - Tristan da Cunha Tristan
This is a group of volcanic islands that are located in the south Atlantic Oceans and it is actually the most remote inhabited archipelago (aar·kuh·peh·luh·go) in the world. These islands are around 2,787 km off the coast of Cape Town, 2,437 km from Saint Helena and4,002 km off the coast of the Falkland Islands. The population is around 258 people and they do speak English but they have also invented their own dialects with words that reflect their various places of origin which is super cool. Tristan is a British overseas territory with its own constitution and its capital is named Edinburgh of the Seven Seas. To get to Tristan you’re going to have to fly to Cape Town when you can jump on one of the few boats that travel to Tristan in a year. This doesn’t seem so bad but just remember that the boat trip is going to take you about 5 or 6 days to get thereso you might want to take a couple extra weeks vacation if this is your post pandemic vacation.
Knowledge source: wikipedia
To read more such articles: click here
You must be logged in to post a comment.