[HN Gopher] Dallol
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Dallol
Author : xkcd1963
Score : 240 points
Date : 2024-02-29 11:59 UTC (2 days ago)
(HTM) web link (en.wikipedia.org)
(TXT) w3m dump (en.wikipedia.org)
| Razengan wrote:
| Man, imagine the sights awaiting to be discovered in the rest of
| the Universe.
| saretup wrote:
| Even earth gets acid reflux sometimes
| justhw wrote:
| Oh wow! I visited the Afar region in 2018. It's an incredible
| place. Pictures don't do it justice. Go if you can. Feels like
| being on Mars (not that we know). There are plenty of tour and
| travel groups that still go there. You will also get to sleep
| next to an active volcano (Ertale) on night 2. Be ready to hike.
| AMA if you're curious.
| bugbuddy wrote:
| Imagine Earth but with human vision range extended much
| greater.
| jumploops wrote:
| Wouldn't we see less far, since the distance to the horizon
| would be shorter?
| m12k wrote:
| I believe the comment you are replying to meant "with human
| vision expanded to see more frequencies of light" (i.e.
| infrared and ultraviolet)
| leptoniscool wrote:
| I'm genuinely intrigued!
|
| Any recommendations for tour companies? Do you have to bring
| your own tent? Any need for special masks/filters for volcanic
| gases?
| justhw wrote:
| Definitely do bring a mask and glasses. The volcanic acid is
| no joke. Everything else would be provided by the company.
| They usually have camels to carry your stuff as well. Check
| out a group called Ethio Hiking Community on Telegram. They
| go roughly once a month.
| maCDzP wrote:
| I went to Ethiopia in 2015. Unfortunately we didn't go to
| Dallol and the Danakil depression.
|
| I have added it to my bucket list since I find deserts to be a
| fascinating environment.
| lukan wrote:
| "Go if you can"
|
| But maybe check, if you have to pass through a war zone to get
| there:
|
| https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethiopian_civil_conflict_(20...
|
| Things seem to have calmed down a bit again, but there was very
| brutal violence going on since 2018.
| weregiraffe wrote:
| And the Daffuq formation nearby is even weirder!
| IamDaedalus wrote:
| world's edge
| Dibby053 wrote:
| One of the hottest places on Earth, 120m under sea level, with
| lakes of sulphur and iron and apparent absence of life. Could
| this place had been the inspiration for our idea of Hell?
| ljm wrote:
| It sort of looks like Caelid in Elden Ring.
| serbrax wrote:
| It's plausible, considering Ethiopia is precisely where
| early->modern humans evolved. Australopithecus Afarensis
| ("Lucy") was discovered in the same region/province, not very
| far south of Dallol.
| andrewflnr wrote:
| I'm not sure the lake of fire concept of hell existed before
| the book of Revelation, a couple decades AD. I don't think the
| Hebrew hell/afterlife is like that, for instance. And I don't
| know if any other religions that have it either.
| jayceedenton wrote:
| Sadly, visiting many parts of Ethiopia (including Dallol) is now
| not recommended unless essential, with large areas of the country
| having blanket 'Do not visit' advice due to violence and
| kidnapping. So think twice before booking, or recommending that
| others should go.
|
| Ten years ago things were very different, with huge growth in
| tourism. The famine of the early 80s finally receding into
| history. In the 2020s, war and starvation have returned.
| sillystuff wrote:
| I visited a little before the pandemic locked things down. At
| that time, we were required to have an armed guard on our visit
| to Dallol. There had been some shootings and abductions in the
| area, but it wasn't common (I believe these violent incidents
| had been attributed to Eritrean cross-border excursions). The
| Afar region (where Dallol is) was the only area of Ethiopia we
| encountered such issues at that time. Violence was still
| extremely rare. We never felt threatened.
|
| I especially loved the Tigray region. The people were amazing.
| There was an innocence similar to that I encountered in
| Turkiye, decades ago. It is hard to reconcile the recent
| violence, and the universally kind and generous people we met
| there. We regularly saw young women and girls walking down dark
| alleyways alone after dark--the place felt safer than any place
| I've ever been.
| yohannesk wrote:
| I second this. Things seem dire now for my country. I wouldn't
| recommend tourists to visit now. I am currently an expat and
| even I fear returning home to visit family in case something
| bad happens while I am there
| EricRiese wrote:
| You would think a place like this would be used as a setting in
| some Sci-Fi movie and become instantly recognizable. Hell, you
| wouldn't even have to change the name.
| plq wrote:
| Photos remind me of Pamukkale[1], though Dallol seems to be more
| colorful.
|
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pamukkale
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