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Dive into the world's most perilous places, from treacherous roads to historically dangerous locales. Discover why some destinations are best avoided and the shocking truths behind their reputations.
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00:00If you walk through this small stone doorway in Hierapolis, Turkey, you might never come back alive.
00:06Back in ancient times, people thought it was some sort of portal to the underworld.
00:11Romans would go in carrying perfectly healthy bulls, but after a few minutes,
00:15they would watch these animals collapse, as if hit by some mysterious force.
00:19But what's even weirder is that nothing happened to people.
00:23They could walk in and out just fine.
00:25Now, recent studies might have an answer for these eerie happenings.
00:29And it all has to do with people's heights.
00:32The gate, known as Plutonium, named after Pluto, the deity of the underworld,
00:37is a stone doorway leading to a small 32-square-foot cave.
00:41But the real danger is what is going on beneath it.
00:45Hierapolis is a super-active geological area,
00:48and there's a big crack under the city that constantly emits volcanic carbon dioxide,
00:53which comes up as a visible mist.
00:56During the day, the sun dissipates the gas.
00:58At night, the gas forms some kind of a carbon dioxide lake on the sheltered arena floor.
01:04At dawn, you need to get out of there before it's too late.
01:08This whole place can turn particularly life-threatening right before the sun rises,
01:12when the carbon dioxide concentration, about 15 inches above the arena floor, reaches 35%.
01:19That means birds, bulls, and even humans can suffocate and pass away in just a couple of minutes.
01:25But there is a scientific reason that explains how Romans could get out of there unharmed.
01:30The carbon dioxide concentration drops quickly with height.
01:34So animals perished while their handlers, being taller and standing up, could walk out and breathe safely.
01:41Most people can't stay inside the Begaran fort after sunset.
01:46This 16th-century fort, located about 146 miles from Delhi, is known as one of the most haunted places in
01:54India.
01:55During the day, the area is bustling with visitors who can walk through the main gate of this once grand
02:00fort city
02:01and check out the ruins of temples and palaces.
02:03But they will also see this big sign at the gate, that dramatically warns everybody that all access is strictly
02:11forbidden after dark.
02:13That's probably because at night, according to locals, women can be heard screaming and crying in that place,
02:20along with the sounds of bangles breaking and strange music.
02:23Others have reported seeing shadowy figures and flashing lights among the ruins,
02:28or even smelling a strange perfume floating around.
02:32Yowata no Yobushirasu is one of Japan's most restricted forests, located in Ichikawa.
02:38The forest itself is a small area, covering just a little more than 40 square yards,
02:44and it is mostly a thick patch of mosu bamboo.
02:47Its location, next to a parking lot in modern buildings, makes it seem less intimidating.
02:52But don't be mistaken by its appearance.
02:55Since at least the 19th century, people have said that anyone who enters this forest
03:00is bound to disappear and never be seen again.
03:03So, as soon as you arrive, a sign near the forest tells you about its history and the curse believed
03:09to be linked to it.
03:11Some rumors suggest the creepy presence of an ancient samurai lord walking around.
03:16Other legends say that the forest hides a bottomless pit filled with poisonous gas.
03:21Whether these stories are true or not, today, the area is enclosed by stone walls,
03:27and entry is still strictly prohibited.
03:30In a valley called the Dark Entry Forest in Connecticut, you will find Dudley Town,
03:35but you definitely shouldn't go inside.
03:38Not only has the land been private property since the 1920s,
03:42but it is also known as one of the spookiest places on Earth.
03:47This place was first settled in the early 1740s,
03:50and many of the original settlers were from the Dudley family,
03:54that's why it's called Dudley Town.
03:55There's a local rumor that the town's founders were descended from Edmund Dudley,
04:00an English nobleman who lost his life for treason.
04:04The legend says this curse followed the Dudley family all the way across the Atlantic to America,
04:10and their misfortune is said to be responsible for crop failures,
04:14mental problems, and several tragic incidents in the village.
04:18Again, it is all just rumors,
04:20since historians haven't found any real evidence to support these claims.
04:24Still, the pitch-black surroundings and the eerie Blair Witch Project vibe going on in that place
04:30fueled ghost stories in the 1980s.
04:33This led to many cases of vandalism in the following decade,
04:37and because of that, the landowners closed the area to the public.
04:41This old abandoned building used to be the fancy palace of King Farouk's family,
04:46who was the penultimate king of Egypt back in 1936.
04:50After his family members passed away, the palace was turned into a morgue.
04:55Locals say that today, the whole place is super creepy and off-limits.
04:59Some people have reported seeing light bulbs flicker and shadows move around, making strange noises.
05:06Once, a group of kids allegedly went inside and totally freaked out
05:10when they found all the doors had suddenly disappeared, leaving them in complete darkness.
05:16They had no choice but to start screaming for help.
05:20This Hawaiian island has been off-limits to people for over a century.
05:24It's called Ni'iau and is the smallest inhabited island in Hawaii,
05:29covering around 69.5 square miles.
05:31It has around 84 residents.
05:34The island doesn't have cell phone service, paved roads, or power lines,
05:38just solar panels for electricity.
05:40A single family has privately owned the island since 1864,
05:45when a Scottish farmer bought it for $10,000, which would be around $250,000 today.
05:51The island has stayed in the family, passing down to its descendants, the Robinsons.
05:56They have kept it private ever since, so access is highly restricted and basically by invitation only.
06:04The Erdstall tunnels are a network of about 2,000 mysterious underground passageways
06:09mainly found in Central Europe, especially in Austria and Bavaria.
06:14These tunnels are usually narrow and cramped,
06:16often just wide enough for one person to squeeze through at a time.
06:20And they are believed to date back to the Middle Ages, as far back as the 12th century.
06:25What's really puzzling about these tunnels is their purpose.
06:29Despite a lot of research, nobody really knows why they were built.
06:33There is a theory that they were used for storage,
06:36but since many of them are below the waterline and occasionally get filled with water,
06:41that doesn't seem very practical.
06:43These tunnels have very light, almost claustrophobic sections and sudden drops,
06:48which doesn't seem practical for other straightforward uses like escape routes,
06:52hiding places, or even spiritual purposes.
06:55To make things even more mysterious, there is a complete lack of artifacts,
06:59which makes it even harder for researchers to figure out what these tunnels were really for.
07:05Planning your next trip?
07:06You need to find accommodation, book airline tickets, and what else?
07:11Make sure you're safe on the road, of course.
07:14Some tourists actively seek dangerous destinations, though.
07:17The Yungas region in western Bolivia is the perfect place to find adventure.
07:22It's home to one of the most perilous tourist destinations on the planet,
07:27Carretera de la Muerte, the Death Road.
07:33The Yungas road is around 43 miles long.
07:37It connects the capital city of La Paz to a town in the Amazon basin of Bolivia.
07:42The local bus covers the distance in some 3 to 4 hours.
07:46But why so long?
07:48The road from San Francisco to San Jose is roughly the same length.
07:52You can cover this distance in under an hour by car.
07:55So, what's stopping drivers from doing the same on the Yungas?
08:00It's more than one thing.
08:04If you want to drive to the Bolivian capital,
08:07you'll set off at an elevation of 5,000 feet.
08:10But when you reach your destination,
08:12you'll be at a staggering 12,000 feet above sea level.
08:16After all, La Paz is the highest capital city in the world.
08:20If these figures are making you dizzy,
08:22you might want to sit down before you hear the next number.
08:26The highest peak on the whole road,
08:29La Cumbre,
08:30sits at more than 15,000 feet.
08:33That's the height people go skydiving from.
08:38Such high mountains aren't the best place to build a road.
08:42But the engineers didn't place the road here for no reason.
08:45It's an important trade route.
08:48Trucks transport everything from coffee to tropical fruit along the Yungas Road.
08:53It's nearly a century old, constructed in the 1930s.
08:57In most places, the road is unpaved.
09:00Its main surface is a mix of dirt and gravel.
09:03The workers carved it out of an almost vertical mountainside.
09:07Look down, and you'll feel vertigo.
09:09There's a drop of some 2,000 feet.
09:12It's impossible not to think about this while driving.
09:18But there are at least two lanes, right?
09:21Not quite.
09:22Because of the terrain, there's only one lane, if you can call it that.
09:27The road is rarely wider than 10 feet.
09:30By comparison, a Tesla Model S is 6.5 feet wide.
09:35And that's without the mirrors sticking out on each side.
09:38That would be one tight squeeze.
09:40But, believe it or not, even large trucks go up and down this path.
09:45For the most part, there are no guardrails to prevent the vehicles from dropping into the abyss.
09:52And then there's the weather.
09:54In summer, the dust from the vehicles decreases visibility.
09:59And fog often appears, making the drivers feel as if they were driving blindfolded.
10:04In winter, it's no better.
10:06Heavy rains make the road muddy and slippery.
10:10Torrents can wash away whole sections of the roadway.
10:13Landslides occur frequently.
10:15A boulder can fall on an unsuspecting driver at any moment.
10:19Sounds more like an obstacle course than a roadway.
10:22The only good side is that you shower on the go.
10:26There are natural waterfalls along the way that travelers use to wash themselves.
10:33Until 2006, this mountain highway was the only way to reach the capital from the Yungas region.
10:40That's why buses and trucks of all sizes had to squeeze along cliff edges.
10:45Sadly, some of them never made it to their destination.
10:48On average, 26 vehicles plummet over the edge each year.
10:54The total cost in human life?
10:56200 to 300 people lose their lives each year on the Yungas road.
11:01That's really sad.
11:04The Bolivian authorities were determined to change something.
11:08It took them a full 20 years.
11:10But they finally constructed an alternative road.
11:13It runs along a nearby mountain range.
11:16The new bypass has two paved lanes.
11:19It's secured with guardrails.
11:20And it even has drainage.
11:22This helped relieve pressure from the old and dangerous route.
11:26Today, there is significantly less traffic than in the 90s.
11:30At that time, the Inter-American Development Bank proclaimed the route as the most dangerous road in the world.
11:39In come the tourists.
11:41Yes, after the locals could finally travel safely across the region,
11:46travelers from all over the world took on the challenging road.
11:50Tens of thousands of them flocked to the road in search of adrenaline,
11:54mostly traveling by bike.
11:55But the path is still dangerous.
11:58Since 1998, at least 25 cyclists have lost their lives here.
12:03The road is so narrow that you don't have enough space to brake.
12:07The side of the road is lined with memorials to people who perished riding their bicycles here.
12:14But the Bolivian Highway isn't the only dangerous destination tourists like to visit.
12:20In Africa, there is a natural pool at the very edge of Victoria Falls.
12:25It becomes accessible only in the dry season.
12:29That's when the water level of the mighty Zambezi River drops enough to reveal the pool.
12:34People come here to take amazing photos, but they're just inches away from danger.
12:40A rock lip forms the edge of the pool.
12:43If a careless swimmer goes beyond it, there is a huge drop, well over 300 feet.
12:49The danger is very real.
12:51Tourists often forget they're in the middle of a powerful river.
12:55More than a million gallons of water cascade down Victoria Falls every minute.
13:02A complete lack of water can be dangerous as well.
13:05That is the case in one region of California, Death Valley.
13:10This is the hottest place on Earth.
13:12Temperatures here reach 130 degrees Fahrenheit.
13:16But tourists are attracted to these extreme conditions.
13:19In 2022 alone, more than one million people visited the area.
13:24Trekking in this desert landscape is highly dangerous.
13:27Even driving can cost people their lives.
13:30If you have a car accident here, the heat will soon get to you.
13:35Dehydration and heat stroke are real dangers.
13:38And if that wasn't enough, there are rattlesnakes.
13:41Seven species of snakes live in the Mojave Desert.
13:46Back in Europe, Ireland is a popular travel destination.
13:50In 2019, 19 million people visited the Emerald Isle.
13:54That's close to four times the population of the Republic of Ireland.
13:58Tourists first explore Dublin.
14:01But then they want to see the countryside.
14:03And the biggest attraction there is as dangerous as it is beautiful.
14:07The Cliffs of Moher.
14:09They stand on the island's rugged west side.
14:12Visitors who try to get close to their edge for a better photo are risking their lives.
14:17The drop is 700 feet.
14:20One wrong step, and they can fall down from a height greater than the height of the Great Pyramid at
14:25Giza.
14:26Sadly, this has already happened several times in the past.
14:32In Florida, there is a place that looks like a dream to any American surfer.
14:37New Smyrna Beach.
14:39But there is a danger lurking beneath the waves.
14:43Sharks.
14:44New Smyrna is a hotspot for them.
14:46A surfer paddling on his board looks like a seal to the shark below.
14:51And seals are their main prey.
14:53Since 2010, there have been 32 reported shark attacks in the area.
14:59That's why people call this section of the coastline the most dangerous beach in America.
15:04Not your ideal summer destination, definitely.
15:09Maybe it's better to go to Hawaii.
15:11Or not.
15:13This atoll hides dangers of its own.
15:15The Hawaiian islands were formed by volcanic activity.
15:19These volcanoes attract tourists from all over the world.
15:22But slow-flowing lava isn't what's going to get you.
15:26It's poisonous gases.
15:28Can you guess what VOG is?
15:31No, I'm not speaking about the fashion magazine.
15:34This is volcanic smog.
15:37A mixture of ash and sulfur dioxide.
15:39That's the toxic gas you smell when you light a match.
15:43And when the lava flow hits the salt water in the ocean,
15:46you get Lays.
15:48Or Lava Haze.
15:49These plumes can travel up to 15 miles downwind.
15:54And they're not pleasant to inhale.
15:56Your eyes become dry.
15:58And your throat starts to itch.
16:00And those are the less severe symptoms.
16:03In a span of just 20 years,
16:05five tourists passed away due to exposure to volcanic gases.
16:09Australia used to have its own giants.
16:12Those were huge animals that could have dwarfed anything living on this continent these days.
16:17Scientists found the remains of many of those ancient creatures
16:20in the Narakuta Caves in South Australia,
16:23four hours away from Adelaide.
16:25It's a lovely region, but it can be treacherous.
16:28Watch out for holes the ground is pocked with.
16:30Known as pitfall traps,
16:32many of them are no wider than a coffee table.
16:35They're deep and plunge into the darkest of caverns.
16:38One of such caverns is called Victoria Fossil Cave.
16:42And it's a treasury that's been hiding the bones of around 45,000 animals for centuries.
16:47Some of the oldest bones belong to creatures far more terrifying
16:51than any animal you can encounter today.
16:54Those were the ancient Australian megafauna,
16:56huge beasts that roamed the continent during the Pleistocene epoch.
17:00During those, there were giant snakes,
17:03huge flightless birds,
17:05wombat-like creatures the size of a rhinoceros,
17:07and many others.
17:09One of the largest examples of the Australian megafauna
17:12scientists have discovered so far is the diprotodon.
17:16That giant herbivorous creature was 10 feet long and 6.5 feet tall
17:21and weighed more than 6,000 pounds,
17:24about as much as a small Asian elephant.
17:26Even though this terrifying beast didn't eat meat,
17:29it could have smashed other animals with its sheer weight.
17:32Scientists have found the remains of hundreds of such creatures all over Australia.
17:37So it's safe to say that no other animal from that time or in that location was larger than this
17:43giant.
17:44Despite its creepy appearance,
17:45the diprotodon was a relative to the modern-day wombat,
17:49and those are known to sometimes pounce humans.
17:52The diprotodon had toes that pointed inward
17:55and were well-suited for digging burrows.
17:58On the other hand,
17:59diprotodon was a giant,
18:00and it was unlikely that it used to do so.
18:02It was likely a trait it had inherited from its smaller burrowing ancestors.
18:07Or it could have used its claws to search for roots.
18:10This theory is supported by the fact that the animal's pouch was facing backward.
18:15It prevented any dirt from collecting inside while the creature was digging.
18:19Since this animal was so big,
18:21it didn't have to worry much about predators.
18:23Up until 60,000 years ago,
18:25when the first humans appeared on the continent,
18:27full-grown diprotodons only had to look out for creatures like the quincana.
18:33Measuring in at a whopping 20 feet long,
18:36the quincana was a land crocodile.
18:38It lived in Australia from around 20 million to 40,000 years ago.
18:43It disappeared along with most other megacreatures of the last ice age.
18:47It's thought to be the result of the first humans coming to the continent.
18:50Even though the quincana was extremely fast and dangerous,
18:54it was possible that this creature got out-competed by human hunters
18:58who took all available prey.
19:01Unlike modern crocodiles that are mainly aquatic,
19:04that mighty beast was a land dweller.
19:06Scientists figured it out by studying the quincana's legs.
19:10They were able to support and carry the body clear off the ground.
19:13It means there was no escape for ancient people
19:16once the quincana spotted them.
19:18Modern crocodiles can only push themselves along on their valleys.
19:21Such an adaptation allowed the quincana to chase its prey
19:25for long periods of time, exhausting it in the process.
19:29Another creepy feature of this ancient monster was its teeth.
19:33Aquatic crocs have conical teeth.
19:36Those are great for gripping and holding on to prey underwater.
19:39But quincana had knife-like teeth.
19:41Idea for slicing soft-bodied animals like, uh-oh, mammals.
19:47Another Australian monster, Diacolio, wasn't all that large.
19:51But it didn't make it any less terrifying.
19:54It was still among the top predators
19:56and the biggest carnivorous animals in Australia.
19:59This creature was a true oddity of nature,
20:01even by prehistoric standards.
20:03First, its teeth resembled not those of a regular predator,
20:07but those of a rodent.
20:09Its front incisors were enlarged,
20:11taking the place of canines.
20:13Premolars were also shaped like blades.
20:15They were used for cutting flesh and bone.
20:18At first, scientists thought that Diacolio used those teeth to eat nuts and fruits.
20:23But later, a study showed that the use of such teeth
20:26was better suited on necks and spines.
20:29Uh-oh.
20:30The jaws of this ancient creature were immensely powerful.
20:34A 220-pound Diacolio had a bite force
20:37similar to that of a present-day 550-pound lion.
20:41It means that the animal could easily bring down prey much larger than itself.
20:46Then there was Diacolio's tail.
20:49It had strong muscles which provided the animal
20:51with the ability to use the tail as support when tackling large prey.
20:56The Diacolio had retractable claws.
20:58And this feature is very uncommon among marsupials.
21:01It allowed the animal to keep its razor-sharp hooks from getting blunt
21:05and could help it get a better grip on its prey.
21:08Scientists are quite sure that, like today's leopards,
21:11the Diacolio could climb trees and jump on other animals from above.
21:16It was done so fast and stealthily, they never knew what hit them.
21:20The creature's rear feet support this theory.
21:23The first toe there was reduced,
21:25but the foot had a rough pad like what modern-day possums have.
21:29It allowed them to have a better grip while climbing.
21:32Right after scientists found the first skull of the Meliolania,
21:37this animal was classified as a lizard.
21:39That's why its name translates to small groomer.
21:43But after they discovered more complete fossils,
21:45it turned out that the Meliolania was a giant turtle.
21:49But that's not all.
21:50It was one of the largest land turtles to ever have existed.
21:54The main reason researchers initially believed the creature to be a lizard
21:58was the fact that its skull was adorned with a series of spikes.
22:02It's something the modern-day horned lizard can boast.
22:05But even after discovering the true nature of the Meliolania,
22:09scientists still don't know how to properly catalog it.
22:13It might have been a creature that folded its neck under its spine,
22:16or it could have folded it to the side.
22:19Beside those defensive mechanisms on its head,
22:22the Meliolania was also equipped with a spiked tail,
22:25which was probably used to prevent predators from attacking the animal from behind.
22:30Most species of the Meliolania disappeared around 2-3,000 years ago
22:35because of humans who hunted them to extinction
22:37in both Australia and on the surrounding islands.
22:40It took around two centuries for these turtles to go extinct
22:43in that region of the globe.
22:46The Megalania was a giant Australian lizard
22:49that existed at the end of the Pleistocene epoch.
22:52It looked like a Komodo dragon and the Australian monitor lizard,
22:56which are both believed to be Megalania's closest living relatives.
23:00Fossils tell us that the ancient animal was anywhere from 15 to 26 feet in length.
23:05Ow!
23:06The youngest fossil remains of this ancient Australian monitor lizard
23:10date back to about 50,000 years ago.
23:13The first indigenous settlers must have encountered Megalania,
23:16which led to the lizard's extinction.
23:18Originally, scientists thought that the Megalania was the only member of the genus Megalania.
23:24But these days, it belongs to the genus Varanus,
23:27which means that the prehistoric creature is closely related to other Australian monitor lizards.
23:34Our next giant creature on their list was once dubbed an ostrich on steroids.
23:39I mean, look at it!
23:41It was the last of the thunderbirds to go extinct in Australia.
23:44The genus Varanus lived on the continent at the same time as early humans.
23:49They might have coexisted for 15,000 years or so before the huge bird eventually disappeared.
23:55This theory has some proof.
23:56The bird's fossils found along with human artifacts.
24:00Some cave paintings also depict flightless birds similar to the genus Varanus in size and shape.
24:06Although it wasn't the largest bird in Australia,
24:08the goose-like creature was still as tall as a grown-up man and weighed around 550 pounds.
24:15Even a modern-day ostrich can be dangerous if it feels threatened.
24:19Imagine meeting its giant prehistoric relative.
24:22Scientists are still arguing about its diet.
24:25Many believe the creature was an herbivore.
24:27But there's still a chance that the genus was a partial scavenger.
24:32Its small stubby wings and powerful, hoof-like legs
24:36hint that the bird could have been a plant-eater.
24:38But its huge beak and exceptionally deep lower jaw evokes suspicion.
24:43Such features are highly unusual in birds.
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