Planet Earth's Best Unearthly Landscapes

It's been over four decades since we first landed on the moon and yet, the hope of space tourism remains as far-flung as ever. Perfect space oddity isn't it? Just as well, then, that getting that out-of-this-world feeling without parting with the planet is simpler to execute than a Vulcan salute!
So, all you celestial plebes, moonwalkers and stellar travelers - get ready for lift off, as we take you to some of our favourite outer-space hotspots right here on earth.

Valle de la Luna (Valley of the Moon), Chile

When Buzz Aldrin was talking about the moon's glorious desolation, h might just have been referring to Chile's Valle de la Luna. Outlandish astral landforms gnarled by eons of untamed conditions throng the horizon; austere sandbanks and far-flung volcanoes amp up the surreality. For utmost brunt, stopover during sunset when the vale is suffused in an unearthly purple, pink and gold glow

Volcanic Iceland

Speckled with vivid and striking steam vents, sparkling mud pots, odd rock patterns and lava fields, Iceland is a sci-film in the offing. The ascetically beautiful and gloriously strange landscapes around Myvatn will make you question what planet you're on.

Southeastern Utah, USA

You are closer to mars than you think while in Canyon lands and Arches National Parks in southeastern Utah. These places seriously give the red planet a run for its money with their their jagged archways, conduits, needles, spires, craters, mesas and buttes. Touchdown during high summer for that extra blast of extraterrestrial power.

Lac Abbe, Djibouti

Seen from out here everything seems different. Time bends. Space is boundless. Gawking mesmerized upon Lac Abbe's natural smoldering 'chimneys' and cosmic, uncanny salt plains.

Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia

This gigantic, flickering sea of salt will irk your musings for years to come. In reality, such is Salar de Uyuni's awe-inspiring, blinding-white otherworldliness; it possibly would just send you into interstellar overdrive.

Cappadocia, Turkey

With its beautiful fairy flues, gorges of tumbling cliffs, and labyrinthine secretive cities, Cappadocia is outer space as it might have been anticipated by Jim Henson: quaint, charming, pictorial and appealing.

Lanzarote, Canary Islands

Armstrong and Aldrin would feel right at home in the astonishing volcanic moonscape of central Lanzarote. The radiant jade waters of El Golfo Crater could even entice them to shrug off those unwieldy spacesuits and go for a swim.

Nazca Lines, Peru

One of Peru's most impressive, inspiring, striking and enigmatic sights, the mystifying Nazca Lines could without difficulty be erroneous for the doodling of primeval astronauts. Profound in barren desert, and merely evident from the air, these baffling lines will without doubt stir your imagination.

Nubra Valley, Ladakh, India

Acknowledged as 'Moonland', Ladakh is bound by peaks and encompassed of mountains. Human habitation is meager, and throughout the wild wintry weather, the district is only slightly easier to arrive at than the moon itself. The daunting, hostile Nubra Valley is its untamed astral spirit.