The abandoned African ghost town that's one of the world's most remote places

Dotted across the world are abandoned settlements that have taken on an eerie atmosphere that delight tourists on the hunt for darker and more ominous landmarks. This town is no exception.

Dallol is found in the Afar Region of northern . Located in an area known as the Afar Depression, or Afar Triange - part of the - it sits about 430 feet below sea level. It currently holds the official record for the highest average temperature for an inhabited location on Earth, with an average annual temperature of 34.6C recorded between 1960 and 1966. The town is also one of the most remote places on Earth, found in a region with a highly active hydrothermal system. Nearby, numerous springs, terrace systems, and fumaroles (vents from which gases and vapours are emitted) can be found.

Dallol has an extreme version of a hot desert climate, typical of the . The annual average high temperature is 41.2C and the highest recorded temperature is 49C.

In the past, several commercial operations were carried out in and around the town. These mainly centred around salt mining, including potash (salt containing potassium, commonly used as a fertiliser), though this stopped in the 1960s due to its remote location.

As of 2020, some buildings still stand in Dallol, all built with salt blocks.

Further afield, Dallol is a unique terrestrial hydrothermal system around a cinder cone volcano. It is renowned for its unearthly colours and mineral patterns and the very acidic fluids that discharge from its springs.

Its green acid ponds and geysers have pH values of less than one and are also known as hyper-saline, with a saline quantity 10 times that of seawater.

In October 2019, a French-Spanish team of scientists concluded that while the salt plains are teeming with halophilic miccorganisms (those that thrive in high-salt conditions), there is no life in Dallol's ponds.

While a railway operated between the town and the port of Mersa Fatma in in the early 20th century, today the only way to reach Dallol is via camel.

infrastructure in Ethiopia is generally quite poor and independent travel is not recommended due to the ongoing civil war. So, a tour is the best way to explore Dallol and the surrounding region.

Companies such as Wonders of Ethiopia offer excursions to Dallol, often allowing you to hike up the crater of Erta Ale. This volcano is home to one of the world's only persistent lava lakes.

"Dalol is like nothing else on Earth. In truth, it feels like a completely different planet," said one visitor on Tripadvisor. "The salts and geologic formations create a live painting of indescribable beauty. No pictures truly capture the magnificence of what you are seeing and experiencing. If you are up for a rugged adventure, do it."