Temperatures in the abandoned town have hit 49C (Image: Getty)
Lying deep in the sits the colourful and supersaturated hot springs of the world’s ‘hottest’ town.
Dallol, in the Dallol woreda of northern Ethiopia, holds the official record for record high average temperature for an inhabited location on Earth. The ever recorded was a whopping 49C and has an average annual temperature of 35C.
Often referred to as hell on earth, the hot springs of Dallol flicker between pools of red, yellow, green, orange and blue that come from volcanically heated groundwater carrying salts to the surface.
For such a lonely and desolate place, the stunning colours add a touch of life to the abandoned town. The Dallol volcano, which last erupted in 1926, is known for its unearthly colours and mineral patterns.
Although a railway operated between Dallol and the port of Mersa Fatma, Eritrea in the early 20th century, the only way to reach Dallol these is via camel, who are often carring things that are not tourists but are instead collecting salt.
The hot springs of Dallol flicker between pools of red, yellow, green, orange and blue (Image: Getty)
No one has lived in the town on a full-time basis since the 1960s (Image: Getty)
The ghost town has no regular transport services but paved roads in the area were built in 2015.
Dallol was not always a ghost town and was once a mining settlement.
From 1925 until 1929, an Italian company mined 25,000 tons of sylvite, meaning a number of people flocked to the area for work. American and Indian companies also built thousands of mines throughout the region, but no permanent settlement.
Since mining operations in the town stopped in the 1960s, nobody has lived in the town on a full-time basis.
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The ghost town has no regular transport services (Image: Getty)
Although it is now uninhabited, small structures made of salt bricks were created by the Afar people and the remains of houses and vehicles lay scattered across the town.
Visitors brave enough to travel to the Afar region where the Danakil Depression is based can hike to the crater of Erta Ale, which is home to a permanent lava lake. It is not recommended to visit alone.
While its green and blue lakes look stunning, these are almost as dangerous as those consisting of lava as they are actually made up of sulphuric acid strong enough to dissolve the sole of a shoe.