The 12 Toughest Places To Survive On Earth

Putting it mildly: Life in some of the planet's least hospitable areas can be pretty tough. One car knows tough better than most – the Opel ADAM ROCKS.

1. Lut Desert, Iran

Ninara (CC BY http://2.0) / Via Flickr: ninara

We’re not saying that Iran’s Lut Desert is miserable – it is – but it’s so hot that apparently no one is even around to monitor the temperature on the ground regularly. Instead, it’s left to NASA to measure the temperature from space and Dasht-e Lut “won” the “award” for the hottest place on Earth FIVE TIMES in a seven-year study, topping out at 70.7 degrees – aka the hottest temperature ever recorded on this planet. Yikes.

2. Dallol, Ethiopia

Achilli Family | Journey (CC BY http://2.0) / Via Flickr: achillifamily

No LOL-ing matter, that's for sure. Dallol is a desolate ghost town with huge salt supplies rendering much of the water undrinkable and the record for the hottest average temperature on Earth, set in the 1960s. The views are spectacular though, with the super-saline water turning the lakes some crazy colours – shame a visit would take a flight to Ethiopia and a long, arduous drive into the desert before setting off via camel for the rest of the torturous journey.

3. Oymyakon, Russia

Maarten Takens (CC BY-SA http://2.0) / Via Flickr: takens

The town of Oymyakon in northern Russia is considered the coldest regularly populated place on the planet. Only Antartica has had a colder recorded temperature (-89.2 degrees in Vostok, 1983,) but that’s literally just a giant piece of ice floating in the sea. The temperature regularly stays below -50 degrees, which means that, if left exposed, and with just a 10mph wind speed, you’d get frostbite in around six minutes. Which, to be honest, does sound pretty tough.

4. Death Valley, California

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No prizes for guessing why it's called Death Valley; it's the lowest and hottest place in North America – a 3.5 million-acre National Park full of things that can (and possibly want to) make life incredibly hard for you. These things include, but are not limited to the following: rattlesnakes, scorpions, mountain lions, collapsing mineshafts, ghosts (probably), and the intense heat. Oh, and despite the horrifically short supply of drinking water, flash floods are also a serious concern. But besides all that stuff, it's lovely.

5. San Pedro Sula, Honduras

Roberto Venegas (CC BY http://2.0) / Via Flickr: 67052431@N08

With a reported 20 murders a day, that makes San Pedro Sula the most dangerous non-warzone city in the world. Gang violence is rife, and recent reports clock in 85.5 murders for every 100,000 people – a rate over 71 times higher than the UK. It's safe to say that you should probably give this one a miss.

6. The Amazon Rainforest

Elena Kalistratova / Getty Images

A giant rainforest that's at least 55 million years old, the Amazon is also a thing that could kill you in so many different ways that there are still a whole bunch we don't even know about yet. It's home to an estimated 390 billion trees, any number of which can play host to tonnes of poisonous animals, reptiles, and insects, including the odd few (million) carrying horrible, debilitating illnesses that could leave you in a very sticky situation within hours. Cheery stuff. Combine that with the extreme humidity and the world's biggest river (home to God knows what), and you've got yourself the worst honeymoon ever.

7. Minqin County, China

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China's creeping sands have threatened to take over Minqin County, a once thriving agricultural district, as the surrounding Tengger and Badain Jaran deserts slowly engulf the town. Existence is bleak after decades of unpredictable weather, including a major drought, which has swallowed up vital reservoirs, and strong winds whipping sand around at great speeds.

8. Mount Merapi, Indonesia

Tom Pfeiffer / VolcanoDiscovery / Getty Images

Living next to a volcano is not advised, but in Indonesia, some people don't have much choice. Thousands of people line the immediate area around Mount Merapi, the 9,600-foot stratovolcano known to locals as "Fire Mountain", despite the fact that it's a 9,600-foot active stratovolcano with smoke shooting out the summit at least 300 days a year and a whole bunch of hell-lava sitting not that far under the surface. No. Thanks.

9. Great Victoria Desert, Australia

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Australia might contain some of the coolest cities in the world, but the Outback – a vast, arid landscape of rolling dust clouds, deadly wildlife, and outstanding heat (plus the resulting terrifying bush-fires) – is still one of Earth's least hospitable areas. That hasn't stopped Aboriginal tribes such as the Pitjantjatjara from living there, but just you try it. Extreme, to say the least.

10. Ittoqqortoormiit, Greenland

Johan Siegers (CC BY http://2.0) / Via Flickr: 63736595@N08

With an unpronounceable name and a cold, bleak atmosphere, the Greenland coastal town of Ittoqqortoormiit has a population of just 452 and with good reason. A grizzled port town whose main source of income lies in fishing and hunting, life in Ittoqqortoormiit is hard – strictly for those good with their hands, mean with their fists, and big with their beards.

11. Mount Everest, Nepal/China

Göran Höglund (CC BY http://2.0) / Via Flickr: kartlasarn

It's the tallest mountain on Earth, but you already knew that. Known by the infinitely cooler nom de mont "Chomolungma" by the Tibetans, Everest has claimed the lives of over 200 people trying to climb the peak with many, many more unaccounted for. Not to mention the extreme weather conditions (the freezing temperatures and howling winds) and deadly avalanches, melting ice has exposed new, deep crevasses which've made expeditions exponentially more treacherous, even for seasoned sherpas. There's also the small matter of the air pressure at the summit, which is so high that it cuts oxygen levels down to just a third.

12. Cueva de los Cristales, Mexico

Alexander Van Driessche / Via en.wikipedia.org

It's like this: Imagine you're drilling through the Naica fault in Chihuahua, Mexico, and you accidentally stumble on a huge cave, full of spectacular 12-metre long crystals everywhere. It literally looks like something from space. You'd need a sit-down to take in the sights, right? WRONG. With the crystals being razor-sharp and the temperatures somewhere around 50 degrees, you'd either be impaled or burn up unless extremely careful or extremely well-protected. Best cancel that holiday.

Sometimes, toughness is less obvious – meet the Opel ADAM ROCKS.