Four Places You’ll (Probably) Never Visit

There’s a good deal of fun wondering what goes on in places that cause us all to put on our metaphorical aluminium-foil hats. Are there really signs of extraterrestrial life in Area 51, and if not, then why do over half of American adults believe that there’s more than the government lets on regarding UFOs - and why has this belief been in place for seven decades now?

And what other places are there like it around the world, where visitors are strictly forbidden?

North Sentinel Island

Located in the Indian Ocean, this island gained a state of notoriety in 2018 when an American missionary attempted to convert the local people, who killed him on sight. It may seem extreme, but it isn’t the first time this has happened. It isn’t that the locals need a lesson in hospitality - the tribesmen there, about which we know extremely little, are incredibly hostile to outside forces. It’s understood that while they may have an understanding of basic archery, it’s believed that agricultural practice still has not made its way to the island - despite arising in ancient civilisations as long as 12,000 years ago.

The first recorded trip to the island took place in 1867 under the watch of Jeremiah Homfray, a British colonial officer following the trail of escaped convicts. Warnings from local guides convinced him not to land, but later expeditions - specifically those of Maurice Vidal Portman - kidnapped several Sentinelese natives, causing them to quickly become ill and perish. This remains the leading explanation for the tribe’s open hostility. Madhumala Chattopadhyay remains arguably the most successful anthropologist to have established contact with them, given her efforts to send them coconuts in person without incident.

North Sentinel Island remains, to this day, off-limits to visitors and its waters are routinely patrolled by the Indian navy. SimpleNation wrote an article about North Sentinel Island in 2022 - click here for more details!

Pluto’s Gate

The architecture of Pluto's Gate show a number of tunnels leading to subterranean chambers. Source: Atlas Obscura

Also known as the Gate to the Underworld, or the Gate to Hell, Pluto’s Gate exists in modern-day Turkey. It consists of a “viewing area” or with a statue of Hades, the Greek god of the underworld, with subterranean chambers that grant the site its spot on this list. Built over two thousand years ago by Greco-Romans, its existence baffled locals for one particular reason: animals that entered the gate would drop dead after mere seconds.

Strabo, a Greek philosopher who lived from 64 BC to about 24 AD, conducted this test by releasing sparrows into the tunnel, only to observe them “[meet] their instant death…they immediately breathed their last and fell.”. Even more bizarrely, priests performing sacrifices to Pluto at the site remained completely unharmed. Thus, it’s no surprise that residents of the area at the time believed the area to house a portal to Hell.

Modern scientists, however, have determined the cause for this extremely unusual phenomenon: by bringing a gas analyser into the ruins, volcanologists determined the presence extremely high levels of carbon dioxide in the air - which would have originated from the same source as nearby hot springs, and condense into liquid as temperatures cooled at night. Further notes from Strabo, which seem to indicate the aforementioned priests were holding their breath, further support this theory. While tourists can visit the site, entry into the tunnel is forbidden.

Room 39

North Korea is, at the best of times, and extremely opaque society. The entry requirements for British citizens are extensive given the country’s status as the “Hermit Kingdom” - the Foreign Office warns against bringing anything with GPS technology, books in Korean, anything with religious connotations or digital media capabilities, and anything that could be deemed “anti-government” by North Korean authorities. Even while on tour, photography and filming is strictly controlled by your non-optional tour guide.

Room 39, however, is probably the most secretive location in this already secretive country.

Located on the third floor of the the Korean Worker’s Party (KWP)’s headquarters in Pyongyang, it is believed to be the personal treasury for the ruling elite of the KWP that oversees almost every aspect of life in North Korea. This enables them to side-step sanctions designed to prevent them from acquiring foreign currency. The finances within are understood by foreign intelligence officials as being spent on lavish gifts for party loyalty - including cars, cognac, and more.

It is not likely that the finances within come from sales taxes places on its citizens - rather, one defector has claimed that the money within comes from transnational crime, including narcotics trafficking, gem exports, and cyber attacks. The Financial Times has an article outlining in greater detail the network of shadowy business transactions linked to Room 39 and North Korea’s never-ending quest for foreign cash.

Ni’ihau

Ni'ihau's cliffs rise high above the Pacific Ocean. Source: TravelToParadise

Nearly two million people visited Hawaii in 2023, a figure stretching 300,000 people more than the island’s resident population during the same year. While the island archipelago has 137 islands, eight of them are considered major, and have the names most familiar to the average person: Maui, Oahu, and Hawaii Island itself. The smallest of these eight islands, Ni’ihau, is something of an anomaly.

Ni’ihau is the only place on Earth where Hawaiian is the only official language. There are no paved roads, no running water, no telephone or internet connections, and all electricity is generated by solar panels. In order to create cultural preservation for native Hawaiians, the Robinson family from New Zealand purchased the island in 1864 before prohibiting access to anyone who was and is not a native Hawaiian, member of the family, or a directly invited guest. Ni’ihau’s 70 full-time residents survive by hunting, fishing, and collecting rainwater.

While aerial tours of the island can take place by helicopter, landing is forbidden on Ni’ihau, and interactions between visitors and native Hawaiians is forbidden. The reason for this level of prohibition goes beyond cultural preservation - the island also holds religious connotations: Pele, the Hawaiian goddess of volcanoes who created the island chain, is believed to have made her first home on the island of Ni’ihau.