This is the safest place on Earth – but don’t make plans to head there just yet: you’d only be able to visit at six points in the year.

And that’s not forgetting that it’s a pretty isolated spot.

It plays host to seeds from around the world and is intended to be a safety net for the world’s food supply. Should the worst happen, this place will be the thing that we can fall back on.

It was opened in 2008. Well, I say opened – it’s not something the average Joe can waltz in and see, as you might imagine.

As such, the mysterious nature of this place leaves it open to a lot of conspiracy theories.

But the real purpose of this Vault is to store more than one million seed samples in order to prevent crops going extinct. This will prove particularly handy in the event of a war, natural disaster or pandemic.

It’s located deep inside a mountain, with the entrance protruding out from the side. A series of metal detectors block the seeds from the outside world. Its management is a collaboration between the Norwegian government, the Crop Trust and NordGen.

It only opens up six times a year for new seed deposits, but most people never get to see inside this extraordinary place. VICE Impact were lucky enough to get a look inside back in 2020.

Inside, they saw a ‘permafrost’ facility where the seeds were stored in -18C temperatures and the doors were iced over.

Asmund Asdal, a Coordinator at the Vault, said: “I have a quite good feeling when I’m in here and I know that this is a resource that the future will need.”

While you’re out of luck if you want to take a physical tour, a virtual option is available.

It starts you off on the snowy mountainside, before taking you down the long concrete corridor inside. From there, you’re left to wander the ‘Seed Vault Tunnel’.

There are a lot of big echoey rooms inside the place. As small as seeds are, there’s a ton of them so they need the space.

Well, it’s a small comfort to know that even in the event of a nuclear war or global pandemic, we can still have vegetables on our plates.

It goes without saying, most of us love travelling.

Whether it’s a beach holiday, or a city break, exploring somewhere new, personally speaking, is one of the most rewarding activities you can do.

But it’s safe to say there is one location that is definitely not on my list and that’s a place which has a life expectancy of just 35.

YouTuber and documentary maker Ruhi Çenet well and truly braved it all after paying a visit to the ‘closest town to space’ where there happens to be 50 percent less oxygen.

Dubbed as the ‘most hellish place on the planet’, La Rinconada, Peru, is the closest inhabited place to the sky on Earth and the content creator thought he would go and see what it was like, so we don’t have to.

Çenet has over eight million subs on YouTube and people keep coming back for more as the avid traveller is known for visiting ‘hard-to-reach places’.

So far he has been to 65 countries across six continents.

After posting his Peru doc on YouTube last December, the video has already racked up over 30 million views.

“La Rinconada, the closest inhabited place to the sky on Earth, where people are living above the clouds,” Çenet explained.

“At this extreme altitude of 5,100 meters, the atmosphere significantly thins and the locals are living with only 50 percent of the usual oxygen levels.

“Their bodies have evolved to produce two times more blood cells than ours.

“On this barren land, not even a single tree can survive because of the low air pressure.

“This town in the Peruvian Andes is even 300 meters higher than Mont Blanc, the highest peak in the Alps of Europe.

“Far from the modern world, it is a place where crime and danger are always nearby.”

Çenet said he felt dizzy as soon as he got out of the cab, and when he woke up in the morning he felt so tired, like he ‘hadn’t rested in days’.

The dry air alone gave him a sore throat along with chapped lips.

Despite it being summer, the roads were icy and smelly, as footage of garbage was visible throughout the city.

He also noticed that people were living in ‘metal shacks’ without electricity, which is very worrying when it gets to as low as -10C in the winter.

Çenet noted that most people use public bathrooms and showers as they don’t have the capacity to have running water in their homes.

The only reason people brave the more-than-difficult conditions is because of mining, Çenet says.

“People come to these harsh lands for only one reason: gold,” he said.

“About 50,000 people have settled here, among piles of trash, all dreaming of wealth.”