Imagine stepping into a painting where the colors are almost too vivid to be real—a turquoise lake so bright it looks like a Photoshop accident, surrounded by snow-dusted mountains that pierce the sky. That’s Lake Louise. Tucked away in Banff National Park, Alberta, it’s one of Canada’s most iconic—and surreal—natural wonders.

Imagine a place where the Earth hisses, belches sulfur, and constantly exhales white plumes of steam into the sky. A place where black eggs are boiled in volcanic springs and eaten to gain extra years of life. Welcome to Owakudani—one of Japan’s most unusual and naturally hostile locations, and one that feels like it sits right at the edge of the spirit world.