Imagine walking into a cavern where the walls are lined with **towering crystals**, some as tall as a giraffe, others stretching longer than a city bus. Their translucent spires shimmer like frozen moonlight, jutting out in every direction. It looks like a fantasy scene from a science fiction epic — but it’s real. Hidden deep beneath the earth in northern Mexico lies one of nature’s strangest masterpieces: the **Cueva de los Cristales**, or **Cave of the Crystals**.

At first glance, the name sounds exaggerated. A thousand islands? Come on. But then you see it — a horizon dotted with green-topped rocks, tree-crowned blips, mansion-laden isles — and you realize: “A thousand” barely covers it. The **Thousand Islands** region along the St. Lawrence River actually comprises over **1,864 islands**, each rising from the water like a secret waiting to be discovered.