Every year on December 23rd, while the rest of the world is busy wrapping presents and scrambling for last-minute shopping, something wonderfully weird takes over the central square of Oaxaca City. It's called La Noche de los Rábanos — the Night of the Radishes — and it’s exactly what it sounds like… only way stranger.

When you think of Japan, your mind probably races to neon-lit cities, cherry blossoms, ancient shrines, or sushi masterpieces. But what if we told you Japan also has a desert? And not just any desert—a place where mirages shimmer across golden dunes like something out of Arabian Nights?