Picture this: you’re wandering along a crumbling red brick wall, surrounded by a water-filled moat, serenaded by the gentle buzz of motorbikes and the aroma of sizzling garlic and lemongrass. Welcome to Chiang Mai Old City — a square kilometer of magic tucked inside the northern hills of Thailand.

In the snowy wilds of Japan's Yamagata Prefecture, where winter wraps the land in an icy hush, something eerie stirs in the Zao Mountains. As the temperature drops and the storms rage, the trees on these slopes begin to transform—until they no longer look like trees at all.