20 Serene Facts About Islands That’ll Calm You Down

The island of Socotra off the coast of Yemen has an alien-like landscape that is found nowhere else on earth. It has an umbrella-shaped plant called the “dragon's blood tree” by traders who believed that its red sap was actual dragon’s blood with healing properties.

The Cook Islands currency features a naked woman riding a shark.

In the Cayman Islands, there is a place called Hell that people aren't allowed in.

The island of Mauritius has multi-colored sand dunes called the Seven Coloured Earths that seemingly never erode, "creating an effect of earthen meringue."

There is a hilltop shrine named Gunung Kemukus in Java where thousands of Muslims regularly attend a ritual that involves seeking blessing through having sex with a stranger.

In Tahiti, it was a traditional practice to raise the eldest son as a girl and treated as a third sex called Mahu who would possess the best qualities of both genders. Each village apparently had at least one Mahu because it was seen as good luck.

The Faroe Islands have a Minecraft like Climate - "The climate varies greatly over small distances, due to the altitude, ocean currents, topography, and winds. It is not uncommon to witness rain falling in one area, and snow falling a surprisingly small distance away..."

In 2011, in Cyprus, the military left 98 containers of explosives in the sun for 2 years. This resulted in one of the largest non-nuclear explosions ever registered.

A community in Sulawesi, Indonesia keeps the dead bodies of their family members at home because they believe that one's death does not occur until the body leaves the home.

In the Philippines, there is an island called Luzon. On this island, there is a lake called Taal Lake. In this lake is an island called Volcano Island. On this island is a lake called Main Crater Lake. In this lake, there is an island called Volcano Point.