Desert of Mystery

The Desert of Mystery is a desert located in the southwest corner of Hyrule in A Link to the Past.

Features
The Desert of Mystery is a wide open area filled with cacti. It is the location of the second dungeon in the game, the Desert Palace, which contains the Pendant of Wisdom. The only other features are a few cliffs and caves, one which is the home of Agniah.

The area is swarming with Vultures and Geldmans, as well as bombs that explode at close range, making it somewhat of a nuisance to traverse.

On a cliff in, only reachable with the Flute, there is a portal to the Dark World hidden under a rock. This is the only way to enter the Dark World equivalent of the Desert of Mystery, the Swamp of Evil. On another cliff is a tablet where Link can get the Bombos Medallion.

A Link to the Past comic
The Desert of Mystery is also featured in the A Link to the Past comic. Before Link can head out to the desert Sahasrahla's Wife warns Link that traveling through it will not be easy since the "fierce winds and shifting sand" have bested even the most capable adventurers. The young boy who Sahasrahla left in charge of his wife gives Link a hang glider that he can use to traverse the Desert of Mystery with ease.

Using the "miracle wings", Link flies over the Desert of Mystery and locates the ruins of the Desert Palace. Using the Book of Mudora to translate the runes he finds, the ruins begin to sink to reveal a scorpion statue that has the Pendant of Power hanging on it. Before Link can approach it, he sinks into the quicksand and resurfaces on top of a Lanmola. Link tries to attack it with his sword but to no avail; he however manages to retrieve the Pendant of Power from the statue and uses it to defeat the Lanmola.

Trivia

 * The Japanese name for the Desert of Mystery is the same as the Japanese name for the Desert of Doubt in Four Swords Adventures.
 * According to The Great Hyrule Encyclopedia on www.zelda.com, the Destert of Mystery is a newer name for the Haunted Wasteland.
 * The Desert of Mystery is the only location in A Link to the Past where the Book of Mudora is required to complete game. It is also the only place where the book can be used twice.