Elaborate patterns adorn the city's disappearing traditional architecture.

This remarkably well-preserved Incan city managed to survive the conquistadores.

The ancient abodes are a testament to human ingenuity amid harsh climates.

This impressive system of tanks was used to store drinking water as long as 2,000 years ago.

No one is quite sure of the origins of these idyllic natural hot springs at an abandoned mountain resort.

This likeness of the famous revolutionary is entirely made of recycled scraps of metal.

The fight to make Bengali an official language started in this stunning university hall.

A boat ride through utter darkness, lit only by headlamps, reveals an emerald green pool locals believe is sacred.

This doorless 20th-century elevator doesn't stop or slow down.

A mesmerizing landscape of 18th-century cellars carved out of the land.

Mongolian Buddhists believe this monastery in the Gobi desert to be the center of the world's spiritual energy.

This odd museum/art gallery embraces the physiological, zoological, and ethnographic side of sex.

A jagged silhouette of shamanistic stone heaps rises from the shore of this dazzling mile-high lake.

Hidden treasures belonging to Mongolia's most revered and multi-talented monk spent decades buried in the Gobi desert.

The grassy landscape is home to the world's last truly wild horses.

The oldest Buddhist monastery in Mongolia has survived centuries of invasions, political shifts, and religious purges.

On any given day this sprawling market houses literally tons of government-regulated gold, gems, and precious metals.

Some of the ancient-looking huts among these strange rock formations aren't ancient at all, but built as part of a movie set.

A 19th century pearling and fishing village abandoned before Qatar's economic boom.

An open-air museum in a mountain valley features works designed to blend in with—and disintegrate back into—their natural surroundings.

This church, better known for its weeping portrait of the Virgin Mary, also houses the world's oldest existing piece of taxidermy.

A uniquely authentic display of traditional Russian culture.

This spiritual landmark for practicers of Shamanism is drenched in milk and vodka and covered in blue scarves.

The ruins of this old church are slowing sinking into the sand.