Monasteries on rock pillars, once accessible only by frayed ropes.

Buddhist university that allows English-language speakers the opportunity to study with monks in Thailand.

A beautiful, dense forest in the shadow of Mount Fuji, with a tragic reputation.

Bioluminescent firefly squid light up this Japanese fishing port.

Natural rock formations resembling monks in hats inspire folk legends.

Plagued by riots, celebrity injuries and a tragic death, this amusement park has been demolished.

The farthest you can be in the contiguous U.S. from a McDonald's location.

The world's longest outdoor escalator takes visitors to the top of China's largest dam and is also shaped like a dragon.

Site of the largest volcanic eruption in the last 25 million years, one which may have nearly wiped out humanity altogether.

Unexplained bald patches in the landscape grow and recede over time, as though they are somehow alive.

Be a ninja - or just act like one.

A series of modernist treehouse hotel rooms grace the outskirts of an Arctic forest.

Most complete collection of Gymnosperms in the world.

Longest road tunnel in the world features an air treatment plant and the illusion of daylight.

Trash escaped from a landfill to fill beaches with all kinds of treasure.

The oldest continuously inhabited street in America.

A darkly erotic open-air statuary in Catalonia.

The one-time stronghold of the noble Douglas family, now home to ghost sightings and nesting birds.

A perfect turquoise lake colored with glacier dust.

Only two of these trees remain in the natural world, found high in the cloud forest of the island of Mauritius.

A fifth-century temple improbably built into the side of a cliff.

Granite outcropping that the state's tourism bureau doesn't promote because of its delicate ecosystem.

Why have you never heard of the second most popular tourist site in New York?

Death rituals and sacrifice inside a Peruvian megalith.