An underground world of gorgeous, palatial metro stations designed as a nuclear shelter complex.

Touching displays of wishes for peace from the Cold War era.

The heartbeat of modern Uzbekistan’s thriving market culture.

More than 10,000 small mirrors cover the curved surface of the world's second-largest solar oven, located in a remote village in Uzbekistan.

Witness traditional silk production in the Uzbek city that's been a hub of sericulture for over a thousand years.

The Avenue of Mausolea is a series of grand palatial tombs.

18m long sarcophagus of a constantly growing dead prophet.

Home to what was once considered the largest gate in central Asia.

This "tower of death" has acted as an observatory, a religious hub, and an executioner's lair.

Where Stoddart and Connolly suffered in the infamous Bug Pit.

Ancient barriers wrap around what was once an important stop along the Silk Road.

These "50 Fortresses" have been unearthed in the ancient oasis of Khwarezm.

The ruins of an ancient Zoroastrian Tower of Silence believed to be the earliest example of the traditional funerary practice.

Once a bustling fishing port, this semi-ghost town is now more than 90 miles away from the shore.

Former island in the Aral Sea used to be a top-secret Russian bio-weapons facility.

World's oldest and largest space launch facility, once a secret missile testing site.

Avenue of trees planted by cosmonauts before their space departures.

Rusting ships sit in a desert where a sea used to be.

Mysterious spherical rocks in the semi-desert of western Kazakhstan.

In Kazakhstan, a colorful cathedral with many lives once survived the most powerful earthquake in the region.

Granny Smiths and Fujis can both be traced back to Kazakhstan, where apples still grow wild.

A brilliant turquoise lake in the mountains.

The lovely lake that was naturally dammed, then naturally destroyed, then unnaturally saved.

Submerged trees jut ghost-like out of an idyllic turquoise mountain lake.