This Hungarian castle was built out of cardboard and wood until it proved so popular that it got upgraded to stone.

A 19th century artistocrat's mansion, turned into a library, hidden in a modern library.

This Budapest bar allows drinkers to leave their mark on the walls, floor, and even ceiling.

The housing complex served as an anti-fascist fortress during the Austrian Civil War.

This grand manse has been transformed into a museum devoted to one of the founders of Fantastic Realism.

This cubist Vienna church building looks like some sort of alien stonehenge.

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

Nicknamed Kazakhstan's Grand Canyon, this natural wonder lies east of Almaty near the Chinese border.

A brilliant turquoise lake in the mountains.

An abandoned Soviet-era mining town in the mountains of South Kazakhstan.

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

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

Vintage furniture and art share space with all manner of collectibles at this quirky shop in Bangkok.

On stormy days debris from this unfinished and abandoned skyscraper rains down on the Bangkok streets.

This small museum is basically a time capsule of daily life in the Soviet Union.

One of the largest collections of socialist realist art shows the surprising depth of the official art of the Soviet Union.

The largest art park on the European continent.

One of the last examples of Soviet architectural propaganda has a few technological tricks up its sleeve.

Pictures tacked onto trees remember the more than 40,000 of Stalin's victims buried here in mass graves.

An art museum inside an active factory.

Fascinating early attempt at a Jewish autonomous settlement.

The largest Buddhist city in Europe is a haven for chess fanatics.

A small and surprising passageway in Saint Petersburg devoted to the Beatles.

The world's tallest statue of a woman wields the world's tallest sword and is at risk of toppling over.