An artsy hidden staircase leads to breathtaking views of San Francisco.

Rippling sand dunes frozen in the Arizona rock.

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

The hallucinogenic center of the ancient world.

Known as the Sistine Chapel of Egypt, this tomb houses some of the most well-preserved paintings in Egypt.

These Egyptian statues have survived for 3,400 years and were an acoustic wonder of the ancient world.

Ozymandias’ time-keeping temple.

340-foot statue built to honour the Heroes of the Soviet Union.

This attraction was abandoned after the Chernobyl disaster.

The ghost town left by the worst nuclear disaster of all time is being taken over by nature and urban explorers.

This beautiful natural train tunnel is said to grant the wishes of visiting lovebirds.

This picturesque mansion has gone from opulent ruin to nature museum.

A paradisical gorge with rapids, waterfalls, and wildlife whose raw beauty is the stuff of CGI movies.

This metal tower in the desert provides views of a handful of Nazca geoglyphs.

A mysterious pre-Incan ruin believed to have miraculous healing powers.

The remains of what was the most important religious complex in coastal Peru for over a millennium.

The world's fifth tallest waterfall is a spectacular silver chute of water that cuts through the cloud forest in northern Peru.

With nearly double the depth of the Grand Canyon, this Peruvian canyon is one of the deepest in the world.

These giant mummies are set ominously into a Peruvian cliffside and topped with real human skulls.

The Uros people live on floating reed islands in lake Titicaca.

If you’ve ever seen a picture of Machu Picchu, then you’ve seen a picture of Huayna Picchu—you just didn’t realize it.

An unexpected desert oasis in South America.

One of the world's tallest waterfalls wasn't revealed to the world at large until 2006.

Nazca pilgrimage site covering 370 acres is a popular stop for archeologists and looters.