A mysterious taxidermy man-beast of the seven seas.

What was to be the world's most secure Cold War document vault ended up as just a few shallow caves.

The world's largest dark sky preserve is a Canadian park established to preserve the country's last wood bison.

A museum of memories in what was once one of the most violent cities in the world.

The (usually) serene burial place of the world's most notorious drug lord.

This unofficial museum details the rise and fall of Colombia's most notorious narcotrafficker, Pablo Escobar.

In the middle of one of South America's most historic walled cities lies a bar with an enormous collection of Soviet memorabilia.

A cozy bookstore and coffee shop in the heart of Cartagena's Old City.

A 10 million-ton rock once worshiped by the Tahamies Indians, accessed by an astounding staircase.

Ripped apart by a bomb in 1993, the shell of Pablo Escobar's infamous vacation house still stands.

The Andean town where every single building is decorated with a brightly colored frieze.

A cave covered with bizarre stalactites of cloth.

An eccentric dictator's take on a Turkmen version of Disneyland.

If you want to get married in the White Marble City of Ashgabat, you should do it in this surreal disco ball building.

This famed Silk Road oasis was one of the largest cities in the world before it was destroyed by a Mongol horde.

This cavernous swimming spot doubles as a home to the largest known colony of bats in Central Asia.

A fiery crater has been burning in the Karakum Desert since 1971.

The world's second-tallest flagpole stands proud despite dropping rank.

The remains of an ancient city-state along the Silk Road.

This ancient Silk Road outpost overlooking the Wakhan Valley is miraculously still standing.

Where the father of Persian poetry is laid to rest.

The largest Lenin statue in Central Asia was moved to an empty field rather than being destroyed.

A building facade covered with the statues of 11 giants of Tajik literature.

The largest dam in the world and the site of a potential disaster.