Enormous statue of the Emperor of the Mongols.

Hundreds of large Russian nesting dolls decorate this square, and the largest is a functioning hotel.

Gigantic natural towers in a Russian plateau.

Thanks to this small string of islands World War II still hasn't officially ended between Russia and Japan.

Siberian ghost town built by gulag prisoners.

A remote forest of stone pillars along the Lena river.

A southern Swedish island is home to the last ERSTA artillery battery, meant to protect the shoreline during the Cold War.

The coldest city in the world.

The world's highest and most dangerous infinity pool lies at the precipice of Victoria Falls.

A desert that rolls right up to the ocean, where it's so dry animals live off the fog.

The centuries-old trees lining both sides of this dirt road may become Madagascar's first natural monument.

An Ethiopian "Jerusalem" featuring a church hewn out of a single rock.

The hottest place on the planet.

Reaching the "Church in the Sky" requires scaling the cliff face of a sandstone pinnacle with a 650-foot drop.

Wander among hulking piles of rusted machinery left over from the Eritrean-Ethiopian War.

An endless sea of white conical domes.

It might not be the prettiest pyramid in Egypt, but it may be the muddiest.

A hyper-remote desert cave dramatized in "The English Patient."

Ozymandias’ time-keeping temple.

An alien landscape of chalk-rock in the Egyptian desert.

You can row a boat through this ancient underground reservoir.

The remains of this ancient fortress atop a manmade hill look as though they were built into a volcano.

Camels and crocodiles share the black waters of this stunning Saharan oasis.

A serene desert oasis speckled with ancient artifacts.