This abandoned railroad got a new life as a scenic promenade cutting through the city of Otaru.

Take a trip to the past aboard a 1920s railcar or open flatcar for a scenic ride through Maryland farm country.

Disused for decades, this freight railway bridge is finally being renovated into a scenic promenade.

This hiking/biking/horse trail along an old railroad grade features trestles, tunnels, and a roadless stretch through the scenic Susan River canyon.

A train ride to the middle of nowhere gives its passengers some of the most iconic views of Japan's seasons.

An antique narrow gauge railway line still running through the Colorado and New Mexico mountains.

These concrete crustaceans are actually public restrooms.

An exact replica of a colossal Olmec head sits atop a pyramid within a Madrid traffic circle.

Made to improve road safety, these policemen-like figurines in Miyakojima island have earned an enthusiastic fanbase.

These unconventional "tub boats" let locals row around the island's turbulent coast.

For centuries, this gold mine was the powerhouse behind the Tokugawa Shogunate.

A wooden prison doesn't sound like a good idea, yet this abandoned 1950s detention center still stands today.

As a show of peace, a Japanese naval pilot gifted his 400-year-old Samurai sword to the Oregon town he bombed.

Treehouse motel and treehouse-building school.

An art gallery home to a plethora of art from local artists who can often be seen hard at work.

A chance to sleep among the firs and pines of the Oregon forest.

A spectacular walk on the flank of a gorge.

An abandoned Indian-inspired mansion.

A public display of prehistoric space rocks is named for the Namibian village where they were found.

A rare cluster of alien-like plants grows along a dusty highway.

Road signs in Namibia mark the location of one of the five major circles of latitude.

Ten shipwreck-shaped chalets lie along the sand dunes on Namibia’s Skeleton Coast.

The remains of diamond fever taken over by the desert.

Seemingly grown on some other world, these New Mexico rock formations look like a disused science fiction set.