The ruins of an ancient Zoroastrian Tower of Silence believed to be the earliest example of the traditional funerary practice.

These "50 Fortresses" have been unearthed in the ancient oasis of Khwarezm.

The Avenue of Mausolea is a series of grand palatial tombs.

Lonely minaret stump of a destroyed city.

Beatlemania is still going strong... at least in Kazakhstan.

Submerged trees jut ghost-like out of an idyllic turquoise mountain lake.

A boulder carved into the shape of the cosmonaut's head.

Extremely isolated Silk Road caravanserai in the middle of nowhere.

Final palace complex of the last of 29 Kokand rulers.

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

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

This magnificent blue mosque in Afghanistan is surrounded by thousands of white doves.

Once an impressive link to Afghanistan’s Buddhist past, now a sad reminder of intolerance towards other cultures.

200-foot-high minaret and only remnant of Afghanistan's lost city of the Turquoise Mountain.

Rock-cut chamber at top of an outcroup, reached by a mountain stairway of forty steps.

Reputedly haunted sandstone necropolis with exquisite stone carvings.

One of the world's largest salt caves is filled with fragile salt sculptures, salt rivers, and huge salt megadomes.

Mirrors and glass shards cover every inch of this arrestingly beautiful mosque.

Putrefaction plateaus in Iran, where the dead were sent for decontamination before going to their final resting place.

This beautiful system of tunnels built into natural rock serves as a centuries old plumbing system.

This hunter-gatherer architecture is believed to be the oldest religious complex known.

Mysterious lost empire of the Silk Road.

As the Dead Sea continues to deplete, massive sinkholes open along its banks.

An ancient instrument used to measure the waters of the Nile so Egyptian farmers would know whether to expect famine or flood.