The floor of the oldest surviving synagogue in the Americas is entirely covered in sand.

This tiny tropical village was sick of anonymity so the locals made this sign, which actually changed the name of the town.

Part of one of the largest flooded cavities on the planet, and littered with prehistoric animal bones.

A 125-meter long "tribute to the Brazilian people."

The stoutest tree in the world.

Diego Rivera's massive tiled fountain and failed infrastructure project.

Gilded heaven for philatelists and architecture freaks, still in full working order despite sitting atop tremulous ground.

A jaw-dropping "megalibrary" that turns book-browsing into a geometric adventure.

An inspired museum dedicated to the patron saint of enslaved people, inside the cloisters where he lived and died.

This elegant Colombian fortress was one of the torture headquarters for the Spanish Inquisition.

Shop the world's largest number of ice cream flavors, ranging from delightful to downright bizarre.

Dr. Farid Mattar's Monument of Peace.

A sanctuary for sickly, stray, or wounded donkeys.

The world's tallest slum.

Now containing the bones of the actual conquistador, instead of someone else.

The intricate stonework of Machu Picchu serves as a testament to Incan engineers.

The stones of this Incan wall complex fit together so well you couldn't fit a piece of paper between some of them.

Death rituals and sacrifice inside a Peruvian megalith.

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

Popular tourist destination where witches in dark hats sell dried llama fetuses for good luck.

Bolivia's needle-like rock formations.

A seemingly endless landscape of pure salt stretches far across Bolivia.

A sculpture of a giant hand reaches for the stars in the middle of the Atacama desert.

The inspiration for the Patagonia Clothing logo, Cerro Fitz Roy turns pink at sunrise.