Max Cortesi's User Profile - Atlas Obscura
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Max Cortesi's activity rankings
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Places visited in Thailand
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Places added to Thailand
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Places edited in Saudi Arabia
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Places visited in Tanzania
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Places added to Portugal
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Places edited in Sri Lanka
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Places visited in Sri Lanka
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Places added to Italy
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Places edited in Armenia
Dikwella, Sri Lanka

Wewurukannala Vihara

To gaze upon the visage of Sri Lanka's biggest Buddha, one must first pass through the Tunnel of Hell.
Gnojnice, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Mostar Aircraft Hangar

This abandoned airplane hanger is said to have once been a top secret launch facility.
Hadžići, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Igman Olympic Jumps

This abandoned Olympic skiing facility still bears the scars of the Siege of Sarajevo.
Jeongseon, South Korea

Samtan Art Mine

This former coal mine has been turned into a sprawling modern art complex.
Mitrovica, Kosovo

Mitrovica Miners Monument

Two distorted Romanesque columns hold aloft a mine cart in honor of laborers who died during WWII.
Québec City, Québec

Château Frontenac

This lovely, if imposing, piece of Canadian gothic is possibly the most photographed hotel in the world.
Miri, Malaysia

Niah Caves

One of the largest caverns in the world has a maw large enough to stack cathedrals in.
Bhangarh, India

Bhangarh Fort

This abandoned fort is said to be the most haunted place in India, so much so that entry is prohibited after sunset.
Hapcheon, South Korea

Tripitaka Koreana

Over 80,000 carved wood blocks make up one of the world's oldest intact Buddhist canons.
Baddeck, Nova Scotia

Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site

This Canadian monument to the man who invented the telephone allows visitors to get up close and personal with the artifacts of his life.
Lusarat, Armenia

Khor Virap Monastery

The most visited pilgrimage site in Armenia once held a saint in a pit for 13 years.
Prague, Czechia

Sex Machines Museum

The first museum in the world devoted to sexual gadgetry.
Muynak District, Uzbekistan

Moynaq

Once a bustling fishing port, this semi-ghost town is now more than 90 miles away from the shore.
Cusco, Peru

Sacsayhuamán

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

Qasr al-Farid

An unfinished tomb carved into a giant boulder in the Arabian Desert.
Pai, Thailand

Pai Canyon

Bizarre dirt trail winds a narrow path above the tree line.
Chinguetti, Mauritania

The Libraries of Chinguetti

Five ancient libraries, little changed for centuries, preserve a medieval archive of Quranic lore and civic documents
Sulaymaniyah, Iraq

Amna Suraka Prison

A bloody history is captured in this former prison turned museum.
Thingvellir, Iceland

Silfra

This natural Icelandic fissure allows divers to swim right between two volatile tectonic plates.
Istanbul, Turkey

The Museum of Innocence

This museum was invented in a novel before being made real by the author.
Liwale, Tanzania

Selous Game Preserve

The largest game reserve in Africa is home to thousands of species but refuses to house humans.
Torba, Italy

Faceless Nuns of the Torba Monastery

An unsettling painting of three faceless sisters that is surrounded by history and legend.
Bukhara, Uzbekistan

Kalyan Minaret

This "tower of death" has acted as an observatory, a religious hub, and an executioner's lair.
Fars Province, Iran

The Ruins of Persepolis

The palace of the King of Kings, burned by Alexander the Great.