This massive wooden building contains a giant Buddha, healing pillars, and tame deer wandering the grounds.

Hot springs monkey spa in the middle of Hell's Valley.

The sound of swaying stalks in this stunning grove has been named a governmentally recognized sound.

Dedicated to improving the plight of the rare scaly anteater.

On Japan's Tashirojima Island, cats are king.

The self-mummified monks of Japan.

This historic hydroelectric power plant in Japan has been preserved and is open to the public.

Fascinating early attempt at a Jewish autonomous settlement.

Foreign invaders almost left this lovely Caucasus palace alone—almost.

Home to nearly a third of the world's mud volcanoes, Azerbaijan is home to a messy, bubbling, and sometimes explosive landscape.

This striking icon of the disputed Republic of Artsakh caused a stir at a Eurovision Song Contest.

Azerbaijani ghost town, decaying after a war left it an armed forces buffer zone.

In oil-rich Azerbaijan, people bathe in the black stuff.

What might be the largest completely Jewish town in the world outside of Israel now faces dwindling numbers and empty streets.

The building's fluid, wavelike walls are a true feat of architectural ingenuity.

This mysterious complex of abandoned yurts and fading murals was meant to be a center of science and spirituality in Kyrgyzstan.

An abandoned Soviet-era mining town in the mountains of South Kazakhstan.

Ancient barriers wrap around what was once an important stop along the Silk Road.

Rusting ships sit in a desert where a sea used to be.

Nestled in a peaceful valley, this Armenian monastery may have been saved from Mongols thanks to the eyes of God.

This ancient monastery complex was transformed from an island to a peninsula when the lake was partially drained.

Luxury hotel turned into a refugee camp, then turned back into a luxury hotel.

Legend says these stone structures are where the doomed citizens of a vanished village sent themselves to die.

Underground monastery and fortress.