French scientists make up the majority of the few humans to occupy this remote island in the extreme southern Indian Ocean.

Monasteries on rock pillars, once accessible only by frayed ropes.

The remains of diamond fever taken over by the desert.

A gallery of underwater art that can be visited by man and fish alike.

An abandoned colonial French prison notorious for its hellish conditions.

The Real LegoLand.

A city built from mud and known as the "Manhattan of the desert."

The central mosque of this Mali town is entirely built from mud.

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

Towns with a resource known as "white gold," valuable enough to fight a war over, now stand ghostly and empty.

A Buddhist theme park brings you a Buddhist version of Hell.

A 1970s resort city now stands abandoned, caught in the middle of a divided island.

An abandoned saucer-shaped monument in the Bulgarian mountains.

A monument to the "father of modern warfare" Gustav II Adolf.