Dentist's hated concrete colossi are now beloved icons of the community.

This historic estate on the east shore of Lake Tahoe was home to an eccentric millionaire (and his pet elephant, Mingo).

The now-abandoned tunnels were built for the transcontinental railroad on the route where the first wagon train entered California.

A statue commemorating the heroic life of a Viking postman who was the Godfather of California skiing.

Eastern zen meets Western grit in these four little trees growing out of a rock on Lake Tahoe’s Nevada shore.

An archaeological museum at the Aztec pyramid displays signs of the New Fire ritual performed every 52 years.

A disquieting Aztec sculpture displays hundreds of stone skulls representing the victims of human sacrifice.

Sited in an Inner Mongolian desert are the remnants of an important trade stop along the Silk Road.

Detailed miniature models of iconic landmarks in Mexico and around the world.

The 19th-century hacienda house is filled with Aztec sculptures.

This partially reconstructed Aztec pyramid gives a glimpse of what its larger counterparts would have looked like.

A barbarous band of serpents guard the bases of these Aztec temples.

Some believe that this ancient mural depicts technology far ahead of its time, but in reality it's nothing quite out of place.

This Kathmandu museum, built in an Austrian modernist style, looks like a set from Star Wars.

This elegant neoclassical garden is a peaceful oasis in the middle of the Nepalese capital.

Dating back to the fourth century, it's the oldest Hindu temple still in use in the Kathmandu Valley.