Places alexisbeardg Wants to Go

The best-preserved Roman small town in North Africa.

Local legend has it that the first humans were created in the pools here, leaving their footprints behind in the rock.

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

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

Spring that emits water and fire at the same time is said to have remedial properties, and sparked its own religion.

A shrine of fire worship built on top of a natural flame.

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

Mysterious hillside with a continuously burning natural fire.

Marked by the hand of the explorer Henry Morton Stanley.

This ancient burial site is believed to be one of the first earthquake-protected structures in the world.

This 12,000 year old Iranian cave village has been continuously inhabited for over 3,000 years.

Burial site of a Jewish prophet revered in Iran.

This vast, water-filled underground labyrinth can only be toured by boat.

17th century mosque for Shah Abbas' harem.

Hydraulic systems in an ancient underground Iranian city.

Modern-day cave dwellers carve elaborate homes out of volcanic debris.

One of the world's largest salt caves is filled with fragile salt sculptures, salt rivers, and huge salt megadomes.

Salt cured mummies continue to turn up in this Iranian mine.

This beautiful system of tunnels built into natural rock serves as a centuries old plumbing system.

Putrefaction plateaus in Iran, where the dead were sent for decontamination before going to their final resting place.

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

Mirrors and glass shards cover every inch of this arrestingly beautiful mosque.

Giant reed houses made in the marshes of Southern Iraq.

A 605-page Quran penned in the blood of a dictator is locked away in a mosque.