The platform atop this verdant volcano was built with the help of a royal elephant.

These two delightful animal-shaped buildings host a visitor center and wool shop.

Taihape's claim to fame is a fictional Kiwi farmer wearing gumboots.

The "punniest place on Earth” has nearly as many bull-themed puns as it does people.

This bazaar is one of the oldest in the Arabian world.

Groups of prehistoric tombs that dot the mountains of northern Oman.

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

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

17th century mosque for Shah Abbas' harem.

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

Named after a legendary garden called Eram in southern Arabia, built by order of Shaddad, an Arab king who wanted to compete with Paradise.

Burial site of a Jewish prophet revered in Iran.

Once housing children next to hardened criminals this historic jail once displayed Ned Kelly's skull until it was stolen.

The once and future home of New Zealand's famed Pink and White Terraces.

A Maori village obliterated by an 1886 volcanic eruption.

This strange geological landscape erupts with sudden bursts of water.

Deadly scalding and one of the largest hot springs in the world.

This electric green sulphur lake in New Zealand looks like a cartoonish radioactive dump site.

Tubing through a cave lit with glowworms is a magical underground experience.

Some of the clearest water anywhere in the world.

This deadly little sliver of beach has seen hundreds of whales beach themselves over the years.

Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauo tamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronuku pokaiwhenuakitanatahu.