Places ASocialNomad Wants to Go

Bold contestants slide in a rice paddy behind two charging bulls.

An imperial fortress city that incorporated cultural elements from the entire Mughal empire, only to be abandoned the year it was finished.

Fifteen Jodhpur queens left their handprints before going to their fiery death.

At 8,000 feet, the world's highest tea estate draws visitors for both its products and its panoramic views.

An eclectic mix of influences rot together in harmony in this India necropolis.

Deep in the Thar desert, a temple crawling with thousands of holy rats.

A nearly unconquerable island-fort in the Indian Ocean.

A centuries-old lookout post still sits atop a natural stone spire.

An abandoned settlement originally established by British colonialists in the Andaman archipelago.

This hilltop warren of monastic dwellings is the result of centuries worth of Mongol attacks.

Remote town home to Himachalis, Israelis, and tons of hashish.

A centuries-old fortress city lies in ruin.

This abandoned fort is said to be the most haunted place in India, so much so that entry is prohibited after sunset.

This experimental utopian "city of the future" in rural India may hold a dark secret.

The remains of what was, not so long ago, the world's largest city.

A mecca for India's Jains.

A palatial sculpture park was built illegally and in secret by a self-taught artist over 36 years.

A lake with hundreds of ancient skeletons surrounding it. The surprise is what killed them.

Historic psychiatric asylum and most-filmed location in the Great White North.

Urine-soaked Chinese eggs.

A museum and memorial built amid the rubble of a town obliterated by nature.

This Cold War–era underground city includes offices for Mao Zedong and Lin Biao.

A tidal bore with its own festival.

Be careful not to get trampled at this lively two thousand-year-old market.