This massive glowering Lenin head gazes out over eastern Siberia.

Located along Lysaya Mountain, this monastery is home to the largest statue of Buddha in Russia.

A remote forest of stone pillars along the Lena river.

The coldest city in the world.

This eerie sculpture overlooks what was known as the Road of Bones under Joseph Stalin.

A total of 999 stairs lead visitors through a massive hole in a mountain known as the Gateway to Heaven.

The world’s tallest outdoor lift stretches along the stone pillars that inspired the floating mountains in the movie “Avatar.”

This vertical pinnacle in China was the inspiration for the floating mountains in the movie “Avatar.”

Hidden behind musical flora and forgotten for over a thousand years, this cave is now a neon dream.

Natural arch offers panoramic views of Yangshuo's karst hills.

The monastery survived the Communist revolution in Mongolia as a religious museum.

A huge communist-era propaganda monument and mural that offers stunning views of the Mongolian capital.

A sacred mountaintop temple offers a fine cup of tea to visitors who can survive the journey.

270 million year-old forest of stone.

Giant relaxing Buddha in Malaysia.

Surat Thani's official flower—and the world's largest—smells of rotting meat.

A phallic shrine to a princess goddess in Krabi, Thailand.

Cavemen, elephants, and eagles greet passengers driving through the town's main intersection.

Grotesque statues of figures from Buddhist hell haunt the temple's Sin Park.

A tall karst islet popularized by 007.

A forsaken beachfront condo abandoned after the Boxing Day Tsunami.