Prowl through this sprawling bazaar under a massive Soviet-era dome for delicious eats.

Where Stoddart and Connolly suffered in the infamous Bug Pit.

An underground world of gorgeous, palatial metro stations designed as a nuclear shelter complex.

Giant cauldrons overflow with Uzbekistan's favorite rice dish at this cavernous dining hall.

This "tower of death" has acted as an observatory, a religious hub, and an executioner's lair.

Ancient barriers wrap around what was once an important stop along the Silk Road.

The Avenue of Mausolea is a series of grand palatial tombs.

The largest Lenin statue in Central Asia was moved to an empty field rather than being destroyed.

Next to a newer mosque in Khujand’s main square lies the city’s oldest mosque, whose interiors are spectacularly intricate.

A bustling bazaar with an elaborate facade in Central Asia’s underrated capital.

The world's second-tallest flagpole stands proud despite dropping rank.

A beautiful mausoleum is the crown jewel of a preserved ancient city in Central Asia.

The controversial final resting place of the equally controversial first president of Turkmenistan.

A huge monument to a bizarre book written by Turkmenistan’s longstanding dictator.

Sumptous memorial to a controversial independence.

A dictator's gold statue once rotated to face the sun on a 75-meter high marble tower.

A memorial to the thousands of Turkmen soldiers and civilians who died in a bloody 1881 battle.

If you want to get married in the White Marble City of Ashgabat, you should do it in this surreal disco ball building.

A cemetery with goat-horn bedecked gravestones.

This cavernous swimming spot doubles as a home to the largest known colony of bats in Central Asia.

A fiery crater has been burning in the Karakum Desert since 1971.