Places Cistude Wants to Go

A sinkhole and now a swimming hole, too, full of dazzling turquoise water.

These layered sandstone mountains in China look like they are made of pressed crayons.

A lush indoor jungle fills this bustling Madrid transportation hub.

Bangkok's men with dangerous jobs come here in search of protective talismans.

These free-roaming horses were once destined to disappear from the land.

In paradise, feral pigs have claimed an island all to themselves.

The vertical-axis windmills of ancient Persia have been grinding flour for 1,000 years and counting.

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

A 1,500-year-old, 3-story subterranean city where ancient Persians took refuge in times of war.

Hundreds of prehistoric stones, arranged in perfect lines in a French field.

This ancient fortress in Iran was once the oldest and largest treasury in the world.

The ancient necropolis houses the immense rock-cut tombs of four Persian kings.

Hundreds of mummies in a silent room, some with eerily pained expressions preserved on their faces.

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

These Egyptian statues have survived for 3,400 years and were an acoustic wonder of the ancient world.

One of the world's oldest universities houses an incredible collection of anatomical models, mummified body parts, and human bones.

A single tree's 2,800 aerial roots give the appearance of a complete forest.

Centuries-old bridges grown from tangled roots.

The largest game reserve in Africa is home to thousands of species but refuses to house humans.

Hidden dwellings in the cliffsides of North Togo used by local Moba tribes to evade 18th-century slave traders.

The ancient water tanks remain some of the ruined city’s most beautiful architecture.

The remains of a magnificent medieval fortress that was the capital of a vast empire.

This ruined fortress was the stronghold for a persecuted medieval leader and his infamous Assassins.

Fascinating collection of Khoisan rock engravings, still situated in their original setting.