Space-age monument to an early 20th-century uprising.

A remote, centuries-old underground mosque with a lunar aesthetic.

These rugged, color-stained mountains hold the secrets of the Kazakh desert.

This Soviet-era athletic and recreation facility is the highest ice skating rink in the world.

This small canyon is home to a treasure trove of geological oddities.

This Soviet statue is based on a piece of propaganda that's been elevated to national myth.

Local lore says this 700-year-old tree has sacred and medicinal properties.

A Stalinist prison camp for the wives and children of men accused of betraying the Soviet state is now a memorial museum.

A modern tower, symbolizing the legend of a golden egg on top of the tree of life.

In Kazakhstan, a colorful cathedral with many lives once survived the most powerful earthquake in the region.

This sprawling market is a one-stop shop for traditional Kazakh foods, from mare’s milk to sheep’s head.

Nicknamed Kazakhstan's Grand Canyon, this natural wonder lies east of Almaty near the Chinese border.

Mysterious spherical rocks in the semi-desert of western Kazakhstan.

The lovely lake that was naturally dammed, then naturally destroyed, then unnaturally saved.

This unique wooden mosque resembling a Chinese pagoda was said to be built without the use of nails.

A brilliant turquoise lake in the mountains.

For centuries young Thai men used this Giant Swing as a slingshot to heaven.

This dazzling Buddhist temple was constructed from over one million ceramic tiles salvaged from a British shipwreck.

A treasure trove of pathological, forensic, parasitological, and anatomical specimens.

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

Buddha shrines hide within dark tunnels at this unique forest temple.

This extensive collection of dead bugs may be the world's most idiosyncratic and personal insect museum.

This sensational silver temple is the product of centuries of metalworking.

A local Thai artist started building this gallery in 1980.