Places Iris Hansen Wants to Go

After a long, dark winter in the upper latitudes, Yellowknife knows how to let it all out in unparalleled style.

Even drowned in an ocean of toxic waste, the remnants of this Romanian village stand tall.

Once the legendary capital of the Dacian Kingdom, this city has been reduced to mere ruins.

This 11th-century structure is one of the oldest churches in Romania.

Art school in the Amazon: Drugs, nature and sustainable agriculture.

Hidden amid the tropical forest in the Caribbean Sea are the decaying ruins of the Cocaine King's luxurious island party home.

This incredibly diverse research station is one of the largest tropical botanical gardens in the world.

Only gap in the 30,000-mile span of roads called the Pan-American Highway.

Fish raining from the sky are the cause of a yearly celebration in this small Honduran town.

From a distance, Latin America's first Baha'i Temple looks like an enormous egg perched atop a hill.

A huge, bustling local market in Panama City.

The youngest volcano in Central America.

A no-frills, DIY nature preserve manned by a U.S. expat who has dedicated his life to turtle conservation.

This neon blue river gets its color from a unique mix of bacteria and volcano minerals.

A secret climbing tree hides along the side of a Costa Rican road.

Once the foundation for a mansion, these ruins now offer amazing panoramic coastal views.

This Costa Rican topiary park is a surreal garden of unearthly delights.

The most southern point you can drive to in the Western Hemisphere.

This exquisite example of early colonial architecture remains unfinished almost 500 years after construction began.

This colorful, geometric church beautifully embodies the Tapatía school of architecture.

One of the world's largest pyramids stands within El Mirador, the "lost city of the Maya."

A hidden treasure of an abandoned city lies deep in the jungles of Campeche, Mexico.

One of the few places where you can visit a cenote and Maya ruins at the same time.

The meteor that sealed the fate of the dinosaurs landed at this site, one of the largest impact craters in the world.