Places JLowdown Wants to Go

This spiritual landmark for practicers of Shamanism is drenched in milk and vodka and covered in blue scarves.

A steaming, boiling hellscape sources Hokkaido's thermal baths.

A living snapshot of a different time in America is preserved and maintained by a community of volunteers.

This micronation's flag honors its favorite drink, Kaffegöken, or "cuckoo-coffee."

An otherworldly restaurant perched on the edge of a jagged cliff next to a medieval holy city.

A quirky and charming restaurant founded by artists.

The "Skinny House" is made from scrap, salvage, and a neighbor’s kindness.

Sitting beneath an unremarkable residential building is a museum devoted to classic Pinball.

This off-beat, quirky communism-themed bar isn't afraid to poke fun at its history.

With nickel-steel armor and three-inch thick bullet resistant windows, FDR's train was a rolling fortress.

Eulogizing an unknown man's unusual demise.

Watch out for the two-story Godzilla made out of tires.

A World War II officers' club features Old West murals painted by German POWs.

A 70-foot-deep ice cave formed by lava from Mt. Fuji on the edge of Japan's "Suicide Forest." 

There are two dozen tanks just sitting in an open field in Lower Saxony.

A restaurant on Staten Island showcases a different grandmother’s cooking every night.

Unusual hexagonal rocks formed by cooling lava named for their resemblance to traditional Japanese tatami mats.

A Japanese train station built around a 700-year-old camphor tree.

The celebrity luchadores of La Paz are tough ladies in traditional petticoats and braids.

A disconnected rotary phone for "calling" lost loved ones offered a unique way of dealing with grief in disaster-stricken Japan.

An architect transformed this abandoned cement factory into his castle-like workshop.

Giant sand sculptures of famous people and places are on display near the Tottori sand dunes.

A kaleidoscopic warehouse-maze of handmade neon signs.

A (slightly) grownup take on the classic retro arcade.