Places JonAkzar Wants to Go

This historic black and white monastery is one of Bulgaria's architectural jewels.

This tiny Bulgarian town offers a stunning location in the mountains and a storied history.

The ceiling of Prohodna Cave in northern Bulgaria affords a peek at the sky via two deity-sized-eye-shaped holes.

Bizarrely shaped rock formations in northwest Bulgaria come with equally bizarre legends.

This massive concrete sculpture is said to be the heaviest communist monument on Earth.

An architectural marvel that spans the Arda River, and has stories of a haunted past.

An abandoned saucer-shaped monument in the Bulgarian mountains.

An Albanian monument to the Communism that nearly crushed the country is now a crumbling wreck.

Climb into Albania's communist history while enjoying a spectacular ocean view.

According to a local legend, this old castle could only be built after a woman was immured in the walls.

The elliptical citadel resisted the advance of the mighty Ottomans several times, thanks to the military prowess of the "Dragon of Albania."

Once the fallout shelter of a dictator, this sprawling bunker is now a combined history museum and contemporary art gallery.

This ominous Albanian fortress houses tanks and downed planes as a reminder of their victories over Western imperialism.

Hundreds of thousands of concrete bunkers crowd Albania long after the fall of Communism.

A medieval bridge stretches over a sulfur-rich river that leads to year-round natural hot springs.

A naturally beautiful, seemingly bottomless deep blue spring.

This picturesque monastery at the base of a cliff is a peaceful oasis open to all visitors.

A wellspring of natural Viagra found in Bosnia.

This abandoned airplane hanger is said to have once been a top secret launch facility.

This surreal memorial/cemetery is a necropolis of crumbling stonework and puzzle-shaped headstones.

This brutalist monument is inscribed with 9921 names of Yugoslav partisans who perished during WWII.

A forgotten and crumbling Yugoslav monument to the victims of fascism.

The haunting ruins of a military fortress turned astronomical observatory sit on a Sarajevo mountaintop.

This museum preserves the hand-dug tunnel that kept Sarajevo afloat during the Serbian siege.