Places kathrynlegrice Wants to Go

A collection of Lenin busts and other Soviet Era statues sit idly behind the Semipalatinsk Hotel.

Beatlemania is still going strong... at least in Kazakhstan.

An entertainment center in a huge transparent tent.

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

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

An abandoned Soviet-era mining town in the mountains of South Kazakhstan.

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

A brilliant turquoise lake in the mountains.

Submerged trees jut ghost-like out of an idyllic turquoise mountain lake.

This remote, abandoned Soviet observatory promises spectacular views for those who can reach it.

An eccentric dictator's take on a Turkmen version of Disneyland.

Few people have ever heard of, let alone visited, one of Turkmenistan’s most impressive natural attractions.

If you want to get married in the White Marble City of Ashgabat, you should do it in this surreal disco ball building.

A cemetery with goat-horn bedecked gravestones.

A fiery crater has been burning in the Karakum Desert since 1971.

An unusual monument to a gentle giant who became a Kyrgyz hero.

This mysterious complex of abandoned yurts and fading murals was meant to be a center of science and spirituality in Kyrgyzstan.

A colorful and enigmatic cemetery in the middle of nowhere.

What might be the largest completely Jewish town in the world outside of Israel now faces dwindling numbers and empty streets.

Azerbaijani ghost town, decaying after a war left it an armed forces buffer zone.

Foreign invaders almost left this lovely Caucasus palace alone—almost.

A unique museum dedicated to culture and artistry of carpet weaving.

Swirling layers of white and red rock earned these mountains their festive nickname.

A quirky house created entirely out of glass bottles combines a collector's spirit with an artist's flair.