Places Mathias Van de Velde Wants to Go

This mysteriously shaped boulder may have been used for human sacrifice in ancient times.

When the USA donated cement and funds to expand the airport in Laos, the Laotians built a massive monument instead.

An ancient jungle temple carved into a rocky overhang of the Dane Soung Plateau.

More than 200 statues filled with cryptic symbols give this park spot an aura of horror vacui fantasy.

A boat ride through utter darkness, lit only by headlamps, reveals an emerald green pool locals believe is sacred.

This tiered waterfall is so pretty it may cause visitors to cry tears of their own.

Buried in the Laos jungle is a sanctuary for bears that would have otherwise been milked to death by poachers.

A house of bones — but nobody is quite sure to whom they belong.

This Norman castle has been the scene of assassination plots, religious persecution, and Nazi conspiracies throughout its long history.

This surreal art house looks like a geometric version of a small chapel.

This ancient oak tree sheltered accused "witches" in the 17th century.

The mysterious, fantastical woodland inspiration for "The Lord of the Rings."

One of the few remaining casualties of the London Blitz, this destroyed church has become an enchanting public garden.

This shop and gallery is a modern-day cabinet of curiosities, unassumingly positioned along an urban thoroughfare.

A kaleidoscopic warehouse-maze of handmade neon signs.

After a 2004 tsunami, this stranded boat was left in place.

One of Indonesia's tallest, this waterfall takes a 390-foot plunge into the Lake Toba caldera.

One of the holiest places in the region, devotees come to Tirta Empul to bathe in the holy spring water.

An Indonesian mosque styled after St. Basil's Cathedral.

This Javanese-Hindu temple from the 15th century is unmissable for anyone with even a passing interest in erotic art.

Visitors to this museum will find architectural oddities, an art gallery, and an unlikely bird sanctuary.

A crazy maze of a hostel, where every trap door and secret entrance brings you to a new wacky, wonderful room.

It took 28 years to build this massive statue of the Hindu god Vishnu riding a mythical bird.

Bright Indonesian villages painted in a rainbow of competing color schemes.