Places Added by Max Cortesi

A jagged silhouette of shamanistic stone heaps rises from the shore of this dazzling mile-high lake.

Hidden treasures belonging to Mongolia's most revered and multi-talented monk spent decades buried in the Gobi desert.

The grassy landscape is home to the world's last truly wild horses.

The oldest Buddhist monastery in Mongolia has survived centuries of invasions, political shifts, and religious purges.

On any given day this sprawling market houses literally tons of government-regulated gold, gems, and precious metals.

Some of the ancient-looking huts among these strange rock formations aren't ancient at all, but built as part of a movie set.

A 19th century pearling and fishing village abandoned before Qatar's economic boom.

An open-air museum in a mountain valley features works designed to blend in with—and disintegrate back into—their natural surroundings.

This church, better known for its weeping portrait of the Virgin Mary, also houses the world's oldest existing piece of taxidermy.

A uniquely authentic display of traditional Russian culture.

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

The ruins of this old church are slowing sinking into the sand.

Remains of military submarines built in secret jungle factories by the Tamil guerrillas' naval wing.

A massive fallen water tank bombed by the Tamil Tigers in the final stages of the long Sri Lankan Civil War.

A unique form of erosion created an uncanny landscape of boulders perched atop slender columns of clay.

A small museum in the Golden Triangle tells the story of the opium drug trade that gripped Northern Thailand.

The remains of an abandoned air force hospital located on a redeveloped Air Force base.

This weekly market in the remote oasis city of Hotan still has the atmosphere of the old Silk Road.

This penis-focused monastery is dedicated to Buddhism's "Divine Madman."

Yemen's "Stone Palace" looks like it was carved right out of the tall stone column on which it is built.

The shipyards along the outskirts of the Bangladesh capital are a flurry dangerous boat breaking and rebuilding.

This circular Iranian jail was once a political prison run by the country's secret police.

After this one-of-a-kind palace was built the architect's hands are said to have been cut off to keep it that way.

These jagged limestone blades cut out through the canopy of the jungles of Borneo.