Places Mesi Wants to Go

Some Moscow residents once claimed the bizarre, contorted mass of metal on top of the building was used to manipulate minds.

Stalin's prisoner-built rail line sits in ruin, never having a single car ride its tracks.

No one knows why ancient labyrinths were built on this tiny northern island.

Specimens collected by the author of "Lolita" and self-taught lepidopterist are exhibited in his childhood home.

An ever-growing literary collection housed in the apartment where the Russian author penned his final novel.

This nostalgic Russian museum is full of USSR cultural artifacts from the 1970s and 80s.

Former prison camp dedicated to the victims of political repression.

Dark, eerie exhibits make for a surreal exploration of the subconscious.

Siberian ghost town built by gulag prisoners.

A Marxist summer camp full of fantastical statues lies tucked away and forgotten in the forests of Moscow.

A remote forest of stone pillars along the Lena river.

Abandoned castle was once a grand example of Russian privilege, built exclusively to win a frivolous bet between noblemen.

The reason for the strange contortions in the trunks of these "drunken" pine trees in Russia is still a mystery.

Secret Soviet city once home to Russian cosmonauts and space training facilities.

Legends of time travel and magical woodland creatures bolster the natural charm of this verdant sanctuary in the midst of Moscow.

This Russian religious complex is a Frankenstein's chapel that includes influence from almost all the major faiths.

Immortal combat in a Moscow museum.

The gorgeous entrances into the city's underbelly look more like grand halls than subway stops.

It's hard to believe the dizzying patterns covering this abandoned mine are completely natural.

This ancient village and its adjoining cemetery have a beautiful history of death and remembrance.

This small patch of land is the final resting for these communication relics of the past.

Abandoned mini-mansions that were once intended for affluent Bangkok families now sit empty.

The skeletons, demons, and corpses serve as a warning of the terrors of Buddhist Hell.

A colorful kitschy temple and floating market off the beaten path.