Places NicholasManila Wants to Go

Vietnam's feral abandoned water park offers access to a post-apocalyptic funscape, now with fewer crocodiles.

World's largest cave was only discovered in 1991, and now offers tours to the public.

A tall karst islet popularized by 007.

Modern design and unusual architecture make this mountaintop temple no ordinary Buddhist retreat.

Thailand's distressed elephants find peace at this Chiang Mai sanctuary.

This museum has a most unusual location: inside a giant, three-headed elephant.

At the right time of day, sunlight floods through the roof of this cave and illuminates the small pavilion hidden within.

A limestone wonderland of water and subterranean secrets.

An enormous dragon scales the walls of this 17-story temple.

A white Buddhist temple with a golden restroom.

Stunning wetlands ablaze with pink lotus flowers.

The Hungarian linguistics expert who wrote the first Tibetan–English dictionary was laid to rest in a remote Indian cemetery.

The only Chinese temple in Mumbai.

The potters' quarter is packed with artists sculpting clay gods with mud from the sacred Ganges river.

Nineteen ancient rock-cut Buddhist caves can be found on the outskirts of Mumbai.

A deeply beautiful 15th-century stepwell with a tragic story.

Half-size replica of the Taj Mahal.

Fifteen Jodhpur queens left their handprints before going to their fiery death.

A once-stately trading fort is now a ruin slowly being consumed by the sea.

A former bastion of Rajput chivalry, this massive hill fort is the site of legend and tragedy.

A complex of six forts embedded in the Rajasthan hills.

This abandoned fort is said to be the most haunted place in India, so much so that entry is prohibited after sunset.

This magnificent stepwell is designed as an inverted temple and adorned with 1,500 sculptures.

This experimental utopian "city of the future" in rural India may hold a dark secret.