Places silentcompass Wants to Go

One of the world’s few undersea pedestrian tunnels connects Honshu and Kyushu islands.

The United States’s love for black gold began with the accidental discovery of oil in the Ohio countryside.

This Brooklyn curiosity shop has its own magic theater and a singing mechanical bird that sparked an online feud with Kelly Clarkson.

A hauntingly preserved early 20th-century industrial flour mill featuring a grand central tower, ornate spiral staircases, and original milling machinery left untouched.

Charming bookshop for true-crime fans and horror aficionados, plus other books and odds and ends.

Tucked away near Gainesville, Lubee Bat Conservancy invites visitors to discover the surprising personalities of giant fruit bats while learning how protecting these misunderstood animals helps preserve forests around the world.

This rock and roll institution decided to include some local signage of nearby extinct shops.

For a taste of Vietnamese gastropub culture, look no further than this convivial seafood joint that stays open till midnight.

Order your phở stir-fried, sans soup.

Vietnam’s everyman “broken rice” dish is given one major upgrade at this humble institution.

A refugee returns to his homeland to open Ho Chi Minh City’s first Michelin-starred restaurant.

This time-honored eatery near Hoàn Kiếm Lake serves the classic pairing of rice vermicelli soup and savory sticky rice.

This crab paste noodle soup specialist has been doling out its namesake dish for more than four decades.

This steamed rice crepe specialist has been rolling up its namesake dish for over 30 years.

Order your coffee crowned with salted whipped cream or blended with coconut and ice.

For true northern-style phở with broth as clear as consommé, hunt for this restaurant hidden within a residential home.

Don’t miss the local staple of rice vermicelli with charcoal-grilled pork patties and pork belly.

Drink and learn at this striking ode to coffee culture and history.

This tiny Vietnamese village is known for eating snakes and serving their still-beating hearts in shots of vodka.

Located off a bustling strip, a silent teahouse employs workers with hearing- or speech-related disabilities.

Strange rock formations tower above the river that snakes through this enchanting Icelandic canyon.

An abandoned railroad tunnel is now filled with bioluminescent bugs.

Abandoned and overgrown town with views of the Mediterranean Sea.

The spot where the two men ate together now stands enclosed in glass.