Places Sputnicktatorship Wants to Go

Thanks to this small string of islands World War II still hasn't officially ended between Russia and Japan.

This remote lake in Siberia supposedly contains a fearsome sea monster.

The villagers of the coldest inhabited place on Earth adjust to unique challenges presented by day-to-day living.

Named after the Goddess of Harvests, Annapurna is the deadliest member of the Eight-thousanders club.

Despite a history of destruction, this former citadel survives to document Afghanistan's oft overlooked history.

The West's first incursion into the Afghan world lies buried beneath a military base.

Rock-cut chamber at top of an outcroup, reached by a mountain stairway of forty steps.

Once an impressive link to Afghanistan’s Buddhist past, now a sad reminder of intolerance towards other cultures.

China's beehive-shaped pyramids house the remains of a lost kingdom.

No one is exactly sure why over a hundred lakes have formed amongst the tallest sand dunes on Earth.

The tallest stationary dunes on Earth also happen to sing.

A Stalinist prison camp for the wives and children of men accused of betraying the Soviet state is now a memorial museum.

A modern tower, symbolizing the legend of a golden egg on top of the tree of life.

An entertainment center in a huge transparent tent.

Avenue of trees planted by cosmonauts before their space departures.

Nicknamed Kazakhstan's Grand Canyon, this natural wonder lies east of Almaty near the Chinese border.

One of the most horrible legacies of the Cold War is a site where the Soviet Union tested nuclear bombs on civilians.

Rusting ships sit in a desert where a sea used to be.

Iconic pyramid from famed British architect Norman Foster designed to represent all of the world's religious faiths.

A brilliant turquoise lake in the mountains.

The lovely lake that was naturally dammed, then naturally destroyed, then unnaturally saved.

Submerged trees jut ghost-like out of an idyllic turquoise mountain lake.

Armenia's premier center of astrophysical research was established during the Soviet era.

The world's longest nonstop reversible cable car soars through spectacular scenery to the medieval Tatev Monastery.