Places Sputnicktatorship Wants to Go

A Lycian city of the dead carved into the hillside of Southern Turkey, complete with startlingly human touches.

The highest point in Arizona is an oddly snow-topped peak within the otherwise arid state.

A strip of neutral ground where the people of Tajikistan and Afghanistan come together to trade.

The last operating synagogue in Afghanistan is run by Zablon Simintov, the last remaining Jew in Afghanistan.

The abandoned palace stands as a wounded but proud beacon of Afghan hope.

What was once supposed to be the symbol of a shining Afghan future is now a bombed-out ruin.

This monument honors the life of a long-suffering lion whose story captivated the world.

A sobering museum dedicated to landmines and the personnel working to remove them from Afghanistan.

Splashes of blue in an otherwise monotonous lunar landscape.

Highly unusual subterranean stupa and adjacent cave monastery.

This magnificent blue mosque in Afghanistan is surrounded by thousands of white doves.

Traces of the thriving lake trade that once linked the Soviet Union with Mongolia.

These ancient pecked images are among the oldest and best-preserved in Mongolia.

A collection of old steam and diesel locomotives sitting in a fenced-off garden.

A mysterious phallic rock on the grounds of a Buddhist monastery.

History, geography, and shamanism meet in this eye-catching monument to the greatness of three empires.

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

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

A huge communist-era propaganda monument and mural that offers stunning views of the Mongolian capital.

Enormous statue of the Emperor of the Mongols.

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

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

Only the foundation remains of the rest stop building that was hit by three large tsunami waves, killing 47 visitors.

This space rocket-like Buddhist stupa sits atop two giant arches and can be seen from out at sea.