Places stonoceno Wants to Go

A ruined Maya city that suffered a years-long case of mistaken identity.

Believe it or not, the now-ubiquitous California avocado originated in Guatemala.

A Japanese train station built around a 700-year-old camphor tree.

"Bug Bug" Land, a natural park for beetle watching, still hasn't fully recovered from Fukushima's nuclear disaster.

Japan's first automaton went missing, only to be revived by the Osaka Science Museum.

Birthplace of the Tendai sect and home to the marathon monks.

Japan's largest and oldest annual procession of floats, begun in 869.

The floats housed in this hall are more than 100 years old, and are brought out for an annual celebration.

An anthropological theme park that depicts the cultures of around 20 different countries.

"Singing sands" and the world's largest hourglass reside near Japan's Kotogahama beach.

This giant seated Bhudda of Healing dates to the 1780s.

Shrine dedicated to boars that is believed to cure foot and leg injuries.

This beautiful Japanese garden is a memorial to the samurai who literally wrote the book on business as martial art.

A century-old bathhouse that provides the luxury of warm water to rural Guatemalans.

A collection of heirloom roses tucked in a spectacularly beautiful botanical garden on Lake Atitlan.

Guatemalan womanizer, venerated during Holy Week.

Natural saunas fed by volcanic heat.

This restored colonial house was once home to the botanist responsible for bringing avocados to the U.S.

Experiencing Guatemala's sensory-exploding church is a blunt reminder of European influence.

An impressive century-old, to-scale topographical map of Guatemala.

Mesoamerican monoliths and zoomorphic stones covered in royal visages, ancient mythology, and grand celestial events.

The sister plane of the C-123 shot down during the Iran-Contra Affair has found a new purpose in retirement.

This Costa Rican chapel is the most metal church in the world, literally.

One Costa Rican island is so beset by illegal shark poachers that the local rangers have built an entire bridge with their confiscated gear .