Ancient and modern architecture are joined in Louis Kahn's monument to democracy.

A beautiful stretch of Bangladeshi river known for its high quality sand is possibly more remarkable for its color changing water.

The remains of a medieval city loom in one of the most isolated desert regions of Turkmenistan.

A huge monument to a bizarre book written by Turkmenistan’s longstanding dictator.

An eccentric dictator's take on a Turkmen version of Disneyland.

This harsh mountain path was built as a strange attempt to improve the health of Turkmen citizens.

Few people have ever heard of, let alone visited, one of Turkmenistan’s most impressive natural attractions.

If you want to get married in the White Marble City of Ashgabat, you should do it in this surreal disco ball building.

This famed Silk Road oasis was one of the largest cities in the world before it was destroyed by a Mongol horde.

A fiery crater has been burning in the Karakum Desert since 1971.

The largest Lenin statue in Central Asia was moved to an empty field rather than being destroyed.

This ancient Silk Road outpost overlooking the Wakhan Valley is miraculously still standing.

This dark, damp, perilous tunnel is the only passage from north to south Tajikistan.

The largest dam in the world and the site of a potential disaster.

A building facade covered with the statues of 11 giants of Tajik literature.

This remote, abandoned Soviet observatory promises spectacular views for those who can reach it.

At 72 feet below sea level, it's the lowest commercial airport in the world.

This 100-foot tall tombstone memorializes victims of 40 years of nuclear testing in Kazakhstan.

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

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

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

World's oldest and largest space launch facility, once a secret missile testing site.

Granny Smiths and Fujis can both be traced back to Kazakhstan, where apples still grow wild.

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