It's estimated that half of the world's gold was mined from South Africa's "golden arc."

Once a black market electronics marketplace, now an otaku shopper's paradise.

A shrine contains nearly 200 statues of the Buddhist deity Jizo, dressed in bibs by parents who have lost a child.

A narrow passage next to a cafe leads to a courtyard exploding with murals, tags, and paste-ups.

The South African dialect's complex history is immortalized in stone, in one of the world's only monuments dedicated to a language.

Scores of vintage street lamps shine along L.A.’s Miracle Mile.

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

Sacred Buddhist home of some spiritual monkeys.

One of the largest Buddhist stupas in the world keeps an eye out in every direction.

The unbelievably opulent home built for an infamous newspaperman.

This little replica of Lady Liberty provides a bit of NYC in a Japanese city.

This concrete tangle of square pipes has stood as a proud thorn in the city's side since the '70s.

Swarms of butterflies cannot compare to the awe inspired by the publicly-funded nakedness once displayed in this sunken garden.

The picturesque birthplace of Icelandic democracy is drenched in the blood of its brutal past.

This beautiful, historic church looks like something out of a simpler past.

This stunning concert hall has become a symbol of Iceland's national recovery.

Bangkok's men with dangerous jobs come here in search of protective talismans.

The final resting place of the great navigator, or maybe his brother.

The television series' iconic giant foot was borrowed from this classical painting.

The water-powered carriages are long gone, but for over a century this funicular railway has been the fastest route to the highest point in Paris.

An "inside out" building in the historical center of Paris, featuring Europe’s largest modern art museum.

A vista of the city and sea from atop the little-known viewing deck on an unassuming Columbus statue.

This ornate Victorian marketplace was the setting for Diagon Alley and the Leaky Cauldron in the Harry Potter films.

This Big Sur waterfall drops 80 feet directly into the Pacific Ocean, and inspired the hillside house up top.