A geological oddity topped with a 2,000-year-old pagan temple.

Prowl through this sprawling bazaar under a massive Soviet-era dome for delicious eats.

The heartbeat of modern Uzbekistan’s thriving market culture.

Giant cauldrons overflow with Uzbekistan's favorite rice dish at this cavernous dining hall.

The Avenue of Mausolea is a series of grand palatial tombs.

Light still pours into the ruins of this ancient Islamic observatory.

This Soviet statue is based on a piece of propaganda that's been elevated to national myth.

A sober museum housed in the original administrative building of one of Stalin's largest gulags.

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

This Soviet-era athletic and recreation facility is the highest ice skating rink in the world.

A collection of Lenin busts and other Soviet Era statues sit idly behind the Semipalatinsk Hotel.

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

Beatlemania is still going strong... at least in Kazakhstan.

In Kazakhstan, a colorful cathedral with many lives once survived the most powerful earthquake in the region.

An entertainment center in a huge transparent tent.

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

A brilliant turquoise lake in the mountains.

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

This cavernous swimming spot doubles as a home to the largest known colony of bats in Central Asia.

A memorial to the thousands of Turkmen soldiers and civilians who died in a bloody 1881 battle.

Sumptous memorial to a controversial independence.

The controversial final resting place of the equally controversial first president of Turkmenistan.

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

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