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Wooden facade and structures of the caves carved into the Mogao cliff.
Cover story

The Secret of the Mogao Caves: 1,000 Buddhas, 50,000 Manuscripts, and a Historic Plunder

In 1907, an explorer walked into a cave near Dunhuang and walked out with the oldest printed book in the world. This is what remains at the Mogao Caves.
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most haunted places in the world

Would You Dare? The Five Most Haunted Places in the World

Dark wood bookshelves and interior hallway of the historic Marsh's Library in Dublin.

Marsh’s Library: Dublin’s Haunted Treasure Where Bram Stoker Dreamed Up Dracula

abandoned places around the world

Five Ghost Towns Where Nature Took Back What Was Always Hers

Latest News

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largest coral colony
November 11, 2026

A Nearly Mile-Long Coral in the Cocos Islands: One Organism or Many?

costa rica happiest country in the world
November 9, 2026

Costa Rica, the World’s Fourth-Happiest Country: What’s Behind Its Rise

capri waterspout
November 9, 2026

Twin Waterspouts ‘Embrace’ Capri’s Faraglioni: The Video That Swept Across Italy

scythian cannabis
November 6, 2026

What Siberia’s Ice Kept for 2,800 Years: Cannabis in the Hair of the Scythians

day of the dead mexico city
October 30, 2026

Day of the Dead in Mexico City: The Giant Catrina Towering Over the Zócalo

Featured Stories

unsolved mysteries of science

What Science Still Doesn’t Know: 10 Unsolved Mysteries

Polar bear resting on the snow in the remote and arctic archipelago of Svalbard.

Svalbard: 10 Surprising Facts About the Last Human Outpost Before the North Pole

legend of cerro mavicure

Mavicure: The Hills That Weep When It Rains

World’s Strangest Beaches: Only the Most Curious Travelers Get Every Answer Right

arequipa-volcanoes

Arequipa, the City Its Own Volcanoes Built

Red staircase and carved wooden bookshelves inside the historic Lello Bookstore in Porto.

The Secret of Lello e Irmão in Porto, the Most Beautiful Bookstore in the World

Aerial view of forested mountains framing a calm bay with a small rocky islet and shallow reef waters, New Guinea coastline

More Than 1,000 Languages on a Single Island: The Linguistic Enigma of New Guinea

trasmoz

Trasmoz, the Spanish Village Excommunicated Since the 13th Century and Cursed Since 1511

Most Popular This Week

Polar bear resting on the snow in the remote and arctic archipelago of Svalbard.

Svalbard: 10 Surprising Facts About the Last Human Outpost Before the North Pole

unsolved mysteries of science

What Science Still Doesn’t Know: 10 Unsolved Mysteries

World’s Strangest Beaches: Only the Most Curious Travelers Get Every Answer Right

trasmoz

Trasmoz, the Spanish Village Excommunicated Since the 13th Century and Cursed Since 1511

Galleries

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Aerial view of the colorful rings of Grand Prismatic Spring in Yellowstone National Park
GALLERY

The World’s Most Colorful Lakes

GALLERY

The World’s Strangest Beaches

GALLERY

Frank Gehry’s Most Spectacular Buildings

GALLERY

The World’s Most Dangerous Runways

GALLERY

Alicia Aradilla’s Travel Watercolors

Signature Stay Collection

taj-lake-palace

A Marble Palace in the Middle of a Lake: Inside Udaipur’s Taj Lake Palace

Udaipur, Rajasthan, India

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only-you-hotel-atocha-madrid

Only YOU Hotel Atocha: The Historic Madrid Facade That Hides a New York-Inspired Boutique Hotel

Madrid, Spain

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Ace Hotel Brooklyn: The Concrete Bunker Where Brutalism Feels Warm

New York, United States

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four seasons montreal 3

Four Seasons Hotel Montreal

Montreal, Canada

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the lumiares lisbon

The Lumiares Lisbon: A Tribute to Portuguese Design in the Heart of Bairro Alto

Lisbon, Portugal

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Unique Destinations

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zone of silence mexico
October 26, 2026

The Lost Rocket That Created the Myth of the Zone of Silence

chiricahua national park
October 23, 2026

‘The Land of Standing-Up Rocks’: Inside Chiricahua, America’s 64th National Park

Geometric steps descending symmetrically toward the water in the historic Panna Meena ka Kund stepwell in Rajasthan.
October 22, 2026

Stepwells: India’s Most Astonishing Architecture Is Nearly 100 Feet Underground

Monumental tomb carved into the rock at the Hegra archaeological site in the Saudi Arabian desert.
October 27, 2026

Hegra, Petra’s Forgotten Sister: The Colossal Tombs the Desert Kept Hidden for 2,000 Years
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An Explorer’s Journal

Pablo Ortega, Founder of LYXPLANET

Follow his travels, the behind-the-scenes moments and the stories that haven’t been published yet.

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