Scavenger Hunt Through Modern-Day Ruins

Urban exploration of abandoned man-made structures became popular in the 1990s when modern society was fast forwarding into the next century. Left behind were remnants of human civilization. Far away from modernization, rusted in air, tangled in weeds and vines, ruins tell forgotten tales and sometimes become history in and of themselves. From a Volkswagen cemetery in Utah to Soviet architecture in Armenia to a women's correctional facility in Thailand, here are deserted sites that take you back to a forgotten era. -FAN CHEN

1. Punch Buggy Scrapyard 

MOAB, UTAH

Vintage car lovers won't want to miss this huge car disposal yard, the impressive open-air Tom Tom's Volkswagen graveyard a father-and-son collaboration begun in 1961 with eight cars. From buses to Beetles to Karmann Ghias to Squarebacks, hundreds of cars, car windows, doors and tires form a rainbow-colored fleet contrasting with the dry yellow ground.

2. Land of Giants 

CROAKER, VIRGINIA

Imagine driving by seeing 43 looming presidential busts staring blankly at you, each 20 feet tall with cracked skulls, partially peeling plaster skin and crumbling noses. Welcome to the remains of Virginia's Presidents Park. Built in 2004 in Williamsburg, the $10 million project was shut down six years later for lack of visitors, and the heads each weighing up to 20,000 pounds were relocated to a field 10 miles away.

3. Rusted Glory 

UYUNI, BOLIVIA

At the outskirts of this small city known for the world's largest salt flat lie over a hundred rusty brown skeletons of trains in what was once an early 20th century transportation hub. As mining resources dried up and the economy of this town declined, the metal train carcasses were left for the salty breezes to chip away.

4. Flash in the Pan 

KOLMANSKOP, NAMIBIA

Diamond mining brought this small town to its heyday during the early 20th century, attracting an influx of German funds and providing a fine butcher, bakery and even what was then-South Africa's first X-ray machine. But when diamond resources dried up in the 1950s, people and capital swiftly retreated. Once one of the world's wealthiest areas is now a ghost town half buried by the desert. 

5. Game of Thrones' End