Juno, a Beluga whale, greets a young viewer at the Mystic aquarium in Connecticut, USA on December 5, 2015. (Photo by Tim Clayton/Corbis)

Only the most intrepid urban explorers cross the tattered ruins of the old Iron Curtain to endure the excessive bureaucracy, military paranoia and freezing winds of the East to hunt for the ghosts of an empire. Rebecca Litchfield is one who couldn’t resist the haunting allure of the ruins of the Soviet Union.

“Sokolica”. Sokolica, Poland. (Photo and caption by Marcin Kęsek/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest)

ATTENTION! All pictures are presented in high resolution. To see Hi-Res images – just TWICE click on any picture. In other words, click small picture – opens the BIG picture. Click BIG picture – opens VERY BIG picture.

A mahout rides an elephant at Tad Sae Waterfall outside Luang Prabang, Laos July 31, 2016. Protected by the United Nations cultural heritage agency UNESCO, Luang Prabang is one of the most alluring places in the region – a city that evokes old-world romance that has gained a reputation as a travellers' Shangri La. (Photo by Jorge Silva/Reuters)

The Sugar Plum Fairy, Katherine Free, left, dances with the dog, Pig, during the Birmingham's Ballet “Mutt-cracker”, a rendition of the famous ballet “The Nutcracker”, in Birmingham, Alabama, December 8, 2016. (Photo by Brynn Anderson/AP Photo)

A man takes a picture of models as they pose next to Cosmis Racing Wheels products during the 2016 Moscow International Auto Salon in Moscow, Russia, August 26, 2016. (Photo by Sergei Karpukhin/Reuters)

A commuter exits a closed off station after a subway train derailment, Tuesday, June 27, 2017, in the Harlem neighborhood of New York. A subway train derailed near a station in Harlem on Tuesday, frightening passengers and resulting in a power outage as people were evacuated from trains along the subway line. The Fire Department of New York said a handful of people were treated for minor injuries at around 10 a.m. It said there was smoke but no fire. Delays were reported throughout the subway system. (Photo by Mary Altaffer/AP Photo)

Fish weighing over 80 kilogram is cooked in a hotpot during a food festival in Zhengzhou, Henan province, China, October 17, 2015. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)