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.

Cyclists compete during the UCI BMX World Championships Elite Women's Moto Race on May 29, 2016 in Medellin, Antioquia department, Colombia. (Photo by Raul Arboleda/AFP Photo)

An Egyptian carries bread tray over his bicycle, in Cairo, Egypt, Saturday, November 19, 2016. Egypt is currently suffering an acute foreign currency shortage because of the decimation of its lucrative tourism industry, double digit rates of inflation and unemployment. (Photo by Amr Nabil/AP Photo)

Two female revelers engage in a beer drinking contest in the Hacker Pschorr tent on the first day of the 2017 Oktoberfest beer fest on September 16, 2017 in Munich, Germany. Oktoberfest is the world's largest beer celebration and typically draws over six million visitors over its three-week run. Oktoberfest includes massive beer tents, each run by a different Bavarian brewer, as well as amusement rides and activities. (Photo by Philipp Guelland/Getty Images)

A woman uses a tree branch to fight a fire on the road leading to the village of Parada, near Mortagua, northern Portugal, Thursday, August 11 2016. Firefighters in Portugal are battling multiple blazes fed by brush in a hot, dry summer for a sixth straight day. Major fires have also been raging in northwestern Spain and southern France. (Photo by Sergio Azenha/AP Photo)

Spectators, young and old and of all colors of the rainbow, lined the canals in the Dutch capital to watch the colorful spectacle of the Pride Canal Parade return for the 25th edition after the last two events were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Saturday, August 6, 2022. (Photo by Peter Dejong/AP Photo)

A young man, who says he is part of a local criminal gang, poses for a picture holding a gun in the neighbourhood of Korogcho in Nairobi, Kenya, March 19, 2015. Around 2 million people live in the shantytowns packed in around Kenya's capital. Crime is high amid chronic unemployment levels, while basic services and sanitation are scarce. Residents try to make the best of things, eking out a living and picking up work where they can. (Photo by Siegfried Modola/Reuters)

A model poses at Checkpoint Charlie, a historic place in the German capital to promote the fashion magazine “Sous” on June 12, 2012. (Photo by Maurizio Gambarini)