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.

Members of the Albert Battery perform a gun salute during the Anzac Day dawn service held by the Currumbin RSL on the Gold Coast in Currumbin, Australia, 25 April 2016. The Anzac day marks the landing of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (Anzac) troops at Gallipoli in what is today Turkey during WWI. World War One, also called the Great War, according to official statistics cost more than 37 million military and civilian casualties between 1914 and 1918. (Photo by Glenn Hunt/EPA)

Inside the Afar Triangle in Ethiopia’s Danakil desert, camel caravans are used to carry salt. For centuries, the essential mineral has been mined by the Afar people, known for their ability to withstand extremes. The terrain is rugged, travelers are scarce and so are motor vehicles, where the average annual temperature is the highest in the world, and can rise to 122 degrees Fahrenheit, 50 degrees Celsius. (Photo by Ziv Koren/Polaris)

A labourer pulls a cart loaded with sacks of spices at a wholesale spice and chemical market in the old quarters of Delhi, India, December 19, 2016. Picture taken December 19, 2016. (Photo by Adnan Abidi/Reuters)

A wolverine is pictured during its first public appearance at the Animal Park of Sainte-Croix in Rhodes, eastern France on January 28, 2016. (Photo by Frederick Florin/AFP Photo)

Civil security aircrafts parade during the inauguration of the Nimes-Garons civil security air force base on March 10, 2017 in Nimes, southern France. (Photo by Pascal Guyot/AFP Photo)

These two young siblings appear to cling on to a tree for dear life and even hold hands as they learn the ropes of climbing, on June 25, 2013. (Photo by Tim Fitzharris/Minden/Solent)

People take cover outside the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International airport after a shooting took place near the baggage claim on January 6, 2017 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Officials are reporting that five people were killed and 8 wounded in an attack by a single gunman. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)