In this October 27, 1983 file photo, soldiers brandish captured AK-47 rifles from the windows of a civilian vehicle as they drive near Point Salines Airport in St. George, Grenada. In 1983, U.S. forces invaded the Caribbean island of Grenada after accusing the government of allying itself with Communist Cuba. (Photo by Doug Jennings/AP Photo)

A zoo keeper carries a pelican to move it to its winter enclosure at Dvur Kralove Zoo in Dvur Kralove nad Labem, Czech Republic on November 5, 2019. (Photo by David W. Cerny/Reuters)

Hailee Steinfeld performs at the American Music Awards at the Microsoft Theater on Sunday, November 19, 2017, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Matt Sayles/Invision/AP Photo)

A man rides his horse next to Kosovo's coal-fired power plant near the town of Obilic on May 30, 2022. Two coal-fired power plants, Kosova A and Kosova B, are the main source of the alarming air pollution levels in Kosovo, and particularly in the town of Obilic, which is located between the two plants and near to their ash disposal sites and open-pit lignite mines. (Photo by Armend Nimani/AFP Photo)

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.

A woman carries her child, both wearing traditional red clothes celebrating the Chinese Lunar New Year in Bangkok February 19, 2015. (Photo by Damir Sagolj/Reuters)

“Fly cap for a vine snake”. A fly lands on the head of a vine snake in the Choco of Colombia. (Photo and caption by Robin Moore/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest)

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