Savita, a street performer, helps her dog to balance on empty tin containers as they perform at a roadside in Ahmedabad September 7, 2014. (Photo by Amit Dave/Reuters)

A woman has her hair blown by the wind during a snowstorm in Quebec City, on December 22, 2013. (Photo by Mathieu Belanger/Reuters)

Onlookers gather around a struggling beached whale in the Yoff neighborhood of Dakar, Senegal Wednesday, May 21, 2008. Residents worked Wednesday morning to save some of the more than 80 whales that were stranded on the beach Tuesday night. This whale was successfully towed out to sea by a fishing boat, though at least 20 others lay dead on the beach by midday Wednesday. (Photo by Rebecca Blackwell/AP Photo)

Gardener Peter Glazebrook poses for photographers with his world record breaking onion at The Harrogate Autumn Flower Show on September 16, 2011 in Harrogate, England. Peter Glazebrook from Newark, Nottinghamshire claimed a Guinness World Record with his giant onion weighing 8.150 kg. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

Queen Ashi Jetsun Pema, 21, walks out after the marriage ceremony is completed on October 13, 2011 in Punakha, Bhutan. The Dzong is the same venue that hosted the King's historic coronation ceremony in 2008. The Oxford-educated king is popular in the country and the ceremony will be followed by celebration in the capital and countryside. (Photo by Paula Bronstein/Getty Images)

A girl holds her newly purchased pet cat while posing for a photograph at a pet shop in Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian Kashmir, 10 November 2025. Kashmir is seeing more pet owners, especially of Persian cats. Over 6,000 cat bite cases were reported last year, accounting for nearly half of the rabies control budget. Experts urge vaccination as demand for pedigree pets continues to rise. (Photo by Farooq Khan/EPA)

Humanoid robot bartender “Carl” interacts with guests at the Robots Bar and Lounge in the eastern German town of Ilmenau, July 26, 2013. “Carl”, developed and built by mechatronics engineer Ben Schaefer who runs a company for humanoid robots, prepares spirits for the mixing of cocktails and is able to interact with customers in small conversations. (Photo by Fabrizio Bensch/Reuters)

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.