Step aside, tourist-packed temples—Medinet Habu is where history whispers loudest in the silence. Tucked away on the west bank of Luxor, this sprawling complex is the mortuary temple of Ramses III, and it might just be Egypt’s most underrated marvel. If you’re into ancient graffiti, epic battles, or walls that still wear their original color, this place is your new obsession.

High in California’s Eastern Sierra, just off Highway 395, lies a body of water so strange it might as well be from another planet. Mono Lake is a landlocked saltwater basin that’s more than 760,000 years old — one of the oldest lakes in North America. But what truly makes it a hidden wonder is what rises from its waters: towering, ghostly formations called tufa.