Subject: Historical cities

Ellora, India
Like Petra, Ellora was carved out of the mountains in the area of Maharashtra. But this Indian monastic complex remains relatively unknown.
The temples include Hindu, Buddhist and Jaina holy sites that were built over 400 years, beginning in the 6th century.
The most impressive has the uninspiring official name of Cave 16, known informally as Kailasa, and the entire temple was carved out of a massive rock face.
The double-story entrance leads to a courtyard surrounded by a three-story arcade lined with columns. The building is twice as large as the Parthenon.
Inside, images of Hindu deities were sculpted from the stone, with two life-size statues of elephants in the courtyard.
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Xi'an, China

In addition to the famed Terracotta Warriors, Xian's well-preserved city wall is worth a visit.

Shen Lu/CNN
In the Silk Road's heyday, Xi'an was where the journey west began.
For more than a millennium, Xi'an was the capital of ancient Chinese dynasties.
Now it's most famous as the home of the Terracotta Warriors -- thousands of clay soldiers that fill the mausoleum of Emperor Qin Shi Huang. Each is standing, ready for battle, but they had been buried underground for 2,000 years.
Workers digging a well stumbled upon one of the soldiers in 1974, leading to one of the great archeological finds of all time.
Excavation is still underway, and more recent work has discovered statues of dancers and acrobats, giving a new sense of the grandeur of Qin's ambitions.