Best Natural Wonder

"You must be crazy" is the response you tend to meet with when announcing an intention to vacation in Afghanistan. But for the courageous traveler willing to overlook the backdrop of simmering warfare between U.S. forces and Taliban insurgents, the country offers astonishing rewards?none more uplifting than Band-i-Amir. These five connected lakes in the central Bamiyan province are among the world's least visited yet most dramatic natural wonders. Spilling like a string of sapphires across golden desert canyons, buttes and mesas, the lakes of Band-i-Amir (the name means "jewels of the king") are fed by an underground source, rendering them preternaturally...