The daily catch, viewed across decades. An ancient mariner reflects.

In a sacred town, the most colorful Hindu celebration takes on extra meaning.

Preserving the flavor of Old Vienna.

In a remote village in Teruel, an elderly couple are the only remaining residents.

High-country herding defines a Himalayan community..

The ancient city of Bagan bristles with thousand-year-old buildings.

In Kyoto, an exquisite and uniquely demanding profession lives on.

The subway system that’s also a work of art.

Chefchaouen, an old town with a gloriously monotone medina.

In Sulawesi, big-lunged Bajau hunters eke out a traditional living underwater.

Siena’s medieval-themed processions lay bare the city’s sturdy, tangled roots. Just don’t call them reenactments.

Kurdish singers shout the story of their embattled nation.

A single-chair lift Vermont lets purists ski the old-fashioned way.

In historic Isfahan, an official ceremony makes a girl a woman.

A tournament that has attracted slippery strongmen since the 14th century.

A ride on Vienna's defining roadway.

The Hindu holy men who preside over the world’s largest religious gathering.

On the Andaman coast, a disappearing approach to married life.

Why one historic valley district has its own customs agents and passport stamps.

In the Orthodox highlands, an age-old symbolic object takes many forms.

Where Rajasthan’s desert herdsmen bring their beasts to market.

A distinctive whistling language still echoes in the hills of La Gomera.

The freakiest-looking festival in the Himalayas comes courtesy of Buddhist monks.

The multi-functional motorcycles of southern Arabia, and the daredevils who ride them.

In a Galician village, a savage horse-wrestling tradition persists.

In the eastern highlands, grandmothers wear tribal affiliation on their faces.

A California town that preserves (and performs) its Danish roots with gusto.

A Cape Town specialty: boiled sheep’s head.

Nova Scotia’s old-school swordfish hunters don’t use lines or nets.

In Ethiopia's Omo Valley, resident tribes break the skin in ways that cannot be undone.

Residents of Tonle Sap have literally built a life on the water

Across Yakutia, pagan celebrations of summer are making a comeback.

The musette, theme song of a bygone Paris.

In the Senegalese capital, a popular (and entirely public) workout spot.

Hand-picked seaweed is the pride of New Brunswick’s Grand Manan Island.

One country lays claim to the world’s most tricked-out cargo vehicles.

In a tiny highland nation in southern Africa, herders dignify simple lives with striking costume.

Saut d’Eau, world’s busiest bathing spot for vodou pilgrims.

A graveyard for an iconic breed of Latin American public-transport vehicle.

A singer/poet’s compilation helps preserve the Gypsy language.

Preserving ethnic traditions from the throne.

The athletic challenge that turns Hamar boys into men.

The improvised, weather-resistant hunting cabins of Alaska's native Iñupiats.

Outside Tokyo, Buddhist monks heat their feet as a test of faith.

In the Basque Country, handball takes on a heroic aspect.

In a city of ups and downs, an ingenious way to get around.

The homegrown skincare product that defines a nation.

Havana’s youth learn to punch above their weight.

The threatened Awá people shoot to kill—and to live.

One man watches over an uninhabited New Brunswick island.

In Taipei, indoor fishermen dangle for their dinner.

A no-frills approach to cheesemaking endures in the Rarau Mountains.

Spectacular processions in Granada bring Catholic feeling to fever pitch.

The "Kukeri" costume tradition was designed to scare off winter.

Cartagena, the Western Hemisphere’s best-preserved colonial city.

The doors that lead in and out of Kigali’s upscale neighborhoods.

In New Orleans, historic “Second Line” processions bring the music to the streets.

High-climbing 'guaraperos' tap an iconic tree for sap in La Gomera, Canary Islands.

In Otsu, a 1,200-year-old celebration honors lusty mountain gods every spring.

Tradition-minded Vermont farmers swear by the scythe.

A Wyoming town revives a cowboy competition, without the frills.

Thousands of sheep crowd through the Po Valley on an annual migration between Alps and plain.

In the Faroe Islands, locals go to great lengths—and heights—to preserve a tradition of “extreme ranching”

In a town on the Danube, mobs of shaggy monster-men herald the coming of spring.

For a seasoned plant healer, the Amazon rainforest is nature’s pharmacy.

For more than 7,000 years, aspiring “Invincible Titans” have grappled on the Central Asian steppe.

To please ancestors, children in Himeshima transform into animals and princesses.

In Istanbul, boys undergo an ancient surgical procedure—and get the royal treatment.

With help from trained reindeer, Siberia’s nomadic Nenets speed across the tundra.