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

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

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

Preserving the flavor of Old Vienna.

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.

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

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.

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

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

Kurdish singers shout the story of their embattled nation.

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

A ride on Vienna's defining roadway.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A Cape Town specialty: boiled sheep’s head.

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

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

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

The musette, theme song of a bygone Paris.

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

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

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

Preserving ethnic traditions from the throne.

Havana’s youth learn to punch above their weight.

The athletic challenge that turns Hamar boys into men.

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

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

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

The homegrown skincare product that defines a nation.

One man watches over an uninhabited New Brunswick island.

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

In Taipei, indoor fishermen dangle for their dinner.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Tradition-minded Vermont farmers swear by the scythe.

Spectacular processions in Granada bring Catholic feeling to fever pitch.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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