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

Sichuan’s Anzihe Nature Reserve has more giant pandas per square mile than anywhere else

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

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

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

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

Iberia’s indigenous wild goat goes where other four-legged creatures can’t.

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

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

In the Atlas mountains, the Mediterranean’s only non-human primate species hangs on.

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

Stealthy habits and GPS collars have helped Western Europe’s rarest wildcat hang on.

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

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

Will Borneo’s big-nosed, pot-bellied primate swing and swim in the wild for much longer?

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

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

In Montana, a Native American buffalo hunt sets the scene for a conscientious frontier revival.

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

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

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

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

A semi-wild species has the run of a functioning city.

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

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

The athletic challenge that turns Hamar boys into men.

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

In southern Yunnan, pu-erh emerges from terraced landscapes and timeless methods.

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

High-country herding defines a Himalayan community..

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

At Ikateq, the remains of a U.S. WWII base slowly rust on the tundra.

Hardly inert, the frozen giants of the Illulissat Icefjord are harbingers of dramatic change

The magnificent, eroding limestone pillars of the Victoria Coast.

In America's first national park, an iconic omnivore roams an extremely varied path.

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

Metalworkers fashion their own masks in this East African nation’s capital.

Sicily’s "Beautiful Mountain" is dangerously potent.

In the Arizona desert, an underground corridor unlike any other.

An iconic tree that grows in the Cocora Valley and nowhere else.

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

The homegrown skincare product that defines a nation.

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.

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

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

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

Underneath a roof of ice, the world’s southernmost mammal takes the plunge.

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

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

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

Preserving ethnic traditions from the throne.

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

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

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

On Louisiana’s Avery Island, a colorful and can-do flower thrives.

The world's only swimming lizard.

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

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

The little mountain that caused big problems.

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

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