In most Western cultures, death is considered a sad occasion and discussions on the topic are often avoided. However, Mexicans have a different view. Once a year, from October 31 to November 2, people throughout Mexico honor the memory of family members and friends who have died, during the “Day of the Dead” (Dia de Los Muertos) celebration.
Every year on the last full moon in the lunar month of Phalguna, between the end of February and the middle of March, villages across India become awash in color. During this time, men and women, rich and poor, old and young, and locals and visitors come together for the joyous Hindu celebration of “Holi.”
In the far northwest corner of Mongolia, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) across Russian and Chinese mountains from Kazakhstan, there is a community of 87,000 people that still live by the traditions of their ancestors. The Kazakh eagle hunters that inhabit these lands are descendants of Huns, and Turkic, Mongolic and Indo-Iranian indigenous groups who lived in this area.
Long before there was a modern trend of minimalistic living, the British Romani, or gypsies knew how to live simply. As a nomadic culture, they traveled only with what they could carry or fit into a cart or wagon.
Oh, those wacky Swiss. As if those giant horns, yodeling, and Heidi weren’t crazy enough, consider the antics that transpire around New Year’s Eve in the tiny Canton of Appenzell Ausserrhoden, in North-East Switzerland.
“Skyros Carnival” is a fascinating 85-page multimedia publication that offers a sophisticated narration of one of the wildest ritual events in Greece. The book features 60 photographs by Dick Blau, an ethnographic essay by Agapi Amanatidis and Panayotis Panopoulos, and a CD and DVD by Steven Feld.
The Turkana tribe, which is the second largest pastoralist community in Kenya, Africa, after the Maasais, lives in small dwellings made from palm leaves, wood, and animal skins near the shores of Lake Turkana, one of the harshest and most inhospitable places on Earth.
Located about 8 miles north-west of Dąbrowa Tarnowska, 5 miles west of Olesno, and 50 miles east of Kraków, Zalipie, also known as “The Painted Village,” is a lovely small town in Poland famous for its beautiful floral painted homes.
For more than 40 years, some drivers in Japan have been spending hundreds of thousands of dollars turning their trucks into flamboyantly decorated vehicles, called “Dekotora.”
Located just two hours from Las Vegas, and about five hours from Phoenix, the Grand Canyon’s West Rim in Peach Springs, Arizona, owned and operated by the Hualapai Native American tribe, attracts nearly a million visitors each year.
