As they have for centuries, trading peoples of northwestern Nepal cross the high Himalaya in great caravans to barter for salt. Now tourism and development threaten their annual treks.

Ocean-like Lake Superior can whip up 30-foot waves, daring those who ply its waters. Such rigors create a raw beauty-- and instill an abiding sense of community.

Monument to the wordily aspirations of its namesake ruler and his imperial successors, St. Peters-burg has survived the communist years to rival Moscow as Russia’s cultural center