Iceland is full of elves, trolls, and hidden people with captivating legends. To you this may sound like just another folk tale, but in Iceland people believe in such mythical creatures very seriously and their history is just as old as the history of Iceland itself. ⠀ ⠀
There are quite a few towns and villages that claim the title of being the capital of elves and elves (Álfar) often visit those villages or interact with lost travellers, as they are in general rather friendly, just playful and mischievous sometimes. And you, probably, can see lots of elf houses along the road hidden in rocks, hills and lava fields. ⠀ ⠀
Then there are Hidden people or Huldufólk - they are supernatural beings that live in nature. They look and behave similarly to humans, but live in a parallel world and can make themselves visible only at their own will. They try to keep the distance and go out only at night. ⠀ 
But Trolls, trolls are the most fascinating ones of all supernatural creatures of Iceland. They have many names - f.ex, bergbúar (rock dwellers), jötnar (gigantics), þussar or þursar (stone giants), risar, skessur (giantesses), flögð (shrews), gýgjur (stone giantesses) and so forth, although there is an idea that jötunn is an entirely different being than a tröll, but this is yet to be proven. Their behaviour varies from friendly and loyal to solitary, hermit-like sages to beastly and violent man eaters. They are considered to be taller and stronger than humans, but a bit dumber, much wilder and often greedy and ferocious. It is also said that they have secret wisdom and that they are kind hearted, noble and faithful. The trolls can get easily and furiously upset and try to get a revenge, but also they like to thank people for good deeds and often help humans without being asked to. So, almost in the middle of the island somewhere between volcanos and valleys without roads I managed to find a vast uninhabited field with numerous dead trees and massive rocks between them. According to locals it is The territory of Trolls and even the bravest of locals stay away from this area just in case they might be annoyed or hungry.

The Ganga is almost synonymous with India - a fundamental thread of the nation’s spiritual and cultural ethos and is one of the most fertile agricultural areas on the planet.
Not far from this place, on the bank of the river, archaeologists found a 11,000-year old triangular stone, thought to be the oldest representations of Yantra, a mystical diagram indicating worship of Shakti the goddess.
But now the Ganga is one of the most endangered rivers in the world, as it is increasingly alternating between flood and drought.
In early summer of 2016, the Ganga was so dry, that people were walking across the river bed by foot and in general almost 330 million people suffered from severe water crisis with all schools closed and outdoor working stopped because of the drought.

You might have heard about Hinduism and their thousands and thousands of gods, which are representatives, reincarnations or children of the original Gods (it is rather complicated) and you almost definitely saw the depictions of the main blue gods on cars, postcards or in media.
But did you know that, even though in Hindu mythology it is considered to be a holy trinity of gods, only two of the original gods are usually shown - Visnu and Shiva.
Vishnu - a blue four armed guy with a lotus, that looks like a shell over his head - a protector, a preserver of life, so he is rather popular among believers. Also he gained his recognition as one of his incarnations - Krishna, which you‘ve definitely heard in various chants. Buddha is also considered to be a more contemporary reincarnation of Vishnu.
Vishnu is a supreme god, but he himself worships Shiva.
Shiva is a destroyer, a re-creator and doesn’t obey to anyone. Shiva - also a blue guy, but with trident in his hand and almost always half asleep - responsible for love, passion, chaos and emotions and also called as ‚infinite tower of energy’, so his uncontrollable powers were very attractive to huge number of the believers.
But you will almost never see Brahma - the third god. Well, in fact, he was the first one, the eternity god, the creator of universe and creator of all creatures. And despite that, he is the least worshipped god in Hinduism.
There‘s only one city in whole India devoted to him with only one main temple, compared with many thousands dedicated to the other gods.
The city is Pushkar (on the image) and the reason of his so-called exile is love.
Brahma, as a creator, created a woman to help him with other creations, but she was so beautiful, that he fell in love with her. Infatuated he gazed at her wherever she went turning his head in every direction she moved and, in his obsession, sprouted five heads not to loose the sight of her.
Shiva admonished Brahma for such ‘unholy’ behaviour of cravings and chopped his fifth head off cursing him not to be worshipped by people.
That’s why Brahma is depicted as a white bearded man with four heads and almost nowhere to be seen.

Image of Geishas and Maikos is recognisable everywhere - their sophisticated satin and silk kimonos; stunning white make-up - Oshiroi with W-shaped area left unpainted on the back of a neck (as it is considered to be the most erotic part of the body); their wooden shoes Okobo of various forms depending on the training level; or even their brooches, pins and wigs.
There are thousands of legends and stories about their traditions, like the one that young girls start their training when they are six years, six months and six days old - for luck, and that since then girls cannot see their families or have a relationships while they live in the geisha house - Okiya; or the lifelong bonding of older geishas and their trainees maikos which is sealed by a special ceremony of sake drinking; or their theatre performances, dances and eloquent gestures with hidden meaning.
History and daily life of Geishas were kept a secret for hundred of years and kept so well, that there is a whole international movement of geisha followers, who hide for days in geisha districts in Kyoto for attempt to catch a glimpse of them in the dusk. There are even specialized paid trips and guided tours for geisha sight seeing, as even after all these years they manage to elude from ubiquitous tourists.
But not a lot of people know, that before becoming a real Geisha Maikos are given up to 10 days of vacation for Momiji sesason - red leaves period in autumn, when young girls travel in groups to local national parks to enjoy the view.
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Somewhere in Himalayas.
When you climb over 5,000m, your brain turns on a ‚safe mode‘, when you don’t really think, analyse, bother, concentrate or even sleep properly. A weird and even maybe a nice feeling, when your eyes see sharply all that magnificent surroundings, but you’re brain not really comprehending it, it’s concentrated on breathing, so you just absorb it with attempts to understand only later.

A son of a Rabadi herdsman from famous camel fair in Rajasthan, who’s only learning his way with animals and specifics of camel trading.

India, 2015

Crowded around the clock, Jamaa el-Fnaa is the 11th century market square in Marrakesh, which is filled with peddlers, snake charmers, Shilha and Berber dancers and Arabic storytellers.

Morocco, 2017

A nepalese girl living in the Himalayan mountains above 4,000 metres.
Her parents are native residents of Helambu valleys from Hyomo tribe. This tribe is among 59 other indigenous tribes who have to migrate over and over again due to political situation between Nepal, Bhutan, Tibet and China.
Hyolmo, or as Tibetans call them Yolmo people, means - „a place surrounded by high mountains and protected by goddess“, so all the hard work in these tribes is made by women, as they are responsible for this area to be ‚under protection of female deity’. Unfortunately, neighbour tribes, who also migrated from Tibet after China occupation, don’t speak their language, so without possibility to trade or communicate the population of Yolmo tribe is soon be close to extinct.

Nepal, 2016