A child dressed in an imitation dress of army soldier enjoys a cold drink during a religious procession in Amritsar, India, 15 December 2015. The religious procession was taken out on the eve of the martyrdom day of the 9th Guru or Master of the Sikhs Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji. Guru Tegh Bahadur was executed for not converting to Islam on the orders of Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb in Delhi in 1675 AD. The place of this occurrence is called Gurudwara Sis Ganj at Delhi. Guru Tegh Bahadur the youngest of the five sons of Guru Hargobind was born in Amritsar in 1621. (Photo by Raminder Pal Singh/EPA)

In this October 7, 2018 photo waitress dance in the Hofbraeu tent after the closing of the Oktoberfest beer festival in Munich, southern Germany, which ran from September 22 through October 7, 2018. (Photo by Felix Hoerhager/AP Photo)

A hippopotamus is sprayed with water on a hot summer day at Anna National Zoological Park in Chennai, India on April 26, 2017. (Photo by Arun Sankar/AFP Photo)

Performers pose during the 2022 ICC Women's Cricket World Cup match between Australia and West Indies at Basin Reserve on March 15, 2022 in Wellington, New Zealand. (Photo by Hagen Hopkins-ICC/ICC via Getty Images)

German model Emma Todt poses as she arrives for the screening of the film “Armageddon Time” during the 75th edition of the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, southern France, on May 19, 2022. (Photo by Stephane Mahe/Reuters)

A Kathakali classical dancer (2L) watches artists rehearse the traditional folk dance Pulikkali (Tiger Dance) as they wait backstage before their performance at a cultural festival in Chennai on July 12, 2025. (Photo by R. Satish Babu/AFP Photo)

A woman holds her umbrella while walking against strong winds as Typhoon Chan-hom approaches Taiwan, in Taipei, July 10, 2015. (Photo by Pichi Chuang/Reuters)

Merit: A Night at Deadvlei. The night before returning to Windhoek, we spent several hours at Deadveli. The moon was bright enough to illuminate the sand dunes in the distance, but the skies were still dark enough to clearly see the milky way and magellanic clouds. Deadveli means “dead marsh. The camelthorn trees are believed to be about 900 years old, but have not decomposed because the environment is so dry. (Photo and caption by Beth McCarley/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest)