An Orthodox believer kisses an icon during a pilgrimage celebrating the icon of St. Nicholas in the village of Velikoretskoye in Kirov Region, Russia on June 6, 2021. At least 17 thousand pilgrims, loaded with backpacks and some of them barefoot, took part in a five-day and 150-kilometer-long journey from Kirov to the village of Velikoretskoye, according to the local media. (Photo by Alexey Malgavko/Reuters)

Devotees ride on the roof of a train as they return to the city after attending the final prayers on the first phase of Bishwa Ijtema in Dhaka January 11, 2015. Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims congregated in the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka as the first phase of this year's Bishwa Ijtema, one of the biggest Islamic gatherings in the world after the Haj in Saudi Arabia, came to an end. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)

A cleric and a woman pray behind a closed door of Masoume shrine in the city of Qom, some 80 miles (125 kilometers) south of the capital Tehran, Iran, Monday, March 16, 2020. On Monday, Iran closed the Masoume shrine, a major pilgrimage site in the city of Qom, the epicenter of the country's new coronavirus outbreak. Authorities were already restricting access and barring pilgrims from kissing or touching the shrine, but it had remained open. (Photo by AP Photo)

A vendor decorates a sacrificial camel ahead of the Eid al-Adha festival, in Karachi, Pakistan, 23 August 2016. Eid al-Adha is the holiest of the two Muslims holidays celebrated each year, with this year will be celebrated on 02nd September. Eid al-Adha marks the yearly Muslim pilgrimage (Hajj) to visit Mecca, the holiest place in Islam. Muslims slaughter a sacrificial animal and split the meat into three parts, one for the family, one for friends and relatives, and one for the poor and needy. (Photo by Rehan Khan/EPA)

Nine years ago, Tom Carter traveled from San Francisco to China, responding to a job posting that turned out to be a scam. He managed to find another job as a teacher, and saved enough money to embark on a 56,000 km trip through all of China's 33 provinces that lasted two years. Carrying a camera – just a a 4-megapixel point-and-shoot – Carter captured some amazing images of the widely varying landscape, people, and architecture across the nation. Photo: Buddhist pilgrim family from Sichuan. (Photo by Tom Carter via The Atlantic)

A Christian pilgrim prays during her visit to the baptismal site known as Qasr el-Yahud on the banks of the Jordan River near the West Bank city of Jericho April 9, 2015. A day ahead of Orthodox Good Friday, the Easter period draws many Christian tourists to visit well-known religious sites, including Qasr el-Yahud, where it is believed John the Baptist baptised Jesus. (Photo by Amir Cohen/Reuters)

Pilgrims lift up their dresses as they cross the Quema river during the annual El Rocio pilgrimage in Villamanrique, near Sevilla on June 1, 2017. El Rocio pilgrimage is the largest in Spain with hundreds of thousands of devotees wearing traditional outfits converging in a burst of colour as they make their way on horseback and decorated carriages across the Andalusian countryside. (Photo by Cristina Quicler/AFP Photo)