“Touring the Koko-en Gardens adjacent to the Himeji castle was an unexpected highlight of our visit”, wrote Jeff Solar, 64, of Silver Spring, Md., about his trip to Japan. “The fall colors were outstanding and the gardens were both amazing and a bargain (just a few Yen added to the cost of the Himeji Castle admission)”. (Photo by Jeff Solar/2017 Washington Post Travel Photo Contest)

A couple take photographs alongside the National Monument on Calton Hill, Edinburgh on Wednesday January 5, 2022, ahead of First Minister Nicola Sturgeon's update to the Scottish Parliament on the Covid-19 situation as the Omicron variant sweeps across the country. (Photo by Jane Barlow/PA Images via Getty Images)

Costumed participants are reflected in a woman's sunglasses during the Summer Carnival Street Parade, which travels through the streets of the center of Rotterdam, the Netherlands, 27 July 2019. Twenty floats participated in the parade with dance acts and lots of music. (Photo by Marco De Swart/EPA/EFE/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

A Filipino woman wears a mask to try and protect against the spread of coronavirus in Malate district, Manila City on March 24, 2020. The Philippines has taken drastic measures to combat the spread of Covid-19. The entire country is under strict quarantine and the army is on the streets to monitor compliance. According to official figures, there are 462 positive cases and 33 dead in the Philippines, but it is thought that thousands of cases remain undetected due to lack of resources in a country where millions of people have no access to health care. In the poorest and most crowded areas, it’s almost impossible to adhere to the physical distancing required during quarantine. (Photo by Alejandro Ernesto/The Guardian)

In this Wednesday, January 7, 2015 photo, a Sri Lankan Catholic devotee Rita Anthony kisses her rosary as she prays inside her house in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The Vatican has said that it hopes that Sri Lanka's Christians can play a role in helping heal the wounds of the island nation's bloody 25-year civil war, when the Tamil Tiger rebels fought to create a separate homeland in the north for the minority Tamils, who are mostly Hindu. The war came to a bloody end in 2009, but many Tamils say they feel forgotten by the central government, which is dominated by the country's ethnic Sinhala majority, which is overwhelmingly Buddhist. Sri Lanka's Christians come from both the Tamil and the Sinhala communities, making them a natural bridge between the two sides. (Photo by Eranga Jayawardena/AP Photo)

Residents, covered with mud and dried banana leaves, ask for money and candles from police before attending a mass celebrating the feast day of the Catholic patron Saint John the Baptist in the village of Bibiclat, Nueva Ecija, north of Manila, June 24, 2013. Hundreds of devotees took part in this annual religious tradition, which has been held in the village since 1945. (Photo by Cheryl Ravelo/Reuters)

Caretaker Khalifa Sajad feeds crocodiles at the Sufi shrine of Hasan-al-Maroof Sultan Manghopir, better known as the Crocodile Shrine, on the outskirts of Karachi, Pakistan October 11, 2015. Pakistani Sheedi pilgrims are once again flocking to the shrine in Karachi that has been shunned for years amid fears of Taliban attacks. (Photo by Akhtar Soomro/Reuters)

An angler fishes on the opening day of the salmon fishing season on the River Tay at Kenmore in Scotland, Britain January 16, 2017. (Photo by Russell Cheyne/Reuters)