Sacred Travel: On the Road Again As the 21st century nears, people are rediscovering the art of pilgrimage Journey to the End of the World Hiking the hard road to a new self Soul Attractions 10 sites for modern seekers Mecca The Turning of Arrival Germany Mother of Silence Scotland Return to Long Ago Jerusalem Surfing to the Wailing Wall Graceland Land of the Pilgrims?

Wong Tai Sin Temple, Hong Kong

Taoist healer Wong Tai Sin sought eternal life on a mountain in China 1,500 years ago; today, pilgrims travel to Hong Kong to seek his eternal guidance in marriage, business, career and emigration affairs. Before the Chinese temples honoring him were destroyed, this ancient god, part Dear Abby, part Harvey Mackay, "spoke" through a medium in a trance who wrote his words on a table. Now he speaks through 100 numbered sticks in a bamboo cup. Worshippers who visit his gargantuan Hong Kong temple shake the cup and select a stick; each number corresponds to a lengthy poem, or "fortune."

Hong Kong Tourist Association, 5th Floor, 590 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10036-4706; phone 212/869-5008

Jesus Malverde, Culiacan, Mexico 

Devout drug lords and ordinary folk flock to this shrine to a modern-day Robin Hood: Jesus Malverde, a criminal hung in 1909, now known as El Narcosanton, or the Big Narco Saint. The dealers beseech his plaster image to bless their bullets and render their marijuana crops bountiful; others give thanks for drug-related employment and hospitals, orphanages, and schools endowed by drug barons. The drug biz, they reason, simply steals from the rich and gives (a little) back to the poor.

Mexican Government Tourism Office, 450 Park Av., Suite 1401, New York, NY 10022; phone 212/755-7261