Around the world in ten photos: day one
Fog hangs low over the outlying islets, and huge tree trunks almost block our path to the beach, but it is worth the scramble for the wonderful photo opportunities that we find there.
The story of frankincense in Oman
To the Omanis, frankincense is a basic necessity of life – an essential purchase along with food and fuel. Its musky scent fills the air wherever you go, wisps of soft grey smoke curling upwards from chunky pottery burners.
Precious moments at Virtual Tourist Euromeets
Travel is not just about the places we travel to; it is about the people we meet along the way. And when such meetings develop into friendships that are sustained long after the journey has been completed, that is precious indeed.
Meeting Maximón, the idol of Santiago Atitlàn
The small boys who meet the boats arriving in Santiago on the shores of Lake Atitlàn know that the visiting tourists are here to see one thing above all others. They want to meet Maximón. It’s a good idea to accept the children’s offer as this intriguing Mayan idol (part saint, part devil) doesn’t have a permanent home in the town. Instead he is hosted by a local family, moving to a new house every few years.
Gallery: a walk on the streets of old Hanoi
In the Old Quarter of Hanoi life is lived on the street. Meals are cooked and eaten, food and other goods sold, games played by young and old alike. Shops spill out on to pavements, while rickshaws, cyclo-rickshaws, bicycles, scooters and motorbikes all weave amongst the shoppers and strolling tourists.
The Angel of the North
Angels typically fly or float in the air, but not this one. The Angel of the North is firmly rooted in the ground, in recognition of the miners who once toiled beneath this spot. Whether you arrive in Newcastle or Gateshead by road or by rail, you’ll be greeted as you approach the city by this amazing figure of an angel with outstretched arms, who appears to be watching over travellers.
The ‘Christmas’ marine iguanas of Española Island
For many of us the colours red and green trigger memories of Christmas. Glossy holly leaves and berries, a beautifully decorated tree, Santa in his red suit, a pile of wrapped presents. But a questionably ugly reptile? Probably not – and yet …
Outpost of the Roman Empire, Housesteads
Imagine this. You were born by the shores of the Mediterranean. Your childhood summers were hot and your winters temperate. But now you are grown, and you are a soldier, posted to the furthest reaches of the Empire where icy winds blow down from the north and snow falls in the winter months.
The waved albatross of Española Island
The trail across Española Island to the cliffs of Puerto Egas requires a little effort. In places it is almost like walking on stepping stones, moving from one lava boulder to the next along the route. But the reward at the end of the path is enormous – and I use that word advisedly.
Rapa Nui: the birthplace of the moai
Because the moai of Rapa Nui represent real people, each has a different expression, something that becomes obvious the more you study them. But they were all ‘born’ of the same place, carved from the rock of the volcano, Rano Raraku. Its compressed volcanic ash, tuft, is soft and easy to carve – essential, as the natives had no metal to carve with, only stone tools.