J90 en Colombie

Aujourd’hui je ne vais pas aller dans le labo car j’ai d’autres choses à faire avec l’entreprise française. Jeudi, nous avons aussi une grosse réunion et je dois préparer un travail. Nous sommes venues à pied mais moi je repars avec les transporteurs qui viennent à l'entreprise et Sandra en moto. Avec Sandra nous allons à San Nicolas faire quelques courses. J’en profite pour m’acheter de nouvelles tennis car les miennes commençaient sérieusement à faire la tête ! En même temps je les ai achetées quand j’étais en première !!! Autrement dit ça date. Ce soir nous allons avec Juan-José et Sandra boire de l’aguardiente et manger du chorizo. Il fait une temps de chien donc un petit réconfort sera le bienvenue :) . Nous passons une agréable soirée à rire et à décompresser de notre semaine.
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Kep old villas pepper crab and beer

Another wonderful day in Kep.

Breakfast at the Veranda is great, back into my SE Asia favourite - omlettes.

Organised a Tuk tuk driver through the hotel to do a tour of Kep and in particular all the old villas. Kep used to be the playground for the well off with rows upon rows of villas This all changed with the Khmer Rouge and there are now hundreds? of villas in total disrepair with everything except solid concrete removed. There are conflicting stories as to whether the Khmer Rouge destroyed the villas or they were stripped by the locals who sold the materials in Vietnam.

Needless to say it is a photography heaven. so a couple of hours later we were dropped back at the Crab Market for a wonderful lunch of Kep crab with green pepper. yum!!! Not to mention a big bottle of Angkor beer (640ml) for $2 a bottle. who wouldn't be happy. Besides the food the Crab Market is just a great place to sit and watch Cambodian life in action with the crab ladies wading out to their necks at times to recover and reset their crab traps.

After lunch it was back to the hotel - decided to walk - wouldn't bother again so much easier in a tuk tuk (or is it - more later).

An afternoon by the pool then it was back to the crab Market for drinks and dinner. After a couple of drinks we couldn't be bothered moving for food so ordered where we were despite a limited menu - bad choice. The food was ordinary.

Decided to get a tuk tuk back up the hill after the afternoon's effort. Negotiated our price set off but only made it half way up before the tuk tuk died. Paid a reduced rate then walked up the hill anyway. Will have to improve our negotiation skills to include no payment if they can't make it to the front door.

Will add some photos when I can be bothered.
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Siena

We just LOVE Tuscany. Have spent the last two days walking up hill and down dale from little village to little village. All beautiful. All different. Have walked miles and miles and it has been very hot! Had a picnic today overlooking 360 degrees of beautiful Tuscan scenery - breathtaking! Arrived in Siena about 5 pm and have just had a realo trulo pasta meal in what seemed to be a realo trulo Italian kitchen - no menu, no wine list - grumpy old man with apron made out of a teatowel - but the 7Euro meal, including wine from a decanter plonked on the table, was to die for.

Ad and I can't get over how trim the Italian women are. We decided it was their intake of olive oil so have upped ours. No luck. I had the trots for the day - Ad the opposite!

We have the day in Siena tomorrow and shortly head off to the Chinque Terre. We are both really looking forward to this and anticipate it will be highlight of our Italian sojurn.

That's it for now. Thanks for your messages.

Cheers and love. Ad and Liz

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"Hot Town Summer in the City"

The pilot announced we would enter the glide path in four minutes. Soon, coastal villages could be seen, glowing in the darkness. As we descended he told us it was 9:30pm, and the temp on the ground was 91ºF / 34ºC ( which actually doesn't correlate; 34 is 93, but who's counting: hot is hot).

This is my first encounter with Merida's famous summer season (April & May) before the cooling rains of June arrive. The heat was a bit of relief, really, after such a long cold winter in Buffalo, which had rudely hung on into spring. But sleeping was a bit challenged by minor inconveniences. My room was right on the sidewalk, with a streetlight above it. I wanted to sleep al nudo. (The locals sleep in hammocks to minimize bed sweating; but that wasn't an option.) So I had to trick out the curtain to enable privacy while still allowing breeze to enter. And I propped open the door to let it flow thru the room, while still retaining decency. There was a/c, but I certainly was not going to use it. The heat felt good.

The traffic was not going to be dealt with so readily. At times it sounded as though vehicles were racing past at 60mph / 100kph. The street is narrow, and Centro Historico is choc-a-bloc with housing built wall-to-wall. I had to tune it out, which was soon done. I awoke to the gentle cooing of mourning doves, refreshed.

A walk to the food court at Santiago plaza rewarded me with a tasty breakfast: torta de pollo — pulled chicken on a bun with salad and chilled tea.

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Day 31 Perugia

OK I arrived in Perugia early this afternoon at half 12ish. I left my bag at the station as I knew that the hostel would be shut. I went for a nice walk around the town after getting the minimetro service up the hill then walking from teh minimetro station to the town without realising that there were escalators to get you to the top. Ah well.

Perugia is a very nice small town. Even though it is the capital of Umbria it is still has a very provincial feel about it. I spent a couple of hours wondering around and fell in love with the town. I then stopped at a pattiserie for a croissant filled with proscuto ham and a soft cheese and a flaky croissant for a few euros. I then went for another wonder before going to fetch my bag and finding the hostel. There were no problems finding the hostel, all very straight forward. I went out again for a little before returning to the hostel and chatting to two yale graduates who were going on to study law at yale and new york respectively.

Tomorrow I'm going to go to Asissi. It sounds like a wonderful place.
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Visiting the gentle giants Legaspi Donsol

Our trip to Donsol began with a 25 hour bus ride! We took another freezing cold night bus from Banaue to Manila (10hours) which arrived at 6am. We originally planned on spending the day in Manila and then taking another long bus ride to Legaspi (the main town near Donsol) the following day. However, because we were so tired from our first journey we didn't feel up to exploring the chaos of Manila and so decided to power through and take a local bus to Legaspi (13hours). The bus journey was great but VERY long, we left at 8am and got to Legaspi at 9.30pm so if you add that to our night bus we were traveling for over 25 hours! On the bus we were crammed into our seats (with 7 people squashed across one row), had chickens in boxes beneath our feet and again had children throwing up around us! It was really nice though to travel by day and see the country and it's people, the landscape is stunning and so underdeveloped, mountains and jungle are still the norm with tiny rural villages in between. Another great part of local bus rides is the sellers that jump on with all sorts of yummy (and not so yummy) treats to try! Although we won't be traveling 25 hours again in a hurry, the experience was good fun! 

Legaspi itself isn't the greatest of places and our experience was worsened by our hotel; as we arrived late, everywhere was full apart from our very shabby, cockroach ridden and smelly hotel so we had no choice but to stay in it (or pay a lot of money for an upmarket one)! The only good thing (and it's a pretty awesome thing) about Legaspi was Mount Mayon- an active volcano. It really is impressive- perfectly formed and absolutely huge! We could have sat and watched it's smoke plumes for ever, we were really mesmerized by it! Really amazing! 

After a good look at Mt Mayon we caught a bus to Donsol pretty promptly and had 4 of the best days of the whole trip, we absolutely fell in love with the place, it's people, and it's "Butanding!" 

We were really lucky as we were there for the towns fiesta period so every night the town was alive and everyone was in a festive mood! Our first day was jam packed: we went swimming

with whale sharks in the morning, went to a local cockerel fight in the afternoon, and then spent the evening at the local basketball tournament! 

The whale sharks (known here as 'butanding') where incredible, words can't describe the feeling you get as you jump off the boat and look down to find yourself right above the head of a 10 metre giant! They are so beautiful, so graceful and so chilled out, just swimming below or next to you as if we wern't even there. We were extremely lucky as it is coming to the end of their season but we managed to see 4 different individuals and swam with them 8 times. The first 2 swims however were slightly crazy, way too many people around one shark, most of which couldn't swim, and we spent most of our time trying to get them off our shoulders as they held on to us to stay afloat, we couldn't believe it! Why the hell would you go swimming with sharks if you can't blooming swim, and why let so many people around one shark (we complained to the office after in great detail about how they wern't keeping to the

guidelines)! After that however we had 4 brilliant swims with just a few of us around the sharks. We swam for ages with one, admiring every detail from it's head to it's tail, all the way along it's spotted back. And then our last swim was just mind blowing, we jumped in to find ourselves just inches away from it's face as it just calmly swam right past us, looking us straight in the eye! Just amazing! We will definitely be returning to do this again and would recommend it to everyone (as long as you can swim of course).

That afternoon our tricycle driver offered to take us to a local cockerel fight as we'd been asking a bit about it. It was mental. Just crazy! A big arena especially for it, full of men going absolutely bonkers, bets being thrown around everywhere and everyone just shouting and screaming at the cocks! It is one of the main traditions in the Philippines and really popular with the locals, they take huge pride in looking after and raising a good strong cockerel! 

The fights however were savage, it was brilliant to see such an event as it's a

massive part of their culture but at parts Lucy couldn't watch. They strap huge blades onto the cocks ankles and get them really fired up and then the fight begins and it doesn't end until one of them is dead. The worst part however is that towards the end one of the cocks is pretty much dead but until they are completely dead they are still left in the ring, wings broken unable to move. The poor thing just lays there defenseless as all the men in the ring are jumping around it screaming! It was worth going to though as we've never seen anything like it before and it was definitely an insight into Filipino culture. 

Later that evening we then went to the towns provincial basketball tournament. It was part of the build up to their fiesta and the local governers and Mayors had put together a team to play the locals! It was great fun
and there was such a huge community spirit, the whole town was there to watch! We were the only westerners there which was brilliant as we felt privileged to be a part of something so local! Then the mayor asked Lucy

to go up for a photo at the tip off and let us sit near to the commentator who was hilarious! The governers were all very
keen to speak to us which was great,
they made us feel so welcome! 

The next day we decided to go diving! We had been deliberating for ages as to whether or not we could afford it but after seeing a video at the dive shop of a 5m manta ray from the day before there was no stopping us! We wanted to dive the manta bowl- an area known for it's large abundance of mantas as they come here to be cleaned by smaller fish species, the shop however made us dive a macro sight first as the manta bowl is meant to be a hard dive with strong currents so they wanted to make sure we were competent. The macro dive, off st. Miguel island was really stunning, one of our favourite dives so far. The
coral was just beautiful, and so diverse and colourful. And the macro life was gorgeous too- lots of tiny puffer fish and box fish, nudibranches, tiny fish, morey eels, star fish and much more. We

also went into a cave which was pretty cool! The manta bowl however was a huge disappointment, the visibility was really bad and we couldn't see anything! The only thing we did see were stingrays which were cool but they wern't mantas! It was a shame but we can't expect perfect dives every time and it's now given us something to search for, our main goal for the rest of the trip is to see one! 

That evening it was the class of 2011s graduation and every year on graduation night, all of the past school years have reunions and congregate at the local 'beer plaza' for a big party! People travel from all over the place to come back for the reunion and the town is just buzzing! Our guest house owner was part of the class of 1987 and she was hosting their reunion party and invited us along! It was
brilliant, we ate with them all (trying
out some great local dishes) and then
went with them to the plaza to party! It was such great fun, we met a group of Filipinos from the class of 2003 (closer to our age) and spent the night

drinking and dancing with them! We even had the mayors grandson buying us beer! Haha! 

Our time in Donsol has been one that we will never forget, such a great place, such great people and such amazingly great memories that will be with us forever! 

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Photo.net travel section

by Nikos | December 15th, 2004

Photo.net is probably one of the best-known and authoritative online resources for photography in general. What is perhaps a little less known, is it’s excellent travel photography section featuring a must-read travel tips page for photographers and numerous destination-specific guides that cover anything from equipment and photo-ops to local labs and facilities. Worth checking out before you go.

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Random Meat and Double Vowels

Well, it's been a few days now since I last wrote and i can say i have finally got some kilometers under the belt (and in my legs). Yay! But not today. Four days of riding, a little bit of rain and already I'm calling a rest day. Not bad eh?

But first, the nightmare that was trying to get out of Tallinn. As you know, not the most adept at map reading but... to say I was lost was an understatement. In my defence though I will add that the bike paths do not follow the roads as such and so I managed to get completely off track. I think I found the right road after some 10km of cycling aimlessly in circles. But once out, well what a relief. I had hoped to make it to Haapsalu which was some 100km away. I think I could have made it if not for the unfortunate beginning. Still, it was a pretty good effort to get to just near Linnamae (a little town 12km or so from Haapsalu). I found (read surprised) the owners of a farmstay and had the most wonderful night's sleep (aided somewhat by 1/2 litre of Saarama beer which does kick quite a punch as far as beer is concerned).

I was bound for Hiiumuu island the next day but, as luck would have it, I didn't time my arrival too well and just missed out on the 10;30 ferry so had to wait until 14:30 for the 1,5 hour crossing. But I was blessed with lovely weather and provided with a perfect opportunity to sit back and do nothing.

I really enjoyed riding on Hiiumuu island and in fact, so far at least, I get a really positive vibe from this country and people. The riding has been spectacular on brilliant smooth roads with lovely hard shoulders so no one (me) gets in the way. I have been told that it's not necessarily so further in the west of the country. Oh dear.

That evening I was heading towards Kärdla but, as the guesthouse was fully booked and I didn't fancy riding another 11km to where I was told was some nice camping I headed towards Tubala instead. I seem to be taking many cabin/farmstay owners by surprise because it seemed my arrival was something of a shock. What, you want to camp? Why, it might rain. It might get cold. Better you stay in the cabin. Yeah, ok whatever. I'm tired. Showers seem to be something of a novelty when you camp in the cabins it seems. I showered in their own bathroom. That was kind of weird going through the house, towel in hand whilst dinner was being prepared. Still, I think I've done weirder.

The next day started early as there was no tent drying involved. The road, although normally very quiet, was even more so. Normally you can hear cars and trucks approaching from quite a while away and but I really did have it all to myself for quite a long time. It was a beautiful way to start the day. Just with birdsong and the sound of my not-so-oily chain going around. The stillness really is other wordly here. And the trees. There's lot of them. Beautiful forests of birches and pines (gives new meaning to the term Baltic pine), bogs (!!), and the most gorgeous abundance of wildflowers. Add to that no wind, flat smooth roads, cool crisp air with sunny skies and you have the making of a perfect cycling holiday.

I was riding the secondary road number 81 to Käina and then around on an even smaller road to Kasseri and Sääretirp. Now there was a lovely place to camp! Out by sea, no one around but the birds. But it was onwards. I had another ferry to catch, and as there are only two every day on the weekends I really did not want to miss it. I think I was overly paranoid because I got to Söru with a couple of hours yet to kill. But it was a decent ride that day, with an early start so when I got to Saaramaa island I just wanted to find somewhere to sleep. And I found the perfect place in Kongi Farmstay. It had a windmill which I got to spend the night in. It was undeniably cozy and that was just with me in it. Add another bunk and well, really you would have had to take turns to move. It made for a squeeze and that was just with me (plus all my stuff!), There was also a bird watching tower which was wonderful. There was only enough room for the comfortable, cowhide covered stool but it was so wonderful being up there and watching the birds in Triigi Laht. It was yet another wonderful way to spend the time. There were lots of terns, swans and herons and in the tower a little book to record the sightings. I wish I'd brought my binoculars.

The following day (yesterday) I was Kuressaare bound and where I am at the moment. Again, another wonderful day's cycling with the skies even bluer and the sun even stronger (I ended up with a not-so-wonderful red nose at the end of yesterday and am already getting that weathered look ie freckles and straw-like hair).

The scenery is markedly different to what I experienced in Hiiumuu. More wide open spaces, agriculture is quite predominant here too. Windmills here too as on Hiiumuu (can't keep track of how many photos I now have of windmills) and churches. It makes me wonder about the population of this island in days of old. The churches are almost cathedral like in scale, especially the one I saw in Kaarma,

I also spent a fair bit of yesterday getting lost. Surprise, surprise. So I decided, that as I'm still cycling during my lost time I need to be keeping tabs on it. Hence today I bought, and got fitted, a speedometer. I also asked the good man at the bike shop to look at my rear brakes because yes, one side was rubbing on the rim (!!), oil my chain because yes, it was noisy (!!) and pump up my tyres because, yes they were flat. The bike shop only charged me for the speedometer and not for any other labour. Even when I offered. The Estonians are a pretty reserved bunch, but I've found if you ask for help, they are they for you. And polite. Ever so polite. Now, if only I could understand what they're saying...

Today I spent the day with a Dutch man who is also cycling (fancy a Dutch man cycling) and staying at this hostel. So we spent some time cycling around, some time walking around, some time eating and some time doing stuff like trying to find methylated spirits for my camp cooker. We shall soon find out if what I bought is what it should be... just need to make sure I have an extinguisher nearby in case it turns nasty.

Random meat. I've had a fair bit. But not always because I mean to. The other day I bought what I thought was a beetroot salad composed of, what I thought was a ridiculously high ratio of mayonnaise to beetroot only to find that they had also shoved bit of ham in there as well. Ugh. Think I'll just stick to the processed meat from now on.

Anyway, tomorrow it's onwards again. I hope to make it to just near Kuivastu and then take the ferry back to the mainland the following day. All going well I will be in Pärnu in 3 days time. Weatherwise there may be a few showers and the wind is going to pick up too. We shall see. I do feel a lot better physically for having rested today (but mentally a bit guilty).

Thanks too to everyone who's messaged or emailed me. I will try to respond next time I get on the internet. Hopefully will get to post some photos too.
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Istanbul

Arrived in Istanbul late this afternoon, population 15 million and the only city straddling 2 continents. Old capital of the Eastern Roman Empire (as Constantinople) until 1453 then the Ottaman Empire, now a city of mosques. Had a walk to Taksim square to stretch the legs and look at the shops near the hotel. Views from the hotel over the Golden Horn towards Sultanamhet.
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Strike Two

I have been wanting to do the trek through the Cinque Terre for years ... ever since I saw Valerie Pringle Has Left the Building and she effortlessly goes from little village to little village without a hair out of place. Ahem ... great editing!

I had originally wanted to do this excursion on the 23rd. When I was looking at the train situation, I was getting better options for today so I changed my plans. I wasn't super in the mood to be doing it a day earlier but better trains, better day. I rarely change my plans ... it's almost like a superstition and I should have listened to that little voice inside my head. Even why I got up this morning, it took me a while to get excited about heading out there. But on the train, the excitement grew and I was totally into doing this. The weather was out of this world (very hot and very sunny).

The Cinque Terre are essentially five small villages that are perched upon these cliffs and have essentially remained unchanged for centuries. There are hiking paths that link the villages; the blue line being the most popular. There

are also trains and boats that go along from village to village. (this would be an important fact in this whole story!) The Cinque Terre is a considered a national park and it is home to vineyards and wine production. And to give you an idea of the size of the villages ... the largest one is Riomaggiore and it's population is approximately 1,800.

So I took the train to Riomaggiore, bought my Cinque Terre card and headed out on the Via dell'Amore which links Riomaggiore to Manarola (population 850). Manarola is apparently the village with the most grapevines which you can see lining the sides of cliffs.

The walk on Via dell'Amore is easy and takes about 30 minutes. Nothing strenuous about it at all. The views are mindblowingly gorgeous. So I make it Manarola to discover that the path that links Manarola and the next village (Corniglia) is closed. Fine ... I will hop on the train when I am ready to move on. Mmmm ... problem is ... there's a strike and there are no trains running today. But how did I get here ... that was a train, right???

So no trains and

no path to Corniglia. Well ... there are alternate paths. I tried to find the alternate path and blew out a lung doing so. And truly without exageration ... it would have been the equivalent of me climbing the hill in Mont Tremblant and going back down the other side to reach the next village. Honestly ... I am not exagerating. I asked someone when I was just trying to find the start to the path and he basically said that it was very long and strenuous. You need to be a serious hiker to be doing that and that my friends I am not. I think that they estimate the time it takes to do the alternate route at around 2.5 hours (and one you are on it there is no stopping ... just turning back I guess).

Okay so the option is boats ... there are boats. But here's the thing ... as soon as I found out that there was a strike ... all I kept thinking about was how I was going to get back to Pisa. I was a good hour and half away. The girl at the counter at one point said something

... well you can try to find car. Mmm sure ...easy to do.

I wish I could be one of these people that just can put those things aside and still enjoy the day but I'm not. I am by myself ... I have a lot of time to think and very little distraction that may be travelling partner might bring!! It might also be because I am by myself and therefore the only one who can get me back to my hotel is me. There is no relying on anyone at this point. I wasn't scared ... I knew that there was a solution. And I have said it before ... you can always find someone who is willing to help you. And when push comes to shove ... I can be damn resourceful. So did I enjoy my day ... to be very honest, it was really hard for me to really get into it. And I was mad with myself because I was in probably one of the most beautiful places on earth (paradise ...absolute paradise) and I could not shake the question of how I was going to get back to Pisa.

So I

took the boat to Vernazza (the boat doesn't stop in Corniglia so I only got to see if from afar!). When you approach, there are rocks jutting out and they have this tiny little beach. The water is this incredible colour ... I wouldn't even know how to describe it. I stopped for lunch at one of the little cafes and enjoyed some gnocchi ... but again question still gnawing.

I poked around Vernazza and then found the trail that would take me from Vernazza to Monterosso. I started up the trail and about 15-20 minutes in I was starting to doubt my ability to actually do this the whole way. First, I saw a group of teenage boys coming from Monterosso and they looked like they were about to die. They are supposed to be full of energy and life and they are struggling with this. Do I really think that I (who technically could have been their mom) can do this??? Then I met another couple who said ... I hope you have a lot of water with you. Mmmm ... I will keep going for another little bit and see. So then I met another couple

who were about my parents age. I said to the woman that I was starting to have doubts about my ability to actually make it all the way. She answered "if I knew then what I know now ... I would have turned back". Well ... so I answered something to the effect that I would be taking the advice of the wise and turn back. Her husband looked at me and said "if we were so wise we wouldn't have walked all the way ... we would have taken the boat!". Sold ... I am turning back.

Okay so my dream of trekking through the Cinque Terre was a little less than realistic. Hence why I say good editing on the part of the Valerie Pringle show ... she just looked like she breezed through that thing. Mmmmm .... I'm guessing that she took the train. So my Cinque Terre was really just a Tre Terre because I only got to see three of the villages.

So now I had to find a way home .... think think think. So I hoped on a boat that would take me to La Spezia. This little town is often

the starting point for tour groups and the train station I know has tons of connections for regional and intercity trains. When there is a strike, there are still some trains that run. But there are also tons and tons of cancellations. And if there were no trains, I figured I would have a chance at finding a hotel room if it came to that. Oh God I prayed that it would not get to that.

Getting to La Spezia necessitated a boat change in Porto Venere. Such a cute town ... it is the Italian version of Marseille with fishing boats along the water. There is a church high atop a cliffside. It just seemed like loveliness and I wished that I would have actually been able to stay longer (although at that point I was not really into being a tourist ... I had a job to do ... Pisa or bust!!)

I finally reached La Spezia. Okay ... now train station ... where on earth is that. By that time it is past 6 pm and there does not seem to be alot going on in La Spezia apart from the throngs of tourists hoping

back on their tour buses to get back to their hotels (lucky bastards!). The Tourist Information desk was definitely closed at that time. So where to go when you need someone who speaks a reasonable amount of English and knows a lot of stuff about being a lost tourist ... a hotel. So I meandered aimlessly until I found a pedestrian street that was lined with boutiques and I came upon the Hotel Genova. I explained my predicament and told him that either I wanted a train and if I could not find a train then I wanted a room. So the lovely gentleman went on the internet, made a couple of calls and was able to give me some train information. I believe that I said "oh my God I love you" to which he turned beet red. He also wrote all of the information down and gave me a map which he highlighted so I could walk to the train station.

I got to the train station and waited and waited. Periodically there were announcements which always ended with the staff being very sorry for any inconvenience this may cause. I had myself a little picnic of

McNuggets and fries on platform number three. I had a nice chat with an Italian couple about my Kobo eReader. During that time I also learned my numbers in Italian ... didn't realize that waiting for a train could also be educational. So there were repeated announcements about train "uno-otto-uno-cinque" that was supposed to be arriving on "binario tre". And then like a mirage, it appeared and finally I was on my way back to Pisa Centrale. So by around 9:45 pm I was safely tucked into my hotel ... I cracked open a bottle of the bubbly wine from the mini bar ... I don't care that it is ridiculously expensive I made it back in one piece and with my sanity somewhat intact!! I don't anticipate doing much of anything tomorrow!!

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Sign of a good tourist attraction ... it should give you a case of the giggles

This morning I said goodbye to Florence. The owner gave me a big hug and kiss on the cheek and said "when you come back to Florence, baby?" She has taken to calling me baby since about the first five minutes after meeting her. Come back ... I certainly hope so one day but I think that I will try to get through the rest of this trip first. Then I'll start thinking about the next one!!

I of course took the train to Pisa and it is an easy one-hour ride. My hotel is just a short walk from there and I found it with no problems. My room was not ready when I arrived so the girl very innocently asked "can you go for walk and come back?" and then she whips out this map of Pisa and proceeds to highlight the route to the Leaning Tower (or as it is known here ... the Torre Pendente).

I have said it before but tourist attractions that are this popular scare me but I just could not resist making a beeline to go and see it. First, there were large crowds but because it is on such large

grounds you do not get the feel that you are being swarmed by tourists. The second thing is the sheer entertainment value of watching the tourists doing the classic poses of making it look like they are either pushing or holding up the tower. It is absolutely priceless. It reminded me of tai chi classes that I have seen in parks in South East Asia. And that was the difference also from all of the other large tourist attractions that I have been too and that attract enormous groups ... it was the levity around it. People were having fun and just laughing and goofing around. I don't ever remember seeing that before ... other places they just look miserable and just focused on jockeying for position to get their photo taken in front of whatever.

The tower itself is actually smaller than I would have imagined but it is actually quite beautiful. It was recently restored so it is a pristine white colour. What got me in reading some of the things about it was the fact that it took them to about the third level to realize that it was leaning. Really??? When you look at it,

it is so obvious from the first level that it is hard to believe that they even continued construction (although construction was stopped and started a number of times over many many many years). I think that I read that the architect is also not known ... really ... would you admit to it???

I was on the fence as to whether I wanted to climb it or not. Not because I didn't want to climb ... I love me a good set of stairs!! It had more do to with the fact that my guidebook had said to pre-book the tickets a good two weeks in advance. I had decided to just see if it was do-able at the last minute. If it was meant to happen, I would get my chance. I had the same experience in NYC for The Top of the Rock and we sailed right in with no wait time. So hopefully luck was on my side ...

So I walked over to the ticket office and there were two families ahead of me. Over the wickets, there is a monitor that lists out the possible times to climb the tower and how

many places are left (they only let 40 people in at the same time). Well ... next available time was at 2 pm and there was one place left. The people in front of me were hemming and hawing about what time to pick. Move over people ... I'm alone ... just one ... solo ... me pick me ... I can go at 2!!! Okay so it was still an hour and a half waiting time but damn it, I am climbing the thing!! For once being a solo traveller is paying off!

The wait gave me time to visit the Cathedral and Baptistery and just mill about the grounds. The weather has definitely gotten much hotter in the last week or so. It was steaming hot and you definitely had to search for that one little spot of shade. And my incessant drinking of Orange Fanta continues.

So at around 1:50, I made my way to the coatcheck to drop off my purse. They do not allow you to bring bags, just your camera. I then made my way by the tower. I have climbed a lot of stuff at this point but I was really

excited about this one. What I was not anticipating is that I would get a serious case of the giggles doing it.

So here's the thing ... when you are climbing the stairs you are essentially circling around the tower itself. What I was not expecting (although it's really logical) is that you physically feel the tilt so you don't end up actually climb the stairs right in the middle. It kind of throws your balance off course and you tend to stammer from one side to the other. If you have ever been on a cruise ship in high seas and have not been able to walk a straight line .... it's that same feeling. You almost feel like you are drunk. And that was what made me laugh hysterically for some reason. It really doesn't take much on any given day ... but I'm sorry this was priceless. You can also see from where the stairs are used up that people have definitely stammered from one side to the other when climbing this thing.

Once you reach the top, it feels a little daunting. You have great views but again it tilts and it tilts quite

a bit. So when you are looking over the railing in the direction of how it leans ... mmmm ... not usually scared of heights but I was holding on to that railing. And then it was time to go back down. I am so glad that I decided to climb it because I do have to say that it was a highlight for me. That was just outright fun.

So I walked around a little bit and visited the other sights that my ticket gave me access to. I then made it back to the hotel. Because it was Saturday, my dad was at home in the afternoon so we got to chat for quite a bit. I spun the computer around so that he could see my view. I was trying to point out the "fountain" which was a trompe l'oeil and thefore not real and he said "oh yeah the Porsche". Ummm no dad ... look at the fountain ... not real, painted but looks real. The Europeans sure love their trompe l'oeil!!

May 23

After a very long day yesterday at the Cinque Terre, I definitely needed a day to wind down. So

I wandered around Pisa aimlessly. I did circle back to the Leaning Tower (I had to see it one last time). I ended up spending a good part of the day on the terrace at the hotel reading my book (I am on my fourth one) and heading back out for a bit to grab some supper and gelato. Lazy day really ... sometimes you just need one of those.
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Vending Machines of Seoul, South Korea

Here I am in an impromptu battle with a local South Korean man over who can win the most prizesThis is what I love about travelling, you never know when you’re going to make a new friend, English speaking or not.  I visited Seoul, South Korea a couple years ago, and became addicted to these vending machine games.  They’re basically the same as we have in the US, with the claw you drop and try to catch things, but they’re dirt cheap, and the prizes are all gold lighters and chewing gums.

An audience gathers as we continue destroying the machines30 minutes and $20 into my attempt at scoring the best prizes in the machine, a gypsy taxi pulls up and parks illegally.  Out hops a Korean guy with some cash.  He puts it in the machine and starts going at it, occasionally glancing over to me.  A few minutes later he wins a giant bat mobile toy and gives me a smile.  Then he realizes how many prizes I’ve won, the top of my machine is covered in them.  He comes over and starts watching me, goes back, wins some more, and comes back to show me his new prizes.  This went on for another 20 minutes, both of us competing to see who could get the best winnings.  It got to the point where people walking by took notice and stopped for a look.  We had prizes covering the tops of the machines and laid out on the floor around us.  At the end of the day, without being able to speak any logical words to each other, we were both quite happy with our success and the exchange of culture.

My new Korean friend and I posing with our winnings2 days later on my flight to Beijing, all my gold lighter winnings were confiscated at customs…

The highlights of my loot - mainly gold animal figurines which double as lighters when you push on their talesThis article was posted by Mike on Saturday, May 21st, 2011 at 9:29 AM

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The Abyss

by Nikos | November 16th, 2003

The photo used for the blog’s header is a composite panorama (4-5 photos stitched together) from a place called The Abyss in southern Venezuela. This is where the tepui mountain formations of Venezuela suddenly stop, and you can see the entire Amazonia spread ahead of you as far as the eye can see. The vastness of the rainforest is why they named it so.

When we went there, the entire view was blocked by clouds. After 30 minutes or so the clouds started to part and dissolve, and within minutes the wonder was revealed. I took the opportunity to make this photo of my friends, engulfed into the magnificence of the view.

To me, this photo represents what travel photography is all about. It’s about a unique place, it’s about discovery, it’s about having a great time in the absence of gadgets or artificial entertainments, just by going there, just by being there.

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We Love Al Fresco – Surfers Paradise

You’ve been traveling the East Coast of Australia.  You’ve arrived in Surfers Paradise, the most touristy city of all.  The streets are lined with kebab joints, stale pizza slices, McDonalds, and take away Chinese.  Where do you go for food?  From the heart of town, cruise down Gold Coast Highway towards the Q1 tower.  On the left hand side you’ll arrive at my favorite restaurant in Surfers Paradise, Al Fresco.

Al Fresco is a family run Italian Restaurant.  You’ll meet the proprietors Tony and Silvana every night; I used to live a block away and every time I walked by I’d see them running around serving and entertaining customers.  It’s the type of place where the walls are covered in photos of people enjoying their food, including many celebrities, both local and international.  Depending on the weather there is indoor and outdoor seating.  You can rely on  Tony and Silvana to take great care of you, and the food is great.  If you want to drink, they are a licensed establishment, or you can bring your own wine for a small cork-age fee.  There is a bottle shop next door just in case…

Address: 2991 Gold Coast HWY, Surfers Paradise QLD, 4217

Phone: +61 5538 0395

Mobile: +61 412 451 231

Dine-In or Takeaway

Open: 7 nights a week Until Late

Serving: Pizza, Pasta, Steak, Seafood

This article was posted by Mike on Friday, May 13th, 2011 at 6:51 PM

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Down & Dirty – Leaving Western Style Toilets Behind

A warning, this article is going to be about poop and pee, if you don’t care to read about that, click here.  Otherwise, lets get to know each other a little bit…

One of the great things about travelling, and most important skills you develop from it, is stepping outside your comfort zone.  You better be able to do this, especially when venturing off the beaten path.  When you get into parts of Asia, Eastern Europe, The Middle East, and Africa, you’re going to discover a whole new appreciation for what you know as the toilet.  For what they call a toilet, is often times no more than a hole in the ground to us.

I’m a fan of potty humor, a big fan actually.  I think farts are probably one of the funniest things in the world.  I think the word “boner” is hilarious.  Some of you may call me immature for this, thats fine, but I’m doing my best to grow up slow.  That being said, I’m also very comfortable using the restroom almost anywhere.  I have friends who refuse to use any toilet other than their own, this is not me.  Unfortunately, or fortunately, I’ve experienced the worst of the worst.  It’s never fun at the time, but afterwards you have to be able to laugh about it.  When your friend is summoned and has to squat over the nastiest, stinkiest, fly covered hole around, thats funny.  And when you have to do the walk of shame, your friends are surely going to laugh at you.  For some reason human beings love to laugh at other peoples pain (to an extent).  Take Americas Funniest home videos for example: all that show delivers is people getting kicked in the balls, crashing their bicycles, and getting puked on by babies, but this is whats funny to us.  The same principal applies to travelling in regions without what we consider normal toilets.

So, the next time you’re on the road and have to use the toilet, think of the humor in it, laugh about it, and keep going.

When heading out for the day in areas you suspect may not use western toilets, toss a roll of toilet paper or pack of Kleenex in your day bag.  A travel size package of Kleenex is always a good thing to keep in your bag, no matter where you’re travelling.

This article was posted by Mike on Wednesday, May 25th, 2011 at 1:47 AM

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Sihanoukville

SO... I'm alive after contracting the T -Virus (Travelers Diarrhea) and bed-ridden for 3 days!!! I Arrived in Sihanoukville on Thursday evening and met up with a few people after being funneled to the GST guesthouse in the resort by the Remok drivers, good rooms for 5$ per night so I was not complaining. The general consensus so far in this part of Asia is that the travelers accommodation is not your typical hostel/dorm room types as you would expect but guest houses and cheap hotels offering private rooms and facilities which is fab.

Friday

The next day was when all the fun began in more ways than one, I spent the morning lazing on the beach and had a great beach BBQ in the evening watching fireworks and chilling out with 25cent beers. What more could you ask for? But SHNV has it! A great way to end the day was to head to some of the more established bars in town. I went back to the guesthouse for a shower and that was when the end of my great day became the beginning of 3 days in agony!!
I immediately grabbed the bottled of water I

had been drinking out of all day only to find on closer inspection a tiny burn mark and melted plastic!! It was tap water!! there are some pretty complex ways the Cambodians manage to get around the security seal on the bottled water out here and it looked like I was victim to one of them, I should have been suspicious when the bottle was overly full.

With out going into to all the detail, It was very painful with stomach cramps so intense that they creased me up every time into a tight ball. My room was 25 degrees but I was shivering cold and the dreams I had were out of this world!! My mind kept thinking that this had been done on purpose, it was very freaky!!

I paid a Remok driver to get me some medication and he brought back some great stuff which within 24 hours had me feeling great!! just wish I had done that earlier rather than trying to brave it out.

So back in the room! from my mild epidemic in the travelers world I hit the beach today and yet again had another lazy day this time however

rather than the poxy room feeling sorry for myself I swapped that for a sun lounger and Mojito followed by a full day reading my new book conveniently called "The Backpacker"

It's a shame that my health has put me back during my stay but Sihanoukville it is an amazing place and in 5 years time will be completely different at the rate Cambodian tourism is booming, so best to see it now whilst you can before the Amercians open up a naval base here and tourism hits off big time.

Just one more day on the beach tomorrow and then taking the overnight bus out of Cambodia and into Vietnam and Ho Chi Min City.

My time in Cambodia has been great and every tale, rumour and horror story I heard about this country was totally untrue. The Cambodians are honest (not at the boarder), friendly and extremely caring. You meet many poor people but they never curse if you don't pay up unlike in Thailand. But what has to be said that this country has the most amount of smiley people I've ever seen in my life which is hard to contemplate considering what they have.

So see you in Saigon
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J88 en Colombie

Aujourd’hui je continue de formuler à l’entreprise, j’ai fait un tonic après rasage et une mousse antibactérienne. Nous allons voir comment cela va se conserver dans le temps… Au moins, je me dis que j’aurais des produits à présenter pour la prochaine réunion et j’apprends. Ce soi, pas de salle de sport car je dois aller faire des courses avec Maria. Nous partons sur la moto. Le retour fut folklorique car nous avons beaucoup acheté. Résultat, difficile avec les courses et les deux nenettes de rentrer à la maison et obligée de demander de l’aide à la voisine pour qu’elle nous aide à descendre de la moto !! La prochaine fois, si nous faisons autant de course, nous irons en bus car, je dois avouer que même si nous n’allions pas vite et que nous avions toutes les protections requise ce n’était pas super prudent ! Mais bon on a beaucoup rit. Nous mangeons ensemble avec Maria puis au dodo car les journées sont longues et je commence à sentir la fatigue. :)
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Monday 23 May 2011

A leisurely start to the day in familiar surroundings, the Cafe de Paris in Rue de Buci, on the pavement opposite the flower shop with its trompe l'oeuil of hanging fruit and vegetables and a toucan perched at the tip of each wooden strut that supports the end wall.

Lunch in Beaubourg with Fanou, her grandson Adrien and his copine Helene. Adrien has finished his exams and will be looking for a post in a bank, specialising in wealth management. Helene is studying Human Resources and has a particular interest in labour relations. Fanou spoke enthusiastically of the new Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris ("une merveille") and how it evoked for her a youthful fascination with Hemingway and Fitzgerald. In an unguarded moment, Jane confessed to surreptitious excursions with Marion in Tascon on borrowed velos. 38 years on, this was received with conspicuous alarm by Fanou, who imagined them on moonless nights on precarious paths among the inlets. Almost as surprising was an incautious remark revealing that Jane has experience of camping, though not recently.

The afternoon has passed easily in a pavement cafe in St Germain with orange presse and the hotel couttyard with tea.

Our flight leaves CDG at 2320. We might even find that Air France is showing Minuit a Paris.

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Kep Rabbit Island

Today we headed off to Rabbit Island for a day at the beach. We were picked up by Boun Thorn our tuk-tuk driver from yesterday for the ten minute ride around to the boat dock. So we could be flexible with our time we opted for the private tour ($25 for the two of us) as opposed to the group tour which would have been $18.

The boats are an open dow type powered by the very strange looking but effective petrol engine with the propeller at the end of a very long shaft. The tide was out so the first challenge was to get Kim on to the boat with out losing her over the side. That done we headed for the island about 15 minutes away. Arriving at the island was a bit of a disappointment – instead of the lovely beach with food shacks that we expected there was one small hut on a beach? That was little more than a swamp. But wait, we were told to follow one man (via gestures)up a track into the jungle, obviously the beach was on the other side of the island. After a ten minute easy walk we arrived at the beach that was a bit more like we thought it would be, although I think we are spoilt for beaches this one was fairly narrow with coarse dark sand and lots of rubbish.

There was however beach chairs to relax on, the water was warm and the food good. Managed to chill out for the day without any problems at all.

At 3.00 we headed back to the other side for the return boat journey. The wind had picked up during the day so as we left the shelter of the island copped the first of many waves over the side. This wasn’t too bad at first as the water was warm but as we headed further out we were getting drenched regularly. Whist the drenchings weren’t too bad the movement of the boat was a little scary. As we were side on to the waves the boat was rocking fairly violently with at times only a couple of centimeters of freeboard. It was about this time that Kim started praying, crying and yelling at me to do something about it. There not being a real lot I could do (I was not going to let go of the side of the boat) I basically told her to hang on and don’t worry, whilst at the same time trying to work out if I could reach for a life jacket without letting go of the boat.

About 15 minutes of this and we were back on dry land, dripping wet. Boun was there to meet us and take us back to the Veranda. After a swim we headed again to the Crab Market for dinner. Chose much better tonight and had a great dinner and a few drinks. It was very quiet with very few tourists – obviously it is the quiet season and the number of people around at the weekend were probably ex-pats from PP.

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Day 35 San Diego Los Angeles

It was the last day of the Transcontinental South trip so Kylie, Zoe and I rode in the front row together one last time.
After having breakfast at a Waffle House, where we spoilt ourselves on the last of the food kitty, we soon reached Los Angeles, where Todd took us on a quick tour of Beverly Hills, Sunset Boulevard and Bel Air, where we were asked if we knew the famous TV show set here.
Everyone replied ‘The Fresh Prince of Bel Air’, and then someone asked how the theme song went. Then nearly all of us started reciting the lyrics almost perfectly - “Now this is a story, all about how my life got flipped, turned upside down. And I’d like to take a minute, just sit right there, I’ll tell you how I became a Prince of a town called Bel Air”. Admit it, you’re singing along to it now, trying to remember the rest of it!
I then handed my mp3 player to the DJ to play the full version of the song for everyone to sing along to.

Our first stop was Hollywood. In fact Grauman’s Chinese Theatre and the start of the Walk of

Fame and also the Hollywood sign itself in the distance. This was awesome seeing all the pavement slaps that have famous stars hand or foot prints and signatures on them, and then to find some of the most famous people to have stars on the Walk of Fame. I certainly feel honoured to see all these names below my feet!
And seeing the Hollywood sign was enough for me. That's the only part of LA that interests me, and I've dreamed of being an actor!
Zoe ws only interested in finding one person here – Grace Kelly, and we quickly found his signature slab outside the theatre. We then headed out along Hollywood Boulevard to try and find his star.
I don’t actually know how long the stars go on for, and we only had a short time before Todd had to pick us up, as he couldn't hang around without getting a ticket.
After going 4 or 5 blocks in one direction, we headed back to the Theatre and headed the other way, before crossing the road and heading back down, and as we passed every star I was quickly taking snaps of the names I do recognise. This was really the definition of point and shoot whilst on the move!

I then got a call to say that the others were all waiting for us, as we had overrun by 15 minutes or so. When we finally got back to the van, we got a bit of stick, to which Zoe got a little defensive about, but it soon blew over.
We were now heading to Santa Monica for a look around and dinner. I soon fell asleep, and awoke again 45 minutes later, only to discover we were stuck in heavy traffic and had only made a few miles. We should have already been at Santa Monica, but LA traffic was so bad, we were nowhere near.

When we finally arrived, the 4 of us head off together one last time, taking in the pier first, before heading to the nearby shops and having a look around. There were many shops but nothing of real interest for us, although we did find a Aussie shop that sells both Australian and British products.

We soon headed back to the front of the pier where our restaurant was waiting – Bubba Gump.
After another wonderful dinner,

we headed to the Hacienda Gateway hotel to the tunes of Journey’s ‘Don’t Stop Believing’ and Green Day’s ‘Good Riddance (Time of Your Life).
Becca commented to me that it felt like one of those school leaving disco’s where the same sort of music was always played. I didn’t mind it, as it seemed to bring everyone together one last time as we all sang along.

After parking up, Todd told us that everything had to be taken out of the van and trailer as he would be taking it to the LA branch of Trek for a check up, and also may get a different van or trailer for the second leg. So everything got unloaded, and many of us struggled to gather all our many items together and drag, carry or wheel them through the small parking lot, across the road, and into the hotel lobby.
When we all finally made it and with all our stuff, we lined up to check in, finding out that we had assigned rooms for ‘finishers’ and ‘carry-overs’. Mark and I were in together.
Todd, Jess, Becca, Kylie, Zoe and I later headed to Graham and Neal’s room for a little

party, where we all sat around and joke and reminisce about the Tour so far.
No one really said goodbye as we would see each other again tomorrow.

When I got back to my room, a very drunk Mark finally woke up, and after I told him where I had come from, decided to join the rest and just walked out of the room. He didn’t take his door pass so I knew he would have to knock to get back in.
After getting ready for bed, I listened to some music with one earpiece out waiting for Mark’s knock, but over an hour later he still hadn’t returned and I went to bed.

Though the day was the last official day of the Transcontinental South part of the Tour, there was a free day the next day. This would be where all the goodbyes would be said.
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Dear Auntie Louise and Uncle Bert

Yesterday we went to the JJ Market aka Weekend Market aka World Market aka Chatuchak. It was nice, it was interesting, it was basically a Thai-style Minnesota State Fair. So...eh, it was alright. Once you've walked the fair for 8 hours and seen a porkchop, a Snickers, and spaghetti-and-meatballs on a stick...well, two hours is plenty of time at a market selling hats, silk, and knock-off Ralph Lauren t-shirts. I've been to the Dili Haat, I've bought silk before. Plus it was blistering hot. I sweated through my knee-pants and they started saggin badly. It was not a pretty picture; thus, no pictures from the Weekend Market.
My biggest adventure so far has been in the eating department. Can't really stick to Jillian here. Everything is fried, oiled, and greased 1000x over before it gets to your plate. Unlike in India where I was on the rice, nan, and dal diet, I'm on a rice, noodle, and fruit diet I think. I'm adding cuttlefish too, so squeeky and chewy. Yesterday, we came across a small lady sitting on the sidewalk with a boiling pot of curry over coals and a basket of greens and cooked noodles on eitherside of her. She plopped a handful of noodles in a ceramic bowl and ladled the broth over them. I added fresh dill and bok choy; and, it was perfect. Sitting on a tiny stool near the lady, I watched Kahoua devour her bowl in 3-5 seconds, Sarah sweating profusely from the chilis, and Kyle overtaking his tiny seat, knees to his nose. We paid the lady twenty baht and walked away as she washed the bowls in a stainless steel bucket of plain water. A memorable quote from India came to my head at that moment: "That looks clean."
Also, I've enjoyed a few new fruits, dragon fruit and the flesh from a coconut today, and I'm still in love with guava and papaya--my favorites from India. I've been able to buy fresh fruits a few blocks down from my apartment and I'm trying to scope out the new ones that arrive each day. A few things I want to try but haven't yet had the courage: stinky fruit (aka durian...I know, I know "Don't eat it," Auntie Lou said. But Auntie Lou, I think I must do it to really become an honorary Asian haha), and a tapioca-jelly drink (You drink it with a straw. It looks like mass of green and pink noodles in buttermilk which makes me question why Kahoua slurps it down like its a chocolate malt.)
Today we visited our schools and the faculty we'll be researching with. I'm at Mahidol with Kyle, Justin, Nadine, Alisa, and Michelle while Kahoua and Sarah are at Chula. I'm working with Kyle in a microbiology lab under Dr. Padungsri. http://www.sc.mahidol.ac.th/scmi/padungsri.htm Its a small lab, much smaller than Dr. Seelke's where I worked at UWS. I was disappointed that it wasn't "state of the art facilities" like I had somehow assumed it would be, but I think it will be fine. We tried to prepare the gel for an SDS gel electrophoresis, but screwed up and have to do it again tomorrow. So...at least I know they'll be some work to do even if its minimal. The best part about the job so far is working with Dr. Padungsri's student assistents A and Tukata (not sure of the real spelling for either name.) Neither speak English very well, and we've made a deal with them that we will help them with our language if they help us with theirs. So far I've used "Hello" and "Thank you" in Thai and nothing else, but I think that both of those are helping me to make friends with the door man at Starry Place where I live. I'm trying to use your advice, Auntie Lou, and trying to be a smart traveler. Being smart also means getting some sleep and thats what I'll do now. Its only 8:30 but the heat really takes it out of me.

Until we meet again,
Amy
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Day 36 Marseille

Finally. I'm actually blogging about what I did today, instead of what I did a week and a half ago.

I wanted to get a feel for the city today, so I decided to walk to the port via the old town and the cathedral and then see the 3 castles that guard the port. Also I wanted to have a look at the jardin du pharo (the Pharoe's Garden). Before heading back to the hostel via the new town. The old town was run down and not very interesting. The port was OK the closer you got to the centre-ville. Away from there it was all under construction, or so it seemed. One of the castles had scaffholding all around it, another was just a squat concrete block on a hill, and I couldn't see the third one. The gardens were formal gardens for the Pharoe's Castle. I ate lunch sitting on a bench voerlooking the sea which was nice. I then headed back to the hostel via the new town which I liked much more.

Still all things considered I'm not particularly impressed with Marseille. Oh well.

I also witnessed another bag snatch earlier. Someone grabbed a bag from a cafe. I think it was sitting on the floor when they grabbed it, though I'm not certain. Interesting isn't it that in the previous 9 countries I saw no crime. However, in 2 days I've seen 2 thefts in France.

Tomorrow I'm catching a train to Barcelona at 6am. So an early night and a good nights sleep would be useful
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10 Best Travel Photography Websites

by Heather | August 19th, 2010

“Best travel photography websites”. Sounds simple, right? Well, simple in the fact that there are a lot of travel photography websites out there. However, it’s challenging today to find quality, ah-inspiring photos. When it comes to photography the amount of interest about images documenting the daily life of people from around the world has exploded. Tweet this, post that, you name it, and I’ve taken a photo of it. Technology has made it easier, and faster to spread our experiences through photo-sharing websites, making the internet photography world an imagery haven.

With all of this in mind the search has become just that more tantalizing.  It’s somewhat of a treasure hunt for me, and I believe for others too that are looking for unique, high quality photographs. As a person in a typical town with a typical job, the world all of a sudden seems much more exciting, and available to explore when you’ve seen images of another place or culture. I believe these photos keep alive the faith that the journey to experience these places are attainable when at times it seems impossible.

1. Tom Robinson Photography : Tom is an English photographer who finds himself most at home while traveling the world. His website highlights his work in Central & South America, South East Asia, and New Zealand. His photographs are absolutely breath taking. Lots of character  is captivated through his images of the countries he has visited. If you have a great love for Latin American or Asian cultures you will truly enjoy his images.

2. Art Wolfe : A Northwest native, and avid traveler. Art’s collection is very extensive. His work is often updated on the website, and among having great photography: he is awesome with posting where he is, and what he is doing. He loves to share tips, and tricks of the trade. Art’s career as a photographer extends over 30 years, which makes him a great resource.

3. Mitchell Kanashkevich : Mitchell has a documentary style that is really appealing to many. It gives you the sense of being right in the mix of it all. His passion lies  in photographing disappearing cultures. The flavor of life is captivating, and makes his photographs some of the best to browse through. Mitchell also holds workshops around the world, and has publications documenting his work. Really inspiring stuff!

4. Wendy Connett Photography : She is probably one of my all time favorites. Love her work, and she has a wide range of travel photographs from all around the world. From the US to Morocco there are lots to get lost in. Wendy lives in New York, and is published in more than 25 countries.

5. The Digital Trekker : This website is run by Matt Brandon, and features a number of images & tools for all. Most of his photos are from India, Malayasia and Egypt. He updates his blog weekly, and always has inspiring images to share in his blog posts. I personally find his website very helpful in seeing through his images the ‘how to’s’.
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6. WhyGo : WhyGo is a great travel photography website for daily photos. This site has photos submitted 24/7 from all around the world from us the traveling readers. It’s a great way to share your experiences with the community, and get involved. You can be the one to inspire more people to travel. I check it out everyday! Like I said earlier it’s like a treasure hunt. Some days there is a phenomenal picture posted, and makes the wait worth it.

7. National Geographic : I know I’m stating the obvious here, but I have to say that this website is for sure the best free resource for travel photography. The catalog of locations, and images can keep me busy for hours. They have country, theme, park, people, etc. categories that speak to all. Plus, the pictures are a collaboration of the best of the best in the world, and if you are looking for a quick inspiration fix. There is no other photography site like it: we are lucky to have it right at our finger tips.

8. Nomadic Vision : The beautiful photos showcased on this website are captured by John and Tina Reid. The photographs are displayed creatively, and stand out for a number of reasons.  Their photographs range from nature, cities and people. The most intriguing part about their photographs is the commentary on each of the photos. I find that a lot of sites show pictures, but there is no information about them. The story behind the picture is just as compelling to me as the photograph: even if it is only one sentence. They also have a blog that gives you a bigger glimpse into their world.

9. Pictory : I’m a huge fan of this website. I can’t say enough good things about it. It’s only been out for a short while, but has made big waves. The site focuses on ’showcasing your best photo stories’. It only has three photo story cities listed (New York, San Francisco and London), but I believe their are more to come. The site only has a few travel destinations, but the photo story listed about each of the cities are unique. What intrigues me the most is that the photos display a side of the city that otherwise gets overlooked. Outside the travel world, the other photo series on the site are excellent. They spark a lot of feeling in the life’s of others, the content is well thought out, and changing on a regular bases. Plus, it’s nice to have a website with some local US travel destinations. Two thumbs up!

10. The Big Picture : Like I said, heavy hitters. The Boston Globe’s news in photograph series is a great one stop shop photography site of pictures from all over the world. A small number of photographs published are from private photographers, but a majority of their photographs posted come from such licensed sources as AP, and Getty images. What I love most about this site, is that you can browse pictures from all walks of life. The selection of pictures most always tell an interesting story, and are thought provoking. In their about page, Alan Taylor (who runs the blog) states that The Big Picture, “is intended to highlight high-quality, amazing imagery – with a focus on current events, lesser-known stories and, well, just about anything that comes across the wire that looks really interesting.”

In my many hours of perusing photographs: the mainstream has fueled my desire to find the rather off-beat, and possibly a tad more unusual in content travel photography websites. Don’t get me wrong: I do have a great appreciation for the heavy hitters too, there are a couple of them on the list to prove it is so. I will surely admit there are definitely more than 10 travel photography websites out there that are very noteworthy. But these are my ‘top’ travel photography websites right now that I frequent for inspiration.

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J89 en Colombie

Formulation, formulation et formulation ! Aujourd’hui je dois refaire les crèmes du début de semaine mais avec un autre produit afin de voir si cela fonctionne. Me voilà donc repartie pour toute une journée, je crois. Je suis quand même contente à 17h car j’ai réussi à faire mes deux crèmes. Vers 18H00, Sandra et moi rejoignons Herman à San Antonio pour boire un verre puis nous allons manger un « palito de queso » (sorte de croissant au fromage) à Rionegro. Pour ma part, ma journée s’achèvera vers 22h30. Demain dernier jour de la semaine :)
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