Tag Archives: Tourism
Monochrome Kashgar.
I had plans for more stories from Xinjiang; however, the more I try to put pen to paper the more I realise I don’t want to add words to what I’ve already said. What I do have are some photos. … Continue reading
Posted in Asia, China
Tagged Army, Arrests, Asia, Border, Border patrol, Brainwashing, CCTV, Central Asia, Chairman, Chen, Chen Quanguo, China, Concentration camps, Foreigners, Id Kah, Irkeshtam, Irkeshtam border, Islam, Islamist, Jiefang, Kashgar, Kashgar old town, Kyrgyzstan, Kyrgyzstan - Xinjiang, Land crossing, Mao, Mosque, Mountains, Music, People, Peter Robb, Photography, Police, Qomuz, Re-education camps, Religion, Repression, Soldiers, Street photography, Surveillance, Terrorism, Tourism, Travel, Truck, Turkestan, Turkic, Urban photography, Urumqi, Uyghur, Uzbekistan, Xinjiang, Zedong
13 Comments
Nobody speak. A Xinjiang journal.
Why coming here? I loathe the term dark tourism. Yet why am I here? I’m not an activist, a journalist, somebody with a higher sense of purpose. My only answer is because it’s there. Because I want to see it with my own eyes. … Continue reading
Posted in Asia, Central Asia, China, Kyrgyzstan
Tagged Army, Arrests, Asia, Border, Border patrol, Brainwashing, CCTV, Central Asia, Chairman, Chen, Chen Quanguo, China, Concentration camps, Foreigners, Id Kah, Irkeshtam, Irkeshtam border, Islam, Islamist, Jiefang, Kashgar, Kashgar old town, Kyrgyzstan, Kyrgyzstan - Xinjiang, Land crossing, Mao, Mosque, Mountains, Music, People, Peter Robb, Photography, Police, Qomuz, Re-education camps, Religion, Repression, Soldiers, Street photography, Surveillance, Terrorism, Tourism, Travel, Truck, Turkestan, Turkic, Urban photography, Urumqi, Uyghur, Uzbekistan, Xinjiang, Zedong
41 Comments
The quest for the best road.
There are countless articles singing the virtues of this or that stretch of road, claiming it to be “the best in the UK/Europe/world” (delete as applicable). So what’s the point in writing another one? What’s the use of increasing the … Continue reading
Posted in Europe, Iceland
Tagged Ólafsvík, Borgarnes, Creedence, DJ Krush, El Búho, Eldborg, Europe, Fortress of Fire, Grundarfjörður, Iceland, Icelandic horse, Kirkjufell, Music, Road, Road Trip, Route 54, Route 56, Route 574, Saxhóll, Sea, Snæfellsnes, Snow, Stykkishólmur, Suzuki Vitara, Tourism, Travel, Video, Vitara, Volcano, Winter, Xica Xica, Ytri-Tunga
26 Comments
The worst-named animal in the world.
As far as names are concerned, few animals have had it as bad as the Orca. Popularly known as “killer whale” – a connotative appellative if ever there was one – they don’t fare much better from a scientific point … Continue reading
Posted in Europe, Iceland
Tagged Ólafsvík, Blackfish, Calf, environment, Europe, Fishing, Fjord, Herring, Iceland, Killer whale, Láki, Láki tours, Mammals, Marine Mammals, Matriarchy, Mountains, North Sea, Orca watching, Orcas, Orcinus orca, Photography, Sea, seagull, Snæfellsnes, Snow, Tourism, Travel, Trawler, Westfjord, Whale, Whale watching
26 Comments
Porteño portrait.
There’s only a way to define my desire to describe a community of 13 million people after visiting it for a mere handful of days: preposterous. Still, this is what I’ll attempt here. This is my final tribute to Buenos … Continue reading
Posted in Americas, Argentina
Tagged America, Argentina, Buenos Aires, Evita Peron, Homelessness, Humanity, Kindness, Latin America, Lucha, Luchamos, Lucia Perez, Machismo, People, People watching, Peronismo, Peronismo militante, Photography, Politics, Porteño, Portrait, Poverty, Pueblo, Resistance, Riot, San Telmo, Santiago Maldonado, Street photography, Tourism, Travel, Travel literature, Urban photography, Violence
19 Comments
Six Photos in Search of a Story.
A picture is worth a thousand words, they say. Never let photos in the way of a good story, I say. Ask anyone who’d read Thubron or Robb, writers of books without as much as a picture, and ask them … Continue reading
Posted in Asia, South Korea
Tagged Admonition, Asia, Beer, Bukchon, Bukchon photographer, Calvino, Dress, Food, Hanok, Hanok village, Incheon, Incheon Free Economic Zone, Italo, Korea, Old men, Pensioners, People, People watching, Photography, Pirandello, Rain, Republic of Korea, ROK, Seoul, Silence, Six photos, South Korea, Street photography, Sun, Tourism, Travel, Urban photography
33 Comments
Elegy for gentrification. Yes, you read it right.
There are a few words as laden with meanings, almost entirely of negative connotation, as gentrification. Say it and your mind will conjure images of invading toffs, an irresistible volkswanderung of genteel professionals with no fear but for white carbs, descending … Continue reading
Posted in Europe, UK
Tagged Amazon, Britain, Canal, Canal boat, City of London, Decay, Europe, Gentrification, Harry Potter, Houseboat, JK Rowling, Kings Cross, KX, London, Photography, Platform 9 3/4, Pollinator, Punk, Renovation, Review, Skip Garden, Sky, Station, Street photography, Summer, Toffs, Tourism, Train, Travel, UAL, UK, University, Urban decay, Urban photography, Waitrose, Wimbledon
17 Comments
The whistling man of Registan.
Denying it would be pointless, and I won’t: I am an unabashed Morricone fan and – the two go hand in hand, really – an Alessandroni devotee. Whilst I appreciate that Morricone’s fame is somehow a given, I’m aware that … Continue reading
Posted in Asia, Central Asia, Uzbekistan
Tagged Architecture, Art, Asia, Bibi Khanum, Central Asia, Control, Freeloaders, Islam, Madrassah, Millyi Gvardiya, People watching, Police, Registan, Registon, Religion, Samarkand, Samarqand, Selfies, Shir Dor, Tamerlane, Tillya Kari, Timur, Tourism, Ulug Beg, Uzbekistan
21 Comments
Delirious Venezia.
Thirty-one years, all of which in possess of a passport marked “Repubblica Italiana”, and I had never been to Venezia. I visited Hanoi, Dušanbe and Charlotte, North Carolina, but never made it to the city at the end of the Veneto … Continue reading
Posted in Europe, Italy, Veneto
Tagged America, Boat, Calle, Canal, Canals, Church, Communism, Cruise ship, Dorsoduro, Europe, Ghetto, Ghetto Nuovo, Hammer and sickle, Italia, Italy, Jew, Maserati, No Grandi Navi, Pollution, Religion, Rialto, San Marco, Sant'Elena, Sticker, Street art, Tourism, Venezia, Venice, Vicenza
27 Comments
Marooned in Muscat
“How are you, brother? You look a little lost.” The young, tall Omani – immaculate in his neatly pressed green dishdasha – was absolutely right. I was tired, red-eyed, yearning for a shower and, above all, utterly lost. Faithful to … Continue reading
Posted in Faith, Middle East, Oman, Overlooked locations
Tagged Arabic Peninsula, Auto, Failure, Gulf, Islam, Muscat, Oman, Sultan Qaboos, Sultanate, Tourism, Understanding Arabia
5 Comments
