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Tag Archives: Travel
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
9 Comments
Remembrance for scatterbrains.
Landing takes place at night. We descend into the warm Mediterranean air, those of us sat on the left-hand side being treated to a royal view of the entire city of Beirut lying, invitingly, beneath us. Here is Ras Beirut, … Continue reading
Posted in Lebanon, Middle East
Tagged Alawite, Architecture, Asia, Beirut, Beit Beirut, Christianity, Civil War, Demarcation Line, Druze, Green Line, Hamas, Hezbollah, Holiday Inn Beirut, Iftar, Iran, Lebanese Civil War, Marina, Maronite, Martyrs' Monument, Middle East, Nightlife, People, Photography, Ramadan, Religion, Skyscrapers, Street photography, Taif, Travel, Urban photography, War
18 Comments
The land beneath the mountains.
That’s the name of my region. The land at the feet of the mountains. Click on the photo to open the panorama In my region, topography is binary. Clear cut. It’s either flat, or mountainous. No middle ground, no rolling … Continue reading
Posted in Italy, Piemonte
Tagged Alpi, Alps, Biella, Bird, Bird spotting, Duck, Emigration, Expat, Fara Novarese, Fields, Fourteener, Geese, Glacier, Immigrant, Italia, Italy, Lake, London, Malpensa, Massazza, Masserano, Massif, Monte Rosa, Musings, nature, North West Italy, Novara, Piedicavallo, Piemonte, Reservoir, Snow, Switzerland, Travel, Vercelli, Vineyard, Water, Winter, Woods
13 Comments
A cosy red dot away from it all.
You feel it’s a different place from the very moment the jetway disgorges you into the main concourse at Changi Airport. It’s a quick walk on the world’s plushiest, softest carpet to immigration, past ornate flowerbeds erupting with tropical plants, … Continue reading
Posted in Asia, Singapore
Tagged Asia, Baghdad street, Caning, Changi airport, Equator, Expat, Fear, Fearmongering, Financial district, Indonesia, Little India, Malacca, Malaysia, Marina Bay Sands, MTR, Orchids, Peace, Police, Red dot, Rioting, SG Secure, Singapore, Skyline, Social peace, Strait, Terrorism, Travel
18 Comments
Disaster by design: the death and partial rebirth of the Aral Sea (Part 3).
I’d expected the whistling undertaker from For a Fistful of Dollars to be appearing at every corner I turned. I was to experience this feeling again, in Central Asia, but Aralsk looked – even smelt, if that was ever possible – … Continue reading
Posted in Asia, Central Asia
Tagged Aral, Aralsk, Aralsk Harbour, Central Asia, Harbour, Hotel, Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, Port, Sea, Station, Train travel, Travel
15 Comments
Disaster by design: the death and partial rebirth of the Aral Sea (Part 2).
I’d seen Serik a long time before we met in the parking lot outside the Altair hotel; in fact, I first read about him on Al Jazeera. Dubbed “Aralsk’s only tour guide”, he’d accepted to be my guide for the … Continue reading
Posted in Asia, Kazakhstan
Tagged Aqespe, Aral, Aral Sea, Aral sea ships, Aralsk, Asia, Beached boats, Boat, Camel, Cotton, Desertification, Disappearance of Aral sea, Ecological disaster, Ecology, Impact on health, Kazakhstan, Lenin, Moscow, North Aral Sea, Salinisation, Ship Graveyard, Ships, Soviet Union, Travel, USSR, Uzbekistan, White Gold, World Bank, Zhalanash
22 Comments
Weren’t all they supposed to be madmen?
Lunatics. Zealots. Religious fanatics. These were a few of the attributes that friends and acquaintances slapped on the people of Iran whenever the topic came up. Unrequested opinions were offered, together with garbled memories of articles penned down by the … Continue reading
Posted in Asia, Iran
Tagged Asia, Christianity, Farsi, Fox news, Hezbollah, Iran, Isfahan, Islam, Middle East, People, Street, Street photography, Terrorism, Travel
15 Comments
On the night bus.
Eyes closed, you rub your palms on the face, trying to restart circulation. You stop and catch your reflex in the brown bottle of Sarajevska – the fifth, or sixth? – of the day. It looks exactly as tired as it … Continue reading
When the journey is the destination: a trip on Norway’s Bergensbanen.
As every person’s preferences evolve through time, I’m finding my own taste for travel changing the more I grow old. At 16 or thereabouts the best trip was to descend to Ibiza with a group of pals, our goal see … Continue reading
Posted in Europe, Norway
Tagged Bergen, Bergen line, Bergensbanen, Hardangerjøkulen, Norge, Norway, NSB, Oslo, Rail, Railway, Scandinavia, Travel
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The most tragic, miserable and bone-breaking way of travelling. Coach.
Early on Saturday morning last week I emerged from Budapest Airport’s Terminal 2B with a smile on my face. I had a thoroughly enjoyable couple of flights on Turkish Airlines, the sun was shining and – miracle – the ATM … Continue reading
Posted in Europe, Hungary, Public Transportation, Random memories
Tagged Bus, Coach, Hungary, Rant, Travel
5 Comments
