travel tips

information that makes traveling easier, fun or more interesting

Playing With Light At New Delhi’s Lotus Temple

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India — a photograper’s delight! Here’s one among many favorites of mine from a recent month-long stay in New Delhi, India’s capital city. The Lotus Temple, a Baha’i worship center, is named for the shape of the flower used in its unique design.

India is fascinating, a country of many stark contrasts, and the images are stunning almost everywhere you turn.

Yet the fascination comes with a jumble of mixed feelings, as in the advantage I took in shooting the scene above of the beautiful Baha’i Lotus Temple.

I was there at dusk with the setting sun, good for taking a photo of almost anything, anywhere. And in New Delhi, with the most polluted air of any capital city in the world, shooting straight into the sun like that, I was able to use the pollution like a filter to mute the sun’s rays coming directly through my lens from behind the temple to capture the scene with dramatic effect.

At least I thought so. Let me know if you disagree.

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Guides and Guidebooks: Reasons Why I Rarely Use Them

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The massive interior of the cave church of St. Simon the Tanner in the Garbage City neighborhood of Cairo, worth seeing, unlike the mural that Lonely Planet recommended.

I’d been to Garbage City a couple of times already but agreed to return with a new friend from Sydney who just moved into the Holy Sheet Hostel where I was staying in Cairo.

“Justin” was traveling solo on holiday from his job managing a bar, restaurant and gaming facilities in Australia’s largest city.

He had a four-year old Lonely Planet guide book with a paragraph about Garbage City which mentioned a French-Tunisian graffiti artist who had created what Lonely Planet described as “one of the most astonishing pieces of street art in the Middle East” in Garbage City in the 1970s. But it could only be seen in its entirety from an upper floor of a particular building near the massive cave church of St. Simon the Tanner.

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Life On The Backstreets of Cairo: Take A Walking Tour of ‘Garbage City’

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Entire families are involved in the collection and processing of Cairo’s rubbish in the area know as the City of Garbage, a neighborhood where they live and work.

I read about this part of Cairo before even planning my trip and was intrigued with the idea that an urban neighborhood would be almost entirely committed to the business of collecting and recycling municipal solid waste for its economic well-being.

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Here’s Why You Don’t Want A Zim/Zam Univisa

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This section of the Zambesi River below Victoria Falls, one of the world’s most spectacular waterfalls, is known as Boiling Pots for its roiling surface. Zimbabwe is on the right, Zambia is on left; midway across the Zambesi lies the border between the two countries. Spanning the gorge above is Victoria Falls Bridge.

I was going to Zimbabwe to visit a friend and wanted to spend some time as well in neighboring Zambia.

The two South African countries share the Zambesi River as their border where the mighty Victoria Falls unleashes its power.

I thought that a visa allowing free, unlimited border crossings for 30 days would be ideal. It was available on arrival at Zimbabwe’s Harare International Airport for 50 USD, just 20 USD more than the 30-day visa for Zimbabwe only.

I thought it would be neat to go back and forth enjoying benefits of both sides of the falls in the towns of Livingstone, Zambia, and Victoria Falls on the Zimbabwe side.

But there was a big snag in the plan that didn’t occur to me until too late.

Covid tests.

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Exploring Athens The Old-school Way: On Foot

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The City of Athens sprawls like this in every direction from the Lycabettus Hill, perhaps the best viewing platform in the city at about a thousand feet. Only about a 30-minute walk from my house.

I’m breaking in a new pair of hiking boots so walking has been my principal mode of transportation of late. But that’s OK since walking through unfamilar cityscapes is one of my favorite travel pastimes.

So far so good with my new bargain boots.

I’ve been in Athens now for a week. You’ve probably seen my first post on the Acropolis; now I’ve got some other photos taken on various other walks, starting with the Wednesday open market on Kavlou Street, in the Gizi neighborhood of the city, where I live.

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In Greece, Discovery Down A Road Not Before Taken

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A wintry sky this week above the stunning snow-capped White Mountains of Western Crete, Greece.

I’m having the greek salad, about as authentic as it gets where I am in the beautiful, rural foothills of the White Mountains on the island of Crete, Greece.

I watch the regulars start filing into the tavern in the early afternoon, spicing the air with their husky voices, breaking the stillness of morning with lively, spirited talk of whatever old Greeks talk about with time on their hands.

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