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Travel snapshots from Toonsarah

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  • About me
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  • Archive
  • Home
  • Destinations
    • England
      • London
      • Newcastle-upon-Tyne
    • Europe
      • Austria
      • Bulgaria
      • Estonia
      • France
        • Paris
      • Germany
      • Iceland
      • Italy
      • Jersey
      • Latvia
      • Norway
      • Portugal
      • Spain
        • Seville
      • Switzerland
      • Ukraine
    • Beyond
      • Africa
        • Botswana
        • Cape Verde
        • Gambia
        • Kenya
        • Morocco
        • Namibia
        • Senegal
        • Tanzania
        • Zimbabwe
      • Americas
        • Belize
        • Canada
        • Chile
          • Rapa Nui
        • Costa Rica
        • Ecuador
          • Galapagos Islands
        • Guatemala
        • Jamaica
        • USA
          • New Mexico
          • New York City
          • Washington State
      • Asia
        • DPRK
        • India
          • Kerala
          • Rajasthan
        • Indochina
          • Cambodia
          • Laos
          • Vietnam
        • Japan
        • Nepal
        • Oman
        • Syria
        • United Arab Emirates
        • Uzbekistan
  • Themes
    • Architecture
    • Art
      • Crafts
      • Street art
    • Colour
    • Dark tourism
    • Eco-tourism
    • Food & drink
    • Gardens
    • History
      • Ruins
      • War
    • Landscape
      • Coast & seascapes
      • Deserts
      • Mountains
      • Rivers
    • Nature and wildlife
      • Animals
      • Birds
      • Plants
        • Flowers
        • Trees, forests and woodland
    • People
      • Culture & tradition
      • Street photography
    • Travel in general
  • Photo galleries
    • Themed galleries
    • Travel galleries
  • Postcards from the road
  • Challenges
    • Photography challenges
      • Just One Person
      • Lens-Artists
      • Mid-week Monochrome
      • Monochrome Madness
      • One Word Sunday
      • Photographing Public Art
      • Pick a Word
      • Squares
      • Sunday Stills
      • The Changing Seasons
      • Words of Wisdom
      • Cee’s challenges
        • CBWC
        • CFFC
        • CMMC
    • General challenges
      • Monday walks
      • Writers’ Quotes Wednesday
    • Challenges archive
      • Bird Weekly
      • Friendly Friday
        • The Friendly Friday Challenge: how to join in
      • Friday’s Foods of the World
      • Life in Colour
      • One-to-Three
      • Ten photos
      • Thursday Doors
      • Thursday Trios
  • About me
    • Contact me
    • ‘Always Write’ interview
    • My love of travel
    • My photography
      • Photographic techniques
      • My photography journey
      • Video
    • Disclaimer & GDPR
  • Archive

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Topics I’ve touched on

africa architecture art birds black_&_white bulgaria cambodia cffc chile churches cities colour costa_rica dprk ealing england flowers france friendlyfriday Friendly_Friday history india just_one_person_from_around_the_world landscape lens-artists Lens_Artists_Challenge london Monday_Walks mountains nepal new_mexico north_korea paris people photography photo_effects PPAC rivers ruins Street_Art Street_Photography Sunday_Stills usa village wildlife
  • Landscape,  Lens-Artists,  Washington State

    What a difference a day makes

    February 28, 2021 / 25 Comments
    Rough wooden fence

    It is well known that mountain climates can be unpredictable, and Mount Rainier in the US North West is no different. After a perfect day in Paradise we had fallen asleep under clear skies; but we woke to thick fog obscuring all the surrounding mountains and indeed everything apart from the trees closest to the lodge. A perfect demonstration for us of the way that the mountain creates its own micro climate, although not an especially welcome one.

    Carry on reading

    Or what about ...?

    Rain spattered window with blurred landscape

    Learning to dance in the rain: Iceland’s Golden Circle

    October 23, 2021
    Large waterfall glimpsed through spray

    Mosi-oa-Tunya, the Smoke that Thunders

    December 8, 2021
    Sun rising above a tree

    Gallery: our fire returns

    April 7, 2022
  • Botswana,  Friendly Friday,  Landscape,  Video

    Video: flying to the Okavango Delta

    February 27, 2021 / 30 Comments
    Aerial view of green swampland with river channels

    Sometimes how you travel to a place can be as much fun as the place itself. The small planes that serve the various camps in Botswana’s Okavango Delta operate much like buses, dropping off and picking up passengers along the way. For some people, a flight in a small prop plane would be their worst nightmare; for me it was almost as much of an attraction as the destination itself!

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    Wetlands in low sun

    Gallery: mokoro rides in the Okavango Delta

    February 3, 2021
    Savannah landscape under blue sky

    A walk on Palm Island: hippos, hogs and crocs

    May 4, 2021
    Dead tree and long grass

    A walk on Sausage Island: it’s all about the elephants

    May 25, 2021
  • Deserts,  Namibia,  Travel galleries

    Gallery: up, up and away, in the Namib Desert

    February 26, 2021 / 20 Comments
    Sand dunes with shadow of a hot air balloon

    Deserts take many forms, but to most of us the word conjures up rolling dunes as far as the eye can see. Such a desert is the Namib, home to the world’s highest dunes. Many of them surround the clay pan of Sossusvlei, and one of the best ways to appreciate the scale and sheer number of these dunes is from above, in a hot air balloon.

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    Lady in traditional Bedouin dress

    Lunch with a Bedouin family in Oman

    May 5, 2021
    Steam rising from several geysers at sunrise

    El Tatio: a steaming landscape

    September 16, 2021
    Green pool and palm trees from above

    Water in the desert: Wadi Bani Khalid

    June 11, 2021
  • Cambodia,  Dark tourism,  Just One Person,  People,  War

    Meeting a survivor of S-21, Tuol Sleng

    February 24, 2021 / 25 Comments
    Man seated in front of poster of himself

    When the Khmer Rouge prison Tuol Sleng, in Phnom Penh, was liberated by the invading Vietnamese army in 1979, the guards killed all but a handful of prisoners to try to prevent them telling of the horrors perpetrated there. Chum Mey is just one of thousands who were imprisoned here. He is also just one of a very few to have survived the experience – to have lived to tell that story.

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    Or what about ...?

    Man frying insects at a food stall

    Exploring the street food of Phnom Penh

    April 3, 2021
    A man with a young girl on his shoulders

    Lunch with Mr Noon and his family

    January 13, 2023
    Header image with two small photos

    Friendly Friday Challenge: think about your viewpoint

    July 1, 2022
  • Challenge Your Camera,  London,  People

    When the Olympics came to London, 2012

    February 23, 2021 / 20 Comments
    Back of a head wearing Union Jack hat

    As a sports fan there can little that is more exciting than the Olympics coming to your city - and in 2012 they came to London. I still remember the announcement in 2007. Everyone thought that Paris would win, so it was a wonderful surprise to hear that London would be the host city.

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    Four terracotta jars with cloth covers

    The Abbot’s Kitchen at Glastonbury Abbey

    March 2, 2021
    Several bridges over a river

    Newcastle: a city and its river

    February 18, 2021
    Close-up of pink blossom

    Gallery: beautiful blooms and bees in close-up

    March 9, 2021
  • Birds,  Gambia,  Sunday Stills,  Travel galleries

    Gallery: the birds of the Gambia

    February 22, 2021 / 27 Comments
    Large heron on top of a mangrove tree

    You don’t need to be a keen birdwatcher to be captivated by the variety and number of birds to be found in the Gambia. The country is considered to be a birdwatcher's paradise, and even as a non-expert and fairly mild enthusiast I had great fun spotting and photographing (or in some cases trying to photograph) the myriad species here.

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    Bird with yellow breast on a bare branch

    Gallery: Great Tit three ways

    April 5, 2022
    Two birds with turquoise feet

    Blue feet, red feet, any coloured feet …

    May 18, 2021
    Blue lake with flamingos feeding

    Around the world in ten photos: day two

    December 18, 2020
  • Culture & tradition,  Dark tourism,  DPRK,  History,  Lens-Artists,  Travel galleries

    Gallery: statues of the Great Leaders

    February 20, 2021 / 45 Comments
    Large statues of North Korean Leaders with visiting locals

    When Kim Il Sung, President of North Korea, died in 1994, the role of Leader passed to his son, Kim Jong Il, but the title of President did not. Instead, Kim Il Sung was declared ‘Eternal President’ of the nation, and the presidential office was written out of the constitution.

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    Lady in pink head covering in front of grass roof

    A warm welcome in the Thar Desert

    February 11, 2021
    Lady in traditional Bedouin dress

    Lunch with a Bedouin family in Oman

    May 5, 2021

    A postcard from Nepal: Sadhus

    October 27, 2022
  • Culture & tradition,  History,  Rajasthan

    Tales of death in Jaisalmer and beyond

    February 19, 2021 / 18 Comments
    Lake with domed structure and birds

    Deep in the Thar Desert in the far west of Rajasthan is a golden city. A fairy tale fort sits on a ridge overlooking the town, still home to many families whose houses cluster within its sheltering walls. I loved Jaisalmer's remoteness, its border-town mentality, and the beauty of its golden architecture. And I enjoyed the personal stories of life (and death) as told by our Brahmin guide Gaurav.

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    Or what about ...?

    Street with low houses and woman carrying a basket

    Weird and wonderful: forbidden culture in Cuenca

    October 24, 2021
    Buddhist monk

    Saying prayers for Korean reunification

    June 3, 2021
    Huge blue statue of seated figure

    Lord Shiva statue in the hills above Pokhara

    January 7, 2023
  • Architecture,  Challenge Your Camera,  England,  History,  Newcastle-upon-Tyne,  Rivers

    Newcastle: a city and its river

    February 18, 2021 / 54 Comments
    Several bridges over a river

    Rarely is a city defined so clearly by one single feature in the way that Newcastle-upon-Tyne is defined by its river. The city’s history has been shaped by the river, especially by shipbuilding; and now that the ship-yards are largely lost to history, the life of the city, especially its cultural and social life, continues to flow from the banks of the Tyne. A favourite walk in the city is along the Quayside past the Tyne’s famous bridges.

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    Or what about ...?

    Sign on boarded-up window

    Gallery: London, off the beaten track (urban erosion)

    January 17, 2021
    Series of ornate arches with trees beyond

    Gallery: looking out from the shadows

    May 7, 2022
    Small church on a wooded mountainside

    Asen’s Fortress and the Church of the Holy Mother of God

    August 18, 2021
  • Colour,  Culture & tradition,  Japan,  Sunday Stills

    The Bake-Jizō of Kanmangafuchi Abyss

    February 16, 2021 / 18 Comments
    Line of seated stone statues wearing red caps and bibs

    Red, in Japan, is the colour of the sun (not yellow as in other cultures). It stands for life, power and protection, but also for death. It is thought capable of expelling demons and illness. You see red everywhere; on temple roofs, torii gates at shrines, lanterns and pagodas. And in the bibs and caps worn by the haunting Jizō statues of Kanmangafuchi Abyss in Nikko.

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    Dried fruit and nuts displayed with price tags

    Gallery: tenderly love the apricots

    September 15, 2022
    White marble carving of an elephant and various people

    Gallery: does white exist?

    January 17, 2022
    Pink flowers half-silhouetted against a pink sky

    Gallery: looking on the pink side

    October 18, 2021
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And my answers to Bren’s ‘five at five’ questions

Lady in a hat and red top sitting on rocks

Some favourite photos

Man in a turban with fishing nets
Fisherman in Fort Kochi, Kerala
Two elephants in long grass
Okavango elephants
Blue glacier edge
Glacier Grey, Torres del Paine, Chile
Elderly woman in black hat and sunglasses
In Santiago, Chile
Very large statues of North Korean Leaders
Statues of the Great Leaders on Mansudae Hill, Pyongyang
Water reflecting the sky with clouds and low sun
Approaching sunset in the Okavango Delta
Feet of huge metal sculpture, with man standing beside
The feet of the Angel
Large moai with row of more behind
The ‘travelling moai’ and Ahu Tongariki
Man in knitted hat by water, black and white photo
Waiting for the ferry, Banjul
Mountain reflected in a lake
On the road to Dyrholaey
Sunset at Wahiba Sands, Oman
Squirrel with a conker in his mouth
In Walpole Park, Ealing
Silhouette of a man in a gateway
Looking out from Bundi Palace
Blue and pink bird on a dead tree
Lilac-breasted Roller, Chobe NP, Botswana
Buddhist monk in orange robes with mobile phone
Monk at Wat Nong Sikhounmuang, Luang Prabang
Man sleeping in a tuk tuk by a carved stone wall
Tuk tuk driver by the Terrace of the Leper King
Close up of flamingo with head tucked under
Flamingo (Jersey Zoo)
Lady with baskets of fruit sitting by a canal
In Hoi An, Vietnam
Small fishing boat with a man in it, on a large lake
Lake Atitlan
Wet street and two people with bright pink umbrella
Street in Lucca, rainy day – edited

Some topics I’ve touched on

africa architecture art birds black_&_white bulgaria cambodia cffc chile churches cities colour costa_rica dprk ealing england flowers france friendlyfriday Friendly_Friday history india just_one_person_from_around_the_world landscape lens-artists Lens_Artists_Challenge london Monday_Walks mountains nepal new_mexico north_korea paris people photography photo_effects PPAC rivers ruins Street_Art Street_Photography Sunday_Stills usa village wildlife

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  • Gallery: pick a word (January 2023)
  • Gallery: seeing Japan in black and white
  • Gallery: the sound of silence

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All images and texts copyright Sarah Wilkie - 2023 ©
 

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