Travel with me

Travel snapshots from Toonsarah

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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
  • Culture & tradition,  Monday walks,  Oman

    A walk along the Corniche in Muttrah

    June 9, 2022 / 31 Comments
    White houses, blur minaret and dome, distant mountains

    On our last morning in Muscat we explored the district known as Muttrah. This is the city’s commercial heart, home to its port and a number of sights. Our walk took us from the bustling fish market at its northern end past the port to the equally busy souk near the far end.

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    Lady in bright carnival costume

    Carnival parade in Praia, Cape Verde

    January 18, 2021
    Little boy and two little girls in Japanese costume

    Celebrating childhood at the shrines of Japan

    April 25, 2021
    Buddhist monk

    Saying prayers for Korean reunification

    June 3, 2021
  • Culture & tradition,  Deserts,  Oman,  Ruins

    Dhofar, the Land of Frankincense

    May 11, 2022 / 26 Comments
    Small squat tree in a dry stony landscape

    You can’t travel far in Oman without hearing the word frankincense. Every Omani home burns this fragrant resin daily, it is an intrinsic part of Omani life. Not only does it make the home smell nice, it also keeps flying insects such as mosquitoes at bay. The best quality frankincense is steeped overnight in water which is then drunk at breakfast time to treat a variety of ailments. And inhaling the smoke is said to be good for asthma.

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    Street with low houses and woman carrying a basket

    Weird and wonderful: forbidden culture in Cuenca

    October 24, 2021
    Low stone houses on a hillside

    The Birdmen of Rapa Nui

    January 15, 2021
    Large group of dancers in traditional Korean green dress

    Gallery: dancing on the streets of Pyongyang

    November 28, 2020
  • Friendly Friday,  Oman,  People,  Travel in general

    Friendly Friday: meet some amazing guides

    November 19, 2021 / 30 Comments
    Banner with photo of a man in Arab dress

    A local guide can make or break the travel experience. A good one will not only smooth the path and tell you about the sights you are seeing, they will also share something of themselves. Spending time together you will get to know each other and learn more about the country than you ever would from reading guidebooks, from the perspective of someone who lives there. They will be able to introduce you to some insider secrets: a little-known site; a café or bar frequented only by locals; a short…

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    Dark pink flower head

    Gallery: in the garden, Costa Rican style

    March 12, 2022
    Rocky coastline

    Stunning landscapes of Iceland: the day the sun shone

    October 29, 2021
    Forest in the mist

    Barking up the right tree in Costa Rica

    March 4, 2022
  • Lens-Artists,  Oman,  Ruins

    Seen better days: the ruined villages of Oman

    October 2, 2021 / 26 Comments

    Not many countries can have seen such rapid change as did Oman in the 1970s. When Sultan Qaboos bin Said Al-Said overthrew his father in a bloodless coup in 1970, Oman was considered one of the most technologically and educationally deprived countries in the world. In the first 25 years of his reign it moved from a largely feudal society to a rapidly developing modern one.

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    Black and white photo of white building

    Gallery: seeking geometry in architecture

    March 28, 2021
    Collage of seven different photos

    Gallery: so which did you choose?

    January 18, 2023
    Tall trees, lots of ferns

    Gallery: on the Hall of Mosses trail

    November 24, 2020
  • Deserts,  Oman,  Sunday Stills

    Rub’ Al Khali: the Empty Quarter

    August 16, 2021 / 24 Comments
    Straight road and brown sign in English and Arabic

    The Empty Quarter, otherwise known as Rub’ Al Khali, is the largest contiguous sand desert in the world. It is so-called because this huge stretch of unbroken sand has defeated kings, adventurers, and nomads for thousands of years. In a region defined by deserts, the Rub’ Al Khali has come to be known as among the most daunting and inhospitable. And it is on an unfathomable scale.

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    Dramatic mountain landscape

    Gallery: Mountain, Desert, Jungle or Ocean?

    June 28, 2021
    Small squat tree in a dry stony landscape

    Dhofar, the Land of Frankincense

    May 11, 2022
    Road through mountains with snow and pine trees

    Gallery: on the road to the future?

    January 10, 2022
  • Deserts,  Oman

    Water in the desert: Wadi Bani Khalid

    June 11, 2021 / 23 Comments
    Green pool and palm trees from above

    There is indeed something particularly awe-inspiring about coming across an oasis in a barren landscape. The contrast between lush greenery and bare rock or soil can be so striking. Wadi Bani Khalid is one of the best-known and most accessible of Oman’s wadis. But the small amount of development here has been done sensitively and it doesn’t detract from the visual impact of deep green waters, lush date plantations and stark mountains all around.

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    Lady in traditional Bedouin dress

    Lunch with a Bedouin family in Oman

    May 5, 2021
    Sand dunes with shadow of a hot air balloon

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

    February 26, 2021
    Steam rising from several geysers at sunrise

    El Tatio: a steaming landscape

    September 16, 2021
  • Friendly Friday,  Landscape,  Oman

    Jebel Shams, the tallest mountain in Oman

    May 8, 2021 / 16 Comments
    Stony landscape with rough road

    The road wound up and up, at first tarmac, later gravel. If it weren’t for the few scrubby bushes we might almost have been on the moon, the landscape was so barren and rocky. It was hard to believe that this road led anywhere at all ...

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    Banner heading with photo of African man

    Friendly Friday: meet Cheikh, a guide in Senegal

    July 16, 2021
    Rain spattered window with blurred landscape

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

    October 23, 2021
    Banner with two small photos

    Friendly Friday Challenge: leading lines

    May 6, 2022
  • Culture & tradition,  Deserts,  Just One Person,  Oman

    Lunch with a Bedouin family in Oman

    May 5, 2021 / 28 Comments
    Lady in traditional Bedouin dress

    Salma is an Omani Bedouin. She lives part of the time in a tent on the fringes of the vast Wahiba Sands; and part of the time in a modern house in the nearby town of Bidiyyah. She wore the traditional Bedouin face mask, designed to protect from sandstorms and the elements in general, as she and her daughter in law served our lunch of traditional bread, rice, dhal, chicken, fish and salad.

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    Or what about ...?

    Two men in fancy dress

    Gallery: Comic and Games festival in Lucca

    November 8, 2020
    Man beating white cloth

    A dhobi wallah in Fort Cochi, Kerala

    April 14, 2021
    Man sitting on a rug using a hammer and anvil

    A blacksmith at work in Bukhara

    March 24, 2022
  • Landscape,  Oman,  Ten photos

    Around the world in ten photos: day ten

    December 27, 2020 / 15 Comments
    Vista of barren rocky mountain landscape

    Standing here you feel on top of the world. You are standing at a height of 2,000 metres above sea level. Below you see the road, little more than a track, that you are to follow, winding down through an almost other-worldly volcanic landscape.

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    Ducks landing on a lake

    Summer in East Anglia

    August 10, 2022
    Large waterfall glimpsed through spray

    Mosi-oa-Tunya, the Smoke that Thunders

    December 8, 2021
    Black and white photo of street signs

    Gallery: meet me on the corner

    September 2, 2022

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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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