Solo Travel Tales and Tips from the Middle East and Elsewhere on the Globe » Photo Essay

Laundry of the World – Photo Essay

Sabina — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 08:30:04 +0000

Laundry may seem peculiar photographic subject matter, but consider this. These simple muticolored cloths swaying in the breeze are a nexus between traveler and local, forming a sort of wall between “us” and “them.” On the traveler’s side of the laundry line are plane tickets and bus stations, maps and museums, exotic foods and hostel rooms. The traveler’s life. Behind the laundry are people who may never have left their country, young wives preparing yet another dinner, children who will be starting school tomorrow. Life at home. If we travelers look into backyards, up at rooftops and balconies we can see many examples of the stable local life of others, life which we’ll never be able to connect with entirely.

Cairo, Egypt

Bangkok, Thailand

Jerusalem, Israel

Kampot, Cambodia

Dubai, UAE

Nha Trang, Vietnam

The first laundry I ever hung - Bridgetown, Western Australia

Laundry of the World – Photo Essay is a post from: Solo Travel Tales and Tips from the Middle East and Elsewhere on the Globe

People Who Pose and People Who Don’t – Photo Essay

Sabina — Sat, 20 Aug 2011 11:30:27 +0000

Taking photographs is one of the funnest aspects of travel. While it may be nice to snap shots of famous structures like Angkor Wat and beautiful nature such as what you see in northern Israel , I think taking photos of people is far more fun. Of course some strangers love having a camera pointed at them and end up posing, while others turn away and in rare instances get so annoyed they retaliate by taking a photo of me taking a photo of them. Here’s people I’ve encountered around the world who seemingly loved me photograping them as well as those who clearly didn’t.

Someone who obviously didn't appreciate being photographed - Kampot, Cambodia

Someone who askede if he could pose for me - on a bus somewhere between Nuweiba and Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt

For these two girls, one person taking their photos wasn't enough, so they stopped and posed for me too - Hanoi, Vietnam

These two boys jumped up and down with excitement when they saw my camera - Isla Mujeres, Mexico

While this boy getting a fish massage didn't seem to want to be photographed at all - Siem Reap, Cambodia

These napping beauties didn't realize I was photographing them - Nha Trang, Vietnam

While this friendly man on the street happily stoped to pose - Muscat, Oman

People Who Pose and People Who Don’t – Photo Essay is a post from: Solo Travel Tales and Tips from the Middle East and Elsewhere on the Globe

Springtime in Northern Israel – Photo Essay

Sabina — Mon, 02 May 2011 16:30:18 +0000

As I sit here listening to the sweet lullaby of a lawn mower, I’m reminded that springtime is lingering a little longer than usual here in northern Israel. Spring is short in this country, typically running from February through April. Aided by late season rains this year, its multi-colored hues are decorating the earth a little longer, even as the blistering force of summertime sun tries to push them into the past.

Northern Israel reminds me much of Connecticut, my permanent home in the U.S., a place where spring is currently in full swing. Much of the springtime life in Israel I’ve never seen in Connecticut, though – or anywhere. Since most of the world doesn’t know much about Israel, much less northern Israel, I want to show the gorgeous country that stands behind the negative image. I’ve already given a glimpse into the areas of Israel that lie on the borders with Jordan, Syria and Lebanon and posted a photo essay depicting its bucolic countryside. Here is another photo essay of the beauty that you’ll find in northern Israel during a typical spring – and even somewhat now, in May.

My favorite Israeli flowers. I've never seen these before in my life

Spring in full swing

Orange groves lie at the base of the mountain I hike every day. Their scent is magnificent.

Vast fields of small red flowers are everywhere. It's too bad I'm such a poor photographer that I don't have a good picture of them.

A cottonwood tree (I guess) in downtown Tibieras

These beautiful little yellow flowers are very common here, fortunately

How can you not like little pink flowers?

One of my favorite sights - a clear, clean blue sky

Springtime in Northern Israel – Photo Essay is a post from: Solo Travel Tales and Tips from the Middle East and Elsewhere on the Globe

Bucolic Northern Israel – Photo Essay

Sabina — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 16:30:46 +0000

I am a nature liker, not a nature lover. But I swooned over and quickly fell in permanent love with northern Israel, an area saturated in pure natural beauty. Its rolling hills of dusty brown and deep green, its gracefully sloping deep valleys and its patches of tidy, multi-hued farmland, all interrupted only every once in a while by populated areas that fit snugly into its hills and dales, caused me to think three years ago when I first arrived in its midst that this must be the most beautiful country on earth. Since then I’ve traveled to a couple more continents and many more countries, all of which confirm that, in my eyes, Israel is indeed the most beautiful country in the world.

Much of northern Israel has a beautiful patchwork appearance

Israel is the kind of place that repeatedly makes me pull my car off to the side of the road to take photos - when I had a car

I love the dichotomy of its natural, wild beauty combined with its tidy appearance

The interior, with a little bit of snow in the hills

Most of northern Israel lies west of the Sea of Galilee (which is really a lake). This shot, though, was taken east of the lake, near the border with the country of Jordan

The gorgeous Sea of Galilee, also known as Lake Kinneret, Lake Gennesaret and Lake Tiberias

Hiking high in the hills just north of Tiberias

Not exactly bucolic, but a beautiful part of northern Israel nonetheless - the restored biblical area of Caesarea, which lies on the western border, along the Mediterranean Sea

Bucolic Northern Israel – Photo Essay is a post from: Solo Travel Tales and Tips from the Middle East and Elsewhere on the Globe

10 Extremely Cool Sights in Kampot, Cambodia

Sabina — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 14:15:43 +0000

I usually plant myself whereever I travel for long periods of time. As such, I’ve been in the small town of Kampot, Cambodia for many, many days now. If you’ve ever been to Kampot, you’ll realize that if you stick around for even a few hours it’s inevitable that you’ll get to know this little place pretty well. Located in rural Cambodia three hours down a dirt road south of the capital of Phnom Penh, Kampot doesn’t sound like it stands a chance to be anything other than a forgettable country town. I’d personally never heard of it until I started looking into traveling to Cambodia.

Kampot actually attracts many, many travelers. I’m almost never the only Westerner on the street. There’s really nothing to do here except enjoy the charm of being out in the middle of nowhere in Cambodia. But out in the middle of nowhere in Cambodia is pretty incredibly cool. And extremely photogenic. Here’s a peek.

Out in the middle of nowhere - Kampot, Cambodia

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My first breakfast

The Khmer people are usually happy to let me take their photo...

...although one man sitting on a truck full of hundreds of dead chickens retaliated by taking a photo of me

Even little children in Kampot are willing to pose for photos

Known for its French Colonial architecture, only a handful of Kampot's colorfully cute little buildings stand taller than two stories

All roads in Kampot look alike, so it's helpful to have decorative roundabouts so you don't get lost

Buddist monks make their rounds every morning, gathering their daily food

Chickens and their baby chicks run all over. Their presence makes eggs and chicken popular on menus

Every night people gather at the Kampot River to watch the sunset

10 Extremely Cool Sights in Kampot, Cambodia is a post from: Solo Travel Tales and Tips from the Middle East and Elsewhere on the Globe

Dubai’s Spice Souq – Photo Essay

Sabina — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 16:00:59 +0000

On my first trip into Dubai, the same day that I visited the famous gold souq after which I got almost hopelessly lost off the beaten path, I navigated through the far more colorful and enchanting spice souq nearby. Here, at the Deira Old Souq, a/k/a the Dubai Spice Souq, I found that the shopkeepers were much more of an aggressive presence than in the gold souq but still far easier to handle than in souqs elsewhere in the Mid East. I also learned that all spices are far more photogenic than any piece of gold.

This post is supported by rent a car in dubai.

Dubai’s Spice Souq – Photo Essay is a post from: Solo Travel Tales and Tips from the Middle East and Elsewhere on the Globe

The Aboriginals of the Tiwi Islands – Photo Essay

Sabina — Sun, 26 Sep 2010 07:45:25 +0000

Traveling to the Tiwi Islands, populated by Aborigines, was the highlight of my time in Australia. Modern-day influences have largely eradicated the traditional way of life for the 460,000 Aboriginals spread throughout the country, forcing into modernity what is believed to be the world’s oldest culture. On Tiwi’s two islands, Bathurst and Melville, the ancient pulse of this civilization beats on, isolated and protected from the rest of us. Fifty miles off Australia’s northern coast where the Timor and Arafura Seas meet, the 2,100 Aborigines of the Tiwi Islands lead lives largely untouched by ours.

This week I traveled to Bathurst Island, where I explored the Nguiu settlement led by guide Romolo (Romie) Kantilla. Here’s a pictorial essay of what I found.

After a smoking ceremony to cleanse us of evil spirits, several Aboriginals performed the traditional shark dance

I returned from a bush walk to learn that dozens of school children had climbed out of this swimming hole and performed a spectacular impromptu dance. Which I missed.

Ochre of white, orange and yellow is taken from the bush and used to color faces and bodies for ceremonies and turned into paint to create art

One of the natural hazards of life on the Tiwi Islands

A resident of the Nguiu settlement prepares Damper bread for morning tea

Romie crept silently through the woods, paused beneath a tree, then quickly reached up and grabbed this frilly neck lizard

A man creating a Batik scarf at the Ngaruwanajirri Art Museum

Romie and I

The Aboriginals of the Tiwi Islands – Photo Essay is a post from: Solo Travel Tales and Tips from the Middle East and Elsewhere on the Globe

The Gifts of Solo Travel

Sabina — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 12:15:35 +0000

Solo travel gives us the gift of people. Getting to know others, a least to a small and temporary extent, is a major part of traveling alone. From chararacters so entertaining they leave us with impressions that will last a lifetime to individuals so bland we forget about them even while we’re conversing. From overwhelmingly friendly people with endless charm to grumpy ogres we’d like to kick. The good people of the world overpower the bad.

Traveling alone seems to inspire some of the people I meet to leave me with a little something to remind me of them. As a result, I have many small gifts which I have gathered while traveling solo. Every one is so special it brings back acute memories each time I look at it. Israeli airport security once took such an interest in my gifts they detained me for hours. Perhaps you too will find some of my gifts interesting. If not for hours, then hopefully for a few seconds.

My name forever memorialized in hieroglyphics on the cover of the very first issue of Afar magazine, courtesy of Mahmoud, who sat next to me at a whirling dervish performance in Cairo

A pepper, handed to me by a young boy who followed me for an hour or so while pushing a small wooden wagon, on the streets of Nablus in Israel’s West Bank

A magnet in the shape of the country of Romania, given to me by a man named Romulus, a resident of the aforementioned country, after we chatted on a nighttime Lufthansa flight

Earrings, unintentionally gifted to me by a jeweler named Mahmoud in Jerusalem’s Old City, when he made them for me thinking I would buy them and…well, I didn’t.

A pelican, given to me by Jess, my new friend in Australia, after we went to watch a pelican feeding at the The Entrance in New South Wales

Thumbnail gift photo by by MarcinMoga / Lolek

The Gifts of Solo Travel is a post from: Solo Travel Tales and Tips from the Middle East and Elsewhere on the Globe

Why I Love to Travel – Photo Essay

Sabina — Fri, 28 May 2010 12:30:51 +0000

Sometimes words aren’t enough to explain why I love to travel. Since “a picture is worth a thousand words,” here a few to help describe why I love the world.

Differing ideas about what constitutes a pet

The people whom I meet

The waters that are blue - unlike the black water where I live

Laws that differ from our own (don't worry - this is legal)

The places of the people

The misunderstandings - I wanted him to take a photo of me, so I ended up with a photo of him - whoever he is

The dreams come true - touching Egypt

Thumbnail suitcase photo by Heliotrop3

Why I Love to Travel – Photo Essay is a post from: Solo Travel Tales and Tips from the Middle East and Elsewhere on the Globe