Stories in English

"A Special Smile" All the photographs mean something to me. If I was to choose a very special one it would be this shot of a young Indian girl I met at her father's funeral. She believed th ...

nobody@smugmug.com ( ) — Mon, 03 Apr 2006 08:42:20 -0700

"A Special Smile" All the photographs mean something to me. If I was to choose a very special one it would be this shot of a young Indian girl I met at her father's funeral. She believed th ...

A Special Place I have a favourite place that until recently was not well known. It is the place I escaped to after my old man died, the place where I review my life now and again. Six mi ...

nobody@smugmug.com ( ) — Fri, 21 Apr 2006 02:17:40 -0700

A Special Place I have a favourite place that until recently was not well known. It is the place I escaped to after my old man died, the place where I review my life now and again. Six mi ...

"Rook Rook" Guatemala I took a boat to a small village at the foot of a volcano on the edge of a lake. When I was making my way to the village from the jetty, this chap asked me for money. ...

nobody@smugmug.com ( ) — Fri, 14 Apr 2006 00:42:28 -0700

"Rook Rook" Guatemala I took a boat to a small village at the foot of a volcano on the edge of a lake. When I was making my way to the village from the jetty, this chap asked me for money. ...

It was a beautiful day and a beautiful drive through some of the most spectacular scenery in the world. Back home, some months earlier, I had read an article in a newspaper about “the ...

nobody@smugmug.com ( ) — Fri, 21 Apr 2006 02:09:29 -0700

It was a beautiful day and a beautiful drive through some of the most spectacular scenery in the world. Back home, some months earlier, I had read an article in a newspaper about “the ...

Addis Ababa I was having a coffee, on the other side of the road there must have been 100 people, sitting or sleeping rough against a wall that stretched the length of the road, they were b ...

nobody@smugmug.com ( ) — Tue, 14 Feb 2006 08:34:00 -0800

Addis Ababa I was having a coffee, on the other side of the road there must have been 100 people, sitting or sleeping rough against a wall that stretched the length of the road, they were b ...

"Paradise" If it exists then I believe I found it here at Lang Co, on the China Sea. I left home with no ties and knew that if I found somewhere better than home I could stay. Here the peop ...

nobody@smugmug.com ( ) — Fri, 14 Apr 2006 00:58:24 -0700

"Paradise" If it exists then I believe I found it here at Lang Co, on the China Sea. I left home with no ties and knew that if I found somewhere better than home I could stay. Here the peop ...

Spanish Dancer I travelled to Eritrea, a small country adjacent to Ethiopia, on the Red Sea. Here I joined a ship known as the Lady Jenny. It was a dive boat. The year was 1993 and the 30 ...

nobody@smugmug.com ( ) — Sun, 23 Apr 2006 03:06:50 -0700

Spanish Dancer I travelled to Eritrea, a small country adjacent to Ethiopia, on the Red Sea. Here I joined a ship known as the Lady Jenny. It was a dive boat. The year was 1993 and the 30 ...

I want to share a wee story with you, it took place in New Zealand a few years ago. My friend Ali from Nairn / Aviemore was working in Australia, he had to leave at end of his visa so decid ...

nobody@smugmug.com ( ) — Sat, 22 Apr 2006 08:57:33 -0700

I want to share a wee story with you, it took place in New Zealand a few years ago. My friend Ali from Nairn / Aviemore was working in Australia, he had to leave at end of his visa so decid ...

"A Pavement chat" I arrived in Mongolia from China on the Trans-Siberian express. The Mongolians in their capital seemed wary of foreigners. I arrived in their country with no warm clothing ...

nobody@smugmug.com ( ) — Fri, 14 Apr 2006 00:53:50 -0700

"A Pavement chat" I arrived in Mongolia from China on the Trans-Siberian express. The Mongolians in their capital seemed wary of foreigners. I arrived in their country with no warm clothing ...

"Win Lwin Too" Burma is a country of breathtaking beauty, and retains the fascination of an unchanged culture, its gentle people always friendly and welcoming. In 1988 thousands of unarmed ...

nobody@smugmug.com ( ) — Fri, 14 Apr 2006 00:59:11 -0700

"Win Lwin Too" Burma is a country of breathtaking beauty, and retains the fascination of an unchanged culture, its gentle people always friendly and welcoming. In 1988 thousands of unarmed ...

Hamer society consists of a range of age groups and to pass from one age group to another usualy involves a complicated ritual. A significant ceremony for young men is "bull jumping" the tes ...

nobody@smugmug.com ( ) — Thu, 27 Apr 2006 05:13:06 -0700

Hamer society consists of a range of age groups and to pass from one age group to another usualy involves a complicated ritual. A significant ceremony for young men is "bull jumping" the tes ...

Lalibela There is a small town in the middle of the Ethiopian highlands. It's surrounded by a rocky arid area. Yet here they say and I include myself among them, you will find the 8th won ...

nobody@smugmug.com ( ) — Fri, 21 Apr 2006 02:09:53 -0700

Lalibela There is a small town in the middle of the Ethiopian highlands. It's surrounded by a rocky arid area. Yet here they say and I include myself among them, you will find the 8th won ...

The Mursi The Mursi are survivors as if from a forgotten age whose isolated location in the South Omo valley, combined with the challenges of famine, war, migration, and diseases has shaped ...

nobody@smugmug.com ( ) — Fri, 21 Apr 2006 01:57:04 -0700

The Mursi The Mursi are survivors as if from a forgotten age whose isolated location in the South Omo valley, combined with the challenges of famine, war, migration, and diseases has shaped ...

My Special Place I have been fortunate in my life to have had the opportunity to travel far and to travel long. I have been privileged to have seen many special places. For a time it was di ...

nobody@smugmug.com ( ) — Sat, 18 Aug 2007 03:01:39 -0700

My Special Place I have been fortunate in my life to have had the opportunity to travel far and to travel long. I have been privileged to have seen many special places. For a time it was di ...

With 5 others I had taken a jeep from the Nepalese border, across the Tibetan plateau to Lhasa, the capital of Tibet. For many many years, Lhasa was the "forbidden city" closed to foreigners ...

nobody@smugmug.com ( ) — Fri, 14 Apr 2006 00:54:04 -0700

With 5 others I had taken a jeep from the Nepalese border, across the Tibetan plateau to Lhasa, the capital of Tibet. For many many years, Lhasa was the "forbidden city" closed to foreigners ...

In Ethiopia , teff is the most common cereal crop used to make injera. Teff is a tiny, round, khaki-colored grain closely resembling millet. "Teffa", the Amharic word for "lost", is so name ...

nobody@smugmug.com ( ) — Fri, 21 Apr 2006 02:05:25 -0700

In Ethiopia , teff is the most common cereal crop used to make injera. Teff is a tiny, round, khaki-colored grain closely resembling millet. "Teffa", the Amharic word for "lost", is so name ...

Calcutta, a city of poverty, squalor & deprivation, it is also an extraordinarily vibrant & lively city. Delivery carts, mainly human pulled,with bales of hay, bags of flour, rice, sugar can ...

nobody@smugmug.com ( ) — Fri, 05 Nov 2004 15:13:34 -0800

Calcutta, a city of poverty, squalor & deprivation, it is also an extraordinarily vibrant & lively city. Delivery carts, mainly human pulled,with bales of hay, bags of flour, rice, sugar can ...

"The Railway Children" Indian trains are an "experience". Most of the journeys are long and involve many stops. On the overnight trains there is a constant flow of people selling a large va ...

nobody@smugmug.com ( ) — Fri, 05 Nov 2004 15:13:34 -0800

"The Railway Children" Indian trains are an "experience". Most of the journeys are long and involve many stops. On the overnight trains there is a constant flow of people selling a large va ...

Before I left for India, my sister gave me a book, "The Insight Guide to India". It was too big a book to take with me so it was left at home. I travelled round India in an anti clockwise di ...

nobody@smugmug.com ( ) — Tue, 04 Apr 2006 08:57:46 -0700

Before I left for India, my sister gave me a book, "The Insight Guide to India". It was too big a book to take with me so it was left at home. I travelled round India in an anti clockwise di ...

I passed a Hanuman shrine with a holy man reciting mantras. He asked me to sit beside him and we watched a wedding procession go past then he blessed a young child. This man was called Baba ...

nobody@smugmug.com ( ) — Fri, 05 Nov 2004 15:13:38 -0800

I passed a Hanuman shrine with a holy man reciting mantras. He asked me to sit beside him and we watched a wedding procession go past then he blessed a young child. This man was called Baba ...

Harar is a walled city the location gives wonderful views of the surrounding country - the vast Danakil desert to the north, the fertile Harar mountains to the west, & the cattle rich plains ...

nobody@smugmug.com ( ) — Tue, 16 May 2006 03:41:51 -0700

Harar is a walled city the location gives wonderful views of the surrounding country - the vast Danakil desert to the north, the fertile Harar mountains to the west, & the cattle rich plains ...

In 1950, 30,000 Chinese troops invaded Tibet. With outdated arms & equipment, the tiny Tibetan army resisted bravely but was soon overcome. In the years of Chinese occupation, more than a mi ...

nobody@smugmug.com ( ) — Fri, 14 Apr 2006 00:54:18 -0700

In 1950, 30,000 Chinese troops invaded Tibet. With outdated arms & equipment, the tiny Tibetan army resisted bravely but was soon overcome. In the years of Chinese occupation, more than a mi ...

"Roulette" On my way from Saigon to Hanoi I stopped at the "DMZ" (demilitarized zone) this is where most of the bombing took place during the war. Here the fields are still heavily mined an ...

nobody@smugmug.com ( ) — Fri, 14 Apr 2006 00:58:10 -0700

"Roulette" On my way from Saigon to Hanoi I stopped at the "DMZ" (demilitarized zone) this is where most of the bombing took place during the war. Here the fields are still heavily mined an ...

Cambodia It's Sunday morning in Cambodia, although I heard gunfire last night all is so peaceful this morning, I've been here a week now. I am staying with the local tax collector, who has j ...

nobody@smugmug.com ( ) — Fri, 14 Apr 2006 00:58:38 -0700

Cambodia It's Sunday morning in Cambodia, although I heard gunfire last night all is so peaceful this morning, I've been here a week now. I am staying with the local tax collector, who has j ...

Upon taking Phnom Penh, the Khmer Rouge implemented one of the most radical and brutal restructurings of a society ever attempted. Its goal was to transform Cambodia into a peasant dominated ...

nobody@smugmug.com ( ) — Fri, 14 Apr 2006 00:58:52 -0700

Upon taking Phnom Penh, the Khmer Rouge implemented one of the most radical and brutal restructurings of a society ever attempted. Its goal was to transform Cambodia into a peasant dominated ...

Cambodia "Journey to Phnom Penh" I left town in the dark at 4:30 am and got a lift by motor bike to the river. The roads got narrower and narrower, until they were just mud tracks. It was ...

nobody@smugmug.com ( ) — Sun, 23 Apr 2006 03:48:21 -0700

Cambodia "Journey to Phnom Penh" I left town in the dark at 4:30 am and got a lift by motor bike to the river. The roads got narrower and narrower, until they were just mud tracks. It was ...

A famous travel writer described Guatemala as ugly, brutal & dull, yet for me this is the country where the rainbow got its colour. I met this chap at Santiago on Lake Atitlan, a volcanic cr ...

nobody@smugmug.com ( ) — Sun, 23 Apr 2006 03:48:23 -0700

A famous travel writer described Guatemala as ugly, brutal & dull, yet for me this is the country where the rainbow got its colour. I met this chap at Santiago on Lake Atitlan, a volcanic cr ...