Tag Archives: blog

The term “black and white village” refers to several old English villages in the counties of Herefordshire and Shropshire in the West Midlands of England. These villages are known for their timbered and half-timbered houses, some dating to medieval times. The framework of the houses was made from unseasoned green oak, which darkened over time; painting the beams black was a relatively recent innovation. The panels between the beams were covered with plaster – or […]

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According to Google Maps, it takes 4 hours and 42 minutes to drive the 309 kilometres through the heart of Stro gateway to Namibia’s northern border regions. Google Maps doesn’t tell you that most of this distance is on what “Maps of Namibia” calls “Main-Gravel Roads”: dusty, corrugated, white-gravel, roads with potholes that leap out without notice and where on-coming or overtaking […]

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I’ve been dreaming of camels lately… That’s probably because the annual five-day Pushkar Camel Festival in Rajasthan, Northern India, finished earlier this week, and a number of my friends – including photographer Karl Grobl and local guide DV Singh – were there. I couldn’t help but feel a little envious, as it has been two years since I visited India […]

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The Spitzkoppe, meaning “pointed dome” in German, is a granite massif rising out of the flat Namib Desert – a plain of gravel and sand that extends to the Atlantic Ocean a hundred miles away on Namibia’s west coast. Part of the Erongo Mountains, Spitzkoppe is the remains of a gigantic volcano which collapsed more than a 100 million years ago when the ancient continent […]

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Burmese markets are a feast for the senses: the angled light sneaking in through slatted bamboo walls and streaming under tent canopies and corrugated tin roofs; the riotous colours of freshly picked vegetables; the rich smells of packed dirt floors, freshly cut meat, and frying spices. In the stillness of dark corners and oppressive tropical heat, vendors […]

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