Mud Geyser, Ayuni, Bolivia

 Bolivia, South America, Travel  3 Responses »
Apr 012014
 

This is another of my old pics shot with a tiny point and shoot. I’d love to go back here again. We were on our way to the Ayuni salt flats when steam appeared on the horizon. Before we knew it we were stepping out of our jeeps in front of gurgling, churning, stinky wasteland like nothing I’d ever seen. Then, our jeeps drove on, to pick us up on the other side. We were actually allowed to walk right through these geysers, not a safety barrier in sight. It was pretty amazing, but you definitively had to watch your step.

bubbling mud geyser in bolivia

Bran Castle (aka Dracula’s Castle), Transylvania, Romania

 Europe, Romania, Travel  1 Response »
Mar 272014
 

First things first, there’s no evidence of Bram Stoker’s inspiration (Vlad the Impaler) ever setting foot at Bran Castle. That small point aside, it is a beautiful castle shrouded by mist that’s definitely worth a visit.

bran castle, supposed home of dracula, central courtyard from above in Romania

Quechuan Lady at Work, Bolivia

 Bolivia, People, South America, Travel  2 Responses »
Mar 252014
 

You may have noticed that I’m scrambling to get backdated posts up. I started running low on new photos and may only have photos of Guatemala left to process. So to keep up the variety I’ve looked back to some of my earlier photos. Today’s picture is from about 10 years ago and was taken on my first adventure where I caught the travel bug and got interested in photography.

This is a Quechuan weaver at work. We’d travelled from Sucre to a native village that was just beginning to open up for tourism. An American man was our guide. He had been living with the community assisting them in developing revenue streams beyond farming. He was fluent in the Quechuan language.

When we arrived at the village they were very excited to have their first group of visitors and put on all sorts of displays for us, including a rather terrifying man dancing around wearing a goat’s face as a mask. The children, in particular, followed us around in a big excited swarm.

This photo was taken on a small point and shoot camera made by Olympus. That little thing was rugged and managed to survive 5 treks, ice climbing, walking through the jungle with a puma, sand dune boarding and numerous drunken nights out.

quechuan lady weaving on a loom kneeling with sandals off and compeleted work on another loom next to her

Roman Water Fountain

 Europe, Italy, People, Travel  12 Responses »
Mar 242014
 

This water fountain in Rome is right next to the Pantheon. I had set this photo up exactly as it is and was just going to take a picture of the taps. Then, this woman walked up, acting completely oblivious to me, and positioned herself perfectly in the frame.

woman using water fountain in rome to fill her bottle near the pantheon

Lava Shop, Pacaya Volcano, Guatemala

 Central America, Guatemala, Travel  2 Responses »
Mar 222014
 

After a three hour slog up the side of a volcano, this is what you find when you’ve arrived. It’s one of the weirdest stores I’ve ever seen. I can’t figure out what it sells, other than the purses you can see there, and why does it need to advertise a phone number? What possible reason could you have for calling this shop?

lava store on pacaya volcano guatemala

Creepy Courtyard, San Gimignano

 Europe, Italy, Travel  1 Response »
Mar 202014
 

This garden, with its weird implements, is in the middle of a torture museum in San Gimignano. One thing you learn there, is that people have done some pretty horrible things to each other. The imagination involved in creating some of these contraptions is just mad. One of the creepiest sections was entering the dungeon to see a small vault where a man was actually walled up. For those that don’t know, that’s when they stick someone in a closet sized hole and brick them in to starve to death.

the central courtyard of the torture museum in san Gimignano tuscany italy

 

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