Worldcrunch
BEIJING — While the clouds of the student protests are still casting a shadow over Hong Kong, the impact of the “Occupy Central” movement on the city’s middle- and long-term prospects is particularly concerning. A forecast from the University of Hong Kong predicts a sharp drop in growth from the 3.4% predicted earlier to 2.2% […]
Sumptuous beaches and low-key vibes in Tulum, on Mexico’s Caribbean coast, have attracted those keen to avoid the crowds and bling of the most popular resorts. But will it last?
Who knew these were the reasons to visit the scenic Black Forest.
In Afrikaans, the name of this South African mountain range means “the dragon’s mountain.” The closest thing we saw to dragons were wooden hippos. In Drakensberg, much like everywhere else, peddlers made their way to even the most remote places.
In 1966, it was still affordable to stay in the center of Venice. We went there twice in the 1960s, and both times we rented a room from la Signora Nardi (I remember her well), just five minutes from the Rialto and Piazza San Marco whose Santa Maria della Salute church is in the background.
I’ve already told you about Rajasthan’s colorful nomadic culture, but this close-up allows us to better see how society standards vary from one world to another: For instance, the huge nose ring this woman was wearing is regarded as a mark of beauty and social standing there.
How about a selfie instead?
Don’t worry, I haven’t traveled that far. This was just one of the tourist attractions at Universal Studios Hollywood back in 1988.
They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Well that’s lucky, because I don’t really remember what happened here. I’ll let you imagine the misfortunes of these two Swazi men.
By the end of the 1990s, it was decided that flowing rivers were not the best way to transport timber, and log drives were gradually abandoned in Canada — much to the dismay of local kids who had to bid adieu to their log rolling competitions. But in 1994 logging was still going on along […]
I had only been retired for three years when we visited this school in eastern Nepal. As far as teaching goes, this felt very far indeed from my career as a high school philosophy teacher in France.
The Madeira Flower Festival takes place every spring. For the main parade through the streets of Funchal, 30 or so floats are decorated with thousands of flowers by associations, schools — and even hospitals and the local police take part.
Though Petra is awe-inspiring, I’m not sure I’d go back today. A trip to Jordan must be very different now than it was 18 years ago. The colors on this shot of the Ad Deir monastery shows well why the archeological site is nicknamed “the Rose city.”
We visited Rome often, and almost always made sure to pass by to admire the majestic Fontana di Trevi. We never took part in the tourist tradition of tossing a coin over your left shoulder and making a wish to return some day to the eternal city. Our many Roman returns confirmed my doubts about […]
SAN ANTONIO — It’s a mild evening on Passeig de Joan Carlos I, opposite Ibiza’s historic Old Town. The setting sun bathes Life Marina Ibiza, an apartment development designed by renown Paris architect Jean Nouvel, in a surreal sea of color. At the Madrigal Bar, Champagne cocktails are being prepared. At the roundabout by the […]
The port city of Sfax was a mix of coastal ease and urban grit. Here, 10 local fishermen split the land/seascape in two.
When people hear the word “cajun,” they automatically think about Louisiana. But a small community of these descendants of French-speaking Acadian exiles also lives in Texas. The association “Les Acadiens du Texas” was founded in Beaumont in the late 1970s to preserve their history, which included traditional dances in not-so-traditional outfits.
From a distance, mountains look more or less the same height. But in this picture, I’m pretty sure the summit on the right is none other than Mount Everest.
In the traditional homestead of Vula Zulu, near the South African border with Swaziland, we got to witness Zulu impi perform age-old war dancing rites. As in many other places, we were told that the warriors did not actually live in the village, but returned to their homes once the show is over.
Bring your togas and laurel wreaths, just watch out where you snap your ancient selfie.
Was this Tuareg going to the “fête du Mehri,” the spring celebration during which Algerians attend and participate in camel races? Or was he simply leading his mount to water in Ghardaïa, the city known as the “pearl of the oasis”?
We had a friend take this family shot in the spectacular theater of Epidaurus, in the sanctuary of Asclepius. The place is impressive, but unlike the Ancient Theater of Orange in southern France, it’s missing its scaenae frons (its decorated rear wall). Too bad we missed Maria Callas by just a couple of years: The […]
The swarms of motorcycles and rickshaws, known as samlo in Thailand, can be pretty scary for the uninitiated. But there are so many rental places that business is sometimes slow for the drivers.
To remember the iconic canopied path of the Oak Alley Plantation in Louisiana, I took both this picture and a piece of bark that had fallen down. I keep it in my living room, next to an ornate leaf from the Taj Mahal which had also fallen down — I’m not that kind of tourist! […]
Going up to Funchal’s Monte neighborhood in a cable car is very picturesque. But the way down is all about fun. Two gentlemen dressed in white and wearing straw boaters will take you downhill at relatively high speeds in these large wicker baskets they call “toboggans.”
The feluccas of Aswan, Egypt, with their huge triangular sails, are used to ferry visitors to Elephantine Island, to visit their rich pharaonic ruins — and where we were able to walk in two Nubian villages that a guide guaranteed were “genuine.”
I can’t say we always knew for sure what was on our plate when we toured China in the mid-1990s. Grilled scorpions, grasshoppers, we tried it all — probably one of these big rodents too, on sale for consumption in Guangzhou’s street market.
Up on Moscow’s Sparrow Hills, newlyweds take pictures and tourists buy souvenirs. Grand-Mère (a.k.a. babushka) was contemplating a vast array of matryoshkas; we brought a couple of these Russian nesting dolls back — they don’t take much space in your luggage!
Driving through southern Algeria in the early 1970s was quite an adventure — and I’m not sure the state of roads has gotten any better since. Which means that the “Cape Town” direction on that sign in Ouargla was mostly for fun.
Nepalese prayer wheels come in all shapes and sizes. This one wouldn’t quite fit in my luggage, so I brought a smaller one back home.
Paul VI was the last pope to use the sedia gestatoria regularly, like here for Easter celebrations on St. Peter’s Square. This ceremonial chair which was carried on the shoulders of a few chosen men — usually belonging to old Roman families — was abandonned by his successor John Paul I, before being altogether replaced […]
Can you spot the odd one out?
This hole in Repulse Bay hotel in Hong Kong is not merely the result of an architect’s whim. In accordance with the “invisible forces” of feng shui, many high-rises and hotels feature such “windows,” to let air flow naturally through the city. In this case, we were told by locals that the hole also allowed […]
In France, from the early 1980s until rather recently, you basically couldn’t turn on your TV without stumbling onto an episode of the American series Dallas. And though I have never actually watched the show, when I went to Beaumont, Texas, it all looked vaguely familiar.
How better to recover from the spookiness of a Transylvanian burial than with a Transylvanian wedding? It was incredibly hot on this July day in Romania, and I remember one of these wedding-goers offered me a sip from what I assumed was a bottle of water. I took a big gulp, and quickly found out […]
We saw what most agree are the three most impressive waterfalls in the world: Victoria Falls, between Zambia and Zimbabwe; Niagara Falls, between the U.S. and Canada; and Iguazu Falls, between Argentina and Brazil. If I had to choose one, it would definitely be what you’re looking at here. Niagara is awesome, but doesn’t have […]
Market places usually make for good, lively pictures. But here in Batalha in central Portugal, some of these young vendors were clearly bored out of their minds.
Ten years had passed since the collapse of the Soviet Union, yet there was still something end-of-an-era-esque in the imposing GUM, the State Department Store near Moscow’s Red Square. The banner reads “Summer Discounts, Up To 50% Off.”
To get to the stunning view over the Forbidden City from the top of Jingshan Park’s Coal Hill, you have two options: climb the 400 or so steps, or hire these porters and their sedan chair. However tempting that was, my wife (in the background) and I chose the former.
We went to Finland multiple times. Once we even brought a Finnish dictionary with us to try and understand a few words of the very peculiar suomi language … Many headaches ensued!