line-drawing-of-old-city-sanaa-yemen

The old part of Sana'a, which had one of the most complete medieval souks in the world. — The old part of Sana’a, which had one of the most complete medieval souks in the world.

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Pondicherry 2: Á la recherche du temps perdu
Before your start reading this, I’d like to say a couple of things. This is a departure from the other pieces you can read about on the AE site in so far as it is not about actual events, the events portrayed are generalised to form a picture – Bob …
Story behind the Picture #3 The slowest camel in Rajasthan
Appearing much like a sprite, Durga Das was a willing helper and camel driver on a trip I took through the villages of Northern Rajasthan. We were following the old desert tracks from near to Bikaner the seat of a Princely State, to Jaisalmer, another fairytale turreted fortress town on …
Wanderings in the Hindu Kush – introduction
Wanderings in the Hindu Kush. Introduction. In the winter of 1984-5 I and a girlfriend swanned off to see Pakistan and India, and had some excellent adventures in unusual circumstances. Quite hard travelling then, and in retrospect, too. Still, you have to pass the time somehow !
What’s The Scoop . . ?
There were a few people on that trip who were really keen on the archaeology, and really wanted to know the inside of a cat’s arse (phrase from a Welsh girlfriend’s mother), about everywhere, and some who almost hadn’t any idea where they were.
Story behind the picture #9 Water and Women
‘Water, water everywhere, nor any drop to drink’, as the Ancient Mariner bemoaned. Of course he was surrounded by seawater, but for a large number of the world’s people the same issue of lack or inability to use water dogs their lives. Simple bonds of hydrogen and oxygen (H2O), create …
Please, what is this fellow saying . . .
Ticket to Delhi: Even being understood was part of the trickiness, as I found out myself when wishing to travel from Agra, where I’d been staying with my girlfriend, back to Delhi to meet a new group. Now Agra, the home of the Taj Mahal must be one of the …
If there is a paradise on earth….
I must have heard this much quoted phrase repeated many times by local guides over my time in the Indian subcontinent, and attributed to various people about a number of different places. I could have looked it up, but hesitate to pin it down; in a way it seems better …
Story behind the Picture #13 When in Rome . . . .
When we travel, many of us will at least pay a nod to the old saying “When in Rome, do as the Romans do”. I guess that this is generally useful advice, in particular paying attention to socially acceptable dress and behaviour, and I have heard numerous instances of people …
A great afternoon out in Aberdeen !
Or; a funny thing happened on the way to the theatre. I’d never envisaged a situation where I would encounter a sculptor with a scalpel; well, perhaps becoming the object of a sculpture is taking the analogy a bit far, but it certainly involved phenomenal levels of skill, imagination and …
Anchored down in Anchorage
“Texas always seemed so big, but you know you’re in the largest state in the Union when you’re anchored down in Anchorage” (song by Michelle Shocked, theme to this summer, sung by Mary McCarthy) Lumpy air buffeted the plane as we coasted over a choppy looking sea and threaded …