pdg | Ramblings

Far from home: The Czechs of Romania’s Banat Mountains

April 14, 2021April 14, 2021 pdg 0 Comments Balkans, Banat, Czech Republic, Romania, Rovensko

How a familiar tune in a remote corner of the Balkans led a hiker to rediscover a long-lost ethnic minority.

Paparoa Track: NZ’s newest Great Walk

April 2, 2021April 4, 2021 pdg 0 Comments Blackball, Croesus Track, Greymouth, hiking, Moonlight Tops, Paparoa National Park, Paparoa Track, Pike River Mine, Pike29 Memorial Track, Punakaiki

A practical guide to Aotearoa’s 10th Great Walk and the tragic story behind it.

New Zealand

Walking the Queen Charlotte Track (the easy way)

March 3, 2021March 4, 2021 pdg 0 Comments Affinity Cruises, Anakiwa, Endeavour Inlet, Furneaux Lodge, hiking, Kenepuru Sound, Marlborough Sounds, Motuara Island, Picton, Queen Charlotte Track, Ship Cove

The 70km Queen Charlotte Track offers fabulous views — and plenty of options for walking in comfort — where land meets sea in the Marlborough Sounds.

New Zealand Photos

Top news photos of 2020

January 2, 2021January 2, 2021 pdg 0 Comments Battle of Kororāreka, coronavirus, Covid-19, Dame Whina Cooper, Haruru Falls, Kerikeri, Kerikeri Fire Brigade, Moerewa, Ngātokimatawhaorua, Otiria, Otiria Marae, Panguru, Project Island Song, Tai Tokerau Border Control, Waitangi, wētāpunga

A global pandemic, iwi-led Covid checkpoints, Waitangi Day festivities, politics, record-breaking rainfall, floods and fires — 2020 had it all.

Caucasus Photos

Armenia in pictures

October 10, 2020March 3, 2021 pdg 0 Comments Areni, Armenia, Astrakh, Azerbaijan, Debed Canyon, Geghard, Haghpat, Lake Sevan, Mt Ararat, Nagorno-Karabakh, Noah, Norovank, Sanahin, Tatev, Yerevan

An ancient land sprinkled with 1000-year-old stone churches, Armenia is sliding back to war with its neighbour Azerbaijan over a disputed territory.

Asia Photos

Laos in pictures

September 27, 2020April 11, 2021 pdg 0 Comments Attapeu, Laos, Luang Prabang, Mekong River, Plain of Jars, Si Phan Don, Vang Vieng, Vientiane

Laos doesn’t have the big tourism drawcards of its better-known neighbours — but that’s all the more reason to visit this slow-paced, smile-filled land.

Caucasus Photos Top stories

Azerbaijan in pictures

August 9, 2020December 28, 2020 pdg 0 Comments Azerbaijan, Baku, Lahic, Lahij, Lenkeran, Qobustan, Şeki

Unspoiled mountain villages where time stands still and mind-boggling environmental devastation left by the oil industry — you’ll find both in exotic, welcoming Azerbaijan.

Europe Featured Weird Travel

Is this the world’s most bizarre place for a castle?

July 22, 2020December 28, 2020 pdg 3 Comments Corvin Castle, Hunedoara, Hunedoara Steel Works, Hunyadi Castle, Romania, Transylvania

It has everything you’d ever want in a medieval castle. There’s only one problem: It’s in the middle of a giant steel mill.

Caucasus Photos

Georgia in pictures

July 5, 2020December 28, 2020 pdg 2 Comments Batumi, Caucasus, Georgia, Gori, Kazbegi, Sakartvelo, Sighnaghi, Tbilisi

Straddling cultural and geographic boundaries between Europe and Asia, Georgia is one of the most fascinating — and scenically diverse — countries on Earth.

Europe Photos

Former Yugoslavia in pictures

May 15, 2020September 20, 2020 pdg 0 Comments Bosnia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Budva, Durmitor, Kosovo, Montenegro, Mostar, Prizren, Sarajevo, Yugoslavia

Images of the dizzyingly diverse former Yugoslav republics of Montenegro, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo.

Pacific Photos

Tonga in pictures

May 2, 2020September 19, 2020 pdg 0 Comments Ha'apai Islands, Neiafu, Nuku’alofa, Tonga, Tongatapu, Vava'u Islands

Unspoiled beaches, decrepit ferries, spontaneous schoolkids and a slow-paced way of life in one of the world’s last absolute monarchies.

Europe

Cares Gorge: Is this Spain’s best one-day walk?

May 2, 2020September 20, 2020 pdg 0 Comments Bulnes, Cares Gorge, Cares Trail, Garganta del Cares, hiking, Picos de Europa, Poncebos, Ruta del Cares, Spain, walking

The Cares Trail clings to the side of a 1.5km-deep gorge in the Picos de Europa mountains of northern Spain.

Europe Photos

Spain and Portugal in pictures

April 25, 2020September 19, 2020 pdg 0 Comments Bilbao, Picos de Europa, Porto, Portugal, Santiago de Compostella, Spain

A wonder of modern architecture, a spectacular mountain range, one of Europe’s deepest canyons, and the charming city that gave port wine – and a country – its name.

Middle East Photos

Iran in pictures

April 18, 2020December 28, 2020 pdg 0 Comments Chakchak, Esfahan, Iran, Kandovan, Kerman, Persepolis, Qazvin, Qom, Shiraz, Yazd, Zoroastrianism

Former US President George W Bush called it part of “the Axis of Evil”. I call it one of the most fascinating and welcoming places I’ve been.

Middle East Photos

Turkey in pictures

April 12, 2020September 19, 2020 pdg 0 Comments Ani, Diyarbakir, Dogubayazit, Erzurum, Hasankeyf, Istanbul, Kars, Mt Ararat, Turkey, Yusufeli

A snow-bound palace, a ruined city, welcoming locals, a shipwreck and a fabled mountain — those are just a few of the things I photographed in Turkey in 2004.

Middle East Photos

Remembering Syria: Photos before and after the war

April 11, 2020December 28, 2020 pdg 0 Comments Aleppo, Aramaic, Arwad Island, Damascus, Deir az-Zor, Hama, Krak des Chevalliers, Maaloula, Palmyra, Syria

In 1995 I spent three unforgettable weeks in Syria. Now, after almost 10 years of civil war, many of the places I visited are no more.

New Zealand

Takahē and naked trampers on the Heaphy Track

April 4, 2020March 2, 2021 pdg 0 Comments Gouland Downs, Heaphy Track, hiking, Kahurangi National Park, Karamea, takahe, tramping

The author encounters takahē, kleptomaniac weka and naked trampers on New Zealand’s longest Great Walk.

Pacific

The Pacific’s forgotten slave trade

April 1, 2020September 20, 2020 pdg 0 Comments Australia, blackbirding, Port Vila, slave trade, slavery, Tanna, Vanuatu

It’s Australia’s shameful secret: A human trade in which tens of thousands of Pacific Islanders were kidnapped as labour for Queensland’s sugar plantations. Their descendants’ calls for an apology have so far fallen on deaf ears.