Laos in pictures
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.
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Author: pdg
Azerbaijan in pictures
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.
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Is this the world’s most bizarre place for a castle?
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.
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Georgia in pictures
Straddling cultural and geographic boundaries between Europe and Asia, Georgia is one of the most fascinating — and scenically diverse — countries on Earth.
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Former Yugoslavia in pictures
Images of the dizzyingly diverse former Yugoslav republics of Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro, Kosovo and Macedonia.
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Tonga in pictures
Unspoiled beaches, decrepit ferries, spontaneous schoolkids and a slow-paced way of life in one of the world’s last absolute monarchies.
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Cares Gorge: Is this Spain’s best one-day walk?
The Cares Trail clings to the side of a 1.5km-deep gorge in the Picos de Europa mountains of northern Spain.
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Spain and Portugal in pictures
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.
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Iran in pictures
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.
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Turkey in pictures
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.
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Remembering Syria: Photos before and after the war
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.
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Takahē and naked trampers on the Heaphy Track
The author encounters takahē, kleptomaniac weka and naked trampers on New Zealand’s longest Great Walk.
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The Pacific’s forgotten slave trade
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.
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Best photos of 2019
For once picking my favourite photo of the year was easy.
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The Te Araroa Project
What drives more than 1000 people a year to walk the length of New Zealand? I decided to find out.
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The Girl Fair: Matchmaking centuries before Tinder
Long before dating apps Romanian villagers would bring their daughters to a remote mountaintop in the hope of finding love.
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Bagpipes in Bohemia: A festival full of surpises
The world’s biggest bagpipe festival is not in Scotland but in an obscure, post-industrial town in the Czech Republic.
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The Merry Cemetery: Where folk art conquers grief
Anyone who tries to tell you death is no laughing matter clearly hasn’t been to Romania’s Merry Cemetery.
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Is this the world’s strangest parade?
The 500th anniversary of the death of one of history’s most original — and macabre — artists deserves a parade. But an ordinary parade just won’t do.
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Transnistria: How to visit a country that doesn’t exist
A Soviet time warp and unrecognised breakaway state, Transnistria is one of the strangest places in Europe.
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