World – Evolving Picture

Places and people that inspired me whilst travelling – Unforgettable parts of the world

Spire of Le Chable Parish Church in the Swiss Alps, constructed in 1488.

Le Chable Switzerland

Busy street corner in the Old Quarter, Hanoi, Vietnam

Hanoi Street Corner

A woman loads nets onto a fishing boat on Koh Samui, Thailand

Loading Nets

Ox and cart, New Delhi, India

Ox and cart

Constitution Dock Hobart, Tasmania, looking South

Constitution Dock Hobart

Street traders carrying their wares in the streets of the Old Quarter, Hanoi, Vietnam

Old Quarter Hanoi

Thai Sunset Boat

The hills surrounding the town of Sapa in Northern Vietnam are home to some of the most spectacular agricultural scenery in the world. It is a very tough life for the locals though. The terraced slopes make use of land that farmers in most other countries would leave uncultivated. Producing rice here is hard physical work. To add to this there is only one growing season each year. Their rice has to compete with that which is grown three times a year, on flat land, close to main transport arteries. In a bad season local rice farmers might have to sell livestock to pay for rice to make up for their own needs. Their big hope now is tourism but we have seen what this can do. Yes, I was a tourist. I hope I didn't leave a bad impression.

Vietnamese Village

Flag in front of the administration building of Alcatraz penitentiary, off the coast of San Francisco, USA

Alcatraz Flag

The tide has gone out, leaving this beautiful ornate fishing boat on a beach at Koh Samui, Thailand.

High and Dry

Fishermen sorting their catch on a beach near Byron Bay NSW, Australia.

Net Fishermen

Light of dusk in the ski resort of Verbier in the Swiss Alps.

Verbier Sunset

The building was was almost destroyed in the final days of world war two, but later rebuilt under the supervision of British architect David Chipperfield. As with many of the older buildings in the centre of the city, the horror that the Battle of Berlin must have been is strikingly evident by the extensive bullet and shell scars on the stonework. The Berlin Cathedral can be seen in the distance.

Berlin Gardens

This boy has his business on a street in New Delhi, India. His service offers the "reper" of speedometers. I found the hand drill fastened to the bench amusing. I am quite sure it wasn't there to wind the odometers forward.

Reper Boy

My guide, Loi Nguyen Huu, walking ahead of me along the precarious edge of a rice terrace, high in the hills near Sapa in Northern Vietnam. We stuck to the higher paths to get away from the crowds. You usually only see the incredibly hard working farmers on the higher, steeper slopes. The views are spectacular.

Walking the Terraces

Builder rendering a wall in Bangkok, Thailand.

Thai Builder

The Lady Nelson at Woodbridge Jetty, Tasmania.

Lady Nelson Tasmania

Whilst in Kowloon, Hong Kong I saw this man casually reading a newspaper at the end of a narrow path between two buildings. It made for a nice silhouette.

Reading Paper

The Quartermaster's residence and powerhouse, shown here are some of many derelict, abandoned buildings on Alcatraz Island, off the coast of San Francisco, USA. Since Alcatraz penitentiary was closed on March 21, 1963 the buildings of the island have fallen into disrepair. There was a brief period of protest occupation by native American activists November 20, 1969, to June 11, 1971. Alcatraz Island is now a national park and museum, accessible by ferry from San Francisco.

Alcatraz Boilerhouse

Laem Sor Pagoda at the end of Bang Kao Beach, on the southernmost tip of Koh Samui, Thailand

Thai Temple

Woman sweeping the streets of Koh Samui, Thailand, 1985

Sweeper

The Golden Gate Bridge from Alcatraz Island, off the coast of San Francisco, USA

Golden Gate

In Hanoi, Vietnam, the city tends to have have areas where similar businesses are grouped together. There were a lot of mannequin shops where I took this photo. I find mannequins very human and saw these ones as watching what was going on in the street.

Mannequin Shop

Washing hanging on a street in Bangkok, Thailand.

Bangkok Street

Farm workers planting rice on the terraces of the hills near Sapa in Northern Vietnam.

Rice Terraces

Boat mast, Halong Bay, Northern Vietnam.

Boat Mast Vietnam

Floating village at Halong Bay in Northern Vietnam.

Halong Bay Vietnam