Compared With Me You Are All Tourists: Queen's Day in Amsterdam
We ride our bikes to the city centre. Out here, in the suburbs, everything is quiet, most shops are closed as they would be on a Sunday. The only palpable difference to any other day off are the Dutch flags flying from a window here or there. "It is a good day to spot Nazis", Gregor remarks as we pedal past a couple of them.As we approach the city centre, the first low thumps of outdoor discos scattered here and there reach us, and we have to slalom our way to avoid the first groups of drunken revellers. In one of the side-streets that we pass, a guy in an orange hat and with an orange jacket is puking over a street drain, while being held at both arms by a friend each equally oranged- up. A little further up the street, a group of young...
Liften Werkt!: robin geldloos, leven zonder geld
Liften is naast lopen en fietsen een fantastische manier van geldloos reizen, om gratis te reizen zonder geld. Toch is geld besparen voor vele lifters niet per se het doel, maar handig is het wel. Zodra je gewend raakt aan het liften, maak je van het liftend reizen zelf vaak het doel en is het […]
Hitch-Hikers' Handbook: Week 36
Good evening and welcome to our Travel Photography Competition as we celebrate the 3 most popular photos published on our Facebook page between 22nd and 29st April. Water seems to be a common theme in our winning shots, very apt given the grey clouds hovering glumly over hitchhikershandbook‘s heads this week in Barcelona. So join us as we take our weekly walk and forget about the miserable rain.
Our first winner this week comes all the way from the coasts of Iceland and is simply a remarkable picture depicting a long forgotten boat slowly capsizing into the waters.
This stunning photo was sent by Fróði Brinks. To see more of his beautiful pictures, visit his Facebook page Fr brinks photography and his Flickr photostream....
Hitch-Hikers' Handbook: Famous Gaudí house Casa Batlló open to visitors for free
If you have ever been to Catalonia, you probably know that Catalan people are very proud of their cultural heritage and that’s not without reason. Along with other unique cultural traditions, festivals and celebrations, castell (human tower) is a spectacle definitely worth watching. It will leave you speechless, I can guarantee it.
Castell is a street performance during which members of the team form a tower by climbing onto each other’s shoulders. There are many variations of these human towers and the highest can reach up to as many as 10 levels (about 14 metres off the ground)!!!
It’s truly breathtaking! Just imagine trying to stand still on your friend’s shoulders, who is also standing on somebody’s shoulders, while at the same time...
A Girl and Her Thumb: Happy Birthday Azadeh!
25th December, 2012 – 3rd January, 2013 , Isfahan and Tehran My bus has just pulled in for a thirty minute break at a mangy service station when my phone rings. It’s Emée. She, Hrach and two French guys have just arrived at the Iranian-Armenian border. I’m so happy I could cry. “Let me speak to […]
Hiding from Santa in Iran
25th December, 2012 – 3rd January, 2013 , Isfahan and Tehran My bus has just pulled in for a thirty minute break at a mangy service station when my phone rings. It’s Emée. She, Hrach and two French guys have just arrived at the Iranian-Armenian border. I’m so happy I could cry. “Let me speak to […]
Hitch-Hikers' Handbook: Week 23
Hello everyone and welcome to the 41st edition of our popular weekly Travel Photography Competition. As every week, we have for you a fresh selection of photos, which got the biggest number of votes on our Facebook page between 14th and 21st April.
The first winner in this week’s competition shows the beautiful Dimitrios shipwreck located near Gythio, off the eastern coast of the Peloponnese Peninsula, Greece.
Dimitrios sunk on 23rd December 1981. There are many rumours about its tragedy, one even involving a ghost. The most convincing story, however, says that the ship was used to smuggle cigarettes between Turkey and Italy. On the fateful day it was apparently seized by the port authorities and then deliberately released out to sea...
kimmieslife: Liberia: Religion and Rebels
After the evening in Ganta watching the Christian preaching show [link], I woke early the following morning to make the long journey along the messy, un-driveable road to Zwedru. A jeep full of suited men and women stopped first for me."Are you a Peace Corps volunteer teacher?" said the most important looking man.After being a traveller for so long, I've learnt how to always say the right thing to any person I come across. So this time, I said; "Yes!" A little white lie won't hurt anyone I thought."Oh good! Jump in then! I work for the Ministry of Education.'So I had given the right answer.We stopped for lunch along the way where I got talking to one woman named Deborah. She worked for the Norwegian Refugee Council...
A Girl and Her Thumb: The Arg of Karim Khan
20th-24th December, 2012, Shiraz and Persepolis I am a giraffe in Iran. I walk the streets with my long neck, swaying in the breeze. People stop and gape. “Where from? Where from?” They’ve never seen a giraffe before, not even on television. Trouble is, being an exotic animal is starting to grind me down. They […]
When the World Didn’t End
20th-24th December, 2012, Shiraz and Persepolis I am a giraffe in Iran. I walk the streets with my long neck, swaying in the breeze. People stop and gape. “Where from? Where from?” They’ve never seen a giraffe before, not even on television. Trouble is, being an exotic animal is starting to grind me down. They […]
Compared With Me You Are All Tourists: In Tuva
"Oh my god, we searched for you everywhere! My name is Ayan, and you, I already know, are Iris!", the Minister's translator had walked towards me, taking my right hand with both of his so as to shake it most vigorously. "The whole city knows you already, your description was transmitted to all police agents!", he recapitulated the events of the past two hours. For the lack of anything else to say, could I formulate it the way that I was at least flattered that they put so much effort in trying to find me? Not really. For Christ's sake, it wasn't like I was really lost, to start with!But that is another story.TuvaIn any case, my travel partner and I, we had found each other again. Now, how to get rid of our chaperones? They had taken us to...
Compared With Me You Are All Tourists: Ancient Treasures and a Minister in a Mini-skirt
Neither the cashier nor the ticket woman were looking as I entered the Tuvan National Museum in Kyzyl, and so I snuck past them both. It was fair enough, to be honest. They ask exorbitant prices of foreigners, five times as much as they ask of locals.National Museum, Kyzyl, TuvaThe Tuvan national museum being four floors high, the choice of exhibitions could have easily thrown me off. But I knew why I had come, and I headed straight to the room consecrated to the Scythians. Without exaggeration I can say striding towards the exposition I was experiencing all the anticipatory thrill of a fan making it to a pop-concert. This great warrior people of the steppes will forever fascinate me.While I was ambulating slowly, looking at the exhibits...
kimmieslife: Christian preaching in Liberia
I had seen the signs all over Liberia:"Healing Jesus Crusade - Dag Heward-Mills"I had no idea, though, that when I finally decided to leave Monrovia, I would, after six hours of hitchhiking, arrive in a town on its first night of the show. I was told by the diver of my last ride that God must have organised it this way for me and therefore I must attend. [I don't usually call this God, more a coincidence or fate... but what is an a word?] I took his advise and decided to stay here for the night.As I walked through the dark; dim-lit streets of Ganta, a man named Thomas decided he would accompany me to the show. The open football field was filled with thousands of people, people who had come from remote villages from...
Hitch-Hikers' Handbook: Win Canon 5D Mark III or Nikon D800
Good news for all you shutterbugs!
SnapKnot is giving away either a brand new Nikon D800 or Canon 5D Mark III ($3,000 – $3,500) to one lucky photographer. The winner will be selected by a random draw on 15th July 2013.
All you have to do is to like their Facebook page & provide your contact details.
The contest ends on July 15, 2013 at 11:59 pm PST. No purchase necessary.
Shipping is free for USA residents; winners outside of USA are responsible for shipping fees and your country taxes. Read the full rules of the competition here.
Big thanks to the SnapKnot wedding photography directory for offering this great camera giveaway!
Good luck everyone! Hopefully one of us can win! :-)
Filed under: Competitions Tagged: camera, Canon,...
Compared With Me You Are All Tourists: A Tale of Never Again
At Amsterdam-Amstel, there is a liftershalte, an official place for hitch-hikers to stick their thumb out and hope for a lift (because "hope" is what they do here). It is designated by a road sign depicting the unmistakeable erect thumb, white-on-blue. In my lifetime I was stupid enough more than once to try to hitch away from there.Amsterdam WesterparkFor one, even though you are in their country, never count on Dutch people to give you a lift. Out of four lifts from Amsterdam-Amstel, two were by French people, one by an English man, and one by two Belgians. The Dutch live in the country with the most highly developped degree of capitalism in Western Europe, and they like it that way. Why should anyone have anything for free?But...
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