“So where d’you wanna go,
How much you wanna risk?”
– Something Just Like This, Coldplay
What would life be like, were I blind and deprived of my sense of sight? I grew up reading storybooks in the middle of the night by the moonlight, which might explain why I started wearing glasses at a rather young age. Nonetheless, I am thankful that I am still able to visually appreciate the all that lay before me in my travels, and to bring them home through photography.
Allow me to take you to three different continents with out of this world sights and sites in this post. We shall begin with somewhere a little closer to (my current) home: Ely, here in England. When my best friend visited me just before my PhD viva, we decided to do a brief daytrip to a nearby town — Ely became the place of choice.
Ely was small and cute, but the sizeable cathedral left quite an impression. As I walked past one of the towers, I looked to the top and captured the photo above. To my mind, this tower resembled very much like Isengard — tall and imposing; dark but quite impressive too in a rather macabre way. These Gothic masterpieces never fail to ignite my imagination, and I begin to think of otherworldly things.
The snowy steppes of inner Kazakhstan are up next:
In my quarter-century of living, I had never had the pleasure of seeing or touching snow — at least, certainly not in the abundance I encountered in Kazakhstan for the first time. I was very pleased then to see, throughout our fourteen-hour train journey from Astana to Almaty, that the sight that greeted us outside our compartment window was virtually nothing but snow-covered steppe-land.
I could not tell where the snow-covered slopes ended and the sky began — they all blended into one single, uniformed landscape that was rather soothing to see. I spent many hours on this train journey reading Dostoevsky, but when I was starting to get motion sickness, this remedial sight awaited me. Kazakhstan in the winter is definitely an experience not to be missed.
From Central Asia, let us proceed to East Africa — more specifically, to the heart of Masai Land in Kenya:
Taken on my maiden safari journey last summer, I recall standing in our safari vehicle as I captured this burning sunset on my phone. Unlike in Egypt, where you could actually observe this great ball of fire descend behind the sand dunes, sunsets here in the savannah look more like a wall of fiercely burning fire in the sky that slowly extinguishes with the onset of twilight. The changing hues of the light bring this sunset to life — they looked, to me, like dancing lights that certainly took their time to fade.
From Africa to Asia, and Europe in between, I’ve had the pleasure of bearing witness to incredible landmarks and landscapes that grace this Earth. But this is only the beginning; more elsewhere awaits discovery.
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Wow…
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Amazing
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Thank you! 😀
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beautiful pictures.
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Thank you for your comment & visit!
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I really want to be a traveller too. I hope so. 😔 that’s so sad that Im stuck here, in my bored life.
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Thank you for your comment, and you may be one day! 😀
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Quite loved your transitions between such drastically different spaces, places and times in your life. It is such a blessing to reflect on where all we’ve been on life’s journey and where it is taking us. You have seen some wonderful places of beauty, different sunsets, different sunrises and that is testament to a worthy life lived. Good for you and thank you for sharing.
Jess || https://www.learningfromstrangers.com
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Thank you for your kind words, Jess! This life has had its ups and downs, but I mustn’t take the good things for granted. I shall certainly repay your visit soon 🙂
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Wow! What a blog. What travels! What amazing pictures!
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Thanks for your visit and your awesome comment! 🙂
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I fell in love with the Kazakhstan: Where snow meets sky picture… I’d love to travel just as you do so. Amazing post keep it going!
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Thank you for comment & visit — I do highly recommend Kazakhstan in the winter if you love snow 🙂
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Came here from WP Discover. Just visited quite a lot of artickes, and I found that your photos are aweome. Those are inspiring me to take more photos, despite my monotone activities. 😀
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Thank you for your comment! Great photos can still be captured in our mundane, every day lives — just keep your eyes (and camera) open 🙂
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Reblogged this on Cleaning Service in the Stockholm.
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Beautiful pictures!
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Thank you!
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I want to visit Ely now. The other two are a little put of my reach. Fabulous, evocative photos and I love your commentary.
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Thank you for your comment 😀 Ely is certainly worth a visit, if you love day trips!
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No words!
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Great pictures!
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Thank you!
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Simply came to look at the black and white picture of Ely cathedral but found more. 🙂 Great post.
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Glad you found your way here. Thank you for dropping by!
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Reblogged this on LotusLuxeArts and commented:
This one fed my travellers itch even more!
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Beautiful pictures 😊
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Thank you! I shall repay your visit soon!
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Read my blog https://webviaggio.wordpress.com/2018/04/24/what-you-do-when-you-feel-empty/?preview=true
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Your descriptions make me want to read GW Sebald’s Rings of Saturn again. I love that book. Great post!
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I’ll have to check out that book! Thanks for dropping by!
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Beautiful..😊😊
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Thank you! 🙂
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Reblogged this on Random Repeat.
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Whoa! So mesmerising!
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Indeed! 😉 Thanks for dropping by!
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I love lives of people who travel around the world. I believe real life is outside 🙂
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Indeed, there is a whole world out there waiting to be discovered. Thanks for dropping by!
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This is incredible
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Thank you!
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Nice photo
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Thank you! Cheers!
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Really Nice Pics
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Thank you! 😉
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So nice
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