Weekly Photo Challenge: Foreign

Foreign, that’s a wide open topic. My mind went into overdrive trying to think of what do I associate most with this word. There were 2 things that just kept swirling around: food and lifestyle. I was getting hungry while I prepared this post…

I have plenty of photos of weird foods – yeah, I look for this specifically when I travel… But then images of my visit to a floating market in Thailand raced through my visual memory and there I had the perfect entry for this week’s weekly photo challenge: food and lifestyle.

A floating market in Thailand.

It felt like a really peaceful visit, though I am sure it is hard work for all the sellers on the boat. The colors were just beautiful and the variety of fruit amazing.

Whenever I travel I eat some of the local foods, sometimes against the advice of my fellow travelers or local friends.

Here am I after I tried the fruit durian in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Can you guess if I liked it or not?

 Wikipedia describes the smell of this fruit (and the taste is pretty much how the smell is described): The edible flesh emits a distinctive odour, that is strong and penetrating even when the husk is intact. Some people regard the durian as pleasantly fragrant; others find the aroma overpowering and revolting. The smell evokes reactions from deep appreciation to intense disgust, and has been described variously as almonds, rotten onions, turpentine, and gym socks. The odour has led to the fruit’s banishment from certain hotels and public transportation in southeast Asia.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Silhouette

Wikipedia describes the origin of the word silhouette as follows:

The word “silhouette” derives from the name of Étienne de Silhouette, a French finance minister who, in 1759, was forced by France’s credit crisis during the Seven Years War to impose severe economic demands upon the French people, particularly the wealthy. Because of de Silhouette’s austere economies, his name became eponymous with anything done or made cheaply and so with these outline portraits. Prior to the advent of photography, silhouette profiles cut from black card were the cheapest way of recording a person’s appearance.

I didn’t know this.

Most photos that depict silhouettes strike me as peaceful and quiet. For this week’s photo challenge on silhouettes I looked through my photo archives and thought this one was fitting.

Early morning on a lagoon in the Ecuadorian Amazon rainforest. Quiet and peaceful. Minutes before the rainforest awakes.

Travel Theme: On Display

This week’s travel theme is “on display” and I think I have got just the right photos for this.

I bought a new camera earlier this year and the first time I got to really use it was on a weekend trip to Budapest. I loved the colors in the markets stalls and in the shops.

I guess you can’t go to Hungary without at least one photo of paprika.

The details on the dresses of these dolls were just amazing.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Big

This was the photo that came straight to my mind when I saw the Weekly Photo Challenge: Big.

The Trans-Alaska pipeline is one of the world’s largest pipeline systems which runs 800 miles through Alaska. The diameter of the pipeline is 48 inches (122 cm) and lots of oil runs through its veins.

I am an environmentalist at heart, but this pipeline is impressive and you can’t help but stop and stare and think: 800 miles???

Travel Theme: Animals

This is a rather fitting theme this week that was posted by Alisa from Where is my backpack.

This past weekend, I took a long run in the morning around Richmond Park. It is breeding season amongst the deers, which makes them rather aggressive. The males roar and clash their antlers to fight off rivals and claim territory. It was as spectacular to see as it was frightening. The roars are pretty frightening when you run on the trails and suddenly hear them right next to you. I saw quite a few antler fights going on and caught this one on my BlackBerry camera (no fancy camera on a long run…).