365/350: 04 February 2011: Cycle Hire

Up to London today – interesting that I say ‘up to’ despite that fact that it is quite clearly ‘down to’ – anyway, move on. Up to London today to see if I could win a holiday to Australia with this photo which  was a finalist in the Wanderlust Travel photographer of the Year competition:

Unfortunately I didn’t but it was a great event with a really friendly atmosphere – the Wanderlust team were very welcoming and the judges were very happy tom provide constructive feedback at the drinks reception after, so think I learned a lot.

Also being in London I get a chance to shoot things I don’t see in Cumbria – cars, people, buildings, shops, etc., etc.. Here’s a rack of bicycles for hire.

365/160: 29 July 2010: Not something you see in Cumbria

Wandered down to the cash machine to get some more baksheesh and came across this chap on the way back. Camels appear to be inveterate bin-ratchers – this one helped himself from the dustbins and skips along the main street as he went. I’m guessing they’re trained to come home when they’re bored, because our guide told us they cost about 15-18 months of a typical wage – so you wouldn’t want to lose one.

PS: The really tall palm tree in the background is in fact a phone mast, and also featured a loudspeaker for the regular calls to prayer – right outside our window.

365/151: 20 July 2010: Temple of Philae

Ok – so now we’ve left Cairo and taken the sleeper train to Aswan. Not the most comfortable of the worlds journey’s, but not bad on the whole – and a lot easier than travelling during the day.

By mid-afternoon the temperature was well high so grateful for the shade inside the temple. These hieroglyphics look like they were carved yesterday rather than 2500 years ago. We probably wouldn’t have them at all if not for a project which cut the temple into 40000 blocks and relocated it above the waters of Lake Nasser.

The guy in the picture is Ayman – our excellent guide for the Nile leg of the holiday.

365/150: 19 July 2010: Mohammed Ali Pasha Mosque

This has to be one of the most impressive religious buildings I’ve been in. The design means that the open space under the main dome (which rises to 52m) is even larger than a big cathedral, with far fewer pillars to block your view – and the atmosphere was much less formal than I expected – although perhaps because of the number of tourists. We even got stopped by a couple of Egyptian guys who wanted their photo taken with some European tourists!

Other highlights of the day included the Cairo Museum – but we weren’t allowed to take cameras inside :0(

365/149: 18 July 2010: At the Pyramids

Our chosen holiday was the Grand Egyptian Adventure, run by Egypt Uncovered, which started  with a couple of days in Cairo to cover the Pyramids (well some of them) the Sphinx and the Cairo Museum with King Tut’s treasures. We’d been warned that the Pyramids are not really in the desert, but I was quite surprised by how much ‘in town’ they really were. Anyway, here we all are, several steps up the Great Pyramid of Cheops – it’s about 09:30 and the temperature is in the mid-thirties already.

 

And just for fun – it’s the cheesy tourist photo of the day! Ouch – mind that point.