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Petra : The order of these pictures starts with the road to the Siq, the Siq, and through Petra to the Monastery (the farthest point I traveled). Petra was the capital of the Nabataens which built a trading empire around 200 BCE. At its peak, Petra was the home to about 30,000 people until 363 CE when an earthquake leveled most of the freestanding structures and the city slowly faded into obscurity. The Nabataens were known as superb hydraulic engineers and had many channels and cisterns to store the infrequent rain, important for living in such an arid region. The best known entrance to the city is the Siq; a 200 m deep passage that winds through the over 1 km of rose red sandstone that surrounds Petra. The Siq was a ceremonial entrance and the trade caravans came up the other Wadi (river beds) to enter the city. The iconic image of the “Treasury” is the first sight you see as you exit the winding Siq; immortalized in “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” as the resting place of the Holy Grail. Actually it is a tomb of a Nabataen King and has only a few shallow rooms off the entrance. Turn right and as you walk along the “Street of Facades” you pass at least 40 other tombs carved into the stone walls. Many are easy to explore. Then you come to a colonnade with the “great temple” on one side and several Byzantine churches on the other. The purpose of the “great temple” is still a mystery. Inside it had a theater for 600, as well as a large pool with steps, perhaps for swimming. Whether it was a temple, civic building or something else only future excavations (currently underway) will tell. Across from the “great temple” is the Petra church which has amazing Byzantine floor and wall mosaics on display, it is well worth the climb. Just past the colonnade is the Qasr Al-Bilt, temple (dedicated to the Nabataen god, Dushara) one of the last free standing structures in Petra. Despite it being heavily damaged in the 363 CE and 551 CE earthquakes, most of the temples 23 meter walls remained standing due to the wood built into the stone walls for earthquake bracing. Across from Qasr Al-Bilt are a crusader castle and a bar/restaurant with a pretty good buffet. After wandering 8 km through this stone city you will want a drink, so ride the donkeys to different sites when you can. Up to 1985 (when UNESCO declared Petra a World heritage site) Bedouins made these tombs into houses and refused leave until the Jordanian King personally asked them to. They are still allowed to sell trinkets and jewelry in Petra. All speak some English and are polite and friendly to tourists.

Petra

The order of these pictures starts with the road to the Siq, the Siq, ...

Updated: Jul 04, 2008 9:16am PST

Dale Chihuly at DeYoung Museum - 2008 : These photos are from the Chihuly at the de Young exhibit, June 14 to Sept 28, 2008 in San Francisco, California. It is an exploration of the groundbreaking glass artwork of Dale Chihuly. From the Glass Forest to the Reeds to the Mille Fiori (a 56-foot garden of glass) and finally the Saffron Tower (a 30-foot neon sculpture), this exhibition challenges convention with a feast of bold color, dramatic forms and extraordinary composition of Dale Chihuly. More on Dale can be found at www.chihuly.com which includes links to his touring exibits as well as past and current work.

Dale Chihuly at DeYoung Museum - 2008

These photos are from the Chihuly at the de Young exhibit, June 14 to ...

Updated: Sep 06, 2008 10:37am PST

Giza : Egypt is home to a great civilization that stretches over 5000 years and to the last great “old” wonder of the world, the Pyramids. Today, the suburbs of Cairo extend to the edge of Giza plateau where the pyramids and Sphinx sit. It is almost surreal driving though city streets with the pyramids growing ever taller as you approach, in fact you could see the pyramids from anywhere in Cairo if the air pollution was not so bad. While you cannot climb the outside of pyramids anymore, you can climb to the inner burial chamber of Khufu. Keep in mind only 300 tickets are issued a day, (due to the humidity caused by tourists), so you need to be in line early, or your tour might buy them in advance. And if you are at all claustrophobic don’t even think about climbing inside. The most strenuous part was the 40 m climb through a 45 degree, 1m wide, 1.3m high passage (cramped with 2 way traffic) which opens to the grand gallery (8.5 m tall, 47m long, 45 degrees) and finally the King’s Chamber. The pyramids were built over 4500 years ago (during the old kingdom) so the interiors are bare and stark when compared to the new kingdoms tombs in the Valley of the Kings. The hieroglyphic inscriptions and reliefs were carved into the funerary temples in front of the pyramids, not in the pyramids. Originally the pyramids were faced in white limestone so they glistened in the Egyptian sun, however later generations removed the facing to use in other buildings. The only remaining limestone is on top of Khafre’s (Khufu’s son) pyramid. I am not sure what impressed me more, the effort that when into building the pyramid, or the tenacity of the tomb robbers cutting through all that stone to get inside. Next to the Pyramids are the Sphinx and solar boat. Despite being almost 20 meters tall the Sphinx looks small surrounded by the pyramids. While most believe that the nose was shot off by Napoleon’s troops in the 1800’s, there are journals of Arab travelers from the 1400’s that mention the nose was already gone. None the less the Sphinx is an impressive sight. The preservation ability of the Egyptian environment is remarkable when you see the solar boat. This boat is over 4500 years old and was found in a limestone pit just outside the great pyramid of Khufu. It was used to bring the body of the Pharaoh Khufu to his resting place. It has been reassembled over the pit it was found in and is now on display. The last place we visited on the Giza plateau was the workers tombs. Recently a city was discovered next to the pyramids that supported the workers constructing the pyramids. Since the city itself was made from mud brick with thatch roofs little remain, but the tombs the workers made for themselves survive. These have false doors and hieroglyphic inscriptions like the funerary temples outside the pyramids although on a much smaller scale. From the hieroglyph, most wanted beer and leisure in the afterlife. While some still believe that the workers were slaves, in fact all were free. Many were craftsman, although most of the labor was supplied by the thousands of farmers whose fields were flooded for months each year by the Nile.

Giza

Egypt is home to a great civilization that stretches over 5000 years a ...

Updated: Aug 24, 2008 8:57pm PST

Evora : Evora is a small city that still retains its medieval flavor. Probably due to the city walls that still surround the city as well as the street layout that has not changed for hundreds of years. It is an UNESCO heritage site and at the top of the town next to the ever present cathedral is the remains of a roman temple from 100 CE. Like the Pantheon in Athens this temple survived to the 19th century where (like the pantheon) it was being used as ammunition storage and BOOM. All that remain are the column on three sides that used to support the roof. The walled medieval city was great to wander around in. The narrow streets and town squares gave a view of life that is very different than the cities of the 20th century and suburban living. One of the truly unique sights was the Chapel of Bones in the Church of St Francisco. The walls and columns are composed of human bones and skulls as you can see from the pictures and it has 3 naves. We also visted the near by ancient monoliths and stone circles (cromeleques) of Almendres which were placed in teh 5th to 4th millennia BCE. It is the largest group of stones erected on the Iberia Peninsula. Then we traveled to Arraiolos which is know for thier fine rugs and vistied the walled castle overlooking the town. Only the church remains of the interior structures of the castle.

Evora

Evora is a small city that still retains its medieval flavor. Probabl ...

Updated: Mar 08, 2008 10:13am PST

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Austria

6 galleries with 118 photos

Updated: Jan 12, 2008 1:17pm PST

Cambodia

11 galleries with 140 photos

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Canada

7 galleries with 138 photos

Updated: Sep 17, 2007 8:02pm PST

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13 galleries with 319 photos

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Updated: Jan 16, 2008 10:54pm PST

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3 galleries with 28 photos

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17 galleries with 201 photos

Updated: Mar 07, 2008 9:49pm PST

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4 galleries with 66 photos

Updated: Jun 30, 2008 4:39am PST

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1 gallery with 39 photos

Updated: Mar 09, 2008 11:17pm PST

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4 galleries with 25 photos

Updated: Mar 16, 2008 9:13am PST

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1 gallery with 26 photos

Updated: Mar 09, 2008 11:18pm PST

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9 galleries with 74 photos

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4 galleries with 47 photos

Updated: Jun 23, 2007 10:55am PST

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4 galleries with 90 photos

Updated: Mar 04, 2008 9:20pm PST

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1 gallery with 31 photos

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7 galleries with 267 photos

Updated: Sep 07, 2007 3:27pm PST

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1 gallery with 19 photos

Updated: Mar 07, 2008 10:00pm PST

Tunisia

3 galleries with 37 photos

Updated: Jun 23, 2007 11:06am PST

United States of America

13 galleries with 252 photos

Updated: Sep 06, 2008 3:14pm PST

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2 galleries with 25 photos

Updated: Sep 29, 2007 10:25am PST

Photography

1 gallery with 11 photos

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2 galleries with 17 photos

Updated: Aug 04, 2007 2:56pm PST

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3 galleries with 18 photos

Updated: Aug 04, 2007 3:07pm PST

Around the World

Your Bio

Most recent updates are to Egypt for Pixs and narritives. I have also started to add a narritive to the other galleries but the going is slow.

Just got back from Eastern Europe and will add those pixs in the next month or two.

This site contains photos from my travels around the world, and includes France, Austria, Spain, Italy, Greece, Malta, Norway, Switzerland, England, Ireland, Tunisia, Russia, China, Cambodia, Malaysia, Canada, Portugal, New Zealand, Jordan, Egypt, and the United States of America.

I have been taking travel photos since Dec 1974 when I traveled to what was then the USSR and Switzerland for a high school trip. Since then I have continued to take photos when I travel as it is the journey, not the destination that is important.

Jim