Silent Nomad
A traveller with a camera!
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Spooky building, Darjeeling

I was travelling overland between Bhutan and Nepal several years ago, and stopped at Darjeeling for a couple of days. Whilst there, I came across this scene of clouds rolling over an old spooky building, mountains in the background. A wonderful town in the Lesser Himalayas, with a large Buddhist presence, famous for its tea plantations and the narrow-gauge Darjeeling Himalayan Railway.

Man in Assam

I was staying in Banyan Grove in Assam, India, for a couple of nights relaxing and visiting tea plantations. However, I also had the opportunity to explore a local village. Walking down the village main road, I made conversations with a number of folk when I spotted this man. I loved his look and the colours. Photo taken in December 2019.

Plant leaves in Borneo

I took part in a charity event in Malaysian Borneo in 2008 to raise money for an orangutan sanctuary. That was a good fun trip, and I especially enjoyed my treks through the jungle, leeches and all! During the trip, I came across this plant in Sabah, and I liked the symmetry well enough to take a photo. The jungle can be quite a dark place, giving one a sense of foreboding, so I think this black-and-white treatment compliments that feeling quite well.

Ripples in sand

Sossusvlei in Namibia is graced with some of the highest sand dunes in the world. Amongst the rust-coloured sands, some small shrubs and trees manage to survive. And, of course, there is the eerie Deadvlei littered with the desiccated remains of trees from several hundred years ago. Not quite as old, here are the dried remains of plant material, perhaps from some tall grasses, shrubs or trees that I photographed whilst walking through the sand dunes. The wind had carved out some intricate ripples in the sand, and the light from the sun created interesting shadows and colours. It was a good way to end our final evening in Sossusvlei before heading north.

Sand dunes and trees

The sand dunes of Sossusvlei in Namibia were formed around 5 million years ago, and are some of the highest in the world. The rich orange and red colours of these dunes owe much to the iron content of the sand. Here, embedded in the foot of one of these giants, stands a tree next to a fallen comrade. That the tree has grown, survived, and even thrived in such a harsh environment is testament to its hardiness. You need to be tough to survive in these desert conditions. Certainly my camera gear put up a valiant fight against the sand, with tripod legs being particularly susceptible.