I'm a sucker for ancient temples. Wandering through meticulously-built halls and getting lost in stony corridors, is a great way to get a glimpse into civilisations long gone. In 2019, I went down the rabbit hole. A smiling woman beckoned gently - pointing towards a dark stone doorway - where a Buddhist nun was burning incense and gave us a blessing.

Buddhist blessing

Along ancient roads, this 200-year old teahouse makes a great place to stop for a rest. Smoke gently rises from the open fire, where a kettle is being heated. Sunbeams radiate through the ceiling and light up the seating area. It all adds to the old world charm of the place, making it feel like an anomaly in time.

Beam me up

Some tribes purposely choose to live isolated. They live as they have for centuries - in simple thatch huts and living entirely off the land. They allow contact with outsiders and sell crops in town as a necessary means to preserve their way of life.  It seems like a thin line, but they got it working without losing their stronge sense of community. 

Preserving traditions

In 2018, I set out to photograph one of the biggest Buddha statues in the world. Never found it - it turned out it wasn't built yet - but hey, journey trumps destination, and I stumbled on this glorious street food vendor in an alley. Or a sleepy monastery with monks seeking out funding to preserve their pagoda.

Behind closed doors

The infamous Kawah Ijen miners walk up and down the vulcano two to three times a day to harvest sulfur. Ijen is one of the only places left in the world where people - despite hazardous conditions - mine sulphur this way. Hordes of tourists nowadays come to see the turquoise crater lake. Maybe tourists are the new ore to be mined to get true socio-economic growth? 

Sulfer miners: 2014 vs 2024

Deserts are rarely valuable plots of land. Barren and desolate, but also wonderful! Millions of years can turn sand into surreal shapes and textures. The presence of iron oxide produces also my favorite geological oddity: Moqui Marbles, dark iron-coated balls forged from the sandstone. They are also found on... Mars. Otherworldly. Like somebody stirred the primordial soup and Earth cooled down in hues of white, red and yellow.

Setting moon over desert plateau

By and large, it's at a the edge and in its extremes where photographing a country gets interesting. It's at the Western most tip of mainland Europe where you find rugged coast lines. It requires scrambling, wading and steady feet to reach the mossy rocks. These sandy bays feel a world away from Lisbon, which is just a stone throw away. 

For the best hike in the world, look no further. Head to The Needles in Canyonlands and find your way to Chesler Park. Throughout the hike you'll get rewarded with massive 360 views,  towering rock pinnacles - sharp like needles - and a canyon of mushroom rocks - resembling elephant feet. It's hilly, hot and exposed. A must for desert landscape lovers!

Panorama view over Elephant Canyon

On the steep southern coast of Pentecost island, men perform death-defying jumps from 20m high tower platforms. The ritual demonstrates techniques from ancient times: after a short snap of the vines, the wooden tower shakes briefly, absorbing the forces of the fall. Head scratching experience to witness!

The silence of the fall

What to do on Vanuatu? Spend an afternoon at the beach watching villagers pass by. People come to relax, swim or catch fish. Life in paradise. However, not without threat, many natural and culturally significant areas are protected under custom law, all to keep Vanuatu the happiest place on earth. 

Give a man a fish

Arguably the most authentic kind of safari is on foot. It also allows you to meet smaller wildlife, like in the Namib desert. The dune gecko developed its own technique to get water. It lets the cool morning mist condense on his lidless eyes and licks it off. Quite a feat, but hard to photograph. Luckily the Namaqua Chameleon was more eager to show off his tongue acrobatics. 

Dune critter

Alleyways run in older parts of towns. Fenced-in from the urban sprawl surrounding them, they are a world on their own. Enigmatic, sometimes intimidating. One early morning in 2018 I entered a back alley, it turned out to be a dead end street, adding to my overall sense of altertness, but it also turned out to be an ever-changing gallery of beautiful street art. 

The Wintercircus in Ghent has a fascinating history. Designed as hippodrome, it served as a city circus, an old timer depot and now a music club. Largely abondoned since the early 2000s, it hosted the light festival in 2015. For a  moment, horses, circus artists and old timers returned to the central arena. The ring master watched crowds flock around once more. 

The circus is in town

As one of the oldest continuously inhabited settlements in the world, Matera offers a unique city scape. Carved into the rock, almost Biblical in appearance. This is the only town in the world where Google Maps is rendered useless. Il faut le faire. The maze of narrow footpaths is nearly impossible to navigate. 

Rock the city

The Japanese love their autumn foliage. Every year they go out and enjoy it in abundance. This phenomenon is called Momiji-gari, which means “hunting red leaves". Unfortunately, it means it's hard to witness the autumn colours without crowds. This small temple was still okay, ... well, not packed... do come early. The garden view framed by sliding doors is a sight to behold.

Girl at the window