50 favorite travel photos by Syed Aamir Ali

50 FAVORITE TRAVEL PHOTOS by Gary Arndt

Introduction Thank you for downloading my ebook “50 Favorite Travel Photos”! Since March 2007 I have been traveling around the world taking photos and sharing my adventures with my readers on my blog, Everything-Everywhere.com. These 50 photos are just a few of close to 80,000 photos I have taken during that time. In addition to being viewed on your computer monitor, this book is specifically designed to be enjoyed on the Apple iPad. Just drag the PDF file to the “Books” section in iTunes, and they next time you sync your iPad it will be available in the iBook reader. I hope you enjoy my photos as much as I enjoyed taking them. Gary Arndt *Cover image was taken in Wadi Rum, Jordan

Design and layout: Indie Travel Media Ltd Head Designer: Angela Lees | indietravelmedia.com

Dome of the Valencia Market

VALENCIA, SPAIN

Traces of Arab history in Spain can be found all over the country. In Valencia these Arab influences are present in both the food (such as the regional rice dish of paella, with rice having been imported by the Arabs) and also in the architecture. Many old buildings in Spain have Arabian-style, geometric designs. The dome in this photo was built in the early 20th Century but within it the influence of Arab culture still lingers.

Plaza San Marco at Night

VENICE. ITALY

The Plaza San Marco is the heart of Venice. I took this photo at night when several vendors were out hawking their wares. The lights from the clothing stand visually set apart this modern, tourist creation from the older cathedral in the background.

First glimpse of the Treasury Building

PETRA, JORDAN

Petra was recently named as one of the New Seven Wonders of the world and it is well deserved. The most widely photographed image in Petra is of the Treasury Building, which is also the very first building you see as you wind your way through the chasm which leads to Petra. This building was made famous from the movie Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

Father and Daughter Lighting Candles

CHURCH OF THE HOLY SEPULCHRE, JERUSALEM

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is the holiest place in Christendom, the location where many Christians believe Jesus was crucified and buried. I visited Jerusalem during Holy Week in 2009 when pilgrims from all over the world came to celebrate Easter.

Man Praying at the Western Wall

JERUSALEM

The Western Wall is the only remaining part of the Second Temple, which was destroyed in year 70 by Rome. Today Jews from around the world come to worship at the wall, which is the closest they can come to the Temple Mount. Often called the Wailing Wall, it is actually a rather festive place with many families holding Bar Mitzvahs there.

Rainbow at Milford Sound

MILFORD SOUND NEW ZEALAND

Milford Sound in undoubtedly one of the most incredible natural attractions Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve had the pleasure to visit. The sound (actually a fjord) is surrounded by sharp cliffs as it extends out to the sea. It had been raining for 24 hours prior to my visit to the sound and had just stopped when I arrived. This meant plenty of rainbows and spectacular waterfalls everywhere.

Pilgrims at the Stone of the Anointing

JERUSALEM

Just inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem is the Stone of the Anointing, where many Christians believe Christâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s body was prepared for burial. I took several photos from the balcony above and merged them to create this ghost like effect.

Incoming Storm

POHNPEI, MICRONESIA

This photo was taken in a small boat in the Pohnpei lagoon as a storm was approaching. We eventually got caught in the storm, but not before I managed to take some great photos of the oncoming storm clouds. If you look closely, you can see rain falling in the distance.

The Porch of the Caryatids

ACROPOLIS ATHENS, GREECE

To date, my experience in Greece consisted of an eight hour layover between Tel Aviv and Rome. While I was there, I rushed from the airport with my camera to the Acropolis to tour the site and take photos. The one thing I did get from my short time in Greece is that I will return and spend much more time exploring the country.

The Colosseum

ROME, ITALY

Also one of the New Seven Wonders of the World, the colosseum is one of the oldest and largest structures even partially standing in Rome. The colosseum is one of the best known structures in the world and is usually the iconic image of Rome.

Storm Clouds Over The Olympic Mountains

OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK WASHINGTON STATE

Olympic National Park is the home of the only rainforest in the continental United States. The Olympic Peninsula is a very wet location due to its position between the Pacific Ocean and the mountains. The National Park is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Felucca on the Nile

ASWAN, EGYPT

River transportation has existed on the Nile for thousands of years. The felucca is the traditional boat used on the Nile. If you are ever in Aswan, you will have more offers for felucca trips than you can count.

Moon Over The Mediterranean Sea

BENIDORM, SPAIN

I woke up in the middle of the night to see this sight from my hotel window. Simple moments like this are the real reasons you travel.

The Eiffel Tower

PARIS, FRANCE

This is a High Dynamic Range photo taken at the Palais de Chaillot, across the Seine from the Eiffel Tower. What I like most about this photo are the rich colors you do not normally see in an Eiffel Tower Photo: greens and blues.

Gondolas Parked in the Canal

VENICE, ITALY

Until you get to Venice, it is hard to realize just how much the city does in fact rely on the canals and water transportation. I spent one day literally lost in Venice. The bridges and canals form a maze which would be the envy of any puzzle maker.

The Kings and Queens of France

VERSAILLES, FRANCE

Versailles is an amazing place to visit. The grounds are so large and ornate that it is hard to imagine that it was all built for the pleasure of one person. Walking around you can easily understand why they had the French Revolution.

Windmill and Canal

KINDERDIJK, NETHERLANDS

Windmills are the symbol of the Netherlands and there is no better place to see how they worked than Kinderdijk. Contrary to popular opinion, the windmills were not used to grind wheat, but rather to pump water from lower dykes to higher ones. Today there are still electrical pumps in operation performing the same function the windmills did hundreds of years ago.

Mammoth Springs at Sunrise

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK

Yellowstone National Park is unique because it sits atop a giant volcanic caldera. This volcano gives Yellowstone its thermal features, the most significant of which is Mammoth Springs. Located at the north end of the park, it hosts many of the sulfur formations which gives the park its name.

Skateboarder in Mid-air VENICE BEACH

SANTA MONICA, CALIFORNIA

One of the best places in the world to engage in people watching is Venice Beach. You can see any types of people there from the extremely weird to the totally normal. It is also the location of a skateboard park where some of LAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s best skateboarders come to show off for the crowds.

Abandoned Motel Sign ROUTE 66

NEAR ARIZONA/CALIFORNIA BORDER

Route 66 used to be the primary road connecting Chicago and Los Angeles. Since the development of the Interstate Highway System, however, most of the road has gone into disrepair. This abandoned motel sign near the boarder of California and Arizona is a throwback to Route 66â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s heyday.

Yosemite Valley

YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK CALIFORNIA

Having been to Yosemite National Park, I can understand why Ansel Adams set up his studio there. Yosemite Valley is one of the most photogenic locations in the world. This photo is taken in almost the same location as a photo that was taken by Ansel Adams.

Mesas in Black and White

MONUMENT VALLEY ARIZONA/UTAH

Without question, my favorite place to take photos is in deserts. There is something about the empty, stark beauty of a desert that makes for great photos. That empty beauty is best seen in the American Southwest in Monument Valley, which straddles the border between Arizona and Utah. I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t normally convert my photos to black and white, but there was something about this one which just stands out more with the color removed.

City of Arts and Sciences

VALENCIA, SPAIN

I have witnessed the architecture of Salvatore Calatrava in many cities around the world. The best place to experience his works, however, is in his home town of Valencia, Spain. The City of Arts and Sciences in Valencia consists of many structures designed by Calatrava. This photo shows the planetarium in the foreground and the opera house in the background.

The Sagrada Familia

BARCELONA, SPAIN

The Sagrada Familia is the iconic image of Barcelona. Designed by Antoni Gaudi, it is actually not a cathedral, but was intended to be a private church for the Sagrada family. It has actually been under construction since 1882 and is expected to be completed in 2015-2026.

Barong Dance

BALI, INDONESIA

Unlike the rest of Indonesia, which is Moslem, the island of Bali is mostly Hindu. The Barong Dance tells the story of Balinese mythology and the fight between good and evil. In this part of the dance, one of the gods mind controls soldiers and makes them want to kill themselves. Traditionally only performed once a year, it is now performed daily for tourists to experience Balinese culture.

Boy at Political Protest

BANGKOK, THAILAND

I was in Bangkok in 2010 when major political protests were taking place. One protest took place only a block from where I was staying. I grabbed my camera and was situated between several thousand redshirt protesters and several hundred police in full riot gear. I thought the innocence of this childâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s face was in stark contrast to the bedlam which surrounded me.

Clownfish

GREAT BARRIER REEF AUSTRALIA

For one day I got to pretend I was a real underwater photographer. I met a man named Peter Mooney in Cairns, Australia who ran an underwater photography company. He had an underwater housing unit for my Nikon camera and agreed to take me out on the Great Barrier Reef to take some photos. I learned first hand just how difficult taking photos underwater can be, especially when everything you want to take a photo of doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t want to pose for you.

Sunbeam in Deer Cave

MULU NATIONAL PARK SARAWAK, MALAYSIA

Deer Cave is one of the largest single caverns in the world. Located on the island of Borneo, it is home to several million bats which leave the cave every night to feed on insects in the rainforest. To give you an idea how big the cave is, notice the silhouette of two people standing at a handrail on the right hand side of the photo.

Fishing Boats in Harbour

MUI NE, VIETNAM

Mui Ne is one of my favorite cities in Vietnam. It is the kite surfing capital of Asia as well as having some of the cheapest and best seafood you will find anywhere. I happened to be in Mui Ne when the fishing boats were in the harbor. It was amazing thing to see so many colorful boats in such a small space.

Inari Shinto Shrine

KYOTO, JAPAN

Kyoto is a city full of temples. However, if you could only see one thing in Kyoto I would have to recommend visiting the Inari Shrine on Fushimi-ku neighborhood. The shrine has wooden, orange gates which extend all the way up the mountain. The wooden gates are constantly being built by businessmen for prosperity.

Girls at Indian Holi Festival

SINGAPORE

Singapore has a sizable Indian community and I was able to attend their Holi Festival in 2010. The main activity of the festival involves covering everyone in colorful dye. Trying to keep my camera clean was a real challenge. It took over a week to wash the pink and green dye from my hair.

Skyline at Sunset

HONG KONG

In my opinion, the Hong Kong skyline as seen from Kowloon is the best city skyline in the world. Sitting at a cafe and watching the sun go down and the lights turn on is one of my favorite travel memories.

Jellyfish Lake

PALAU

Palau is one of the smallest countries in the world with less than 20,000 people. It is also home to one of the most unique environments on Earth: the jellyfish lakes. Depressions in limestone islands are filled with seawater from cracks in the rock. Jellyfish entered the lakes but none of their predators were able to. The jellyfish are harmless having evolved away most of their stingers in an environment without predators. You can swim with 10,000â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s of these jellyfish, the largest of which is about the size of a closed fist.

Longshan Temple

TAIPEI, TAIWAN

This is a high dynamic range photo taken inside the Longshan Temple in Taipei. It is one of my favorite places in Taipei and one of the best if you want to get a feel for what old China might have been like.

Ghost Monks

ANGKOR WAT CAMBODIA

This photo was taken inside the actual Angkor Wat temple. I had my camera and tripod set up when three monks began walking past me. I took several photos and merged the photos together to get the ghosting effect.

Mount Bromo in the Mist

JAVA, INDONESIA

I woke up very early in the morning to see the sunrise over Mount Bromo. Unfortunately, the clouds were so heavy that I didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t get to see the sunrise I wanted and the other active volcano which can be seen further away. Instead I got this very dramatic photo of the cinder cone belching steam. It reminded me of Mount Doom in The Lord of the Rings.

Night Market

LUANG PRABANG, LAOS

Luang Prabang is one of the nicest places you can visit in South-East Asia and the former royal capital of Laos. Their night market is when vendors set up shop, mostly for tourists who are visiting the city.

St. Peter’s Basilica

VATICAN CITY

The most important site in the Roman Catholic Church, St. Peter’s Basilica is well know to most people and is visited by millions each year. It is one of the most photogenic places I’ve visited. You can point your camera in almost any direction and take a photo of something interesting. During one of my visits to the Vatican I also arranged to get a walking tour of the Vatican Gardens, which is well worth it if you are ever in Rome.

Rainbow and Sailboats

PORT VILA, VANUATU

I had almost nothing but rain during my entire time in Vanuatu. There were a few moments, however, when the clouds parted and the sun broke through. I took this photo of a rainbow over the Port Vila harbor during one of the few times there was sun.

Rice Terraces in the Clouds

BANAUE, PHILIPPINES

Called â&#x20AC;&#x153;the 8th Wonder of the Worldâ&#x20AC;? by Filipinos, the Rice Terraces truly are one of the most impressive things you will ever see. Miles and miles of mountainside have been sculpted over 1,000 years to let the locals grow rice.

Sheep Shed

MUNGO NATIONAL PARK NSW, AUSTRALIA

Mungo is not one of the most visited National Parks in Australia, but I found it to be one of the most interesting. It is situated on a dry lake bed and has some of the earliest evidence of modern humans, including cremation rites going back 40,000 years. It addition to the archeology, it was also home to a sheep ranch at one time.

Children in a Canoe

RENNELL ISLAND, SOLOMON ISLANDS

Lake Tegano on Rennell Island is one of the most remote places I have ever been to. The children in one of the villages I visited were fascinated by my presence and followed me wherever I went. When I eventually left the island by boat, some of them got in a canoe and followed me for a bit, waving and shouting at me the entire time.

The Southern Cross

SAVAIâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;I, SAMOA

The stars when seen from the island in the Pacific are some of the brightest you will see on Earth. There is almost no light or air pollution to dim them. I took this photo of the Southern Cross on a 30-second exposure, framed by a palm tree. The different colors you see in the stars are the actual color of the stars, something which you can only notice with a telescope or good binoculars.

Moai in Flowers

RANO RARAKU CRATER EASTER ISLAND

There are actually not that many moai (statues) on Easter Island. All of the photos of moai you see embedded into the ground like this are at the Rano Raraku crater, which is where all the moai on the island were carved. It rained during most of my time on Easter Island, but I did manage to get a few hours of blue skies and sunlight.

Wat Phra Kaew

BANGKOK, THAILAND

Wat Phra Kaew is the center of Thai Buddhism. It is also the location of the famous Emerald Buddha (actually made of jasper, not emerald). It is adjacent to the royal palace in Bangkok and is one of the most colorful and photogenic places in the city.

Cedars in the Mist

YAKUSHIMA ISLAND, JAPAN

Yakushima was the inspiration for the Hayao Miyazaki film, Princess Mononoke. It is on an island an hour ferry ride south of the city of Kagoshima. The cedar forests are on a mountain 1,000m (3,000ft) above sea level. It is a place which very few non-Japanese bother to visits. It was one of the highlights of my trip to Japan.

Yosemite Valley at Sunset

YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK CALIFORNIA

The one thing that Ansel Adams wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t able to capture using his techniques was the amazing colors which are in Yosemite Valley. Depending on the day and the time of year, you can see amazingly rich greens, reds and golds.

Woman in Refreshment Boat

HA LONG BAY, VIETNAM

Ha Long Bay is on the short list to choose the Seven Natural Wonders of the World. Trips to Ha Long Bay are usually done on an overnight trip on a junk. There are small boats operated by women who come up to the junks to sell soda, beer and chips to the passengers.

Grand Canyon Under The Clouds

GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK ARIZONA

When I visited the South Rim of the Grand Canyon in 2009, I was witness to a really strange cloud formation. The clouds looked like evenly spaced bumps which made the light on the canyon have the same sort of effect as the bottom of a swimming pool with ripples on the surface.

The Duomo

FLORENCE, ITALY

Florence is the home of the Italian Renaissance and is a stop on most people’s trip to Italy. The Florence Cathedral was at one time the world’s largest dome. In fact, the English word dome comes from the Italian word for cathedral, duomo. This photo was taken from across the river at a spot called Michelangelo’s Piazza.