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The 15 Best Markets For Taking Stunning Pictures

A Personal Selection of Markets in Africa, Asia, the Middle-East and South America

Woman smoking at the 5-Day Market on Inle Lake, Myanmar - The five villages on the shore of Lake Inle take turns, so there is actually a market each day of the week.

Woman smoking at the 5-Day Market on Inle Lake, Myanmar – The five villages on the shore of Lake Inle take turns, so there is actually a market each day of the week.

No matter where I travel, I immensely enjoy visiting markets. Many of them, especially in Africa & in Asia, but also in the Middle East & in South America, are an assault on your senses: colorful and at times disorientating, aromatic or even intoxicating, vibrant and eventually hectic places… But this is where “the real life” can be found, so different from touristic highlights (though some markets have turned extremely popular in the last years, also amongst tour groups…) Continue Reading →

Saint Louis & North Senegal

Streets of St. Louis ... Where else would you see a banged up Renault 18 or Peugeot 505?

Streets of St. Louis … Where else would you see a banged up Renault 18 or Peugeot 505?

Since our first trip to Senegal left such a strong impression on us, we decided to discover more of this country, this time heading north for 12 days over Easter in April 2004. We only stayed one night in Dakar, at the Hotel Al Afifa, in our opinion the best deal in town. Then we immediately headed for St. Louis, the old colonial center of the very first French administration, with a Taxi Brousse. There we treated ourselves to the Hotel Cap St. Louis, a very pleasant place and a heaven of quietness on the Langue de Barbarie for an absolutely acceptable price. Continue Reading →

Dakar & La Casamance

Fishers painting one of the traditional pyrogues ... Next to it a pile of oyster shelves mixed into concrete for building houses

Fishers painting one of the traditional pyrogues … Next to it a pile of oyster shelves mixed into concrete for building houses

We first spent a few days discovering Dakar, a vibrant African metropolis with a world known music scene. This was the hard way to start discovering the “Black Continent”. Immediately after leaving the airport anybody who seems to have the resources to buy the smallest item, becomes the target of all street vendors in town, and a polite “no thanks” will never make them go away. If the very one lets go of you after 15 minutes, the games starts with the next enterprising seller. Quite a nerve-racking game! Though, on another trip we stayed in Yoff, a part of the city located near the airport, and nobody ever bothered us. Continue Reading →