Bernat Armangue | The Copts of Egypt

Photo © Bernat Armangue-All Rights Reserved

Amongst all the angst and hubris of the events in Egypt during the past few years, attention should be given to its largest minority group; the Copts, the native Christians of Egypt.

Wikipedia tells us that "Christianity was the religion of the vast majority of Egyptians from 400–800 A.D. and the majority after the Muslim conquest until the mid-10th century and remains the faith of a significant minority population."

"Significant" is the word used by the online encyclopedia, since it's almost impossible to get an accurate number from Egyptian governmental sources.  I also read in The Guardian that no one in Egypt can agree on how many people live in Cairo, let alone the precise ratio of Muslims to Christians. But senior government clerics are quite sure of one thing: there are exactly 866 atheists in Egypt – roughly 0.00001% of the population. Ridiculous, and somewhat reminiscent of Ahmadinejad's assertion that there were no gays in Iran...and the same flaky arithmetic applies to the Copts.

Bernat Armangue's 15 photographs in his Copts In The New Egypt provide us with a sliver of a glimpse in the daily lives of Egyptian Copts. In the current religious climate, no one can tell the Copts' future in their own land, and whether this will lead to increased emigration to other countries such as the USA, Canada and Australia.

Bernat is a Spanish photographer born in Barcelona. He freelanced for various Spanish newspapers, and has been working with The Associated Press since 2005. He covered the Middle East (mostly the Israeli-Palestinian conflict), and recently moved to Delhi to cover South Asia.

What Makes Top Adventurers Tick?

Outside Online had a cool article up, which also appears in the April print edition of Outside Magazine, in which they ask 15 top adventurers why they do the things they do.

The list of people they asked this burning question to is quite impressive, with some of my favorite adventurers giving insights into what makes them tick. People like polar explorer Mike Horn, who simply loves the challenge of facing the elements in the places he visits. Dean Karnazes admits that he likes the honesty that comes with suffering, while Ed Viesturs says he loves the payoff he gets at the end of a climb, having put months of planning and preparation into an expedition. Long distance rower Roz Savage admits that she's learned that nothing worthwhile comes easy, but what she does inspires a lot of people.

Sadly, one of the men that Outside spotlighted was Shane McConkey, who passed away recently in a terrible BASE jumping/ski accident. Shane tells us that he simply loved catching big air, and what he did was "ingrained" in his DNA. With his passing, the adventure community lost a great person, but shane was living the life he wanted and going after his goals.

There is al of wisdom and inspiration in the words of these adventurers. Each of them as a little something to share with us all.

Kilimanjaro Climbing Video - Part II

U.K. outdoor magazine Trail has released the second video of their recent climb on Mt. Kilimanjaro. I posted on their first video a few weeks back, and that video showed the prep for the climb and the first few days.

This new video, found below, begins on Day 3, and continues the journey with a hike up to the famous Lava Tower, before settling into Barranco Camp. Then it's up the daunting Barranco Wall, and the team starting to feel the effects of the altitude, before skipping ahead to Summit Day with some eventual shots at the Roof of Africa.

All in all, both videos are well done, and I recommend them for anyone considering Kili. The second video skips ahead fairly dramatically and glosses over a good portion of the trek, but I suspect that was for production reasons. Still, this is a good introduction as to what you can expect on the mountain, and a glimpse of what a week long climb is like there.

Classic Vietnam Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh

Experience clamoring Hanoi, cruise on a garbage pontoon through Halong Bay, shop in sentimental Hoi A, crush through the Cu Chi passages, taste Vietnamese frosted espresso, individuals watch in tumultuous Saigon

Cruise through limestone karsts on board a conventional garbage vessel and walk the avenues of majestic capitals. From lively Hanoi, the characteristic magnificence of Halong Bay, the environmental majestic capital of Hue and the charms of Hoi A to the advanced life of Saigon, experience the vitality of Vietnam in 10 jam-stuffed days. An accomplished CEO will lead you to must-see highlights yet permit a lot of time for you to do your thing.

See more: Vietnam travel packages

Land in clamoring Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam. As travelers will be landing at different times today, there are no arranged exercises. A few proposals include: Taking a stroll through Hanoi's Old Quarter – a maze of roads, every one generally gave to an alternate item or industry. At night go to an execution at the well known Water Puppet Theater. The Mausoleum houses the remaining parts of Ho Chi Minh, the establishing father of the bound together Vietnam (the mausoleum and historical center are shut in October-November). You will have a planned gathering at night around 6pm. If you don't mind check at the gathering work area or search for a G Adventures notice load up with subtle elements of the real gathering time. At this gathering your CEO will ask to sight your travel protection, twofold check your Vietnam visa and finish some other paper work. If its not too much trouble note that most nationalities obliges a visa to enter Vietnam, please twofold check this with your travel executor or nearby Vietnamese Embassy. After your gathering, you may decide to take off for a discretionary supper to further get to know your CEO and individual gathering parts. We overnight in the downtown area of Hanoi. Our lodging is spotted in an Old Quarter. All rooms are twofold or twin offer with ventilating and en suite lavatory. Complimentary wireless internet and a machine are accessible in the anteroom.

A large number of islands climb drastically from the waters of Halong Bay and, to further their excellence, perplexing hollow frameworks commonly exist all through these limestone karst developments. Our cruising garbage will take you to visit a percentage of the islands and holes. You could revel in a nighttime drink on the deck underneath the stars. Our settlement today evening time is a genuinely uncommon experience – thinking about a vessel encompassed by high limestone karsts. All lodges are twofold or twin offer with ventilating and en suite lavatory. On day 3, after an early lunch ready for watercraft we head once again to Hanoi. You have room schedule-wise to do some last moment shopping. The sleeper prepares all through Vietnam are very agreeable. Each one lodge rests 4 individuals in 2 cots. You will have the capacity to bolt the entryway from within. All bedclothes is given. The train is aerated and cooled and has squat and Western style toilets with a wash bowl at the end of every compartment. Sacks can be put away in your lodge and got to at whatever time. Nourishment and beverages are accessible for buy ready for. Approx travel time: Private transport Halong Bay to Hanoi: 4 hours every path Transfer to prepare station: 15 min Overnight prepare Ha Noi to Hue: 14-15 hours

In the wake of registering with our inn, we begin our day with a visit to the grand Tien Mu Pagoda. Assembled in excess of 400 years prior, and at seven stories high, Tien Mu is still the tallest and maybe the most exquisite pagoda in Vietnam. These tombs are greatly elaborate and grasp the idea of Feng Shui. Thereafter, you may decide to appreciate a vegan lunch at a neighborhood convent and there are different alternatives to take off by bicycle to investigate the nearby wide open. It would be ideal if you approach your CEO for more data. At night, take the risk to attempt some neighborhood Hue claims to fame, for example, banh khoai (Hue exquisite flapjacks), and banh bot loc boc tom thit (slim rice paper loaded with meat and shrimp). You may need to wash everything down with a Hue lager. Yum! Our settlement today is halfway spotted in the primary road of Hue. All rooms are twofold or twin offer with ventilating and en suite washroom. A swimming pool and wifi are likewise accessible.

Toward the beginning of today we'll begin our day visiting the magnificent remnants of the Imperial Citadel, from where the entire of Vietnam was once dominated. You'll delight in investigating the numerous royal residences and doors, patios and enclosures of this lovely mind boggling and obviously listening to the stories of the rulers who once existed here. In the wake of traverse the Hai Van Pass, with phenomenal perspectives in all headings, we will stop at Lang Co Beach, landing in Hoi A toward the evening for our three night sit tight. Once known as Faifo, Hoi A was a critical exchanging town with solid south Chinese impact and associations. You can take a mobile voyage through this living historical center which incorporates the Museum of History and Culture, the Tan Ky house, the Japanese span, the Fujian Assembly Hall and lunch at a riverside restaurant to example a percentage of the neighborhood luxuries. Hoi An is likewise a shopping mecca for travelers in the locale. Tailors can deliver practically anything overnight, with garments, silk lights, polish product and numerous different specialties proliferate. For sun admirers, Cua Dai Beach is just 4kms from town and it is a simple bike ride to reach. All rooms are twofold or twin offer with cooling and en suite washroom. Complimentary wireless internet and an open machine are accessible in the hall. The lodging likewise has a swimming pool to unwind adjacent to. Ap

Anthony Pond | Spice Wallahs of Khari Baoli

Photo © Anthony Pond-All Rights Reserved

Just off Chandni Chowk Market is Khari Baoli, the core of Asia's largest wholesale spice market. It's here in small wholesale shops that large bags, stuffed to the brim with chili, turmeric, ginger and various other spices are sold. Things have changed little in this market for centuries. Huge sacks of herbs and spices are still brought to the wholesalers on long, narrow barrows pushed by daily laborers from Bihar and Rajasthan. The wholesalers are ninth- or tenth generation spice traders, and are direct descendants of the founders of such establishments which date back to the 17th and 18th centuries.

It was our first stop in Delhi during The Sacred Cities Photo Expedition-Workshop, and Anthony Pond, a second time participant in my expeditions-workshops, photographed the activity in this market, producing Spice Wallas of Khari Baoli, a photo essay of about 29 monochrome images that perfectly capture the bustle and hustle of the frenetic to and fro of this market. The images were converted to black and white with Nik's Silver Efex Pro.

Anthony Pond worked for more than two decades in the criminal courts in California as an attorney for the Public Defender’s Office. Now pursuing his passion for travel and photography, he travels repeatedly to South East Asia and India, amongst other places, to capture life, the people and the culture. He has been a frequent contributor to The Travel Photographer blog,

Omo Child | Mingi

"I am one of the victims of mingi. Last year my daughter was declared teeth mingi because her teeth showed from the top first instead of the bottom. In my mind it was unthinkable to drown my own child in the river. I swore to God no one would kill my own flesh and blood. I will be the first Kara man to stand up to the elders." -Hylo Ari 

Mingi is the traditional belief among the Karo and Hamar tribes in southern Ethiopia that adults and children with physical abnormalities are ritually impure, and some of them believe evil spirits or a “curse” will bring ill fortune to their villages if Mingi children are not killed. Mandated by the tribes' elders, the afflicted child will be left alone in the bush without food and water, or will be drowned in  rivers.

Filmed over a five year period, the film makers of Omo Child followed Lale Labuko, a young educated man from the Karo tribe and his relentless journey with the people of his tribe as they attempt to change an ancient practice. Labuko, a 2013 National Geographic Emerging Explorer, learned about the practice of Mingi and how he made it his life mission to end ritual infanticide in his tribe's culture.

Omo Child: The River and the Bush has been selected for the DC Independent Film Festival and will premiere February 25th, opening night of the festival.

the Mekong River between Vietnam and Cambodia

Another bijou journey boat is situated to be the first to offer another level of extravagance for voyagers visiting the Mekong River in the middle of Vietnam and Cambodia.

The Aqua Mekong has only 20 trendy lodges and will assume travels enduring from eight to 12 days from clamoring Saigon to Phnom Penh or Siem Reap - portal to the sanctuaries of Angkor.

Notwithstanding its size, it will be the main ship on this stretch of the stream that can offer an exercise center, library, open air evening film, and even a waterway confronting pool at the bow. Composed in Saigon, the boat has a smooth matte-dark body and the inner parts are made totally from nearby supportable materials.

David Thompson, Asia's top-positioned gourmet specialist on the 'World's 50 Best Restaurants' rundown, will be making menus for all the suppers served ready for.

Asia master administrator Travel Indochina has likewise presented two new travels for those wishing to find Burma by watercraft. The Irrawaddy Explorer guarantees to be the most lavish cruiser on the stream Irrawaddy when it takes its first journey one month from now (September 2014).

Related post: Vietnam travel packages

The new all-suite Sanctuary Ananda additionally begins cruising from November 2014, and both boats will cover courses along untouched districts of Mandalay and Yangon.

The Three Finalists In The Travel Photographer's Street Photography Contest

Photograph A. Photo © Peter Ansara-All Rights Reserved

Photograph B. Photo © Jeff Oftedahl-All Rights Reserved

Photograph C. Photo © Anthony Pond-All Rights Reserved

Which Photograph Wins The Travel Photographer's Street Photography Contest?

Photograph A

Photograph B

Photograph C

Poll Maker

It was a tough job to choose three finalists from the numerous entries I've received over the past weeks...but here they are, and it's now up to the readers of The Travel Photographer's blog to choose the winner of the Street Photography Contest, who will receive the WotanCraft Ryker Urban Classic 001 camera bag.

The voting will come to an end on October 24th...when the winner will be announced.

The rules for the contest were simple and easy to follow, and were listed in this post.

WotanCraft Atelier's website has full information and details on the WotanCraft Ryker Urban Classic 001 bag.