TRAVEL THE WORLD - VILLAGE ON THE NILE, EGYPT

These photos, taken in 2004 from the train or the boat, portray life in rural agricultural villages along the Nile River in Egypt.

TRAVEL THE WORLD - VILLAGE NEAR UDAIPUR, INDIA

These 2007 photos were taken from the car on the way from Udaipur to the 14th Century fortress of Kumbhalgarh. It was a very cold December morning with near freezing temperatures. The photos are a fairly good indication of the poverty of small farmers in India.

TRAVEL THE WORLD - VILLAGE NEAR UDAIPUR, INDIA

In Rajasthan in December the temperatures fall at night to below the freezing point. Here on a cold morning in a remote village between Udaipur and the fortress of Kumbhalgarh, men are wearing the woolen shawls that we saw everywhere. By the time we reached Jaisalmer, the night time temperature had become even colder, and our hotel, located within the old fort, had a very poor heating system. Fortunately, for around $7.00 I was able to purchase a beautiful multi-coloured woolen shawl. I fought the cold by wrapping myself into its lovely warm softness.

TRAVEL THE WORLD - VILLAGE IN RAJASTHAN, INDIA

Here is another photo taken from the car on the way to Kumbhalgarh. It is an example of how primitive life is for millions of people in rural India. Most small farmers become indebted to local money lenders, and, as their debts are inherited by their offspring, the hopelessness of the situation contributes to the thousands of farmer suicides that occur every year.The Government of India is currently making available an allocation of $15 billion to forgive the debt of small farmers.

TRAVEL THE WORLD - NAOUSSA, PAROS, GREECE

Naoussa on Paros, where we visited in 1998, is a picturesque fishing village with the white-washed houses and brilliant sunlight that we associate with the Greek islands. What is not so commonly seen are fishermen like these - laughing and chatting together while mending their nets - as men at Naoussa have no doubt been doing since ancient times.

TRAVEL THE WORLD - DOWNLAND AND WEALD MUSEUM, ENGLAND

A visit to the Downland and Weald Open Air Museum was a unique experience for my mother and I when we traveled to England together in 1984. The objective of the museum is to preserve barns, houses and other rural buildings about to be demolished by moving them to an outdoor museum. Here they can be seen in context, enabling visitors to experience rural life even if only in a small way. We thoroughly enjoyed walking here and admired the concept very much. Located in Sussex, it now includes 45 buildings.

TRAVEL THE WORLD - TREGUIER, BRITTANY, FRANCE

In 2008 we stayed for four days at a bed and breakfast in a medieval manor house near Treguier in Cotes d'Armor, Brittany. It was a lonely place, off by itself, hidden in the depth of the French countryside where the sun never seemed to appear. On a morning like this one, however, the village in the photo, only a mile or so from the manor house, was transformed into a place of great charm and beauty.

TRAVEL THE WORLD - PONT L'EVEQUE, FRANCE

We stayed for several days in Pont l'Eveque when we visited Normandy in 1999. A very attractive village, it is famous for Pont l'Eveque cheese, which has been made here since at least the 12th Century. It resembles Brie or Camembert and was delicious. We would occasionally have lunch in our car. This would consist of Pont l'Eveque cheese, wine which we drank from the bottle, pate and a baguette. What a great way to indulge ourselves!

By the way, most of the photos can be enlarged by right clicking on the photo and then clicking on "open link in new window."

TRAVEL THE WORLD - VILLAGE IN MOROCCO

In 2002, we drove in a bus with our tour group through the High Atlas mountains of Morocco - an area so dry it seems never to have had the slightest amount of rain. When you descend into valleys like this one, however, the irrigated land is beautifully green and supports productive agriculture.

TRAVEL THE WORLD - THE NILE, EGYPT

This photo captures perfectly the charm of many of the Muslim people we've seen and perhaps of youth anywhere in the world. Possibly they are students who are greeting a teacher or a friend. The scene is typical of the towns on the Nile that we saw from our train in 2004.

TRAVEL THE WORLD - LOWER SLAUGHTER, COTSWOLDS, ENGLAND

Lower Slaughter is one of many beautiful Cotswold villages. This old mill, photographed in 1997, takes us back many years in history to a time that was already disappearing when described by Thomas Hardy in his late 19th Century novels. The helter skelter of modern life causes us to yearn for the enduring peacefulness that we mistakenly believe was typical for people in villages such as this one many years ago. Realizing this, however, does not take away from the beauty of the scene.

TRAVEL THE WORLD - NAXOS, GREECE

In 1998 we stopped at this taverna while on a bus trip around the island of Naxos. In a small village perched on the side of a mountain, it is an example of how very charming a Greek taverna can be. The photo also shows the sparkling quality of the light common to all of the Greek islands.