The 2013 annual review continues!
2013 was the year of portraits and deserts. India, Namibia, Bhutan, and Sri Lanka; some of my favorite photos were taken in these countries. They had some stories to tell. I shared the 21 destinations of the year 2013 last week, and now, here are the 21 best photos of this year’s travel. Why 21? I don’t know, seems like a cool number.
Namibia night sky
The winning photo of 2013 ATWS Photo Contest (thanks ATTA!), the campsite under the Southern Milky Way captured the great moment we all are fond of. Every night for five days, we pitched tents, sat around the campfire, and shared a story or two.
Varanasi
This is the place to go to take strong portrait photos. I met some charismatic people here, and he was one of them.
Bushmen woman
I met her right before I left the site. She was shy at first, but showed interested in my camera besides of her enthusiastic friend who called me over to take picture of her. A young mother she is, and a wife of a great hunter in the tribe, has beautiful eyes and innocent face.
Sri Lanka train
Sri Lanka Railway is one well-operating machine. Train schedule is accurate, easily accessible online, and tickets are quite cheap. The extensive train tracks are not only convenient, but also extremely scenic. This photo was taken from the train from Colombo to Anuradhapura, and the train broke down shortly after this photo.
Rajasthani man
He was a musician working at the Mehrangarh Fort, the biggest tourist site in Jodhpur. You can recognize the Rajasthani men by the golden jewelry, colorful turban, and wicked mustache, like him.
Bhutanese pilgrim and his smile
Bhutanese elders spend their days at a local temple, talking to friends and praying. He was sitting next to his friend, seemed like they’ve been known each other for several decades.
Bhutanese woman
I met her on the way to Thimphu from the Indian border. We stopped the car to look at the local produce they had; homemade cheese, butter, and fresh herbs. She’s wearing kira, the Bhutanese national dress for women.
The Namib Desert
This is the Namib Desert, along the coast of Namibia.
Bushmen man
This old man who probably didn’t know what he looked like, burst out laughing when he looked at my camera LCD.
Old Delhi street
One of many streets of Old Delhi.
Bhutanese school kids
They are wearing gho, the Bhutanese male dress, for the school.
Building a fire
Bushmen Master Kudu showed us how to build a fire with wood sticks and a bird’s nest. Check out this video of the cheering in their language.
India woman in Varanasi
She dressed up for the night’s Hindu ceremony at Dashashwamedh Ghat.
Philippines sunset
Probably the best selfie ever. Taken in Bantayan Island of the Philippines.
Rajasthani musician
A musician at Jaisalmer, India. He wasn’t playing for money; he was just playing for music.
Malaysia
One of my favorite places in Malaysia; the Cameron Highlands.
Indian monkey
One day, Black Face Monkey (Gray langur) tribe invaded the High Bank of Rishikesh.
Sri Lanka wild elephants
Finally saw wild elephants in the forest; in the eco-park in Sri Lanka.
Thar Desert
We crossed a fraction of the Thar Desert, also known as the Great Indian Desert, on the back of camels.
Loreto sunrise
Sunrise over the Sea of Cortez, from Loreto, Baja California Sur, Mexico.
Winter is coming
One very cold day here in Fredericksburg, VA, I went out to capture some of the beautiful formations on the tree.
I think I shared 22 photos.. Oh well, I believe the more the merrier! What’s your memorable moments of 2013?
Happy holidays everyone!
Amazing photos, Juno! I’m always too intimidated to do an end of year roundup. It’s so much to put in one little post!
Thanks Alex! It was sort of fun! Also agonizing because I couldn’t choose only 21 of them. 🙂
Beautiful photos! I think this illustrates that the people we meet are the most memorable things about our travels.
I agree. That’s why I’m so in love with portrait photos.
What a beautiful way to remember the year, great photos Juno.
Thanks Ayngelina! I can take and edit photos all day – I guess I should continue 🙂
Such beautiful photos. You really captured so much in the portrait photos.
Seeing the photos of Bhutan makes us miss it so much.
Thanks guys! Bhutan is such a special place, isn’t it? I wish I can go back there with an awesome photo project.
Wonderful shots! I’d be proud to call these my own. Seeing your lovely portraits makes me think I don’t take enough of these “people” shots when I travel.
Wow, what a treat! You do us all proud! Good show! I’m drooling thinking of my next vacation already. And very nice portraits. The most important thing is all the lands you meet are of course the PEOPLE! Wish you lots and lots of inspiring and safe travels throughout 2014 and beyond!
What a wonderful year it was!
Thanks Colleen! Meeting you was one of the best too!
WoW, beautiful pictures Juno, especially “Loreto sunrise”. That would be my ultimate dream, traveling.
Great photos…love it..
Wow! Fantastic photos, and each truly capture a story. You’ve made the Namib Desert a must on our travel bucket list! Oh, and the Cameron Highlands… and Bhutan. Everywhere, really 🙂
Really amazing, inspirational photos!
I absolutely LOVE the idea of this post and looking back on your year via the best photos. My favorite is the night sky one. Nothing is better for reflective thinking than a big broad expansive of twinkly sky!
Superb 2013 photos post! Your photos of the desert and night sky really speak to me.
These are really stunning Juno! I love the man smoking in Varanasi!
Wow, these are amazing! Especially love the Rajasthani musician; makes me want to go back to India! Looks like you had quite the year, Juno.
I love your portraits, Juno!!
For me, the most memorable moment this year was a day when I took a one-way flight to Bangkok with my partner to start our long-term travel 🙂
Many adventurous trips to you in 2014!!
Hi, im looking for a camera and lenses for my own world trip… what did you use for these pictures and what do you recommend? thanks
These are truly stunning shots!
Particularly the portraits, they really tell a story of the people in the image.
Keep on sharing such excellent photography!
And happy new year!
Excellent photos of both people and landscapes, especially the Chamen from Varanasi smoking. I swear I shot a photo of the same musician from Rajastan near the upper portion of your post. Where were all of the Bushmen photos from? Overall very nice work and cool sounding travels over 2013.
Take care,
George
Wesaidgotravel
the Bushmen photos are the one which I like the most!
Great sum up of 2013! Love the photos, Juno … And your Namibia Night sky photo is truly stunning! 🙂
Fantastic! What an incredible insight into 12 months of travel. We recently had the opportunity to visit the dark sky reserve above Aoraki National Park in New Zealand and were blown away by the view of the Milky Way. Your Namibian sky shot is superb!
BEAUTIFUL shots Juno! It’s great to see how far you’ve come as a photographer 🙂
Those photos are brilliant. The Namibia sky is class. The detail on the faces of others is, well again, brilliant.