I’ve been visiting Samurai castles in Japan. A fair number survive, in some form or other, but authenticity varies wildly. Some keeps, such as Osaka-jo, are imaginative rebuilds, with concrete cores and even elevators. But there are a handful of authentic survivors and I focused on the five that are ranked as “National Treasures”, at […]
Browsing Posts in Travel
Japan: Samurai Castles
April 18, 2018
Ethiopia: Dallol Salt Formations
January 24, 2018
Ethiopia’s Dallol region combines a salt flat with volcanic hot springs, to wildly colorful effect. Hot rocks far below are forcing up hot salty water, laden with minerals. The bubbling hot springs then form brightly colored salt formations and salty lakes. The active areas are continually changing, with new features appearing and old ones drying […]
Ethiopia: Down in the Salt Mines
January 24, 2018
And you thought your job was tough… The Danakil depression in Eastern Ethiopia is one of the lowest and hottest points in all of Africa. It’s at -127 meters and is dry, HOT, and salty. For centuries, the locals have mined the hot salt flats and exported blocks of salt to the farmers in the […]
Erte Ale: A Lava River
January 23, 2018
I trekked up Ethiopia’s Erte Ale volcano to admire its fine lava. Formerly there was a lava lake at the summit, but this was disrupted in the January 2017 eruption and the lake drained away. However, it has been replaced by a fresh flow of lava being forced up from below. This lava flows […]
Rangoon: A Diamond-Tipped Pagoda
December 13, 2017
Greetings from Myanmar, land of giant golden stupas. I came in overland from Thailand through Mawlamyine, where there is an ancient stupa visited by Kipling and referenced in his poem Mandalay: “By the old Moulmein Pagoda, lookin’ eastward to the sea …” Neither the temple nor Mawlamyine/Moulmein seem to have changed much since Kipling’s day. […]
A Bridge on the River Kwai
December 8, 2017
A quick “Hi” from a Bridge on the River Kwai. Yes, there really is such a place and it is a (mostly) authentic relic of the Death Railway. The book/movie “The Bridge on the River Kwai” was satirical fiction and the wooden bridge they showed never actually existed. But a steel bridge was built in […]
© 2025 The Wandering Scot
Design by SRS Solutions