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A Sojourn in the South | Amar Grover | Morocco, Anti Atlas, Taroudant
I hadn't come to Taroudannt to stroke chameleons. Situated in the Souss Valley between the High Atlas and Anti-Atlas mountains, this is one of southern Morocco's largest and most laid back towns. Around 6km of crenellated walls and arched gateways enclose a tight jumble of streets and cafe-lined squares. The souk - bazaar - is smaller than Marrakesh's but prices are almost always keener and the merchants just that little bit friendlier
Ancient Aleppo | Amar Grover | Syrian Arab Republic, The Northeastern Desert, Aleppo
From pagan temple to church, mosques to fortress, palace to cafeteria, this citadel has seen it all; ruins and remains scatter its slopes. 'Halab', the city's Arabic name, derives from the word for milk; it's up here, by the Mosque of Abraham, that Abraham reputedly milked his cow - and where I paused for a cup of coffee
Atherton Tablelands | Amar Grover
Chugging past cane fields on the fringes of Cairns, I let Buda-dji, the carpet snake, lead the way
Australia's Camel Trail | Amar Grover | Australia, Northern Territories, Alice Springs
More surprising, even surreal, is the milieu: I am clinging to a camel in the middle of deepest, reddest Australia
Chitral | Amar Grover | Pakistan, North West Frontier, Chitral
As the noisy old Fokker cleared strands of fir and turbulence at the Lowari Pass, I gazed out across the crinkled Hindu Kush. It was tempting to feel smug but Chitral's airfield packed one last drama. Our plane dipped between bare valley walls, houses flashed by above and just when it seemed we might plop into sinuous tongues of river, the wheels bumped home and dry
Gods and Girnar | Amar Grover | India, Gujarat, Junagadh
A pungent aroma of dung fires mingled with incense tickled my nostrils whilst the melancholic hymn of harmoniums and chanting wafted from a dharamshala, pilgrims' rest house
Holy Mount Emei | Amar Grover | China, Sichuan, Emei Shan
Pilgrims have been venturing here for nearly two millennia, drawn by a combination of inspiring scenery, venerable monasteries and Buddhist shrines
Hoof of the World: Trekking in Ladakh | Amar Grover | India, Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh
Ladakh is one of India's most otherworldly districts. High in the Himalaya-bordering Tibet, it boasts some of the country's most pristine landscapes. Sparsely inhabited valleys lie between stark mountains, white-washed Buddhist monasteries perch improbably on crags and cliff tops...
Lhasa Portrait | Amar Grover | Tibet, Lhasa, Lhasa
Tibet was like some once fabulous but now dusty jewel whose owners wanted to show off preferably to high-yield group tours. The jewel, though, was flawed.
Mali's Festival in the Desert | Amar Grover | Mali, Niger River, Timbuktou
As the sun fades behind a pale gauze of haze and wind-blown dust, campfires flare and little teapots bubble. Veiled men lounge beside workaday hide tents as women chatter and scold restless children
Man of the Islands | Amar Grover | Spain, Mallorca, Deià
He was Archduke Ludwig Salvador, his father the King of Tuscany and his mother a Bourbon
Manimahesh and Kugti Pass | Amar Grover | India, Himachal Pradesh, Kailash
Shiva's headquarters are said to lie high and aloof amidst the mighty Himalaya, yet I was bound for his branch office
Off-Road in Oman | Amar Grover | Oman, Oman, Muscat
The gravity-defying mountain road – little more than a gravel track with a kerb of rocks and boulders – appeared to have been pushed up the slopes by an optimist or a madman
Port of Call | Amar Grover | Portugal, Northern Portugal, Porto
It's mid-morning and I'm already on my first glass of port, a delicious chilled white. There's more on the way, too
Ski Dubai | Amar Grover | United Arab Emirates, Dubai, Dubai City
Most visitors are impressed by the quality of its powdery snow; aficionados urge morning visits when it’s at its best. But this is neither the Alps nor Aspen; it is a giant ice-box in Arabia and expectations ought to be realistic
Sri Lanka's Tea Trail | Amar Grover | Sri Lanka, Cultural Triangle, Kandy
High in the lush hills south of Kandy, a patient factory manager explained to me the venerable business of ‘Orthodox’ and ‘CTC’, of Broken Orange Pekoe, fannings and dust
St. Louis (Senegal) | Amar Grover
In the bars of St-Louis one might find very old hands reminiscing old hat – of the good old days, la mission civilatrice – as Gauloise smoke curls between strains of urgent Afro-jazz
Sydney Bridge Climb | Amar Grover | Australia, New South Wales, Sydney
The route worms its way through steely innards. We climbed ladders past traffic lanes, ducked beneath massive joists and squeezed by a granite-faced pylon
Venerable Jianshui | Amar Grover | China, Yunnan, Jianshui
Up on the East Gate, under tinkling bells and rotund lanterns, men had come to sip tea, puff cigarettes and play draughts
Wild at Heart | Amar Grover | Pakistan, North West Frontier, Peshawar
"Come, sir, for firing" said a voice at my side. We strolled into a shop, its frontage painted luridly with arms and ammo. The proprietor ordered tea while I studied his range of weaponry - pistols, breechloaders and automatic rifles, machine-guns and, err, sub-machine-guns. Call me old-fashioned but I rather fancied firing a musket. "Show me one" he said, "I make in three days". They say any Darra gunsmith worth his salt can replicate any gun quickly and accurately
Wutai Shan | Amar Grover | China, Shaanxi, Wutai Shan
One local tourist brochure described my destination like this: I would feel my body floating above the clouds, and the moment I entered I'd forget to return. I would be refreshed, relaxed and happy, with "the moon as bright and clear as bathing water". Sounded like the People’s Republic of Prozackia. The blurb became more graphic: "The region also abounds with crude drugs...."