Osaka, Japan

Osaka's Urban-Jovial Japan


stone before stone
Students play climbing at the base of Osaka Castle.
gymnast dancer
Dancer clashes with visitors to Osaka's medieval castle.
Through a gallery tunnel
Passersby walk through an Osaka subway tunnel.
Billy Ken Idol Worship
Children stand at the feet of the golden statue of BilliKen.
osakajo
Osaka Castle, prominent above the city centre.
dotonbori
The neon-lit banks of the Dotonbori canal.
Things as They Are
Two friends are photographed at the foot of the statue of Billy Ken.
pouting
Girlfriends and a baby at a Dog Café in Osaka,
Caraway
Model promotes a former Osaka baseball team.
Ferry Friends
Friends in the Bay Area Ferrys Wheel stage.
The Osaka Oceanarium
The illuminated Kaiyukan Aquarium in the Bay Area of ​​Osaka.
dotonbori
Osaka resident in the shadow of the gaudy neon of Dotonbori.
Asahi Lager
Flashy billboard promotes Japanese beer Asahi.
Japanese style souvenir
Visitors are photographed with Osaka Castle in the background.
Reflections of Osaka Life
Osaka Bay Area building generates a curious reflection from its visitors.
Osaka to (many) Colors
Bright decoration of a street in central Osaka.
salaryman
Salaryman passes in the corridor of a Bay Area building.
Osaka CBD
The modern houses of Osaka, the third Japanese city.
Street Tests
Young people practice dancing at the lighted base of a shopping center.
Japan's third most populous city and one of the oldest, Osaka doesn't waste too much time on formalities and ceremonies. The capital of the Kansai region is famous for its outgoing people always ready to celebrate life.

Less than two hours. That's how long the 330km journey between Hiroshima and Osaka.

We arrived at Shin Osaka station around 17:30 pm. We set up shop in a café near Osaka Jo Kitazume until such time as the young resident our hostess with us if you could find.

Mayu arrives after 22pm. We walked her home. When we arrived at his apartment on the 10th floor, we realized that not only are we close to Osaka Castle, right in the center of Chuo-Ku, but we also have a privileged view of the fortress, the surrounding lake and the aligned buildings of the Central Business District. .

Mayu puts us at ease. Offers us cold beers that we share in a pleasant chat in English. Until midnight. By this time, he apologizes but he has to go to bed. From our side, after the long journey from the bottom to the middle of the island of Honshu, her plan seemed fine to us.

We only wake up at 10 in the morning. Mayu he had left for the gym and would not return until the end of the day. We were still somewhat confused about the plan for exploring Osaka.

Conquering the Old Castle of Osaka

With the city's castle close at hand, we bet on simplifying. After all, more than highlighted above the heart of the city, as one would expect, Osaka Jo is inseparable from the history of what is now the third Japanese city.

Osaka Castle, Japan

Osaka Castle, prominent above the city centre.

In 1583 he erected a daimyo that resisted the growing domination of Ieyasu Tokugawa, this, the unifier of Japan, first shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate.

A lightning fire nearly consumed him fifty years after Ieyasu had conquered him. And although Allied bombing in World War II damaged it, the Osaka Jo withstood the appalling destruction that took place, above all, in an area to the southwest of the Chuo-Ku neighborhood.

Accordingly, with a rehabilitation that lasted from 1995 to 1997, the castle regained its medieval splendor and an oriental grandeur that had seduced us from the day before. Moments after we pass into the inner domain of the ancient moat, we come upon a small army of young students.

Despite the formality of their uniforms in suit and tie, they had given in to the temptation to conquer the monument, favored by the absence of authorities in the complex and by the size of the arrows between the granite blocks of the structure.

Tiptoe, stone after stone, the boys advanced on this base, more forward than uphill since the climb involved defying gravity.

Is life.

Osaka Castle, Japan

Students play climbing at the base of Osaka Castle.

However unconscious and immature theirs proved, the young people knew that the castle had seen enough tragedies. As such, they turned to us, agreeing with a cool photo or two. After which they tried to return to the ground without sprawl or fuss.

When they do, they ask us to peek at the images. "Sugoi!” they exclaim in approval of the registration. We say goodbye to the little gang. We went out in search of other Japanese and photographable subjects.

Nippon Escape and Fun around Osaka Jo

A tour guide with a yellow flag in the air urges her group of visitors to join her. Next door, in a style that contrasted with the lady's uniform, another subject of the emperor stood out for his exuberance.

He wore snow boots, purple pants, a green T-shirt, and a pink hat.

Dancer, Osaka, Japan

Dancer clashes with visitors to Osaka's medieval castle.

With headphones in his ears and a mini-camera hanging around his neck for whatever came and went, this tourist-dancer gave himself up to movements and choreographies dictated by the music. Indifferent to the surrounding audience and, above all, to what they could find of him, he made the access patio to Osaka Jo his private path.

Other visitors poked their heads into medieval Japanese character models and photographed themselves with the castle in the background.

This way, that way, above and below the seven floors that house the museum dedicated to the castle itself and Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the Japanese warlord who ordered its construction, we arrived in the late afternoon.

Souvenir, Osaka Castle, Japan

Visitors are photographed with Osaka Castle in the background.

We step back below the moat and lake and enjoy the dual atmosphere of the Chuo-Ku neighborhood at night. The one of the yellowish castle that almost seemed to hover above the dark patch of forest.

And that of the CBD's tall, modern buildings, veritable light boxes perched on the edge of the lake, each with its own corporate reason for being. Or rather, with hundreds of them.

OSaka, Japan

The modern houses of Osaka, the third Japanese city.

Osaka CBD and the city's relevance in the Nippon Financial Panorama

Osaka has become one of Japan's main financial centers. Among the world famous multinationals that have their headquarters there are Panasonic and Sharp.

Salaryman, Osaka, Japan

Salaryman passes in the corridor of a Bay Area building.

Despite its business relevance, the city is known for its less ceremonial, more informal, spontaneous and festive culture, in comparison, for example, with the capital Tokyo, with Yokohama and with the traditionalist Kyoto.

Even the willingness of our hostess Mayu seemed to contribute to confirming this.

Located in the subtropical zone of Japan, Osaka has a milder climate but also more rainy throughout the year than its neighbors.

For the next two days, gray skies and showers were expected.

Dotonbori, the Cosmopolitan Heart and Soul of Osaka

In accordance with the weather, informed of its abundance of arched streets, we dedicated ourselves to exploring the Dotonbori area, which stretched between two of the bridges that cross the homonymous river channel, one of the many that furrow the city. from the Great Bay of Osaka.

Osaka Reflections, Japan

Osaka Bay Area building generates a curious reflection from its visitors.

In fact, Dotonbori has confirmed the heart and soul of the city's cosmopolitan life, the network of streets and alleys that reflect its cultural and commercial wealth.

We passed countless restaurants, some traditional, others not so much. we peek salons of pachinko (Japanese electronic luck game) and others from purikura, hypermodern versions of the ordinary photo machine.

Both the open streets and the arcades are covered with vertical advertising banners, some in the form of neons that carry the night with light and color, several accompanied by figurative symbols on their doors.

Osaka street, Japan

Bright decor of a downtown Osaka street.

At one of the intersections, we are surprised by the golden statue of a large baby with a mocking smile, sitting on a throne in the shape of a childlike Buddha. An inscription that identified him as “Billiken – Things as They Ought to Be”, little or nothing explained to us.

The Strange Urban Phenomenon of Baby Grande Biliken

And, however, adults, teenagers and children who passed by paid homage to him and repeated, with the doll, photos and more photos.

It was only much later that we learned where its popularity came from. And it came from far away.

BilliKen, Osaka, Japan

Children stand at the feet of the golden statue of BilliKen.

In the early years of the 1896th century, the figure appeared in a dream of Florence Pretz, an art teacher and illustrator from Kansas City. Fretz gave him the name Billiken which he found in an XNUMX poem called “Mr. Moon: the Song of the Little People”.

Arrived in 1908, Pretz registered the patent for the doll that made a stir both in Canada and in the United States, where it became the symbol of the University of Saint Louis, soon after, the nickname of a series of minor baseball teams.

The doll arrived in Japan, taken by Japanese sports representations that traveled to the United States. One of the most impressive representations of Billiken was erected as early as 1912 at Luna Park in Osaka representing a prolific assortment of Americana .

Billiken, Osaka, Japan

Two friends are photographed at the foot of the statue of Billy Ken.

In 1923, this wooden statue disappeared when the park was closed. And in 1980, a replica was placed in one of the city's famous towers, the Tsutenkaku. From then on, the notorious, almost divine Billiken from Osaka kind of toured inside Japan and even the United States.

It only took a few steps to find another of the cultural influences with which the North Americans filled the void left by the Japanese defeat in World War II.

Baseball has become Japan's number one sport. It moves billions of yen, part of them in foreign player signings.

Next to it, two models, players or ex-players, displayed the equipment of a team from other times, Osaka Gold Vilignes.

Baseball Model, Osaka, Japan

Model promotes a former Osaka baseball team.

America-Mura. Where Japanese Culture Merges With United States Legacy

We walked along the America-Mura, better known as Ame-Mura, a sector in the Minami area, the fulcrum of culture and youth fashion in the Japanese region of the Kansai region, which the presence of a few gaijin (foreigners) makes it more cosmopolitan.

Dotonbori, Osaka, Japan

The neon-lit banks of the Dotonbori canal.

Ame-mura stretches along Naga Hori Street to the neon culmination of Dotonbori. When we get back there, it's still daylight. A crowd roams the alley shopping or savoring different appetizers, such as the okonomiyaki, the kale pancakes that make Japanese and foreigners travel from far and wide to enjoy them in Osaka.

Above, imposing, one against the other, rival billboards of Kirin Lager and Asahi Super Dry beers are imposed, in any case, appropriate drinks to accompany the intricate okonomiyaki which, invited by Mayu, would still delight us.

Outdoor, Osaka, Japan

Showy billboard promotes a Japanese beer.

Without leaving the scope completely, when it gets dark, the victorious athlete of the food brand Glico, also from Osaka but present in more than thirty countries, stands out on the channel and reflected in it.

Notwithstanding your signature in English “Good Taste and Good Health”, this multinational exports chocolates, French fries, chewing gum, ice cream and several other mismatched products.

Dotonbori, Osaka, Japan

Osaka resident in the shadow of the gaudy neon of Dotonbori.

An already unexpected rain shower attests to the Dotonbori channel. It sends the crowd out into the arched streets. With fatigue gathering at the same pace as the night, we retreated to Mayu's comforting shelter where, until bedtime, we went back to drinking cold Asahis, chatting.

Bay Area: The Most Marine and Open Version of Osaka

The next day, we dedicated it to the Bay Area, the estuary area that reminded us of an Osaka-style Expo 98. There is also a large oceanarium, the Osaka Aquarium. Nearby, Universal Studios Japan and a huge Ferris Wheel.

Kaiyukan Aquarium, Osaka, Japan

The illuminated Kaiyukan Aquarium in the Bay Area of ​​Osaka.

None of these attractions was a priority if we wanted to remain faithful to the discovery of the exotic and creative Japanese culture.

Even so, unobstructed by the sea, the Bay Area made us walk more than we counted and go up to the observatory of the Umeda building, from where we watched the urban lights come on.

Hip hop. Osaka, Japan

Young people practice dancing at the lighted base of a shopping center.

We finished the tour of Osaka in an underground floor of that same building. On the skids, we sat watching a happy community of breakdancers and hip-hopers from the city, perfecting their acrobatic dances.

Ogimashi, Japan

An Historical-Virtual Japan

"Higurashi no Naku Koro never” was a highly successful Japanese animation and computer game series. In Ogimashi, Shirakawa-Go village, we live with a group of kigurumi of their characters.
Tokyo, Japan

The Endless Night of the Rising Sun Capital

Say that Tokyo do not sleep is an understatement. In one of the largest and most sophisticated cities on the face of the Earth, twilight marks only the renewal of the frenetic daily life. And there are millions of souls that either find no place in the sun, or make more sense in the “dark” and obscure turns that follow.
Tokyo, Japan

Tokyo's fashion

In ultra-populous and hyper-coded Japan, there is always room for more sophistication and creativity. Whether national or imported, it is in the capital that they begin to parade the new Japanese looks.
Tokyo, Japan

A Matchmaking Sanctuary

Tokyo's Meiji Temple was erected to honor the deified spirits of one of the most influential couples in Japanese history. Over time, it specialized in celebrating traditional weddings.
Kyoto, Japan

Survival: The Last Geisha Art

There have been almost 100 but times have changed and geishas are on the brink of extinction. Today, the few that remain are forced to give in to Japan's less subtle and elegant modernity.
Tokyo, Japan

Japanese Style Passaport-Type Photography

In the late 80s, two Japanese multinationals already saw conventional photo booths as museum pieces. They turned them into revolutionary machines and Japan surrendered to the Purikura phenomenon.
Tokyo, Japan

Tokyo's Hypno-Passengers

Japan is served by millions of executives slaughtered with infernal work rates and sparse vacations. Every minute of respite on the way to work or home serves them for their inemuri, napping in public.
Tokyo, Japan

The Emperor Without Empire

After the capitulation in World War II, Japan underwent a constitution that ended one of the longest empires in history. The Japanese emperor is, today, the only monarch to reign without empire.
Tokyo, Japan

The Fish Market That Lost its Freshness

In a year, each Japanese eats more than their weight in fish and shellfish. Since 1935, a considerable part was processed and sold in the largest fish market in the world. Tsukiji was terminated in October 2018, and replaced by Toyosu's.
Tokyo, Japan

Disposable Purrs

Tokyo is the largest of the metropolises but, in its tiny apartments, there is no place for pets. Japanese entrepreneurs detected the gap and launched "catteries" in which the feline affections are paid by the hour.
Tokyo, Japan

Pachinko: The Video - Addiction That Depresses Japan

It started as a toy, but the Japanese appetite for profit quickly turned pachinko into a national obsession. Today, there are 30 million Japanese surrendered to these alienating gaming machines.
Japan

The Beverage Machines Empire

There are more than 5 million ultra-tech light boxes spread across the country and many more exuberant cans and bottles of appealing drinks. The Japanese have long since stopped resisting them.
Kyoto, Japan

The Kyoto Temple Reborn from the Ashes

The Golden Pavilion has been spared destruction several times throughout history, including that of US-dropped bombs, but it did not withstand the mental disturbance of Hayashi Yoken. When we admired him, he looked like never before.
Okinawa, Japan

Ryukyu Dances: Centuries old. In No Hurry.

The Ryukyu kingdom prospered until the XNUMXth century as a trading post for the China and Japan. From the cultural aesthetics developed by its courtly aristocracy, several styles of slow dance were counted.
Miyajima, Japan

Shintoism and Buddhism with the Tide

Visitors to the Tori of Itsukushima admire one of the three most revered scenery in Japan. On the island of Miyajima, Japanese religiosity blends with Nature and is renewed with the flow of the Seto Inland Sea.
Iriomote, Japan

The Small Tropical Japanese Amazon of Iriomote

Impenetrable rainforests and mangroves fill Iriomote under a pressure cooker climate. Here, foreign visitors are as rare as the yamaneko, an elusive endemic lynx.
Nikko, Japan

The Tokugawa Shogun Final Procession

In 1600, Ieyasu Tokugawa inaugurated a shogunate that united Japan for 250 years. In her honor, Nikko re-enacts the general's medieval relocation to Toshogu's grandiose mausoleum every year.
Nara, Japan

The Colossal Cradle of the Japanese Buddhism

Nara has long since ceased to be the capital and its Todai-ji temple has been demoted. But the Great Hall remains the largest ancient wooden building in the world. And it houses the greatest bronze Vairocana Buddha.
Takayama, Japan

From the Ancient Japan to the Medieval Hida

In three of its streets, Takayama retains traditional wooden architecture and concentrates old shops and sake producers. Around it, it approaches 100.000 inhabitants and surrenders to modernity.
Okinawa, Japan

The Little Empire of the Sun

Risen from the devastation caused by World War II, Okinawa has regained the heritage of its secular Ryukyu civilization. Today, this archipelago south of Kyushu is home to a Japan on the shore, anchored by a turquoise Pacific ocean and bathed in a peculiar Japanese tropicalism.
Believers greet each other in the Bukhara region.
City
Bukhara, Uzbequistan

Among the Minarets of Old Turkestan

Situated on the ancient Silk Road, Bukhara has developed for at least two thousand years as an essential commercial, cultural and religious hub in Central Asia. It was Buddhist and then Muslim. It was part of the great Arab empire and that of Genghis Khan, the Turko-Mongol kingdoms and the Soviet Union, until it settled in the still young and peculiar Uzbekistan.
Host Wezi points out something in the distance
Beach
Cobue; Nkwichi Lodge, Mozambique

The Hidden Mozambique of the Creaking Sands

During a tour from the bottom to the top of Lake Malawi, we find ourselves on the island of Likoma, an hour by boat from Nkwichi Lodge, the solitary base of this inland coast of Mozambique. On the Mozambican side, the lake is known as Niassa. Whatever its name, there we discover some of the most stunning and unspoilt scenery in south-east Africa.
Serengeti, Great Savannah Migration, Tanzania, wildebeest on river
safari
Serengeti NP, Tanzania

The Great Migration of the Endless Savanna

In these prairies that the Masai people say syringet (run forever), millions of wildebeests and other herbivores chase the rains. For predators, their arrival and that of the monsoon are the same salvation.
Muktinath to Kagbeni, Annapurna Circuit, Nepal, Kagbeni
Annapurna (circuit)
Annapurna Circuit 14th - Muktinath to Kagbeni, Nepal

On the Other Side of the Pass

After the demanding crossing of Thorong La, we recover in the cozy village of Muktinath. The next morning we proceed back to lower altitudes. On the way to the ancient kingdom of Upper Mustang and the village of Kagbeni that serves as its gateway.
Itamaraty Palace Staircase, Brasilia, Utopia, Brazil
Architecture & Design
Brasilia, Brazil

Brasília: from Utopia to the Capital and Political Arena of Brazil

Since the days of the Marquis of Pombal, there has been talk of transferring the capital to the interior. Today, the chimera city continues to look surreal but dictates the rules of Brazilian development.
Bungee jumping, Queenstown, New Zealand
Aventura
Queenstown, New Zealand

Queenstown, the Queen of Extreme Sports

In the century. XVIII, the Kiwi government proclaimed a mining village on the South Island "fit for a queen".Today's extreme scenery and activities reinforce the majestic status of ever-challenging Queenstown.
orthodox procession
Ceremonies and Festivities
Suzdal, Russia

Centuries of Devotion to a Devoted Monk

Euthymius was a fourteenth-century Russian ascetic who gave himself body and soul to God. His faith inspired Suzdal's religiosity. The city's believers worship him as the saint he has become.
Nahuatl celebration
Cities

Mexico City, Mexico

mexican soul

With more than 20 million inhabitants in a vast metropolitan area, this megalopolis marks, from its heart of zócalo, the spiritual pulse of a nation that has always been vulnerable and dramatic.

young saleswoman, nation, bread, uzbekistan
Lunch time
Fergana Valley, Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan, The Nation That Does Not Lack Bread

Few countries employ cereals like Uzbekistan. In this republic of Central Asia, bread plays a vital and social role. The Uzbeks produce it and consume it with devotion and in abundance.
Dances
Culture
Okinawa, Japan

Ryukyu Dances: Centuries old. In No Hurry.

The Ryukyu kingdom prospered until the XNUMXth century as a trading post for the China and Japan. From the cultural aesthetics developed by its courtly aristocracy, several styles of slow dance were counted.
Reindeer Racing, Kings Cup, Inari, Finland
Sport
Inari, Finland

The Wackiest Race on the Top of the World

Finland's Lapps have been competing in the tow of their reindeer for centuries. In the final of the Kings Cup - Porokuninkuusajot - , they face each other at great speed, well above the Arctic Circle and well below zero.
kings canyon, red centre, heart, australia
Traveling
Red Center, Australia

Australia's Broken Heart

The Red Center is home to some of Australia's must-see natural landmarks. We are impressed by the grandeur of the scenarios but also by the renewed incompatibility of its two civilizations.
Ethnic
São Nicolau, Cape Verde

Photography of Nha Terra São Nicolau

The voice of the late Cesária Verde crystallized the feeling of Cape Verdeans who were forced to leave their island. who visits São Nicolau or, wherever it may be, admires images that illustrate it well, understands why its people proudly and forever call it their land.
Sunset, Avenue of Baobabs, Madagascar
Got2Globe Photo Portfolio

days like so many others

Boat owners at the Trou d'Eau Douce pier
History
Island Mauritius

East Mauritius, South in Sight

The east coast of Mauritius has established itself as one of the seaside paradises of the Indian Ocean. As we explore it, we discover places that are also important strongholds of its history. These include Pointe du Diable, Mahebourg, Île-aux-Aigrettes and other stunning tropical locations.
Geothermal, Iceland Heat, Ice Land, Geothermal, Blue Lagoon
Islands
Iceland

The Geothermal Coziness of the Ice Island

Most visitors value Iceland's volcanic scenery for its beauty. Icelanders also draw from them heat and energy crucial to the life they lead to the Arctic gates.
Oulu Finland, Passage of Time
Winter White
Oulu, Finland

Oulu: an Ode to Winter

Located high in the northeast of the Gulf of Bothnia, Oulu is one of Finland's oldest cities and its northern capital. A mere 220km from the Arctic Circle, even in the coldest months it offers a prodigious outdoor life.
Kukenam reward
Literature
Mount Roraima, Venezuela

Time Travel to the Lost World of Mount Roraima

At the top of Mount Roraima, there are extraterrestrial scenarios that have resisted millions of years of erosion. Conan Doyle created, in "The Lost World", a fiction inspired by the place but never got to step on it.
Pitões das Junias, Montalegre, Portugal
Nature
Montalegre, Portugal

Through Alto do Barroso, Top of Trás-os-Montes

we moved from Terras de Bouro for those of Barroso. Based in Montalegre, we wander around the discovery of Paredes do Rio, Tourém, Pitões das Júnias and its monastery, stunning villages on the border of Portugal. If it is true that Barroso has had more inhabitants, visitors should not miss it.
Mother Armenia Statue, Yerevan, Armenia
Autumn
Yerevan, Armenia

A Capital between East and West

Heiress of the Soviet civilization, aligned with the great Russia, Armenia allows itself to be seduced by the most democratic and sophisticated ways of Western Europe. In recent times, the two worlds have collided in the streets of your capital. From popular and political dispute, Yerevan will dictate the new course of the nation.
Salto Angel, Rio that falls from the sky, Angel Falls, PN Canaima, Venezuela
Natural Parks
PN Canaima, Venezuela

Kerepakupai, Salto Angel: The River that Falls from Heaven

In 1937, Jimmy Angel landed a light aircraft on a plateau lost in the Venezuelan jungle. The American adventurer did not find gold but he conquered the baptism of the longest waterfall on the face of the Earth
Aloe exalted by the wall of the Great Enclosure, Great Zimbabwe
UNESCO World Heritage
Big Zimbabwe

Great Zimbabwe, Endless Mystery

Between the 1500th and XNUMXth centuries, Bantu peoples built what became the largest medieval city in sub-Saharan Africa. From XNUMX onwards, with the passage of the first Portuguese explorers arriving from Mozambique, the city was already in decline. Its ruins, which inspired the name of the present-day Zimbabwean nation, have many unanswered questions.  
Zorro's mask on display at a dinner at the Pousada Hacienda del Hidalgo, El Fuerte, Sinaloa, Mexico
Characters
El Fuerte, Sinaloa, Mexico

Zorro's Cradle

El Fuerte is a colonial city in the Mexican state of Sinaloa. In its history, the birth of Don Diego de La Vega will be recorded, it is said that in a mansion in the town. In his fight against the injustices of the Spanish yoke, Don Diego transformed himself into an elusive masked man. In El Fuerte, the legendary “El Zorro” will always take place.
Dunes of Bazaruto Island, Mozambique
Beaches
Bazaruto, Mozambique

The Inverted Mirage of Mozambique

Just 30km off the East African coast, an unlikely but imposing erg rises out of the translucent sea. Bazaruto it houses landscapes and people who have lived apart for a long time. Whoever lands on this lush, sandy island soon finds himself in a storm of awe.
Police intervention, ultra-Orthodox Jews, Jaffa, Tel Aviv, Israel
Religion
Jaffa, Israel

Unorthodox protests

A building in Jaffa, Tel Aviv, threatened to desecrate what ultra-Orthodox Jews thought were remnants of their ancestors. And even the revelation that they were pagan tombs did not deter them from the contestation.
The Toy Train story
On Rails
Siliguri a Darjeeling, India

The Himalayan Toy Train Still Running

Neither the steep slope of some stretches nor the modernity stop it. From Siliguri, in the tropical foothills of the great Asian mountain range, the Darjeeling, with its peaks in sight, the most famous of the Indian Toy Trains has ensured for 117 years, day after day, an arduous dream journey. Traveling through the area, we climb aboard and let ourselves be enchanted.
Society
Cemeteries

the last address

From the grandiose tombs of Novodevichy, in Moscow, to the boxed Mayan bones of Pomuch, in the Mexican province of Campeche, each people flaunts its own way of life. Even in death.
Women with long hair from Huang Luo, Guangxi, China
Daily life
Longsheng, China

Huang Luo: the Chinese Village of the Longest Hairs

In a multi-ethnic region covered with terraced rice paddies, the women of Huang Luo have surrendered to the same hairy obsession. They let the longest hair in the world grow, years on end, to an average length of 170 to 200 cm. Oddly enough, to keep them beautiful and shiny, they only use water and rice.
Jabula Beach, Kwazulu Natal, South Africa
Wildlife
Saint Lucia, South Africa

An Africa as Wild as Zulu

On the eminence of the coast of Mozambique, the province of KwaZulu-Natal is home to an unexpected South Africa. Deserted beaches full of dunes, vast estuarine swamps and hills covered with fog fill this wild land also bathed by the Indian Ocean. It is shared by the subjects of the always proud Zulu nation and one of the most prolific and diverse fauna on the African continent.
The Sounds, Fiordland National Park, New Zealand
Scenic Flights
Fiordland, New Zealand

The Fjords of the Antipodes

A geological quirk made the Fiordland region the rawest and most imposing in New Zealand. Year after year, many thousands of visitors worship the sub-domain slashed between Te Anau and Milford Sound.