Helsinki, Finland

Finland's once Swedish Fortress


shadow refuge
Living silhouettes in a tunnel on the island of Iso Mustasaari, the one where the ferry from the Helsinki front docks.
back Helsinki
View of the historic front of Helsinki, seen from the ferry that connects the city to Suomenlinna.
conviviality
Group of friends approach Augustin Ehrenvärd's grave.
In frame
The frozen channel that separates Iso Mustasaari from Susisaari.
Pastel Suomenlinna
Residents walk uphill from the inhabited core of Iso Mustasaari.
old threat
Visitors walk along the southern shores of Susisaari, alongside one of several artillery pieces scattered along the coast of Suomenlinna.
Winter Rests
Garden benches almost buried in snow that the gentle winter sun does not melt.
Tribute to the creator
The grave of Augustin Ehrenvärd, the young Swedish lieutenant who led the persistent and complex building of Suomenlinna.
Mother and son
Ninja (read, Nina) and Severi Lampela, both surnamed Pasanen, Finnish visitors to Suomenlinna.
Camouflage in A
Old bunkers camouflaged under earth and vegetation and on the edge of the Gulf of Finland.
Ride in Frozen Time
Passerby passes along the channel that separates the island Iso Mustasaari from Susisaari.
the ultimate submarine
The Vesikko submarine, an exceptional vestige of the fleet that Finland owned at the end of World War II and that the Treaty of Paris of 2 forced to destroy.
Detached in a small archipelago at the entrance to Helsinki, Suomenlinna was built by the Swedish kingdom's political-military designs. For more than a century, the Russia stopped her. Since 1917, the Suomi people have venerated it as the historic bastion of their thorny independence.

It would prove to be the last of the days with merciful weather, although somewhat windy.

It is under a sky that is half blue, half blue-white, that the ferry leaves from Kauppatori market to Suomenlinna, the great fortress of Finland.

As we move away from the front of historic buildings, the distance reveals the domes of the Helsinki Cathedral, increasingly highlighted over the line of pastel facades that we admire in a gentle diagonal.

The vessel heads towards the exit of that tight, geometric section of the estuary that bathes the capital.

Helsinki Historic Front, Finland

View of the historic front of Helsinki, seen from the ferry that connects the city to Suomenlinna.

On its route, a shallow stepping stone of islets that, from Valkosaari to Pormestarinluodot, hinder navigation.

After some time, with the dock we had left already transformed into a glimpse, the whims of the destination island begin to be defined and, soon, the salmon-colored walls of its palatial wing, today transformed into the brewery local.

To the Conquest of the Resistant Suomenlinna

We disembark at one of the two harbors that serve it and cross that same old building through the tunnel below its light tower. On the other side, a resplendent luminosity reveals to us the domain of Suomenlinna, still frigid and parched by the arctic winter that resisted.

As in other parts of Finland, the proliferation of sign nomenclatures quickly catches our attention, starting with that of the place itself.

The fortress began to be built in 1748, at a time when Finnish territory was part of the Kingdom of Sweden.

This same historical context, the subsequent split, resulted in part of the current Finnish population – mainly on the west coast – having Swedish origins and using Swedish as their first language, from an origin completely different from Finnish.

Suomenlinna, Sveaborg, Viapori. The Trio of War Names

The Swedes have always called the fort that welcomed us Sveaborg (Swedish Castle).

The Finns, until 1918, called it Viapori. From then on, as a rectification, they adopted Suomenlinna (Castelo da Finland).

Out of respect for the Swedish community Finland, the two terms continue to coexist.

Suomenlinna Fortress Tunnel, Helsinki, Finland

Living silhouettes in a tunnel on the island of Iso Mustasaari, the one where the ferry from the Helsinki front docks.

Suomenlinna is based on six islands, which also have competing names from both dialects.

We had disembarked at Iso Mustasaari, the second largest and where the most imposing buildings in the archipelago were concentrated:

an originally Orthodox church built in 1854, the library, a War Museum and a Toy Museum, among others, and even the local prison. Suomenlinna hosted a minimum-security penal colony where convicts put their efforts into maintaining and rebuilding infrastructure.

But the islands have much more than just these mildly doomed inhabitants. Beyond the fortress-museum, he lives his own life. There are around nine hundred permanent and free residents.

Of these, three hundred and fifty work all year round in the most diverse functions.

A Stronghold of Finnish Culture

Suomenlinna has become a complementary cultural hub of Helsinki. Received the Nordic Arts Center. He has converted several buildings into art studios that are rented at low prices to interested artists.

In their pragmatic and expeditious fashion, the Finnish authorities pay so much attention to it that they maintain regular ferry connections, thermal, water and electrical supplies.

In 2015, the Finnish post office there even tested the distribution of mail using drones.

Grave of Augustin Ehrenvärd, mentor of the fortress of Suomenlinna.

The grave of Augustin Ehrenvärd, the young Swedish lieutenant who led the persistent and complex building of Suomenlinna.

What we find a little everywhere are, however, relics some more ancient than others from its long history.

We come across the grave of Augustin Ehrenvärd, the young Swedish lieutenant who led the persistent and complex construction of the fortress.

His tombstone is crowned with a Gothic helmet with a facial protection that extends in a peak to below the chin, in such a mystical way that it intimidates us. We enter and exit more small tunnels that the almost oblique sun rays invade without mercy.

We cross the channel that separates Iso Mustasaari to Susisaari via the bridge that joins them. We walk along the shadowy shore of this last island and come face to face with the opposite coast line bathed by an almost frozen sea inlet and a soft afternoon light.

We crossed Susisaari to the front of the Gulf of Finland. There, the boreal gusts, until then spaced out, turn into a permanent gale.

We found old warehouses disguised as rural houses from another era, with A-shaped roofs from top to bottom, covered in earth and vegetation, surrounded by snowy sections still far from melting.

The furious wind punishes large cannons distributed and hidden on the upper coast, all of them aimed at the Gulf of Finland and the threats that always result from there.

Suomenlinna, in front of History: the Finnish, the Swedish, the Russian.

In this zone of vast spaces, great influences and ambitions to match, the Finns have become accustomed to fearing the Kingdom of Sweden on the one hand, and the much larger Russian Empire on the other. The World War II Teutonic invasion arrived as an extra.

An unexpected extra that cost the Finland three important sections of the country – part of Karelia and the city of Kuusamo, Salla and Petsamo, the former “right-hand man of the nation” – seized by the USSR as a trophy for having aligned itself with the Axis between 1941 and 1944.

Suomenlinna appeared two centuries earlier as Sveaborg (Swedish Castle).

At that time, Sweden held the territory of its Suómi neighbors and Russian expansionist desires worried its rulers.

Artillery pieces, Suomenlinna fortress, Helsinki, Finland

Visitors walk along the southern shores of Susisaari, alongside one of several artillery pieces scattered along the coast of Suomenlinna.

The star-shaped fortification adapted to the appearance of the six islands and the batteries that we passed in investigative mode were also installed according to the convenience of the Archipelago Fleet, anchored there to protect the southeastern threshold of the Swedish Kingdom,

In obvious counterpoint to the Russian naval base in Kronstadt, located next to Saint Petersburg, in the eastern depths of the Gulf of Finland.

Strategically, Sveaborg served to prevent the tsars' armed forces from acquiring a base position on the beaches from where persistent artillery bombardment would make it possible to take Helsinki.

In 1755, more than seven thousand Swedish soldiers stationed in Finland participated in the work. Two years later, Swedish involvement in the intricate Seven Years' War against Great Britain, Prussia and Portugal (for a change on the Russian side) he suspended it. The alliance quickly proved as cynical as it was short.

Despite the defeat in the Seven Years' War, just a quarter of a century later, the Russians took advantage of an autocratic and incautious provocation from the King of Sweden to go on the attack.

Against popular and opposition will, Gustav III planned the destruction of the Russian Baltic fleet and the seizure of Saint Petersburg.

Suomenlinna Corner, Helsinki, Finland

The frozen channel that separates Iso Mustasaari from Susisaari.

But the monarch's plans foundered.

The Russians prevented the Swedes from disembarking and forced their retreat to Sveaborg where they were frustrated that the military authorities had forgotten to ensure the rearmament and repair of a nautical force much larger than the Archipelago Fleet.

Warned of this mishap, one Admiral Grieg hastened to retrieve the Russian fleet. Just nineteen days later, he aimed at Sveaborg. It disbanded a Swedish “spy” squadron and established a naval blockade that cut the Finnish south's connection with Sweden.

It would not yet be from this that the Russians would take over the rival nation, but, in 1808, Tsar Alexander I allied himself with Napoleon and Russia gave the final blow. In the aftermath of the Finnish War, the eastern third of Sweden was transformed into the Duchy of Finland, finally, under the jurisdiction of the Russian Empire.

Back to Iso Mustasaari passing by the submarine Veliko

Against the raging gale, but in holy peace, we continued to progress to the southern reaches of Susisaari and Suomenlinna. Most of the time we walked alone, given over to the cold and enigmatic scenarios.

We went on like this until, on a dirt slope, we came across two souls only slightly less stray than ours. Ninja (read, Nina) and Severi Lampela, mother and son, both surnamed Pasanen, descend. We go up.

The sight of other humans in that fortified solitude encourages us to communicate. We welcome you. We got into conversation. The two souls quickly prove themselves Finnish in the strict sense. Without foundation or pragmatic objective, the approach makes no sense to them and their embarrassed looks let you know.

We still forced some photos as it was, despite everything, the mission with which we were going there. We abbreviated the interaction and returned to the original paired comfort.

Vesikko submarine, Suomenlinna, Helsinki, Finland

The Vesikko submarine, an exceptional vestige of the fleet that Finland owned at the end of World War II and that the Treaty of Paris of 2 forced to destroy.

On the way back to the north, we came across the complex's shipyard and docks, full of boats, some functional, others not so. We return to the canal and the dark, frigid shore of Susisaari.

And there we continued until we found another work of nautical-military art worthy of attention, Vesikko, the ultimate Finnish submarine.

During the 2nd World War (Winter War and Continuation War), the Finns used it on successive patrols in the Gulf of Finland from Suomenlinna, but, as the outcome of the conflict confiscated the three territories already mentioned, the 1947 Treaty of Paris, prohibited Finland from ever again owning submarines.

Vesikko was the only one to escape the forced and widespread destruction of the fleet. It can only be visited during the summer. The reason why we just enjoy it from the outside, strangely perched with its stern brushing the muddy bank. With the bow suspended above both ground and sea level.

The short winter afternoon, on the other hand, was rushing behind the horizon with the dry, freezing wind already hurting our faces. We aim back at Iso Mustasaari.

We took refuge in the War Museum. There we learned about the episodes that led to full Finnish self-determination which, from 1917 onwards, taking advantage of the political chaos of the Russian Revolution, the Suómi people managed to assert against the former sovereigns.

In Swedish times, inevitably, but briefly, Russian, the walled history of Sveborg, Viapori and Suomenlinna converged on the nationality that was destined for the fortress.

The ferry docks again on time, we didn't expect anything else. We reembarked as the night began to subside. Twenty contemplative minutes later, we were back in the capital of little more than secular independent Finland.

TAP flies to Helsinki 6 times a week, with return prices, with all taxes included, from 353€. The route is operated with aircraft from the A320 family.

Kemi, Finland

It is No "Love Boat". Icebreaker since 1961

Built to maintain waterways through the most extreme arctic winter, the icebreaker Sampo” fulfilled its mission between Finland and Sweden for 30 years. In 1988, he reformed and dedicated himself to shorter trips that allow passengers to float in a newly opened channel in the Gulf of Bothnia, in clothes that, more than special, seem spacey.
Galle, Sri Lanka

Galle Fort: A Portuguese and then Dutch (His) story

Camões immortalized Ceylon as an indelible landmark of the Discoveries, where Galle was one of the first fortresses that the Portuguese controlled and yielded. Five centuries passed and Ceylon gave way to Sri Lanka. Galle resists and continues to seduce explorers from the four corners of the Earth.
Lapland, Finland

In Search of the Fire Fox

Unique to the heights of the Earth are the northern or southern auroras, light phenomena generated by solar explosions. You Sami natives from Lapland they believed it to be a fiery fox that spread sparkles in the sky. Whatever they are, not even the nearly 30 degrees below zero that were felt in the far north of Finland could deter us from admiring them.
Hailuoto Island, Finland

Fishing for Truly Fresh Fish

Sheltered from unwanted social pressures, the islanders of Hailuoto they know how to sustain themselves. Under the icy sea of ​​Bothnia they capture precious ingredients for the restaurants of Oulu, in mainland Finland.
Sigiriya, Sri Lanka

The Capital Fortress of a Parricide King

Kashyapa I came to power after walling up his father's monarch. Afraid of a probable attack by his brother heir to the throne, he moved the main city of the kingdom to the top of a granite peak. Today, his eccentric haven is more accessible than ever and has allowed us to explore the Machiavellian plot of this Sri Lankan drama.
Elmina, Ghana

The First Jackpot of the Portuguese Discoveries

In the century. XVI, Mina generated to the Crown more than 310 kg of gold annually. This profit aroused the greed of the The Netherlands and from England, which succeeded one another in the place of the Portuguese and promoted the slave trade to the Americas. The surrounding village is still known as Elmina, but today fish is its most obvious wealth.
Saint John of Acre, Israel

The Fortress That Withstood Everything

It was a frequent target of the Crusades and taken over and over again. Today, Israeli, Acre is shared by Arabs and Jews. He lives much more peaceful and stable times than the ones he went through.
Khiva, Uzbequistan

The Silk Road Fortress the Soviets Velved

In the 80s, Soviet leaders renewed Khiva in a softened version that, in 1990, UNESCO declared a World Heritage Site. The USSR disintegrated the following year. Khiva has preserved its new luster.
Castles and Fortresses

The World to Defense - Castles and Fortresses that Resist

Under threat from enemies from the end of time, the leaders of villages and nations built castles and fortresses. All over the place, military monuments like these continue to resist.
Inari, Finland

The Babel Parliament of the Sami Nation

The Sami Nation comprises four countries, which ingest into the lives of their peoples. In the parliament of Inari, in various dialects, the Sami govern themselves as they can.
Helsinki, Finland

A Frigid-Scholarly Via Crucis

When Holy Week arrives, Helsinki shows its belief. Despite the freezing cold, little dressed actors star in a sophisticated re-enactment of Via Crucis through streets full of spectators.
Rovaniemi, Finland

From the Finnish Lapland to the Arctic. A Visit to the Land of Santa

Fed up with waiting for the bearded old man to descend down the chimney, we reverse the story. We took advantage of a trip to Finnish Lapland and passed through its furtive home.
Helsinki, Finland

The Pagan Passover of Seurasaari

In Helsinki, Holy Saturday is also celebrated in a Gentile way. Hundreds of families gather on an offshore island, around lit fires to chase away evil spirits, witches and trolls
Kuusamo ao PN Oulanka, Finland

Under the Arctic's Icy Spell

We are at 66º North and at the gates of Lapland. In these parts, the white landscape belongs to everyone and to no one like the snow-covered trees, the atrocious cold and the endless night.
Inari, Finland

The Guardians of Boreal Europe

Long discriminated against by Scandinavian, Finnish and Russian settlers, the Sami people regain their autonomy and pride themselves on their nationality.
Saariselka, Finland

The Delightful Arctic Heat

It is said that the Finns created SMS so they don't have to talk. The imagination of cold Nordics is lost in the mist of their beloved saunas, real physical and social therapy sessions.
PN Oulanka, Finland

A Slightly Lonesome Wolf

Jukka “Era-Susi” Nordman has created one of the largest packs of sled dogs in the world. He became one of Finland's most iconic characters but remains faithful to his nickname: Wilderness Wolf.
Helsinki, Finland

The Design that Came from the Cold

With much of the territory above the Arctic Circle, Finns respond to the climate with efficient solutions and an obsession with art, aesthetics and modernism inspired by neighboring Scandinavia.
Hailuoto, Finland

A Refuge in the Gulf of Bothnia

During winter, the island of Hailuoto is connected to the rest of Finland by the country's longest ice road. Most of its 986 inhabitants esteem, above all, the distance that the island grants them.
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.
Residents walk along the trail that runs through plantations above the UP4
City
Gurué, Mozambique, Part 1

Through the Mozambican Lands of Tea

The Portuguese founded Gurué in the 1930th century and, from XNUMX onwards, flooded it with camellia sinensis the foothills of the Namuli Mountains. Later, they renamed it Vila Junqueiro, in honor of its main promoter. With the independence of Mozambique and the civil war, the town regressed. It continues to stand out for the lush green imposing mountains and teak landscapes.
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.
Masai Mara Reservation, Masai Land Travel, Kenya, Masai Convivial
safari
Masai Mara, Kenya

A Journey Through the Masai Lands

The Mara savannah became famous for the confrontation between millions of herbivores and their predators. But, in a reckless communion with wildlife, it is the Masai humans who stand out there.
Annapurna (circuit)
Annapurna Circuit: 5th - Ngawal a BragaNepal

Towards the Nepalese Braga

We spent another morning of glorious weather discovering Ngawal. There is a short journey towards Manang, the main town on the way to the zenith of the Annapurna circuit. We stayed for Braga (Braka). The hamlet would soon prove to be one of its most unforgettable places.
Sheets of Bahia, Eternal Diamonds, Brazil
Architecture & Design
Sheets of Bahia, Brazil

Lençóis da Bahia: not Even Diamonds Are Forever

In the XNUMXth century, Lençóis became the world's largest supplier of diamonds. But the gem trade did not last as expected. Today, the colonial architecture that he inherited is his most precious possession.
The small lighthouse at Kallur, highlighted in the capricious northern relief of the island of Kalsoy.
Aventura
Kalsoy, Faroe Islands

A Lighthouse at the End of the Faroese World

Kalsoy is one of the most isolated islands in the Faroe archipelago. Also known as “the flute” due to its long shape and the many tunnels that serve it, a mere 75 inhabitants inhabit it. Much less than the outsiders who visit it every year, attracted by the boreal wonder of its Kallur lighthouse.
Ceremonies and Festivities
Military

Defenders of Their Homelands

Even in times of peace, we detect military personnel everywhere. On duty, in cities, they fulfill routine missions that require rigor and patience.
white pass yukon train, Skagway, Gold Route, Alaska, USA
Cities
Skagway, Alaska

A Klondike's Gold Fever Variant

The last great American gold rush is long over. These days, hundreds of cruise ships each summer pour thousands of well-heeled visitors into the shop-lined streets of Skagway.
Tsukiji fish market, Tokyo, Japan
Lunch time
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.
Impressions Lijiang Show, Yangshuo, China, Red Enthusiasm
Culture
Lijiang e Yangshuo, China

An Impressive China

One of the most respected Asian filmmakers, Zhang Yimou dedicated himself to large outdoor productions and co-authored the media ceremonies of the Beijing OG. But Yimou is also responsible for “Impressions”, a series of no less controversial stagings with stages in emblematic places.
Swimming, Western Australia, Aussie Style, Sun rising in the eyes
Sport
Busselton, Australia

2000 meters in Aussie Style

In 1853, Busselton was equipped with one of the longest pontoons in the world. World. When the structure collapsed, the residents decided to turn the problem around. Since 1996 they have been doing it every year. Swimming.
Tsitsikamma National Park
Traveling
Garden Route, South Africa

The Garden Coast of South Africa

Extending over more than 200km of natural coastline, the Garden Route zigzags through forests, beaches, lakes, gorges and splendid natural parks. We travel from east to west, along the dramatic bottoms of the African continent.
Tabato, Guinea Bissau, Balafons
Ethnic
Tabato, Guinea Bissau

Tabatô: to the Rhythm of Balafom

During our visit to the tabanca, at a glance, the djidius (poet musicians)  mandingas are organized. Two of the village's prodigious balaphonists take the lead, flanked by children who imitate them. Megaphone singers at the ready, sing, dance and play guitar. There is a chora player and several djambes and drums. Its exhibition generates successive shivers.
Got2Globe Photo Portfolio
Got2Globe Portfolio

life outside

Riders cross the Ponte do Carmo, Pirenópolis, Goiás, Brazil
History
Pirenópolis, Brazil

A Polis in the South American Pyrenees

Mines of Nossa Senhora do Rosário da Meia Ponte were erected by Portuguese pioneers, in the peak of the Gold Cycle. Out of nostalgia, probably Catalan emigrants called the mountains around the Pyrenees. In 1890, already in an era of independence and countless Hellenizations of its cities, Brazilians named this colonial city Pirenópolis.
View from the top of Mount Vaea and the tomb, Vailima village, Robert Louis Stevenson, Upolu, Samoa
Islands
Upolu, Samoa

Stevenson's Treasure Island

At age 30, the Scottish writer began looking for a place to save him from his cursed body. In Upolu and the Samoans, he found a welcoming refuge to which he gave his heart and soul.
Era Susi towed by dog, Oulanka, Finland
Winter White
PN Oulanka, Finland

A Slightly Lonesome Wolf

Jukka “Era-Susi” Nordman has created one of the largest packs of sled dogs in the world. He became one of Finland's most iconic characters but remains faithful to his nickname: Wilderness Wolf.
shadow vs light
Literature
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.
PN Tortuguero, Costa Rica, public boat
Nature
Tortuguero NP, Costa Rica

The Flooded Costa Rica of Tortuguero

The Caribbean Sea and the basins of several rivers bathe the northeast of the Tica nation, one of the wettest and richest areas in flora and fauna in Central America. Named after the green turtles nest in its black sands, Tortuguero stretches inland for 312 km.2 of stunning aquatic jungle.
Girl plays with leaves on the shore of the Great Lake at Catherine Palace
Autumn
Saint Petersburg, Russia

Golden Days Before the Storm

Aside from the political and military events precipitated by Russia, from mid-September onwards, autumn takes over the country. In previous years, when visiting Saint Petersburg, we witnessed how the cultural and northern capital was covered in a resplendent yellow-orange. A dazzling light that hardly matches the political and military gloom that had spread in the meantime.
Train Kuranda train, Cairns, Queensland, Australia
Natural Parks
Cairns-Kuranda, Australia

Train to the Middle of the Jungle

Built out of Cairns to save miners isolated in the rainforest from starvation by flooding, the Kuranda Railway eventually became the livelihood of hundreds of alternative Aussies.
Mahé Ilhas das Seychelles, friends of the beach
UNESCO World Heritage
Mahé, Seychelles

The Big Island of the Small Seychelles

Mahé is the largest of the islands of the smallest country in Africa. It's home to the nation's capital and most of the Seychellois. But not only. In its relative smallness, it hides a stunning tropical world, made of mountainous jungle that merges with the Indian Ocean in coves of all sea tones.
Ooty, Tamil Nadu, Bollywood Scenery, Heartthrob's Eye
Characters
Ooty, India

In Bollywood's Nearly Ideal Setting

The conflict with Pakistan and the threat of terrorism made filming in Kashmir and Uttar Pradesh a drama. In Ooty, we see how this former British colonial station took the lead.
Tobago, Pigeon Point, Scarborough, Pontoon
Beaches
Scarborough a Pigeon Point, Tobago

Probing the Capital Tobago

From the walled heights of Fort King George, to the threshold of Pigeon Point, southwest Tobago around the capital Scarborough reveals unrivaled controversial tropics.
Boat on the Yellow River, Gansu, China
Religion
Bingling Yes, China

The Canyon of a Thousand Buddhas

For more than a millennium and at least seven dynasties, Chinese devotees have extolled their religious belief with the legacy of sculpture in a remote strait of the Yellow River. If you disembark in the Canyon of Thousand Buddhas, you may not find all the sculptures, but you will find a stunning Buddhist shrine.
End of the World Train, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina
On Rails
Ushuaia, Argentina

Last Station: End of the World

Until 1947, the Tren del Fin del Mundo made countless trips for the inmates of the Ushuaia prison to cut firewood. Today, passengers are different, but no other train goes further south.
Mahu, Third Sex Polynesia, Papeete, Tahiti
Society
Papeete, French Polynesia

The Third Sex of Tahiti

Heirs of Polynesian ancestral culture, the Mahu they preserve an unusual role in society. Lost somewhere between the two genders, these men-women continue to fight for the meaning of their lives.
Coin return
Daily life
Dawki, India

Dawki, Dawki, Bangladesh on sight

We descended from the high and mountainous lands of Meghalaya to the flats to the south and below. There, the translucent and green stream of the Dawki forms the border between India and Bangladesh. In a damp heat that we haven't felt for a long time, the river also attracts hundreds of Indians and Bangladeshis in a picturesque escape.
Hippopotamus in Anôr Lagoon, Orango Island, Bijagós, Guinea Bissau
Wildlife
Kéré Island to Orango, Bijagos, Guinea Bissau

In Search of the Lacustrine-Marine and Sacred Bijagós Hippos

They are the most lethal mammals in Africa and, in the Bijagós archipelago, preserved and venerated. Due to our particular admiration, we joined an expedition in their quest. Departing from the island of Kéré and ending up inland from Orango.
Full Dog Mushing
Scenic Flights
Seward, Alaska

The Alaskan Dog Mushing Summer

It's almost 30 degrees and the glaciers are melting. In Alaska, entrepreneurs have little time to get rich. Until the end of August, dog mushing cannot stop.