Archive for the 'Art' Category
Axum Is One Of The Holiest Christian Cities On Earth. It Is Home To The Ark Of The Covenant – The Tablets Of The Ten Commandments Held By Moses.
In Middle Ages Europe ,In The Time Of The Crusaders, there was a tale of a paradise called The Land of Prester John. A land of unimaginable riches, and home to the Holy Grail. Somewhere near Ethiopia, though the Crusaders never got beyond Jerusalem.
A Truly Ancient Land.
Egyptian emissaries erected stellae in the Fourth Century, though quite a few have fallen.
Sunrise in the Land of Prester John.
The modern Church of Maryam ( Virgin Mary ) near the Ark Of The Covenant.
The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church claims to possess the Ark of the Covenant, or Tabot, in Axum. The object is currently kept under guard in a treasury near the Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion.( Wikipedia) Ark of the Covenant was brought to Ethiopia by Menelik I with divine assistance, while a forgery was left in the Temple in Jerusalem. ( Wikipedia.) Melenik I was the son of King Solomon and Queen Sheba.
A Peaceful Dove – An Apparition ?
An Ancient Stellae Field.
A Cantankerous Camel.
Holy Bible.
Brutal Punishments For Sinners.
Rugged Trees For the Dry Climate.Tigray only gets a few showers in the summer.
One of the best restaurants in Ethiopia – in Adrigat.
Lamb and Beef so fresh you can eat it raw.
Hot Tibs.
Hotel In Adrigat. Did not stay there.
Captured In Battle.
Ancient Scripture.
Debri Damo Monastery. Accessible only by rappelling up the cliff.
Even monks 80 or 90 years. old can do it. Once they can’t, they stay.
Two Fascinating Weeks In Ethiopia then came to an end. TotalAdventure moved on to nearby Eritrea, though it took two flights to get there. TotalAdventure would especially like to thank Awaze Tours for making our private journey possible. Also Special Thanks to our driver Engdu ! Ethiopia is not an easy country to navigate and Awaze helped make all this incredible experience possible.
In The Twelfth Century King Lalibela Decreed A Holy City Known As New Jerusalem – To Be Built From Solid Rock. Above Is Beti Gyorgis – St.George ,One Of Eleven Churches Carved From The Earth.
The Light of Jesus Shines Upon A Monk.
Days Spent In Prayer Unchanged From The Fourth Century.
Very Little Restoration Has Taken Place. Due To The Arid Climate And Solid Rock Construction, Lalibela Remains Much Intact.
Envy Of The Crusaders Who Sought Ethiopia, But Couldn’t Find It.
There Are 2 Masses Per Day, At Dawn And At Noon,Each For Two Hours. No Eating Or Drinking Is Permitted Beforehand ,Not Even Water.
While Ethiopia is being “Discovered ” there are few crowds.
Rock Church From Above.
An Approach To Church.
Circular Compound.
Exterior of Compound.
Light Of Jesus.
Outside Lalibela- A Church Built In A Cave.
Guard’s Rifle.
St.George From Below.
Holy Waters – A Bit Stagnant.
No Assembly – Just Carving !
Church Exterior.
Lalibela Houses. Only Recently Did The Town Receive Electricity.
On the morning of July 3rd TotalAdventure arrived in Paris. While Paris does not conjure adventures other than those of gastronomy ,art and retail , it is home to adventure companies that lead trips into former French West African colonies – the safer ones being Cameroon,Gabon,Mauritania and Burkina Faso. Niger,Chad and parts od Algeria are inadvisable at this time due to murderous incursions by Boko Harem.
It’s about 10 hours from Miami to Paris. It would be great if Air France would have WiFi on their flight. They don’t.
The Tour de Eiffel on a Glorious Summer Evening. In Early July It Stays Light Past Ten.
The Tower From Underneath.
The Louvre.
In 4 Hours It Is Possible To See About Ten Percent Of The Louvre.
Always Real Escargot, Not Canned Like In The States.
While 70% of US Citizens favor dropping all restrictions for traveling to Cuba, President Trump , delivering on a campaign promise to a vocal minority in Miami, has reimposed restrictions on most individual travel to Cuba. These will likely take effect in the coming months. The purpose of the restrictions is to help individual Cubans in the tourism sector. Thankfully, TotalAdventure trips fall into that category. We have amazing trips that see the real Cuba, working and visiting with local people.
There are 3 places left on Cuba Explorer – 9 Days in August for $ 2199.
Also in August Cuba Rhythms – Only $ 944 !
The Cuba Colonial trip is also in August. 6 Places left at $ 2499.
TotalAdventure finally had some time to relax after a whirlwind journey. We stayed int eh luxurious resort town of Bodrum, on the Aegean Sea Our gracious host was Nezih Çavuşoğlu,the well known Turkish artist we met in Istanbul in 2012. Read the November,2012 article here. You can review , and perhaps buy his paintings here on Artsy.
Balcony at the house of the Artist.
Crystal clear Aegean waters. The atmosphere was peaceful in the days after the attack at Ataturk, hundreds of kilometers to the north.
A newly constructed Mosque.
The peaceful Mosque interior.
Bodrum by night.
Delicious fresh seafood every night.
INDIA INCOGNITO is a behind the scenes documentary shot by backpackers. This is the real India- not the tourist India -showing how people really live. To view it is experience India Incognito- noticing, but not being noticed.
Religious ceremonies, street life, music, and the every day bizarre bazaars are ongoing. The last part of the program explores the little known tribal areas of Eastern Orissa, including the murderous Bonda.
India Incognito was shot and produced in 1990. This is timeless India, however. Though upper caste society has modernized since then – these are scenes that have not changed for millennia and will continue the cycle for eternity.
Check out amazing India Adventure trips at http://bit.ly/1PkhMdH
There is no better way to explore the glorious metropolis of Istanbul than with a citizen of the city. ArcticTropic was very fortunate to be hosted by Nezih Çavuşoğlu – a renowned artist in Turkey and increasingly throughout Europe. He descends from an old Ottoman family and was educated in Switzerland and the United States.
On the day I arrived Nezih sent his driver to pick me up at my hotel. As it turned out, his work was being auctioned that evening at Istanbul’s top gallery.
Sold !
More works by The Artist.
Fame !
The next day I arrived at Nezih’s beautiful apartment overlooking the Bosporus, with a view from Europe to Asia. His work graced the walls. From there we left for a cruise up and down the Bosporus – featured earlier on ArcticTropic Blog.
With Artist Nezih Çavuşoğlu before Yachting in the Bosporus.
With his wife Gulsen.
Istanbul by night is incredible. We feasted in the top restaurants.
Partied in the most exclusive clubs.
Then aperitifs at other artists houses.
ArcticTropic thanks our gracious host Nezih,who showed Istanbul in an incredible way that no one else could.
FOR ADVENTURES IN TURKEY, CLICK HERE
Today ArcticTropic was invited on a private yacht tour by a renowned Istanbul artist who will later be featured in the Blog.Time and bandwidth constraints in the hotel make posting difficult at this time. Today was an incredible fall day with temperatures in the 70s – in one of the most beautiful cities in the world.
From Asia looking to Europe.
Turkey is extremely patriotic – the nation controls a good portion of this part of the world.
The entrance the Black Sea.
Saudi Prince Abdul Aziz pops in for a visit.
A little free time this afternoon to take a tour of downtown Medellín. Here is the work of the great native sculptor Fernando Botero. There will be more shots this weekend as I tour the Antioquia countryside.
Nearby Church.
