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I spent a chunk of time sitting at roadside tea stands or a Café, sipping away a cup of hot beverage – sometimes two if I had a companion – and it was one of  the most delightful activities during my years of traveling.

Not that I do this at all when I settled somewhere. It's a distinctly foreign land activity that many of us devote ourselves to. Since it tells us so much about a place and the daily life around it, it's the most benign and simplest way for me to draft my own views on unfamiliar territory. Fortunately, this abiding tea/coffee culture can be found in every corner of the world. In many of Mahfouz's novels, he goes so far as to have the same character open a new chapter by going into a café.

Not that I always agree with their choice of beverage. There is no negotiation, only acceptance, and I have developed the ability to deceive myself and quickly adapt to the taste. It takes a few visits to get the drink right, to practise and pick up the keywords, and eventually I'll place my order in the language as authentically as possible. Often, the same waiter or waitress will know what I want without any exchange of words due to my frequent visits. Many of them are very competent at dealing with people like me, although there are occasionally some exceptions.

There is always at least one place that will serve you a drink. Take the Cold Drink Café in Lake Turkana for example: it's the only place that provides the hospitality visitors expect. What you can get in this shack is staple food and some warm drinks. There is no fridge in this semi-desert town, so you will never find anything cold to drink here. But who cares? The place is full of tribesmen hanging around and it's utterly charming.

The man in the first picture always served me tea in the most efficient way. My tea was served within a minute of me taking my seat. Unlike the coffee ladies in Ethiopia, who first perform the whole ceremony — from toasting the beans to grinding them — before brewing them in a pot, these bunna ladies will make people enjoy the scent first by presenting it in front of their faces. This process is certainly worthwhile if you have never seen it before, but dash it, it didn't quite agree with my urge for caffeine in the morning. I need my coffee to be served as soon as possible when I go to the café.

I wonder if tea stands like this are still a common sight on Burmese streets today.

1) Yangon, Burma, March 2017

2) Lalibela, Ethiopia, September 2018

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旗山

Qishan District, Kaohsiung, Taiwan

August 2019

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Wayang Kulit

Indonesian shadow puppet 

Yogyakarta, March 2019 

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Dong Ding tea - a type of Oolong cultivating in Dong Ding after the seedling was brought to Taiwan from Fujian (the name Dong Ding  means “ frozen peak”) 

It can also be seen in other areas where they name the tea after Dong Ding, for using the same method to process the tealeaves, by roasting over charcoal at the final stage to produce its unique flavor. 

Mt. Erjian, May 2019

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Mt. Erjian, May 2019

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Sun Moon Lake, September 2019

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White-whiskered laughingthrush

The specie is endemic to montane forests in Taiwan, occurs at elevations above 2000m sea level.

Yushan, September 2019

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A giant chair with a height of 2.5 meters, erected on the rock by Russian scientists in Europe’s southernmost point.

Cape Trypiti, Gavdos, April 2018

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Yellow baboons inhabit savannas and light forests in eastern Africa, active during daylight hours foraging on the ground, or socializing. They are known to form very large social units, however, this particular one looked into the camera handsomely was ostracized from the group. Arabuko Sokoke National Park, December 2018.

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Siwa’s Pigeon Tower, May 2018

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Orthodox church of St. John the Theologian

The church situates at the Macedonian side of Lake Ohrid, with cruciform architectural plan and some influence of Armenian churches, It is believed that the church was constructed in the 13th century, before the rise of the Ottoman Empire.

January 2018 

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Winter hurled more wind and rain at the city than it ever had before. Clouds dashed about in all directions emptying their thunder, hail and rain. The horizon was choked in fog.

– Ismail Kadare

Shkoder, January 2018

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Island of Kerma, September 2018

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Kelantan is where many Malay traditional music and performing arts originated, with influence from India, China, Thailand and Indonesia, and culturally linked to people from South China Sea region. Music is traditionally used as storytelling, and in celebration, varying sizes of two headed drum of which they call Gendang(or Kendang) is the most important, made out of cowhides or taut buffalo.

Gelanggang Seni of Kelantan, February 2019

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Bago, March 2017

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Myra

Myra was one of the most important cities of ancient Lycia(In the present day west side of Antalya) what is remain today is the acropolis that dated back from 5th to 3rd B.C. with magnificent Roman amphitheater, baths, and incredible rock-hewn tombs carved into cliff.

The Eastern Roman emperor Theodosius II made Myra the capital of Byzantine Lycia until the city fell to the caliph Haron al-Rashid in 808 A.D., and soon went into decline. Myra had been mostly abandoned by 11th century, primarily due to the plague, Muslim raids, frequent flooding and earthquakes.

Demre Kale/Antalya, September 2016

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The mud brick temple of Western Deffufa in Kerma, situated in present day Sudan, about 19 meters in height. It was constructed during Middle Kerma period (c. 2050-1750 BCE, in which equating to 11 to 13 dynasties of Middle Kingdom of Egypt) surrounded by a walled city which contained a religious building, large circular dwelling, a palace, and laid out roads.

Kingdom of Kerma flourished from around 2500 BCE to 1500 BCE, Kerma was the capital city of the kingdom, it has been occupied for at least 10,000 years, arguably the oldest continually inhabited town on Earth, the people of Kerma are recorded to have engaged in trade, tending livestock, hunting, and fishing. 

Kerma, September 2018