The Duchess of Cambridge posted some holidays snaps yesterday. They were taken on the recent trip her and Will took to the Far East. They were splashed on the front page of newspapers around the world. I guess it made a pleasant change being behind the lens rather than in front of it.
I don’t know if you’ve seen the photos yet. There was an obscured shot of an orangutan swinging through the trees. (It may or may not have been Prince Harry). And a photo of distant mountains taken from a plane. As Fleet Street photographer, Harry Page, rather diplomatically put it: "It was very brave of her to post them." Enough said.
When talk turned to the photos here at the Towers, I suggested we send the Duchess a copy of our wonderfully informative magazine, Take Better Travel Photos. It was quickly pointed out that this gesture might be taken the wrong way, and with our proximity to the Duchess's grandmother-in-laws digs, not be such a wise move.
Someone suggested we invited her to enter our annual Travel Photo of the Year competition, instead. But it was felt that that would put too much pressure on the judges. Especially, if offers of a knighthood started being bandied about.
In the end, it was decided to offer the Duchess the opportunity to become one of the judges. If your invitation to enter next year's competition comes with a gilt edge, you’ll know why.
In the meantime, the photography section of myWanderlust this week has a distinctly Parisian flavour with sets of photos of the French capital posted by both pollylew and Macleancomms. Peter C has stuck up some pics from the Harbin Ice and Snow Festival (he’s either very early or very late). While DrG shares a selection of images from Antofagasta and the Atacama. And Chandaala has us all pining for warmer climes with his snapshots from the Kenyan coast. The Duchess could do worse than check them all out.
Peter C is just back from Uzbekistan and says that although the drive from Khiva to Bukhara is a pain in the proverbial, both places are unmissable. Davids has returned from Vietnam with the news that Halong Bay is worth the effort but My Son isn’t. DeborahCater has been enjoying herself in the Marche region of Italy. And caropiubonilla sings the praises of my home town, Sydney. It’s a song I can listen to all day.
As usual, your help is required over at the Forum this week. Pollyb is heading to Baja California and wants some tips on whale watching there. CJR is spending New Year’s Eve in Istanbul and wants to know the best place to go. And abstables wants to know the ins and outs of buying travel insurance on the road.
Pliers, meanwhile, is thrilled that Pendle features in the current issue of Wanderlust and wants to know if your home patch has ever been featured in the mag. Why yes, yes it has.
Finally, it was good to see Experiences – and lots of them – being posted again this week. It was in response to the mini-writing completion themed ‘Places I Shouldn’t Have Been’ and the quality of writing is immense. Pop over and check them out.
Reading through them reminded me of the time I spent a week bouncing around Southern Somalia in a Toyota ute with a local war lord. Betcha the Duchess hasn't taken a picture of that!
