Mr. Hellmers: Travel

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Travel

When you travel to another place, you get to see things that you've never seen before, whether it's to another city or state in the United States or to another country across the ocean. The more different it is, the more I like it. Sometimes you feel like you are on another planet! Here are a few pictures from places I've been.

Click on the name under the picture to find the location of the city. Look for the red dot.

Cairo, Egypt

This is a camel market, where camels are bought and sold. Most of the camels come from other countries in North Africa, like the Sudan. The camels have numbers painted on them. This one is number 44.

Konya, Turkey

This is a carpet shop, and there are thousands of the them all over the Middle East. The person on the left is the salesman, and the person on the right is my friend, Aditya. When you go to a carpet shop, they serve you tea for free and they show you lots and lots of carpets, hoping that eventually you will see one you like and want to buy.

Leipzig, Germany

In Europe, they use trains a lot more than we do in the United States, so most big cities have a great big train station, like this one in Leipzig, Germany. On the white sign on the right side of this picture it says "Gleis 7." Even though you probably don't speak German, can you guess what "Gleis" might mean?

Kairouan, Tunisia

This is a mosque, the name for a building where Muslims worship. This mosque in Tunisia is one of the oldest in the world. It was built around 700 A.D., more than 1300 years ago! The only part left from the original building, however, is the first few rows of bricks in the minaret, which is the tall tower in the middle. If you look closely, you can see how the bricks are different at the base of the tower.

Marrakesh, Morocco

In the summer of 2000, three friends of mine and I went to Morocco, a country in North Africa. On the left is Derek, in the middle is Aditya, and on the right is me. I am doing my best to make a stupid face for the camera. My friend Tom was the fourth person on our trip. Can you figure out where Tom is and why he's not in this picture?

Istanbul, Turkey

Very old meets very new in this picture! I am standing on a modern bridge with buses and cars going underneath, and in the background is an aqueduct, built by the Romans hundreds and hundreds of years ago. Aqueducts were used to carry water long distances, before the use of underground pipes, like we have today.

Kyoto, Japan

This is a temple of the Shinto religion, one of the main religions of Japan. The outside is covered in gold leaf, which is why it is so shiny. Gold leaf is gold pressed into very, very thin pieces which can then be used to cover things. Look at how the temple is reflected in the water surrounding it. When the lake is calm, it's almost like a mirror.

Tataouine, Tunisia

These buildings look like places where people might live, but actually they were used to hold grain and other farm crops. Look at how steep some of the stairs are--and no railings! Today these buildings aren't being used; they're just a place for tourists to visit. If you saw the movie Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, buildings like this were used as the home of little Anakin Skywalker, when he lived with his mother.

Cairo, Egypt

Here are my friends Tom and Derek, standing in front of one of the two great pyramids, just outside Cairo, Egypt. The pyramids were constructed of gigantic blocks of stone. You can see at the top of the pyramid the left-over parts of a layer of smooth stone put over the top of the blocks. It has worn away everywhere else, but it's still there at the top. When the pyramids were first built, this smooth layer of limestone covered the whole thing! Imagine how spectacular it must have looked when it was brand new!

London, England

This building is part of the Tower of London, in--where else--London, England! It has been around for hundreds of years and it used to be the place where the king or the queen had people executed. Today it holds all the Queen's fancy jewelry, like her crowns and scepters and necklaces.

London, England

This is Trafalgar Square, in the middle of downtown London. There are a few of London's famous double-decker buses in this picture. In the distance is Big Ben, the famous clock tower in London. Can you find it?

Tunis, Tunisia

The main shopping area of the city of Tunis is this outdoor market. The stores are small shops on the side of the main path. No cars or trucks can go here because the lanes are too narrow, so everything has to be transported either by hand or on carts or maybe even carried by a donkey. The paths aren't straight and they wind all over the place, so it is very easy to get lost. That's actually part of the fun!

Mont St. Michel, France

This is a monestary, a place with a church where religious people live and work. Today it is mostly a tourist attraction. It sticks out into the ocean, and the road out to it gets covered over with water when the tide comes in, so you have to make sure to leave before that happens.

Tübingen, Germany

What I like most about visiting the countries of Europe is that so many of their smaller towns and villages are beautiful to look at. American towns are convenient; they are easy to drive around in, but often they aren't very attractive, in my opinion. Europe—because it is so old—has downtown sections that are fun to walk around in, with curving streets and old buildings.

Chiang Mai, Thailand

One of the best parts about traveling is trying new food. I got this in Thailand—a fried banana covered with a waffle and chocolate sauce. It was perfect for this chilly and rainy day in the city of Chiang Mai.

Bangkok, Thailand

The citizens of Bangkok use every available way of getting around, including by boat. There are canals that pass through the older parts of the city, and people ride these boats to get from one place to another. It is much faster than taking a bus or a taxi.

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