TotallyCoolPix

(Photo: Bodil Anais)

If you’re young and a travelling kind of soul you need to get yourself down to the island of Koh Phagnan in Thailand. Every month up to 20.000 people gather on it’s beaches for the famous Full Moon Parties. International and Thai DJs entertain the crowd until the sun comes up. The partygoers can order buckets filled to the brim with an alcoholic mixture of their own design, magic mushrooms shakes, weed, xtc, acid and cocaine to keep the party going for as long as their body and mind is able. Images by Bodil Anais.

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(Photo: Elmer van der Marel/Hollandse Hoogte)

The Tall Ships Race is a race only in name. It is not about the speed at which a Tall Ship sails from one port to the next, but it is all about welcoming, entertaining and educating millions of fans of sail ships across Europe. For the first time since 2005 Amsterdam is a port of call for these mighty wind powered ships and under the guise of SAIL Amsterdam 2010 hundreds of thousands of visitors get a taste of what it must have been like when these Tall Ships still ruled the oceans.

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(Photo: Natalia Toret/Hollandse Hoogte)

A Romeria is a religious pilgrimage wich has it roots in the Catholic faith. It involves a parade of cars, horse drawn carts and people on foot going on a journey that ends in a place considered holy. One of the most famous Romeria’s is that of the Nuestra Senora del Rocio. During the first weekend of June the three Saints (Virgen del Carmen, San Jose en Virgen de La Milagrosa) representing the villages of Los Gomez, La Vinuela en Los romanes are brought together at a large lake in the hills of Vinuela. There the inhabitants of the three villages gather and stay for three days to eat, drink, sing and dance in honour of their Saints.

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July 13, 2010, France: Sandy Casar of France has won the mountainous ninth stage of the Tour de France and Andy Schleck of Luxembourg has captured the overall lead. Schleck took the yellow jersey from Cadel Evans, who wore it for only one day, finishing just behind the stage winner and alongside two-time Tour winner Alberto Contador. (Photo: Stefano Sirotti/Hollandse Hoogte)

The riders of the 2010 Tour de France are at the half way mark. The Alps have passed and the men are being sorted from the boys, but in this year’s Tour it turns out the boys are the men. Many of the challenges from some of the pre-Tour favorites for the Yellow Jersey have already fallen, often literally, short. Lance Armstrong, Cadel Evans and Frank Schleck are bruised and broken. It looks as if this year’s Tour de France will be between Alberto Contador and Andy Schleck, but you never know what will come the riders way while they head up to Paris through the mighty and steep Pyrenees.

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(Photo: Rachel Ambrose)

During The knockout phase of any big sporting event it is The fans who suffer most. Stress, anguish, joy, fear and elation are just Some of The emotions even the most basic sports fan experiences during a game played by their favorite sports team. These Dutch Oranje Fans experienced joy and elation during their team’s FIFA world cup game against Slovakia, but Will it be The Same after they’ve played Brasil in The quarter final?

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(Photo: Wiebke Wilting)

The Makarapa helmet or Pletterpet came about in the 1970’s. Alfred Baloyi used to come home black and blue from the football games he went to watch due to over enthusiastic fans. He started ging to the games wearing his miners helmet painted in the colours of his favorite team. After requests from other football fans Alfred started perfecting the Makarapa and a phenomenom was born. The original Makarapa is still made by hand in Alfred Bayoli’s Makarapa workshop.

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(Photo: Wiebke Wilting)

South Africa is basking in the glory that the FIFA World Cup 2010 brings with it. An army of foreign fans all having fun together, enjoying the football and enjoying South Africa. This is what the world gets to see, a new and improved South Africa. Crime is down, infrastructure has been much improved, the people are friendly and the Rand keeps on rolling in the hospitality business. It would seem that South Africans are benefitting from the World Cup being held in their country, but this is not the case for the thousands living in Blikkiesdorp. Blikkiesdorp was built in 2007 near Cape Town and contains 1,600 structures made from shiny corrugated iron, Blikkiesdorp translates as Tin Can Town. The people there would have loved to have seen some of the 63 billion Rand the hosting of the World Cup is estimated to cost South Africa go their way in improved housing, schooling and permanent jobs.

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(Photo: Wiebke Wilting)

Holland plays their second 2010 World Cup group game against Japan in Durban on June 19th. They’ll be supported by their very own Orange Army. Thousands of crazy fans who follow their national team everywhere they go. Men dressed in orange skirts, women wearing orange wigs, children with their faced painted red, white, blue and orange. The crazier the better in the eyes of the Orange Army.

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(Photo: Wiebke Wilting)

South Africa has hosted the 2010 FIFA World Cup for almost a week now. The games have not always produced the expected goals and drama but the
atmosphere in and out of the stadiums has been great. The South Africans, whether black, white or coloured have gone World Cup mad with their flags,
wing mirrors caps and vuvuzelas. Go BAFANA BAFANA.

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A body of a man was found on a back road in the city. The hands and mouth of the murder victim were taped with duct tape. The killing was most probably drug related. (Photo: Gang Wars in Mexico/Hollandse Hoogte)

With over 2600 people killed in drug related violence, Mexico’s volatile border city of Ciudad Juarez has the world’s highest murder rate. Ciudad Juárez is at war: a war the government is fighting against the drug cartels and a war the drug cartels are fighting against each other.

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