SHELTER. One of man’s most basic needs.
From the humble hut, to the opulent mini-Tajs, we all need somewhere to kip, to take off our boots, kick back and enjoy a meal.
Round ones, so the devil can’t hide in corners. Portable ones for when the season change. Bricks, or sticks, cave or cavernous, they are different from street to street, country to city, rich to poor.
Brightly coloured homes are a feature of the sloping streets of Bo Kaap, Cape Town. Come for the colour, stay for the cuisine.
Beautiful old balconies look out on the streets of Stonetown, on the Tanzanian island of Zanzibar, where cultures from far and wide have mingled for centuries.
A small shack on the road, Mongu, Zambia.
Shiw Ng'Andu. I believe there is a book, called The Africa House, which tells of this estate's history. It still operates today, and owns the Kapishya Hot Springs, Zambia.
Brick houses mix with ancient cave houses in Kandovan, Azerbaijan Province, Iran.
With limited land for building, Rasht is actually Iran's most densely populated city. It certainly never felt like that.
Roman villas in Serjilla, half way between Aleppo and Hama, cannot have escaped the Syrian conflict unharmed.
Housing rising up Tripoli's steep hills.
A typical apartment block in Beirut.
Mud bricks homes, Egypt's western desert oasis town of Al Qasr.
An old hotel, Aleppo, Syria, almost certainly now destroyed.
On the shore of Lake Malawi, a hotel waits for the ferry, MV Ilala.
A general store/hotel/campground/supermarket in the backwaters of Namibia. They do a huge omelette.
Berbera in Somaliland, where hotel signs are just made up of pics from the internet. There was no pool or dining room. There was a bear light bulb hanging from a scary wire, crumbling masonry, and an aircon which threatend to shake itself loose and fall on us.
On the laid-back Tanzania isand of Ukerewe, a pleasant rural hotel.
An old house lies abandoned in Shinjuku, Tokyo.
One of the most famous hotels in the world, Singapore's Raffles is a byword for luxury.
People have been making homes in these caves, in Hasankeyf, in Turkey's east, for hundreds, if not thousands of years.
A spot of colour for the sometimes drab housing in Al Mata, Kazakhstan.
A traditional house, near Bukittingi, on the Indonesian island of Sumatra.
A couple of nomads' yurt serve as a hotel on the Pamir Highway, an hour or so north of Murghab, Tajikistan. Altitude? Probably started with a 4.
Built in the early 20th century, The Vakhsh Hotel in Tajikistan's capital, Dushanbe, is a classic European hotel. For $2 more than a pair of dorm beds, we had a balcony room overlooking the Opera House and main square.
Haft Kul, Tajikistan. The rooms at this guesthouse were drab and damp, but taking meals on the "topchan" pictured made up for it with these views.
A cost homestay in Tajikistan's Wakhan Valley. The covered structure to the right is called a "topchan", the Central Asia day bed, for resting and eating and socializing.
Overlooking the main stadium of Cholpon Ata, Kyrgyzstan, and with views of Lake Issy, I wonder if this home is owned by a powerful individual.
The Kyrchyn Valley fills with portable nomad homes for the World Nomad Games in Kyrgyzstan. The yurts can be packed on a wagon or camels to be moved through the seasons.
On a back road in Kyrgyzstan, a portable home doubles as a cafeteria.
A large farmhouse on the hills over (Lake) Issy Kol, Kyrgystan.
A woman at her hut, somewhere in a village in Papua New Guinea.
"Eco huts" or guesthouse, if you prefer, in the far north of Laos, Luang Namtha.
How many of these style of beach-side bungalow remain on Koh Phangan. This was 1992. No aircon, possibly a fan, maybe not. A bare light bulb, and a wafer for a mattress.
One of the most famous and elegant of Penang's historical buildings, the Cheong Fatt Tze mansion fell into disrepair in the early 1900s, but has been meticulously restored. It now operates as a truly boutique hotel.
An old school Chinese hotel in Ipoh, Malaysia. Hotels like these were commonly used by backpackers through the years. Spartan interior, a swooshing fan, a thin mattress and walls which didn't always meet the ceiling.
Thankfully, a new breed of entrepreneur is catering to backpackers, with smart interiors, better beds and other facilities.
Not the worst, but possibly the worst value hotel room I've ever stayed in, in Brisbane Australia. We thought a room was a better option than a dorm, but instead we got shunted under the stairs with the noise of the common kitchen outside our window.
Wedding party in the grounds of the classic Sri Lanka hotel, The Galle Face Hotel. Situated on Colombo's beach front, it was built in 1864, making it 23 years older than Raffles. Unlike Raffles, I have actually stayed there.
The homestead on Elsey Station, Mataranka, in Australia's Top End. This is the reproduction made of the movie of Jeannie Gunn's autobiographical novel, We Of The Never Never.