Close Encounters of the Near-Death Kind

Close Encounters of the Near-Death Kind

It was a hot, humid day in Manila, and I was sat on the rooftop of my hotel, five floors high, working on my laptop and enjoying the occasional sea breeze that flew in from the bay. I felt a faint shaking, which grew stronger and stronger until the entire roof was...
Crucifixion in the Philippines

Crucifixion in the Philippines

Ruben Enaje hardly even flinched as the nails were driven into the palms of his hands before he was raised high on a heavy wooden cross under the beating Good Friday sun in the Philippines. This was his 33rd crucifixion, and now he says, he longer feels the pain. Like...
The Maya Ruins of Ek Balam

The Maya Ruins of Ek Balam

On a good day, from the top of the ruins of Ek Balam, you can see El Castillo, the central temple of Chichen Itza rising above the trees in the distance. It’s just 50 kilometres away, across dense swathes of jungle, but compared to the restored and well-known temples...
Izamal. The Yellow City of Yucatan.

Izamal. The Yellow City of Yucatan.

It was all yellow. The city, it was completely yellow. This was Izamel, a Spanish colonial town built on top of an ancient Mayan settlement that had been conquered and colonised in the 16th century by the Conquistadors on their way through the Yucatan, in what is now...
The Medicine Man of Chiapas

The Medicine Man of Chiapas

When I enter the house of Sergio Castro in San Cristobal de las Casas in Chiapas, Mexico, a young child is having his burns treated in the large, open-air courtyard by a man in a tattered, checked shirt and jeans, who has a white bandana wrapped over his head. The...