Here are the year's best photos from National Geographic Travel.
JapanA woman dressed as a chondara, a traditional clown from the Japanese island of Okinawa, participates in one of Tokyo's many street festivals.
Photograph by James Whitlow Delano, National Geographic
ByJeff Heimsath
December 11, 2018
•14 min read
National Geographic has a long history of bringing the world into our readers’ homes and inspiring them to get out and explore their own. This year was no different–from smoldering volcanoes in Indonesia to intricate crop circles in England to awe-inspiring root bridges in India, we took our readers around the globe to experience unique stories in striking destinations. Here are our favorite photos captured this year.
Japan
This five-storied pagoda of Arakurayama Sengen Park in Fujiyoshida City overlooks the beautiful Mount Fuji during cherry blossom season.
The Cody Nite Rodeo hasn't changed much in the 13 years National Geographic photographer Aaron Huey has been documenting the event. "Every night as the summer sun sets," he says, "kids line up to ride the mechanical bull."
This photo originally published in National Geographic Traveler magazine in the June/July 2018 issue. Subscribe to Traveler here.
Photograph by Aaron Huey
Japan
In a crowded and technology-driven culture, pay-by-the-hour love hotels have boomed in Japan—more than 30,000 have sprung up throughout the country. Priding themselves in anonymity and discretion, these hotels feature both normal and themed rooms, like school, hospital, or even cave-themed amenities.
Fueled by vast oil reserves, Azerbaijan's storied capital, Baku, is remaking itself into a showpiece of bold architecture and regional fashion tempered by traditional ways. A man sits on the banks of Baku.
Women wearing traditional Bulgarian folk garb make garlands in the rose fields of Buzovgrad during a rose-picking event organized by the municipality for visitors to the region.
Giovanni Crea opens the window of the Vatican Museum early in the morning during his 5:30 a.m. shift. "Each morning when I enter the Sistine Chapel I experience a string of emotions," Crea says. "I have the keys, figuratively speaking, of the history of Christianity—both Christian history and the history of art."
A group of children cross a living root bridge in the East Khasi Hills of Meghalaya. The bridges are essential for rural connectivity in a vertical landscape.
All fresh and local, this shellfish platter on ice includes sea eggs, sea urchins, Dubrovnik deep water prawns, wild oysters, wild mussels, Noah's Ark shell, limpets, and just one Coquilles St Jacques.
This photo originally published in National Geographic Traveler magazine in the February/March 2018 issue. Subscribe to Traveler here.
Photograph by Sarah Coghill
Ukraine
After the last classes of each school year, hundreds of students flock to Independence Square in Kiev, Ukraine, to celebrate by jumping into the fountain spray.
Photograph by Dina Litovsky, Redux/National Geographic
Mexico
Hacienda Patron in Jalisco, Mexico, is one of the country's most profitable Tequila Distilleries. The "pineapple" of the Blue Agave plant is delivered by truck to the large ovens in "Casa Patron". Workers chop the pineapples in half, then load them into large walk-in ovens that will cook the agaves until they are soft and brown.
This photo originally published in "Tequila rocks" in May 2018.
Photograph by Corey Arnold
England
A young girl explores a crop circle near Sixpenny Handley in northeast Dorset, England.
Photograph by Dina Litovsky, Redux/National Geographic
Japan
Harris and Eleanor Phelps collected over a thousand souvenir photographs of their travels, like this picture of a temple near Kyoto. Their son donated their 27 photo albums to National Geographic in 1953.
PHOTOGRAPH FROM PHELPS COLLECTION, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY ARCHIVES
Azerbaijan
Naftalan Petroleum Medical Center, about three and a half hours west of Baku, offers petroleum baths to patients with various conditions, ranging from arthritis to skin rashes. Naftalan oil is believed to have antebiotic and anti-inflammatory properties.
A young boy watches an oncoming storm in Lake Balaton, which Hungarians nickname the "Hungarian Sea," once an important destination for families split by the Iron Curtain.
Son Bui stands outside his Palace of Revelation, a hotel based completely on the New Testament Book of Revelation. He designed his own "World Flag of Peace" (pictured above) to represent one human family.
Photograph by Ziyah Gafic, VII/National Geographic
Philippines
Manila is just one destination witnessing "slum tours,” a practice which long sparked debate about the impact and intention of tourism in marginalized communities.
Jimadores, or harvesters, cut blue agave for the Jalisco distillery Tequila Ocho. After the carbohydrate-rich piña is cut from its stalk, its long, spiky leaves are cut away from the heart.
This photo originally published in "Tequila rocks" in May 2018.
Photograph by Corey Arnold
Oman
A traditional Omani rider performs at the Bahla horse festival. The horses ridden at Bahla festival are a variety of breeds—Anglo, Arabian, English, and Desert breeds (a mix of local Arabian mares with an English blood line).
