I’m no professional photographer – I’m not really a professional anything after quitting my job to backpack through Southeast Asia – but I couldn’t resist taking part in the latest travel blogger game, 7 Super Shots.

Especially after my good friend and fellow travel blogger Doc Wends at Journeys & Travels recently tagged me in his entry.

After travelling the world for four years with my loyal sidekick and girlfriend, Nicola, it’s safe to say that I had A LOT of photos to dig through. Nevertheless, after a few sleepless nights I got there in the end.

So, without further ado, I present you now with my 7 super shots (special mention to Nic, who took half of ‘em).

A photo that takes my breath away

My favourite photo of my favourite ever travel destination – Santorini, Greece – never fails to take my breath away. Just for a moment, mind, otherwise I would be dead.

The beautiful views over the Aegean from Santorini’s many lovely cliff-side bars, restaurants and hotels are a travel photographer’s dream. For best results, find the tallest rooftop bar you can and enjoy a cold beer while you shoot the stunning scenery.

A photo that makes me laugh or smile

Show me a man who doesn’t love the first three Indiana Jones flicks and I’ll show you a man without a sense of adventure. This is my horrible, dorky homage to the fictional archaeologist and treasure hunter at Angkor Wat in Cambodia.

To be honest, it was difficult for me not to imagine that I was cinema’s greatest adventurer as I explored the ancient ruins of Angkor Wat. The Cambodian icon and unofficial eighth wonder of the world is simply magnificent in its complexity and magnitude.

A photo that makes me dream

What is it about those magnificent limestone karsts that make Halong Bay look so darn mysterious and dream-like? I could look at them for hours – as I did on a boat tour through the Bay of Tonkin earlier this year.

One of the natural wonders of the world, Vietnam’s Halong Bay is a UNESCO World Heritage site and one of the most naturally spectacular places any traveller could ever hope to visit.

A photo that makes me think

The mysterious faces of Cambodia’s Bayon temple raise a number of questions. Most pressingly, in my mind at least: what the heck are they so happy about?

Like 216 great stone Mona Lisas, the faces of the Bayon have been smiling serenely in Angkor Thom for centuries, raising questions that scholars have no hope to answer definitively. What was life like in the late 12^th Century?  And on whose likeness were the stone faces based?

A photo that makes my mouth water

It’s no secret that Turkey boasts some incredible food. I enjoyed this fantastic meal on my first night in Istanbul – the place where kebabs and history come from. Of course, I needed a plate of hummus to accompany my Turkish kebab and a cold beer to wash it all down. Simply delightful.

A photo that tells a story

Fortunately catching a toboggan to the Datanla waterfalls in Dalat, Vietnam, wasn’t nearly as scary as this picture makes it look. My family and friends know how much of a scaredy-cat I am when it comes to rollercoasters, so this photo was for them.

The photo I am most proud of (worthy of National Geographic)

It’s unfortunate that the photo that most causes me to swell with pride is also one that brings on a feeling of dread and despair. Taken at the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, this former high school once housed the notorious Security Prison 21 (S-21).

Between 1975 and 1979 the Khmer Rouge communist regime imprisoned and tortured an estimated 17,000 men, women and children. The barbed wire that you can see here was put in place by the Khmer to prevent prisoners from attempting suicide by throwing themselves from the top of the prison.

And on that cheery note I’ll now tag in some of my fellow travel bloggers (apologies if they’ve already been tagged):

Adventures with Dan

No Place to be